cloud713 Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 Historically, Downtown Houston is a proven retail market. Before Uptown/Galleria ever existed, all the big retailers...Foley's (later Macy's), Battlestein's, Palais Royal, Neiman Marcus, Sakowitz, etc., were all Downtown. The Galleria and Northwest Mall lured them all away over the last 50 years (with the old/tired Macy's being the last and most recent to fold), but today millions more live in Houston as the city booms, especially Downtown. It's really a no-brainer. The mayor and her Retail Task Force are smart to bring in Bloomingdale's and a relocated Macy's, and others to the Dallas Street Retail Corridor Project. Her initiative is very similar to Michigan Avenue in Downtown Chicago. And when you factor this plus GreenStreets, it's a home run and gives Downtown Houston the world class retail it desperately needs and deserves. Houston will have world class retail Downtown and Uptown...two different exciting retail experiences.With tens of thousands of new residents filling these luxury developments, legions of Downtown city/state/federal government workers there daily, hundreds of thousands of Fortune 500 corporate employees filling the towers every day, and an expanded convention district with numerous new hotels bringing millions more people Downtown each year, a quality retail district is imperative. Yeah that will be amazing if they are able to pull it off. I like the sound of what you are saying.. I hope it turns out to be reality.Walking downtown in the summer really isnt as horrible under the covered sidewalks. Why don't they building more of thoseYeah.. I always figured they could/should probably implement horizontal roman shades over Dallas Ave (and the pedestrian mall portion of Main, and maybe areas around Market Square) for this new district to enhance pedestrian activity in those areas..http://images.search.yahoo.com/images/view;_ylt=AwrTcXLr5gRUmS4A5cOJzbkF;_ylu=X3oDMTIyMHQ3djBtBHNlYwNzcgRzbGsDaW1nBG9pZAM2YWQ1NWZkNzg3MjllYzBmZmQ5N2YxYTRhYzZjODJjOQRncG9zAzMEaXQDYmluZw--?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dhorizontal%2Broman%2Bshades%26fr%3Diphone%26fr2%3Dpiv-web%26tab%3Dorganic%26ri%3D3&w=650&h=488&imgurl=morancanvas.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2011%2F05%2FThe-Grand-Del-Mar-Horizontal-Roman-Shades.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fmorancanvas.com%2Fcommercial-portfolio%2F&size=69.7KB&name=The-Grand-Del-Mar---+%3Cb%3EHorizontal-Roman-Shades%3C%2Fb%3E&p=horizontal+roman+shades&oid=6ad55fd78729ec0ffd97f1a4ac6c82c9&fr2=piv-web&fr=iphone&tt=The-Grand-Del-Mar---+%3Cb%3EHorizontal-Roman-Shades%3C%2Fb%3E&b=0∋=21&no=3&ts=&tab=organic&sigr=11cc0vkmn&sigb=13dh3o55b&sigi=12o33ii33&sigt=11j7q8ptq&sign=11j7q8ptq&.crumb=QoUi0WUGkzy&fr=iphone&fr2=piv-web Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) hundreds of thousands of Fortune 500 corporate employees filling the towers every day........I appreciate the spirit of your post. This statement is false however.There are about 150,000 office workers downtown. Less than "hundreds of thousands" and of the 150,000, not all of them work for Fortune 500's...... For instance, there are a BUNCH of government workers (federal, state, and city) as well as more lawyers than you can count. There are accountants and consultants. None of those are "Fortune 500" employees. Except for the plethora of government workers, They earn good money (the spirit of your post) but they are not "Fortune 500" workershttp://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2013-06-03/Retail_Brochure_FINAL_ONLINE.pdf Edited September 1, 2014 by UtterlyUrban Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTOWN LIVE Posted September 1, 2014 Share Posted September 1, 2014 (edited) I appreciate the spirit of your post. This statement is false however.There are about 150,000 office workers downtown. Less than "hundreds of thousands" and of the 150,000, not all of them work for Fortune 500's...... For instance, there are a BUNCH of government workers (federal, state, and city) as well as more lawyers than you can count. There are accountants and consultants. None of those are "Fortune 500" employees. Except for the plethora of government workers, They earn good money (the spirit of your post) but they are not "Fortune 500" workershttp://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2013-06-03/Retail_Brochure_FINAL_ONLINE.pdfI appreciate the spirit of your post. This statement is false however.There are about 150,000 office workers downtown. Less than "hundreds of thousands" and of the 150,000, not all of them work for Fortune 500's...... For instance, there are a BUNCH of government workers (federal, state, and city) as well as more lawyers than you can count. There are accountants and consultants. None of those are "Fortune 500" employees. Except for the plethora of government workers, They earn good money (the spirit of your post) but they are not "Fortune 500" workershttp://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2013-06-03/Retail_Brochure_FINAL_ONLINE.pdfI appreciate the spirit of your post. This statement is false however.There are about 150,000 office workers downtown. Less than "hundreds of thousands" and of the 150,000, not all of them work for Fortune 500's...... For instance, there are a BUNCH of government workers (federal, state, and city) as well as more lawyers than you can count. There are accountants and consultants. None of those are "Fortune 500" employees. Except for the plethora of government workers, They earn good money (the spirit of your post) but they are not "Fortune 500" workershttp://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2013-06-03/Retail_Brochure_FINAL_ONLINE.pdfI appreciate the spirit of your post. This statement is false however.There are about 150,000 office workers downtown. Less than "hundreds of thousands" and of the 150,000, not all of them work for Fortune 500's...... For instance, there are a BUNCH of government workers (federal, state, and city) as well as more lawyers than you can count. There are accountants and consultants. None of those are "Fortune 500" employees. Except for the plethora of government workers, They earn good money (the spirit of your post) but they are not "Fortune 500" workershttp://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2013-06-03/Retail_Brochure_FINAL_ONLINE.pdfPerhaps, but that's just semantics...150K/250K...you say potato, I say potato. To the contrary, many Downtown employees ARE Fortune 500 employees (rank-and-file, executive and highly-paid) as many Fortune 500 corporations have their world headquarters in Downtown Houston. Moreover, it gets busier by the day.At the end of the day, the market is there...it's clear what they're trying to do with this project, and Houston's CBD can definitely support it. Downtown needs it...let's hope they're successful. Edited September 1, 2014 by HTOWN LIVE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrLan34 Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I'm confused as to where these shops and box retailers will go. Will they replace the empty lots? Highly unlikely right? Here is a pic of Dallas street from main to DG, help me understand folks... Here is some of the plan: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2013/09/retail-task-force-releases-final-report.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lithiumaneurysm Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I certainly think the Task Force's effort and vision are great, but I have to remain skeptical of any sort of plan to create a pedestrian-oriented environment that doesn't identify the ridiculous surface parking lot problem as its primary obstacle. Few large U.S. cities have as pervasive an issue with vacant downtown lots as Houston. These are just enormous blank spaces in an otherwise urban environment that do a damn good job at killing any sort of pedestrian vitality. There's a reason why the Market Square area and Midtown are redeveloping at faster rates than the southern side of the Convention District and the entire southeast quadrant of Downtown. Unless some serious infill occurs - even if the buildings are only one or two stories tall - those parking lots will present an enormous roadblock to creating a comprehensive urban shopping district. GreenStreet is nice, but you're not getting much of an urban experience in a complex bounded by office buildings, parking garages and surface lots. Creating a shopping environment in this area is still going to be difficult, even with the presence of some retail. Forming organic street life is an immense challenge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate4l1f3 Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 Here is some of the plan: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2013/09/retail-task-force-releases-final-report.html The photos are actually confusing. In the renderings you can see retail on both sides of Dallas street (looks to be on the ground level while keeping the parking garage?) but in the legend map it doesn't label that side as retail, just parking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate4l1f3 Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 The photos are actually confusing. In the renderings you can see retail on both sides of Dallas street (looks to be on the ground level while keeping the parking garage?) but in the legend map it doesn't label that side as retail, just parking.Apologies! It's correctly labeled as existing retail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTOWN LIVE Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 I certainly think the Task Force's effort and vision are great, but I have to remain skeptical of any sort of plan to create a pedestrian-oriented environment that doesn't identify the ridiculous surface parking lot problem as its primary obstacle. Few large U.S. cities have as pervasive an issue with vacant downtown lots as Houston. These are just enormous blank spaces in an otherwise urban environment that do a damn good job at killing any sort of pedestrian vitality. There's a reason why the Market Square area and Midtown are redeveloping at faster rates than the southern side of the Convention District and the entire southeast quadrant of Downtown. Unless some serious infill occurs - even if the buildings are only one or two stories tall - those parking lots will present an enormous roadblock to creating a comprehensive urban shopping district. GreenStreet is nice, but you're not getting much of an urban experience in a complex bounded by office buildings, parking garages and surface lots. Creating a shopping environment in this area is still going to be difficult, even with the presence of some retail. Forming organic street life is an immense challenge. Surface parking lots in Downtown Houston are quickly vanishing. Most major metros have too many CBD surface lots. The difference is that no other city is booming like Houston, and our lots are going bye-bye very fast. 50 years ago, pedestrian vitality and Downtown's comprehensive retail scene was booming...all the great retailers were there. The mayor's Dallas Street Retail Corridor Project is neither difficult nor a challenge, rather a masterful plan...a plan to restore world class retail to Downtown Houston, again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 The view looking down from 1K Main 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted September 10, 2014 Share Posted September 10, 2014 From Travis @ Dallas. Gives you an idea of how the orientation & plaza break up the Travis St Canyon Effect, as previously discussed. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timoric Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 (edited) - Edited July 8, 2019 by Timoric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 They're designed to move in the wind and gravitational forces and such Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonIsHome Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 From Travis @ Dallas. Gives you an idea of how the orientation & plaza break up the Travis St Canyon Effect, as previously discussed. ImageUploadedByTapatalk1410388009.483502.jpgYep, that's the gap in the canyon I was talking about. I am not a fan if the location of this plaza. Oh well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Is the GFR located in the plaza or on the Main Street side? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Is the GFR located in the plaza or on the Main Street side?Main St side with entrance facing Main @ Dallas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Interesting...so is the plaza at least on the corner of Main? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 (edited) Interesting...so is the plaza at least on the corner of Main?Main at Dallas view on left. Lamar at Dallas on right. EDIT: site plan Edited September 11, 2014 by tigereye Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Maybe it's just me, but the footprint of the tower vs. the podium on the Travis side looks different on the site plan than in the rendering. The site plan looks to be pretty much spot on with what's being built, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 I think Tiger meant "Main at Dallas" and "Main at Lamar". Not "Lamar at Dallas". Those streets don't cross. Easy Mistake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Today 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonIsHome Posted September 11, 2014 Share Posted September 11, 2014 Interesting...so is the plaza at least on the corner of Main?Nope, its on Travis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted September 12, 2014 Share Posted September 12, 2014 I think Tiger meant "Main at Dallas" and "Main at Lamar". Not "Lamar at Dallas". Those streets don't cross. Easy Mistake. Actually, they almost do meet - but it's in the block between Discovery Green and the Hilton, where they rerouted Lamar as part of building DG. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted September 20, 2014 Share Posted September 20, 2014 2014-09-20 11.10.31 by marclongoria, on Flickr 2014-09-20 11.11.06 by marclongoria, on Flickr 2014-09-20 11.11.08 by marclongoria, on Flickr 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 superb illustrations as always nate99! this particular edifice, shall completely transform this entire area. this once "phantom menace" is now turning into the perfect swan... well done. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Huge Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 As seen from China 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonIsHome Posted September 25, 2014 Share Posted September 25, 2014 Interesting perspective. Im still marveling at the small footprint the building occupies. Looks like they left room for grassy mounds and an artificially colored man made lake on that lot. That plaza better be extraordinary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Huge Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 What's amazing to me is how some projects, with three tower cranes in a small footprint no less, can only muster up one floor every couple of months, while other projects in Houston seem to rocket skyward overnight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted September 26, 2014 Share Posted September 26, 2014 What's amazing to me is how some projects, with three tower cranes in a small footprint no less, can only muster up one floor every couple of months, while other projects in Houston seem to rocket skyward overnight.Poor management and organization I would guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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