JW Marriott At 806 Main St. & Expansion Into Battlestein’s - 812 Main St.

[Howard Huge]

Each room comes with a tablet for ordering room service, etc..

[mollusk]

The wood fence on Main between the street and rail lanes is back down, though the southbound street remains blocked during the day.  They've taken up a lot of the sidewalk and street in front of what I'll assume will be the front door; the street had metal construction plates over the hole when I drove over it yesterday evening.

 

[Nate99]

Pallets of bricks, for the sidewalk/street, I presume. 

 

 

Pallets of what looked like tile. Could be wrong though. 

 

[H-Town Man]

Actual brick!

[kdog08]

Actual brick!

 

For that up and close touch, MMmmmmmmHmmmm. 

[downtownian]

Here's an interesting article with the lead Gensler architect discussing design and construction:

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/breaking-ground/2014/06/what-the-brooklyn-bridge-and-new-downtown-jw.html

 

[mollusk]

I'm eager to see the finished product.  Driving by today I could see that they are going gangbusters on lower floor interior buildout, even though they still don't have the bottom few floors closed in yet.

[Marcus Allen]

You know, for as many times as our beloved HTown gets it wrong regarding architectural preservation, this is a keeper. Way to go! Yes, I believe as many as ten towers could be reclad DT and it would completely change the aesthetics of the area. I also believe HTown should try to maintain some historical relevance. This certainly meets that personal criterion.

[Nate99]

Exterior being bricked up. Looked like cinder block.  Looks like I had my phone in square mode, apologies for getting mostly pole. 

 

Edited July 1, 2014 by Nate99

[Nate99]

Stone going on...

 

[UtterlyUrban]

It will be nice when this hotel opens. All those sane out-of-towners will dilute the percentages of the: 1) truly crazy, 2) mostly crazy, 3) crazy only some times, and 4) general miscreants that populate Main Street. It will be fun to watch Sally and Sam - quilting Convention attendees from Nebraska-- navigate Main Street.

[Nate99]

It will be nice when this hotel opens. All those sane out-of-towners will dilute the percentages of the: 1) truly crazy, 2) mostly crazy, 3) crazy only some times, and 4) general miscreants that populate Main Street. It will be fun to watch Sally and Sam - quilting Convention attendees from Nebraska-- navigate Main Street.

 

It is but a one block stroll to the crazy epicenter in front of the $0.99 store, but really since they dynamited the Montagu and build BG place, it hasn't been the same. 

[aarosurf]

Starting at the $0.99 cent store and heading south a few blocks it's still pretty sketchy, especially in the late afternoons. They've beefed up the police presence on the streets recently, but there are still plenty of people "hanging out". I think once the area fills out more (Aloft opens, next houston center tower goes up, Texaco renovation finishes, Hilcorp building finishes) the area will drastically improve.

[aarosurf]

Also, every time the 99 cent store gets brought up, I have to post this picture. Hopefully someone a lot richer than me sees my post, and will be inspired to purchase it and restore it to its former glory (I think it would be great for a Museum of Houston):

 

[Nate99]

Also, every time the 99 cent store gets brought up, I have to post this picture. Hopefully someone a lot richer than me sees my post, and will be inspired to purchase it and restore it to its former glory (I think it would be great for a Museum of Houston):

 

 

Agreed. It was a seriously cool looking building. 

 

Not sure how much is left under all the cladding, but you can still see the points of the ornamentation at the very top poking out. 

[Slick Vik]

Nice picture. I walk by the 99 cent store daily and nobody bothers me though. I think it's more perception than reality

[sevfiv]

Just a Dollar .19! (used to be Just a Dollar...lol) - and the remnants:

 

 

http://arch-ive.org/archive/krupp-tuffly/

[UtterlyUrban]

Starting at the $0.99 cent store and heading south a few blocks it's still pretty sketchy, especially in the late afternoons. They've beefed up the police presence on the streets recently, but there are still plenty of people "hanging out". I think once the area fills out more (Aloft opens, next houston center tower goes up, Texaco renovation finishes, Hilcorp building finishes) the area will drastically improve.

On the other end is the Food Store at Lamar and Main. Two bookends to get your smokes and your beer.

Separately, I thought the Aloft plan had been officially cancelled. No?

[lockmat]

Just a Dollar .19! (used to be Just a Dollar...lol) - and the remnants:

 

 

http://arch-ive.org/archive/krupp-tuffly/

 

Who in their right mind thought what is there now was better than the original building.

[mollusk]

Separately, I thought the Aloft plan had been officially cancelled. No?

 

It's still showing up on the Starwood/Aloft website as opening June 2016.

[largeTEXAS]

It's still showing up on the Starwood/Aloft website as opening June 2016.

 

Aloft is moving along nicely and should be open by the Superbowl. 

[Purpledevil]

Who in their right mind thought what is there now was better than the original building.

Isn't this the original building underneath all the "modernization"?

[UtterlyUrban]

Aloft is moving along nicely and should be open by the Superbowl.

Hmmmm.

I wonder why it was removed from the development map? I recall it being there previously but a couple of months ago, I recall it being removed.

http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2014-07-03/140505_Downtown_Houston_Development_Map_8_5_x_11.pdf

Thoughts?

[cloud713]

Thanks for posting this! As soon as I read 99 cent store this came to mind as well. Such a shame..

Interesting.. I thought number 29 was a new residential project we hadn't heard of.. I guess that one replaced the Aloft

Also, every time the 99 cent store gets brought up, I have to post this picture. Hopefully someone a lot richer than me sees my post, and will be inspired to purchase it and restore it to its former glory (I think it would be great for a Museum of Houston):

Thanks for posting this! As soon as I read 99 cent store this came to mind as well. Such a shame..

Hmmmm.

I wonder why it was removed from the development map? I recall it being there previously but a couple of months ago, I recall it being removed. http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2014-07-03/140505_Downtown_Houston_Development_Map_8_5_x_11.pdf

Thoughts?

Interesting.. I thought number 29 was a new residential project we hadn't heard of.. I guess that one replaced the Aloft, since there were 39 developments in each of the last 2 updates Edited July 5, 2014 by cloud713

[UtterlyUrban]

Thanks for posting this! As soon as I read 99 cent store this came to mind as well. Such a shame..

Interesting.. I thought number 29 was a new residential project we hadn't heard of.. I guess that one replaced the Aloft, since there were 39 developments in each of the last 2 updates

The Aloft Hotel project was listed in April:

http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2014-04-17/140416_Downtown_Houston_Development_Map_11x17.pdf

But, It was removed from the planning document back in May:

http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2014-05-08/140505_Downtown_Houston_Development_Map_11x17.pdf

That said, I am curious that others say it is moving ahead nicely. For the two folks above who indicated that this project is moving ahead can you share the information that makes you certain that the project is moving forward?

Edited July 5, 2014 by UtterlyUrban

[mollusk]

OK, here's a link to the Starwood/Aloft website I referred to in my earlier post.  Scroll about halfway down to the locations in Texas.

 

For more detail, click on the "detail view" button, scroll down, and you'll see this:

 

 

I don't prepare the downtown development map, so I can't speak to why it would be there on one version and not on another, later one.  Perhaps the person updating the map started from an earlier version that didn't have it on there, and didn't catch omission of that one, relatively small project.  Other equally innocent possibilities exist.  

Edited July 5, 2014 by mollusk

[UtterlyUrban]

OK, here's a link to the Starwood/Aloft website I referred to in my earlier post. Scroll about halfway down to the locations in Texas.

For more detail, click on the "detail view" button, scroll down, and you'll see this:

Aloft grab.jpg

I don't prepare the downtown development map, so I can't speak to why it would be there on one version and not on another, later one. Perhaps the person updating the map started from an earlier version that didn't have it on there, and didn't catch omission of that one, relatively small project. Other equally innocent possibilities exist.

Yes, thank you. I looked at the website. Of course it could also be that the project has been cancelled and Starwood has not gotten around to updating their website.

I guess we will find out, one way or the other, in the next several months.

I am most curious about the other post above that indicates that the project is moving forward nicely. That statement implies to me that the poster knows something about this project that a casual observer like myself does not know. Hopefully, the author will be back to clarify/amplify his post in light of the conflicting information on the two websites.

[Nate99]

[Subdude]

I wish Battlesteins next door had been part of the project.  I could see it as a nice reception / party / meeting space for the hotel.

 

 

[Nate99]

I wish Battlesteins next door had been part of the project.  I could see it as a nice reception / party / meeting space for the hotel.

 

They used it for construction offices/materials staging basd on folks I have seen coming and going out of it.  Would have been nice to have the whole block rehabilitated in one shot.