POST: Mixed-Use Development At 401 Franklin St.

[freundb]

Can we have a Google Pay day for those of us who have not been indoctrinated? 

[august948]

1 hour ago, emmanume said:

I'm gonna bring a basket of apples and see what I can buy...

[editor]

On 4/18/2022 at 6:18 PM, freundb said:

Can we have a Google Pay day for those of us who have not been indoctrinated? 

Talk to Google.  It's not the retailers who go to Apple for these events.  Apple does this to promote its wallet.

FWIW, Google does promote Google Pay heavily in some places.  It ad-wrapped the monorail in Las Vegas for about six months a couple of years ago.

[IntheKnowHouston]

Another dining concept from FAM Hospitality opened recently at Post Houston's food hall Post Market.

From Houston Press today:

 

"P&J's Wich Shoppe, 401 Franklin, launched at POST Market April 21. The sandwich pop-up comes from Top Chef and James Beard Award-winning chef, Paul Qui, and chef James Gnizak, currently the sous chef at FAM Hospitality's Koko Ni in Denver. It will be located next door to another FAM concept, Johnny Good Burger"

https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/zalat-delivers-pizza-to-the-heights-voodoo-bewitches-cypress-soon-13237076

[Triton]

Did the Alley shut down? It's not listed on their website nor appears on Google Maps. 

[Triton]

5 hours ago, Triton said:

Did the Alley shut down? It's not listed on their website nor appears on Google Maps. 

Went there tonight. Not sure what happened to the Alley but it got replaced by Ice Ice Boba. Maybe that was the plan all along or did the franchise name get pulled. Talked to a few people and apparently that's not quite easy to do... So not sure what happened here. 

[wilcal]

The Dynamo used POST Houston as their announcement site for fans to meet Hector Herrera, who is probably the biggest signing in team history. He's a mexican national team player and just came in from Europe. Cool use of the space!

 

[Fortune]

I forgot about this place. Have they signed any retail or office tenants? Still just the food hall, concert venue, and rooftop?

[freundb]

On 7/2/2022 at 9:44 AM, Fortune said:

I forgot about this place. Have they signed any retail or office tenants? Still just the food hall, concert venue, and rooftop?

I was just there on Wed and it looks like Common Desk is taking quite a bit of space on the second floor. 

[springcityparts]

Wonder what happened to the coffee shop that was under the Z staircase. I went by there a couple of days ago and it was no longer 

[BEES?!]

On 7/9/2022 at 9:47 PM, freundb said:

I was just there on Wed and it looks like Common Desk is taking quite a bit of space on the second floor. 

So they’ve started buildout then?

that’s great!

[bobruss]

We went to the Post Market on Saturday at around six and had a hard time finding parking. There was a solid wall of people looking from the rooftop at downtown. Went inside and to my surprise and delight found the market brimming with people. The space next door to the market had a film festival going on that night. I think there was also a concert on the other side that night. So many in fact that we couldn't find a spot where six could sit comfortably and we went to the Ares to Blind Goat and the Pizza place. They weren't quite as busy but they had a pretty good crowd. There was a concert in Market Square and it was packed. The Astros game was going on and parking was incredibly expensive and full. We got lucky and found a street parking spot in front of the new Texas Tower. There were more people walking around downtown that I have seen in years. It was pretty incredible. When we finished we came out to even more people who were starting to stream back to the market square area after the astros game, which we won!! It was really exciting to see so many downtown. Id say the crowds are coming back downtown. Also saw some very strange street people acting even stranger which I had to explain to my six year old grandson.

[editor]

10 minutes ago, bobruss said:

We went to the Post Market on Saturday at around six and had a hard time finding parking. There was a solid wall of people looking from the rooftop at downtown. Went inside and to my surprise and delight found the market brimming with people. The space next door to the market had a film festival going on that night. I think there was also a concert on the other side that night. So many in fact that we couldn't find a spot where six could sit comfortably and we went to the Ares to Blind Goat and the Pizza place. They weren't quite as busy but they had a pretty good crowd. There was a concert in Market Square and it was packed. The Astros game was going on and parking was incredibly expensive and full. We got lucky and found a street parking spot in front of the new Texas Tower. There were more people walking around downtown that I have seen in years. It was pretty incredible. When we finished we came out to even more people who were starting to stream back to the market square area after the astros game, which we won!! It was really exciting to see so many downtown. Id say the crowds are coming back downtown. Also saw some very strange street people acting even stranger which I had to explain to my six year old grandson.

It probably also helped that there was a comic book convention at the GRB.  The Chronicle said there were 48,000 people here for that. 

All those hungry stomachs, and yet Finn Hall was closed.

[bobruss]

There were a ton of people at the convention center in anime and other comic costumes when we passed there on our way to the Post. I just forgot about that, but it sure was nice to see a crowd down town. Just think what its going to be like when Skanska finishes their downtown projects and adds another wrinkle to Discovery, and then we can see what Jim Crane develops around Minute Maid with all that property he's bundled. It's just amazing to me after spending 7  years living in the PPG building on the corner of Crawford and Franklin when it was a relative ghost town before the stadium was finished. The Jackson Barbecue location was a mexican ballroom featuring young girls who you paid to dance with. I never went but you could sure hear the juke box late at night, and I remember it had christmas lights on its marquee. I was running Cabo's at the time and would ride my bike to work.

[editor]

19 hours ago, bobruss said:

The Jackson Barbecue location was a mexican ballroom featuring young girls who you paid to dance with.

That's fun.  Old-fashioned.  Once when my wife asked me to do something, I told her "my dance card is full" and then had to explain to her what that meant.

"A dime a dance" was very common in the old days.  You see it a lot in old movies and current period dramas like Poirot.

[Triton]

On 7/17/2022 at 2:24 PM, editor said:

All those hungry stomachs, and yet Finn Hall was closed.

I don't see Finn Hall surviving, at least in its current state. It's dead during peak lunchtime hours when it should be full of office workers and much to my surprise, was even dead in the evening after hours, when we expected people to be at the bar getting drinks. It was so bad the past few evenings we gone that the singer/guitarist they hire to play live music leaves after about 5 songs because there's literally no one else in there, so he's definitely not getting any tips. 

[Texasota]

People will go out of their way to go to Post but actively avoid going to Finn Hall which is in the middle of everything. A useful reminder that, at the end of the day, the content/ product really matters. And Finn Hall just isn't good enough. At least not for Houston. It might do fine in a lesser food city.

[Nate99]

Finn's choices were pushing it on price even before inflation got going.  DT workers might go there a couple of times a month, but it would have drained the budgets of most cube dwellers.  I tried nearly all of the first group of stall vendors, and I only really enjoyed the Korean place.  The Mediterranean-ish place, the one in the corner closest to Main (Dish Society?), and the burger place were all more expensive than something equivalent or better quality wise that you could find within a five minute walk.  The pizza booth didn't last long at all, I'm guessing because of the rent. Pizza is cheap to make, hard to justify the extra charge. 

Then DT evacuated for a year. Maybe someone will figure out a better formula there. 

[rechlin]

I wanted to like Finn Hall, I really did.  But their most interesting place (Mala Sichuan) quickly went downhill (switching to more American Chinese, which we don't need more of downtown) and then closed, and always the prices at all the vendors were too high, so I haven't eaten there in a long time now.  I'd rather spend $12 for lunch than $20.

[editor]

2 hours ago, Texasota said:

People will go out of their way to go to Post but actively avoid going to Finn Hall which is in the middle of everything. A useful reminder that, at the end of the day, the content/ product really matters. And Finn Hall just isn't good enough. At least not for Houston. It might do fine in a lesser food city.

I think it might do OK, even with lesser food.  For the downtown crowd, which is largely office workers and tourists, its fundamental flaws to me are:

• Short operating hours
• Not open on weekends
• Half of the stalls are vacant

If it brought in some b-list, or chain restaurants, even that would help.  Look at the food court under Pennzoil Place.  That place is absolutely mobbed at lunch time.  People wait in line 45 minutes to get Treebeards to go.  The Chick-fil-a is still busy at 5pm when everything else has closed.

I think Treebeards would be a good fit for Finn Hall.  The one at Pennzoil is always busy, and it's a local brand.  There's another Treebeards at the Episcopal Cathedral at Fannin and Texas.  A third outlet seems warranted.

[mkultra25]

1 hour ago, editor said:

I think Treebeards would be a good fit for Finn Hall.  The one at Pennzoil is always busy, and it's a local brand.  There's another Treebeards at the Episcopal Cathedral at Fannin and Texas.  A third outlet seems warranted.

There's also one underneath 1100 Louisiana (Enterprise Plaza). I haven't been there in a very long time, but when it was a regular stop on my lunch rotation, the line was frequently out the door. 

[j_cuevas713]

2 hours ago, editor said:

I think it might do OK, even with lesser food.  For the downtown crowd, which is largely office workers and tourists, its fundamental flaws to me are:

• Short operating hours
• Not open on weekends
• Half of the stalls are vacant

If it brought in some b-list, or chain restaurants, even that would help.  Look at the food court under Pennzoil Place.  That place is absolutely mobbed at lunch time.  People wait in line 45 minutes to get Treebeards to go.  The Chick-fil-a is still busy at 5pm when everything else has closed.

I think Treebeards would be a good fit for Finn Hall.  The one at Pennzoil is always busy, and it's a local brand.  There's another Treebeards at the Episcopal Cathedral at Fannin and Texas.  A third outlet seems warranted.

I completely agree. Isn't it great how not being open on the weekends is important now? It was almost a given just a few years back that the weekends were a dead time for any business downtown. That's def a negative for Finn Hall right now, they need to expand their hours already. Most places are getting back to normal and Finn is still operating on a mid pandemic schedule. 

[hindesky]

https://abc13.com/houston-historic-barbara-jordan-post-office-rooftop-skyfarm-park/12054190/

[hindesky]

Drone show at the Post turns out to be a commercial for.....

https://www.chron.com/food/article/post-houston-raid-drone-show-17380119.php

[mkultra25]

17 hours ago, hindesky said:

Drone show at the Post turns out to be a commercial for.....

https://www.chron.com/food/article/post-houston-raid-drone-show-17380119.php

Somewhere, the Holder's Pest Control neon cockroach is smiling.

[BEES?!]

That is absolutely hilarious hahaha

Edited August 19, 2022 by BEES?!

[editor]

On 8/17/2022 at 8:47 PM, hindesky said:

Drone show at the Post turns out to be a commercial for.....

https://www.chron.com/food/article/post-houston-raid-drone-show-17380119.php

Remember when everyone lost their coolant when Continental projected its logo on top of its tower?  "Commercial messages!??! Not in Houston's skyline!!!"

[JBTX]

On 7/19/2022 at 10:47 AM, editor said:

I think it might do OK, even with lesser food.  For the downtown crowd, which is largely office workers and tourists, its fundamental flaws to me are:

• Short operating hours
• Not open on weekends
• Half of the stalls are vacant

If it brought in some b-list, or chain restaurants, even that would help.  Look at the food court under Pennzoil Place.  That place is absolutely mobbed at lunch time.  People wait in line 45 minutes to get Treebeards to go.  The Chick-fil-a is still busy at 5pm when everything else has closed.

I think Treebeards would be a good fit for Finn Hall.  The one at Pennzoil is always busy, and it's a local brand.  There's another Treebeards at the Episcopal Cathedral at Fannin and Texas.  A third outlet seems warranted.

Finn Hall finally caved. Open on weekends (Saturday's only, but it's a start) starting in September:
https://houston.eater.com/2022/8/24/23319934/houston-downtown-food-court-finn-hall-expansion-openings

Edited August 24, 2022 by JBTX

[editor]

3 hours ago, JBTX said:

Finn Hall finally caved. Open on weekends (Saturday's only, but it's a start) starting in September:
https://houston.eater.com/2022/8/24/23319934/houston-downtown-food-court-finn-hall-expansion-openings

Baby steps.  But I guess this means I can try out that new coffee shop!

[BEES?!]

Buildout for Common Desk was underway today. There were workers there. It’s on the first floor in the Z atrium.

Edited September 1, 2022 by BEES?!
Added photo