Houston Center Redevelopment

[Nate99]

The elevators in 3HC/Fulbright Tower will get you closer to CFA if the guv takes you up on the offer, but you'll have to eat in the skybridge. 

The usability of this place is drastically reduced at the moment, the few shops hanging on there must be getting a massive rent break to bother staying open in a place that can't handle what they signed up for in terms of access to and amenities for their customers.  I'd imagine that they were pretty close to shutting everything down completely.   

[X.R.]

Yup, that looks about as painful a remodel as most of expected. I've been avoiding going in since this started when I'm working DT.

Not gonna lie though, despite my initial hand-wringing, from the outside this is looking like a hell of an update. They were taking even more brick off late last week. We may get the refresher we hoped for after all!

[sapo2367]

I'm in the shops often for lunch at work and the restaurants are as busy as they were pre-construction. Yeah it looks messy but I'm still able to access all the same places and access the entrances/exits (including the elevators on the Phoenicia side). I'll be honest, the place looked pretty rough/broken down before they started on this project....

[rechlin]

There is an elevator facing Phoenicia that is open to get up to the Shops level.  Note that the adjacent stairs there do not work -- the door is inexplicably locked at the Shops level so you'll have to walk all the way back down again and then take the elevator if you make the same mistake as I made of trying the steps.

Unfortunately the Fulbright tower is also under renovation now, so you can't use the escalators there to get up to the Shops level either.  There's an elevator in the far back of that also, which seems to be the only way I found to get up.

Access to the Shops is just really terrible now, but there are at least two elevators to get to them.

[editor]

21 hours ago, rechlin said:

There is an elevator facing Phoenicia that is open to get up to the Shops level.  Note that the adjacent stairs there do not work -- the door is inexplicably locked at the Shops level so you'll have to walk all the way back down again and then take the elevator if you make the same mistake as I made of trying the steps.

Good to know.  I'll look for that the next time I'm there.

Too bad the people doing the construction couldn't be bothered to put up a sign letting people know about the other elevator, and instead just directed people with walkers and canes and wheelchairs to the stairs.  As I said before, this would be a big multi-agency fine in other cities.

[hindesky]

https://immersivegamebox.com

Architect - https://gmaarchitect.com

[tigereye]

 

[tigereye]

 

[j_cuevas713]

All of that diffused light off the white paint helps brighten the space and makes it appear larger. I'm really loving this renovation even though I was skeptical after they released renderings of the scaled back version of the project.

Edited October 25, 2022 by j_cuevas713

[Nate99]

[004n063]

Anyone have a rendering of the streetscape upgrades on McKinney?

[tigereye]

 

[s3mh]

On 11/11/2022 at 6:07 PM, 004n063 said:

Anyone have a rendering of the streetscape upgrades on McKinney?

This is the website:

https://thehighlighthouston.com/

There was a guy in the tunnel putting up a sign for The Highlight today.  Only the adult putt putt place and the gaming place have been announced as new tenants.  

[004n063]

18 minutes ago, s3mh said:

This is the website:

https://thehighlighthouston.com/

There was a guy in the tunnel putting up a sign for The Highlight today.  Only the adult putt putt place and the gaming place have been announced as new tenants.  

Oh I just meant the streetscape improvements part

[tigereye]

2 hours ago, s3mh said:

This is the website:

https://thehighlighthouston.com/

There was a guy in the tunnel putting up a sign for The Highlight today.  Only the adult putt putt place and the gaming place have been announced as new tenants.  

Never heard of Immersive Gamebox but they’re joining too 

https://immersivegamebox.com/locations/coming-soon/houston-center-houston-tx/#booking

[IntheKnowHouston]

4 hours ago, tigereye said:

Never heard of Immersive Gamebox but they’re joining too 

https://immersivegamebox.com/locations/coming-soon/houston-center-houston-tx/#booking

Yep. Hindsky shared the news over the summer. The post about Immersive Gamebox adding a location at downtown's the Highlight at Houston Center ( 1200 McKinney ) is a few posts up.

 

https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/32092-houston-center-redevelopment/?do=findComment&comment=659344

On 7/20/2022 at 2:00 PM, hindesky said:

https://immersivegamebox.com

Architect - https://gmaarchitect.com

 

Edited November 17, 2022 by IntheKnowHouston

[j_cuevas713]

18 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Oh I just meant the streetscape improvements part

Yeah I hope those painted sections that say "Yall" or whatever they say, become windows

[editor]

I went by today, and a lot of progress has been made.  It's a lot brighter than before. 

 

 

I expected there to be more fundamental changes, not just changing the lights and sheet rock.  It's also far emptier than before.  I expect the owners will struggle a bit filling all of that space.

It would be nice if the city had a program to help incubate small retail businesses downtown.  I've seen it in action elsewhere.

The city gives the building owners a tax break, and the building owners significantly cut the rent for any locally-owned small business.  It's how a lot of food trucks transition to brick-and-mortar in some cities.  It's also good for people who sell plants and local art and such.  Pretty much everything you see on offer in EaDo.

It's good for the small businesses because they get a chance to expand and showcase themselves to a new audience.  It's good for the city because the small businesses can stay in business, employ more people, and pay more taxes, and help revitalize downtown.  And it's good for the buildings because they can cut down on the blight of empty storefronts, while offering new amenities to their tenants.

[j_cuevas713]

10 minutes ago, editor said:

I went by today, and a lot of progress has been made.  It's a lot brighter than before. 

 

 

I expected there to be more fundamental changes, not just changing the lights and sheet rock.  It's also far emptier than before.  I expect the owners will struggle a bit filling all of that space.

It would be nice if the city had a program to help incubate small retail businesses downtown.  I've seen it in action elsewhere.

The city gives the building owners a tax break, and the building owners significantly cut the rent for any locally-owned small business.  It's how a lot of food trucks transition to brick-and-mortar in some cities.  It's also good for people who sell plants and local art and such.  Pretty much everything you see on offer in EaDo.

It's good for the small businesses because they get a chance to expand and showcase themselves to a new audience.  It's good for the city because the small businesses can stay in business, employ more people, and pay more taxes, and help revitalize downtown.  And it's good for the buildings because they can cut down on the blight of empty storefronts, while offering new amenities to their tenants.

Well I mean it's empty because they're working on filling it with all new tenants. Two majors tenants are already signed on that offer something new for downtown entertainment. I expect other places to follow suit as the potential grows. This place reminds me a lot of the downtown mall in Seattle.

Edited December 5, 2022 by j_cuevas713

[editor]

1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Well I mean it's empty because they're working on filling it with all new tenants

I think if they had companies lined up, there would be "coming soon" signs in the windows.  At least, that's how it's done in every other mall I've ever been to.

As for Seattle, I haven't been to its downtown malls in about ten years.  When I lived there, Pacific Place was the nicer of the two, and where I did my banking.  Westlake Center was mid- to lower-end, with a half-dead food court. 

What is it about Houston Center that reminds you of either of those places?

[j_cuevas713]

59 minutes ago, editor said:

I think if they had companies lined up, there would be "coming soon" signs in the windows.  At least, that's how it's done in every other mall I've ever been to.

As for Seattle, I haven't been to its downtown malls in about ten years.  When I lived there, Pacific Place was the nicer of the two, and where I did my banking.  Westlake Center was mid- to lower-end, with a half-dead food court. 

What is it about Houston Center that reminds you of either of those places?

The scale. I don't remember the one I went to, but it was prob Pacific Place

[editor]

11 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

The scale. I don't remember the one I went to, but it was prob Pacific Place

FWIW:

Pacific Place is 335,000 square feet.  Five floors.  Plus a skywalk connection to the flagship Nordstrom departent store.

Westlake Center is 102,706 square feet.  Four floors.  It also has massive (for Seattle) transit connectivity, including a hybrid light rail/bus tunnel station underneath, a monorail station, and the SLUT streetcar right outside.

Does anyone have updated numbers for The Highlight so we can compare?

Also, Pacific Place is one of those places that lets up-and-coming artists and small businesses use vacant retail space dirt cheap to keep the mall from looking empty and abandoned, driving shoppers away.

[Houston19514]

53 minutes ago, editor said:

FWIW:

Pacific Place is 335,000 square feet.  Five floors.  Plus a skywalk connection to the flagship Nordstrom departent store.

Westlake Center is 102,706 square feet.  Four floors.  It also has massive (for Seattle) transit connectivity, including a hybrid light rail/bus tunnel station underneath, a monorail station, and the SLUT streetcar right outside.

Does anyone have updated numbers for The Highlight so we can compare?

About 200,000 square feet

Edited December 6, 2022 by Houston19514

[Houston19514]

1 hour ago, editor said:

FWIW:

Pacific Place is 335,000 square feet.  Five floors.  Plus a skywalk connection to the flagship Nordstrom.

Also, Pacific Place is one of those places that lets up-and-coming artists and small businesses use vacant retail space dirt cheap to keep the mall from looking empty and abandoned, driving shoppers away.

That’s something struggling malls do to try to keep some activity going.

FWIW, Pacific Place is pretty sparsely occupied.  Well less than 50%.  They might be lucky to be at 25%, and that appears to include some of the artist tenants.  

https://pacificplaceseattle.com/map

Edited December 6, 2022 by Houston19514

[monarch]

On 4/22/2015 at 9:22 PM, Montrose1100 said:

I thought Pappadeux's was opening up in the Marriot?

Strip House was nice, shame it didn't make it.

^^^ pappadeaux is already located in AVENIDA HOUSTON.  therefore, there is no need for it to move over to the MARRIOTT MARQUIS...

[editor]

39 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

That’s something struggling malls do to try to keep some activity going.

FWIW, Pacific Place is pretty sparsely occupied.  Well less than 50%.  They might be lucky to be at 25%, and that appears to include some of the artist tenants.  

https://pacificplaceseattle.com/map

It's not my intention to compare Pacific Place, or any other urban mall with The Highlight.  They're almost all struggling, even the ones that defied the trends for so long (Water Tower Place).

If Pacific Place is at 50%, that's probably pretty good since it has competition right across the street.  If The Highlight was at 50%, I think that would be amazing.  But based on the number of vacant storefronts I saw today, I'd say it's lucky if it's at 10%.

I don't think that The Highlight landing a miniature golf course counts as a win.  Just like I think the pop-up Instagram booths that fill spaces at Water Tower Place and Block37 are also lame fillers with no lasting value. 

[editor]

[tigereye]

According to Downtown Houston’s FB post, Federal American Grill will occupy the ground floor space at LyondelBasell Tower in 2023

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0Fa8n8tJQs6kaB9AKKP2umortvVHnpoBi7jyJhaF9gBzhphehaRvUHgPfCxUFbG3sl&id=115104521841645&mibextid=qC1gEa

Edited December 15, 2022 by tigereye

[editor]

55 minutes ago, tigereye said:

According to Downtown Houston’s FB post, Federal American Grill will occupy the ground floor space at LyondelBasell Tower in 2023

https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0Fa8n8tJQs6kaB9AKKP2umortvVHnpoBi7jyJhaF9gBzhphehaRvUHgPfCxUFbG3sl&id=115104521841645&mibextid=qC1gEa

The Downtown District's newsletter yesterday linked to a CultureMap article:

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/restaurants-bars/federal-american-grill-downtown-location-houston-center-matt-brice/

Seems like there's enough office bros back in the towers to justify a new downtown steakhouse.  Good for me.  Just have to dodge the robot security guards there.

[BEES?!]

On 12/8/2022 at 7:32 AM, editor said:

I saw this! Is this gonna be the puttputt place?