Museo Institute For The Medical Arts In The Museum District

[hindesky]

Dr. Mike Mann eyes next phase of development.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2022/05/05/mann-eye-institute-museum-district-development.html

[Urbannizer]

1 hour ago, hindesky said:

Dr. Mike Mann eyes next phase of development.

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2022/05/05/mann-eye-institute-museum-district-development.html

Good to hear the residential tower is still 58-stories.

 

Now that the Mann Eye Institute's new medical office building has opened in the Museum District, founder Dr. Mike Mann has shared more plans about the mixed-use development it will anchor.

The institute's new headquarters sit at the corner of Fannin Street and Southmore Boulevard, at 5115 Fannin, across the street from the practice’s former offices. Because Mann maintains ownership of his former offices, his long-term vision for the site is to raze them, making way for a luxury hotel and a 58-story multifamily tower. Hotel guests and multifamily residents will be able to access the office building and the restaurants it will house via a skybridge, Mann told the Houston Business Journal.

The idea, Mann said, is to create a self-sustaining ecosystem within the development, in which employees working in the office building can live in the apartment tower and medical patients have easy access to the hotel after undergoing surgery.

“The hotel is really the key to the whole project,” Mann said. “It will allow surgery patients to get back to their hotel room to rest up much more easily because it’s right across the street.”

However, Mann declined to provide many specifics about the next phase of development, other than to say that the hotel and the multifamily tower will incorporate some of the design elements used in the office building.

[houstontexasjack]

2 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

Good to hear the residential tower is still 58-stories.

 

 

 

From the sounds of it, the hotel would be prioritized in the next phase. The skybridge over Fannin would be interesting.

[hindesky]

All tenants in the old building have moved to the new one. Both it's parking lot and the one next to it are blocked off. The prosed high rise would go in the latter.

[TheSirDingle]

1 hour ago, hindesky said:

All tenants in the old building have moved to the new one. Both it's parking lot and the one next to it are blocked off. The prosed high rise would go in the latter.

It's looking much better now, just wish they would of made all of the glass look like the glass panels on the left, or something that better fits with those panels. If the whole building had that deep blue glass it would look amazing. Doesn't look half bad, but the cyan blue doesn't fit the building. 

Also, excited for the next phase of development hopefully that high rise comes to fruition. 

Edited May 21, 2022 by TheSirDingle

[hindesky]

Crew is starting to remove the scaffolding that surrounds the building.

[H-Town Man]

On 5/5/2022 at 9:38 AM, Urbannizer said:

Good to hear the residential tower is still 58-stories.

 

 

 

That is good to hear. Horrible to hear that there will be a skybridge.

 

[toxtethogrady]

This is way too much of a tease to be real. How does an eye doctor have hundreds of millions in financing to blow on a 58-story residential building?

[hindesky]

11 hours ago, toxtethogrady said:

This is way too much of a tease to be real. How does an eye doctor have hundreds of millions in financing to blow on a 58-story residential building?

Surprisingly he has 18 locations in greater Houston and Austin. I thought he had just the one.

https://www.manneye.com/locations-directions/

[houstontexasjack]

Photos of the lobby. Interesting floor pattern and statues:

 

 

[tangledwoods]

aesthetic dumpster fire.  for an eye doctor, dude doesnt seem to have a good vision.....

[iah77]

1 hour ago, tangledwoods said:

aesthetic dumpster fire.  for an eye doctor, dude doesnt seem to have a good vision.....

People are so critical, it's literally his own personal office building lol. The amount of disused buildings in the area is the real dumpster fire

[EllenOlenska]

OK, I'll come in here with the medium view. I don't entirely dislike the floor. The statuary is...a bit...well this isn't gonna be the Trevi Fountain. The mix up of curtain glass colors was...odd. But I think the proportions of the building aren't terrible, and I'm really excited to see what such a tall tower looks like here. Really excited. 

[Texasota]

The floor is kind of fun. The building is ugly enough that it's kind of starting to grow on me?

 

[hindesky]

I remember what was here before, I prefer the new building.🧐

[houstontexasjack]

15 minutes ago, Texasota said:

The floor is kind of fun. The building is ugly enough that it's kind of starting to grow on me?

 

I like the eyes on the floor. It’s unique and fun.  

[BEES?!]

I’ll defend this dumb thing proudly lol. I really like the exterior with the mismatched colors of glass. It’s weird and fun and feels like a focal point for the area- IMO it’s one of the most unique and interesting buildings that’s gone up in a while. It’s certainly a conversation starter.

I’m interested to see what the high rise will wind up looking like. Will they go for a more subdued color scheme on the glass, or let their freaky flag fly and go all-in on the weird colors?

[EllenOlenska]

Feel like BEES?! is on point. What was a weird choice in the smaller building, with the larger will transcend taste and create its own center of aesthetic gravity. I suppose that's a traditional definition of kitsch, but, I dare everyone involved to do it. 

Edited May 28, 2022 by EllenOlenska

[toxtethogrady]

On 5/27/2022 at 2:16 PM, tangledwoods said:

aesthetic dumpster fire.  for an eye doctor, dude doesnt seem to have a good vision.....

It really has a La Cage aux Folles vibe to it...

[strickn]

5 hours ago, EllenOlenska said:

Feel like BEES?! is on point. What was a weird choice in the smaller building, with the larger will transcend taste and create its own center of aesthetic gravity. I suppose that's a traditional definition of kitsch, but, I dare everyone involved to do it. 

Yes I can get onboard with yours and BEES' attitudes.  If Houston can fill up with a wide range of people's first and second and third drafts of their favorite place to be in the world, then it will remain a tapestry that's a good deal more nuanced than some consistent idea of taste and nuance could ever become.  And I'd rather live in that place, not because of or in spite of its frequent stylistic unevenness (or hamfistedness) but because of the potential for unexpectedly caring about new places and being in deliberately or accidentally profound surroundings.  That beats taste, design, and fine-grained, guaranteed quality to this American, even though kitsch is not my favorite yet.

Edited May 28, 2022 by strickn

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

it's nice, but it's no Cross Eye Center.

[strickn]

drcross.com can put the crosseye of Sauron atop that one  *rimshot*

because like the song says, there's no business like strabismus business  *rimshot with cymbal*

[houstontexasjack]

11 hours ago, BEES?! said:

I’m interested to see what the high rise will wind up looking like. Will they go for a more subdued color scheme on the glass, or let their freaky flag fly and go all-in on the weird colors?

The habitable sculpture concept from Philip Johnson (on which the residential tower is based) back in the day had a bunch of different colors, but the base palette was red.

[editor]

On 5/26/2022 at 4:09 PM, H-Town Man said:

That is good to hear. Horrible to hear that there will be a skybridge.

 

I don't have an opinion about skybridges, other than they're better than tunnels.  What's the beef with skybridges?

[strickn]

Essentially the beef is that it’s a ped tunnel with better daylight but it robs the urban street of people’s presence no less than tunnels would.  However, the eye doctor doesn’t want people getting run over between the operating room and their hotel room, so it is part of the program for the hotel to be in the project (as a convenient place for patients to stay, not only the general public) that they not have to be part of the street life every time they move between buildings.

Edited June 11, 2022 by strickn

[BEES?!]

Yeah lol that makes a lot of sense- and why, I imagine, sky bridges are very prevalent in Med Center, too. 

[H-Town Man]

On 6/11/2022 at 5:05 PM, strickn said:

Essentially the beef is that it’s a ped tunnel with better daylight but it robs the urban street of people’s presence no less than tunnels would.  However, the eye doctor doesn’t want people getting run over between the operating room and their hotel room, so it is part of the program for the hotel to be in the project (as a convenient place for patients to stay, not only the general public) that they not have to be part of the street life every time they move between buildings.

Skybridges don't just rob the street of pedestrians. They create a psychological sense that the street is a second-class location while the glass-enclosed bridges above the street are the first-class location. They rob the street of dignity, and great streets the world over seldom have them. They're worse than tunnels because you don't have to look at the tunnel. They are characteristic of second-tier cities where the public sphere is weak and the private sphere is overly powerful, and people don't want to walk on the street because it is thought to be a gross and scary place full of homeless.

I can't take too seriously that there is a risk of eyecare patients getting run over if they don't have a skybridge to get them across the street. How did they get to the hotel in the first place? If you can drive, you can cross a street. If somebody drove you, they can walk you across the street.

Edited June 13, 2022 by H-Town Man

[Big E]

4 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

Skybridges don't just rob the street of pedestrians. They create a psychological sense that the street is a second-class location while the glass-enclosed bridges above the street are the first-class location. They rob the street of dignity, and great streets the world over seldom have them. They are characteristic of second-tier cities where the public sphere is weak and the private sphere is overly powerful, and people don't want to walk on the street because it is thought to be a gross and scary place full of homeless.

I can't take too seriously that there is a risk of eyecare patients getting run over if they don't have a skybridge to get them across the street. How did they get to the hotel in the first place? If you can drive, you can cross a street. If somebody drove you, they can walk you across the street.

Why would you ask people to walk across a busy street, with traffic, when you can just have them walk in an air conditioned sky bridge? This is all part of one development, and the developers have a vested interest in keeping those who visit inside the development. They don't care about the street.

[H-Town Man]

37 minutes ago, Big E said:

Why would you ask people to walk across a busy street, with traffic, when you can just have them walk in an air conditioned sky bridge? This is all part of one development, and the developers have a vested interest in keeping those who visit inside the development. They don't care about the street.

We are talking about walking across *a street* correct? I just want to make sure we are both talking about the same thing. Crossing one street in the Museum District. Not crossing a freeway. Not crossing an eight-lane road. A single street in a neighborhood that you hope becomes an interesting neighborhood where people walk around, not a repeat of the Medical Center and its jumble of skybridges, garages, and faceless buildings that nobody wants to walk around.

Fannin has a traffic count of 15,683 a day. Not very busy. You push a button on the crosswalk and wait for the walk sign to appear. Why would a developer in an urban setting have an interest (vested or not) in keeping those who visit inside the development? It's a hotel, and there are lots of tourist attractions nearby... are you saying that you don't want people walking to those attractions? This isn't the Gaylord Texan where you want everyone to stay bottled up inside your development. Of course you care about the street. It makes the hotel more desirable if there's a nice active street to walk on. Someone visiting a museum is more likely to stay at your hotel, etc.

 

 

Edited June 13, 2022 by H-Town Man

[j_cuevas713]

54 minutes ago, Big E said:

Why would you ask people to walk across a busy street, with traffic, when you can just have them walk in an air conditioned sky bridge? This is all part of one development, and the developers have a vested interest in keeping those who visit inside the development. They don't care about the street.

Yeah hard pass