Texas Tower: Office Skyscraper At 845 Texas Ave.

[phillip_white]

1 hour ago, Nate99 said:

Fair point, but you can get pretty close as long as it's not a Coming to America/McDowell's type situation and/or you set up shop in Barbados or Australia. 

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Funny that you mention Australia. Burger King lost a trademark suit against a small retailer and is known as Hungry Jack's there. But to your point, companies with names of people, cities, or other "public domain" words in their names have an extremely difficult time defending trademark rights.

[ArtNsf]

On 10/16/2021 at 8:40 PM, Highrise Tower said:

My friend asked me to post her pictures.

Gorgeous tower(s).  And, look at that incredibly blue glowing Houston October sky !

 

[Luminare]

This building has been getting some nice coverage courtesy of Fox during the World Series. Talk about great scheduling when your point of substantial completion is during coverage of the World Series. Almost like they planned it.

[kbates2]

Would have been cool if they had the crown lighting finished by now.  The one section that is finished looks amazing with lit up in orange.

[j_cuevas713]

On 10/28/2021 at 1:28 PM, Luminare said:

This building has been getting some nice coverage courtesy of Fox during the World Series. Talk about great scheduling when your point of substantial completion is during coverage of the World Series. Almost like they planned it.

Some of those shots of downtown on FOX are awesome! 

[Highrise Tower]

@Executive cleaningmight have the photo of the week. wow!!

[Urbannizer]

I love this building but why does the mechanical penthouse have to stick out like a sore thumb.

[hindesky]

[Highrise Tower]

 

[monarch]

^^^ my goodness!  talk about strikingly beautiful...

[Nate99]

Sidewalk barriers are gone. 
 

 

[H-Town Man]

2 hours ago, Nate99 said:

Sidewalk barriers are gone. 
 

 

This picture made my day. I have not generally liked this building so far, as I fear the march of glass and concrete into the Historic District. But at ground level, this is pivotal for downtown Houston. We have not, since before World War II, seen a Class A office building that devoted such attention to the ground level, sidewalk experience. Texas Commerce Tower had ground floor retail as a nod to Main Street, but it was in the parking garage building. BG Group Place turned a cold shoulder to Main. 609 Main has ground floor retail but it's sort of an afterthought architecturally; the emphasis is increasing but it's not really there yet. But this building (1) sharply differentiates the first two floors from the rest of the building, (2) puts the retail on the best street frontage, Texas Avenue, (3) makes the office entrance secondary to the retail - a total revolution for downtown, and (4) adds a canopy as a significant architectural component, in the tradition of the Rice Hotel, acknowledging the climate and the needs of pedestrians, i.e., people who are not necessarily tenants of the building (!). I mean, you literally have to go back to the days of the Gulf Building, 1929, to see this kind of recognition of the street and the public domain in a Houston office building. Obviously the Houston Center reno gives similar attention, but that's a renovation. This is the most premium product from the most premium developer in Houston. A century has gone by and the circle is complete; an era has finally ended, a new one has begun.

 

Edited November 8, 2021 by H-Town Man

[Nate99]

17 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

This picture made my day. I have not generally liked this building so far, as I fear the march of glass and concrete into the Historic District. But at ground level, this is pivotal for downtown Houston. We have not, since before World War II, seen a Class A office building that devoted such attention to the ground level, sidewalk experience. Texas Commerce Tower had ground floor retail as a nod to Main Street, but it was in the parking garage building. BG Group Place turned a cold shoulder to Main. 609 Main has ground floor retail but it's sort of an afterthought architecturally; the emphasis is increasing but it's not really there yet. But this building (1) sharply differentiates the first two floors from the rest of the building, (2) puts the retail on the best street frontage, Texas Avenue, (3) makes the office entrance secondary to the retail - a total revolution for downtown, and (4) adds a canopy as a significant architectural component, in the tradition of the Rice Hotel, acknowledging the climate and the needs of pedestrians, i.e., people who are not necessarily tenants of the building (!). I mean, you literally have to go back to the days of the Gulf Building, 1929, to see this kind of recognition of the street and the public domain in a Houston office building. Obviously the Houston Center reno gives similar attention, but that's a renovation. This is the most premium product from the most premium developer in Houston. A century has gone by and the circle is complete; an era has finally ended, a new one has begun.

 

Good description. It really fits with the Rice on the next block. It should make the Sambuca space and the open spot that used to be the sushi/Japanese place more attractive. 

That block had been basically shut off from pedestrian traffic since 2016, with a year-ish in there when it was the surface lot. It's been a long time coming, but the streetscape of Texas Ave/Street is vastly improved. Wyatt square has a year or two to get done, and there's still the lot down by Catalyst/Urban League, but that whole street from the Wortham down to the ballpark is like another city from what it was 15 years ago. 

Get the MMP mixed used thing up and down and it's a pretty organically done makeover.

Edited November 8, 2021 by Nate99

[nate4l1f3]

2 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

This picture made my day. I have not generally liked this building so far, as I fear the march of glass and concrete into the Historic District. But at ground level, this is pivotal for downtown Houston. We have not, since before World War II, seen a Class A office building that devoted such attention to the ground level, sidewalk experience. Texas Commerce Tower had ground floor retail as a nod to Main Street, but it was in the parking garage building. BG Group Place turned a cold shoulder to Main. 609 Main has ground floor retail but it's sort of an afterthought architecturally; the emphasis is increasing but it's not really there yet. But this building (1) sharply differentiates the first two floors from the rest of the building, (2) puts the retail on the best street frontage, Texas Avenue, (3) makes the office entrance secondary to the retail - a total revolution for downtown, and (4) adds a canopy as a significant architectural component, in the tradition of the Rice Hotel, acknowledging the climate and the needs of pedestrians, i.e., people who are not necessarily tenants of the building (!). I mean, you literally have to go back to the days of the Gulf Building, 1929, to see this kind of recognition of the street and the public domain in a Houston office building. Obviously the Houston Center reno gives similar attention, but that's a renovation. This is the most premium product from the most premium developer in Houston. A century has gone by and the circle is complete; an era has finally ended, a new one has begun.

 

How in the world was this allowed to happen? I still don’t understand it. 

[H-Town Man]

46 minutes ago, nate4l1f3 said:

How in the world was this allowed to happen? I still don’t understand it. 

Well, there's no design review or zoning so up to the developer and possibly the tenant. I think Hines made it optional for the tenant to open to the exterior and Frost Bank didn't want to. Hines did envision that building as an attempt to revitalize central downtown, but it was more like, "We shall grace them with the presence of our expensive building" rather than really embracing the place architecturally. They saved the Stowers Building, though, and put a nice lobby on Rusk, so baby steps. The urban renaissance hadn't happened in Houston at that point, although people on here were trying to awaken understanding and the city and Metro were doing all they could with things like the Main Street rebuild, Cotswold Project, etc.

 

[MidCenturyMoldy]

3 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

This picture made my day. I have not generally liked this building so far, as I fear the march of glass and concrete into the Historic District. But at ground level, this is pivotal for downtown Houston. We have not, since before World War II, seen a Class A office building that devoted such attention to the ground level, sidewalk experience. Texas Commerce Tower had ground floor retail as a nod to Main Street, but it was in the parking garage building. BG Group Place turned a cold shoulder to Main. 609 Main has ground floor retail but it's sort of an afterthought architecturally; the emphasis is increasing but it's not really there yet. But this building (1) sharply differentiates the first two floors from the rest of the building, (2) puts the retail on the best street frontage, Texas Avenue, (3) makes the office entrance secondary to the retail - a total revolution for downtown, and (4) adds a canopy as a significant architectural component, in the tradition of the Rice Hotel, acknowledging the climate and the needs of pedestrians, i.e., people who are not necessarily tenants of the building (!). I mean, you literally have to go back to the days of the Gulf Building, 1929, to see this kind of recognition of the street and the public domain in a Houston office building. Obviously the Houston Center reno gives similar attention, but that's a renovation. This is the most premium product from the most premium developer in Houston. A century has gone by and the circle is complete; an era has finally ended, a new one has begun.

 

In late August of 2019 I decided to go check out Understory for lunch. I was walking along the building on the Rusk Street side wondering what-the-eff is wrong with this city that no one builds arcades or some sort of shade devices to protect pedestrians from the killer sun. This building is a welcome change. But is it the beginning of a trend? I personally just can't muster that much optimism. 

[tigereye]

Vid from the top of the crown of Texas Tower by skyscraper scalers on IG. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CU_Vy0-ACTY/?utm_medium=copy_link

 

[H-Town Man]

19 hours ago, MidCenturyMoldy said:

In late August of 2019 I decided to go check out Understory for lunch. I was walking along the building on the Rusk Street side wondering what-the-eff is wrong with this city that no one builds arcades or some sort of shade devices to protect pedestrians from the killer sun. This building is a welcome change. But is it the beginning of a trend? I personally just can't muster that much optimism. 

The Discovery West tower by Skanska has the retail entrances recessed from the above facade, so that pedestrians have shade cover as they walk along Lamar Street.

 

[editor]

FWIW, for the last few days, I've noticed that they're cleaning up the ground floor, preparing to reopen the curb lanes and finishing up the sidewalks.

[editor]

On 11/8/2021 at 1:51 PM, MidCenturyMoldy said:

In late August of 2019 I decided to go check out Understory for lunch. I was walking along the building on the Rusk Street side wondering what-the-eff is wrong with this city that no one builds arcades or some sort of shade devices to protect pedestrians from the killer sun.

In Chicago, nobody built arcades, either, until the city gave the developers reasons to do so.  Now, if a building has an arcade or a public through-lobby, the developer gets extra height allowance.

Obviously, that won't work in Houston, since the developers decide their own heights.  But perhaps there is some other carrot that can be offered to make these skyscrapers more neighborhood-friendly. 

[tangledwoods]

Quote

Obviously, that won't work in Houston, since the developers decide their own heights.  But perhaps there is some other carrot that can be offered to make these skyscrapers more neighborhood-friendly. 

The problem is that you really want the arcade along the sidewalk, but our sidewalks are often utility easements / building setbacks.  I think the simple thing to do would be to confirm a maximum height on the aerial easement that the utilities and city can have that way more developers would be encouraged to do what Hines did here.  Centerpoint is a HUGE jerk when it comes to easement standards and while I 100% understand the need for safety standards, their requirements are more often out of laziness and accessibility for their trucks.

It would also help if the city could define canopies as exempt from setback requirements.

[Nate99]

 

 

[Highrise Tower]

Lobby interior shot. Nice!

[jermh]

Edited November 15, 2021 by jermh

[tangledwoods]

There is no question this is a nice building, but I cant help but feel this building already looks dated.  This building just kinda looks like a really clean 15 year old building.

[Texasota]

I think the ground level looks better/more contemporary, and it's definitely more pedestrian friendly than a 15 year old building would likely be. 

And I like the shape - it will never be the crown jewel of the skyline, and in fact is seriously overshadowed by its residential neighbor, but it's pretty solid.

[Houston19514]

It looks like What If Syndicate has adjusted their plans.  They had planned a concept called Delilah's in both Texas Tower and on State Street in Chicago's Gold Coast.  They are still planning the same concept but changed the name to "Cafe Sophie".  Cafe Sophie will feature pastries, wood-fired breakfast sandwiches, and a full bar: it’s a space designed for customers to stay a while. There will also be a retail section where visitors can buy home kitchen supplies. (This description is specifically for their Gold Coast location, bu they also say they have a signed lease in Houston for the same concept.)

(It turns out the owner of the other Delilah's in Chicago objected to their use of that name.)

 

https://chicago.eater.com/2021/11/12/22778060/cafe-sophie-chicago-gold-coast-what-if-maple-ash-all-day-european?fbclid=IwAR1V47M_1iS1CWtEXUff808ed-yzU3lvwp9GoWg0zqKLWoCQhIZY9WBG1nQ

Edited November 16, 2021 by Houston19514

[H-Town Man]

18 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

(It turns out the owner of the other Delilah's in Chicago objected to their use of that name.)

Ohhh, Christmas comes early for Houston 19514.

 

[West Timer]

On 11/15/2021 at 12:16 AM, jermh said:

Those shots make Texas Tower look better than the renderings. Usually works the opposite way. Refreshing to see reality surpass dreams for a change. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by West Timer

[Luminare]

On 11/14/2021 at 11:16 PM, jermh said:

Been noticing the pictures that you been posting lately, and all I want to say is keep it up. They look great. What some have been saying on here is right, you definitely capture the building as it was sold in the render, yet at the same time it has surpassed the render itself. Looking forward to more pictures from you.