803 Fannin Garage: Parking Garage At 803 Fannin St.

[102IAHexpress]

17 minutes ago, UtterlyUrban said:

I would like to understand:  are all cities with light rail networks thinking wrong headed?

 

Possibly. Depends on the underlying justification for light rail construction.

 

If the underlying argument is we need light rail because of the expected increase in ridership. Then we know that's been proven false in city after city. Light rail barely adds any more public transit riders that weren't already there before using public bus transit but at an increased cost of hundreds of millions if not billions of dollars.

 

If the underlying argument is we need light rail because of the expected increase in development. Then we know that's also false in city after city. Look at Dallas Dart stations, look at Metro's Red, Purple and Green stations. 

 

If the argument instead is, we know that light rail is not worth the expense however we still want it anyways because we feel it will increase our quality of life, in the sense that public parks or public swimming pools do, then I'm okay with that. Kind of like the allure of hosting the Olympics, yeah it will be super expensive, and probably end up saddling a city with debt for generations but we still want it anyways. 

 

As long as we're honest about it, then I don't think it's wrong headed. 

[UtterlyUrban]

Are Zurich, London, Vienna, and NYC spending money on light rail only for quality of life?

[102IAHexpress]

5 minutes ago, UtterlyUrban said:

Are Zurich, London, Vienna, and NYC spending money on light rail only for quality of life?

 

No. Not only quality of life. Practically speaking those cities need more rail just to sustain basic quality of life. Also, the heavy rail costs can be justified better in European cities.

 

From a CityLab article from just a few days ago:

Nearly all American urban rail projects cost much more than their European counterparts do. The cheaper ones cost twice as much, and the more expensive ones about seven times as much.

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/01/why-its-so-expensive-to-build-urban-rail-in-the-us/551408/

[UtterlyUrban]

How is the basic quality of life different in those cities?

[hindesky]

[cspwal]

At least its not blank concrete

[kdog08]

On 2/4/2018 at 1:17 PM, 102IAHexpress said:

 

ad hominem attacks are the hallmark of someone with a weak case. For some reason you will not post any data to support your wild claim that the red line created tons of new developments. I have asked in i think at least three posts in this thread, and you refuse to post your data (I think we know why).

 

For those who actually care about data and reason the LA Times published an article yesterday about how billions in public transportation in LA has failed to increase ridership, but offers one possible solution (hint it's not more light rail).

 

LA's Ridership numbers from the article:

 

The following posts, will be something like the following: but but but, LA is not like Houston, it's not a fair comparison, you have no idea what you're talking about. 

 

Anyone with half a brain knows that a good bus system is vital to the success of light rail. 

[Urbannizer]

 

[mollusk]

Please take your rail bickering to the appropriate forum.

 

Crikey. 

[hindesky]

Northernmost section looks topped out to 13 stories.

[cspwal]

At first I thought this was a pre-renovation picture of Le Meridian

[rechlin]

Clearly topped out, as the roof is now on the elevator shaft.  Today is the first time I have seen them doing any serious work during the daytime; until now work didn't start until 5pm.

 

[rechlin]

Looks like they are experimenting with different colors for painting the garage.  Lots of beiges and browns:

 

[Nole23]

what a masterpiece

[hindesky]

Better than a surface lot

[mfastx]

And this is *not* how you do one lol. 

[mollusk]

18 hours ago, hindesky said:

Better than a surface lot

 

Being gassed in your sleep is probably better than being flogged, too. 

[hindesky]

Asked the guys working this if they will close the street when the crane runs out of room, they said yes. Also sounded like they were having a problem with the crane, it needed some mechanical work and they weren't going to be able to unload the beams on a truck.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

Caught them flying up the precast pieces.

First 2 pics are the side pieces

 

These 2 pics are the floor.

[rechlin]

Looks like they finally decided on a color, now that they have painted the north side -- it will match the garage next to it:

 

[cspwal]

It'd be cool if they could have imitated the Le Meridian's style, and had aqua color accents

[Texasota]

No, you see, this is an artistic statement. By putting this featureless concrete parking garage in direct opposition to one of the most attractive historic buildings in the city, they're showing the futility of nostalgia while also commenting on the regimented consistency of contemporary existence. 

[dbigtex56]

(Please forgive me if this has been discussed elsewhere)
How feasible is it to soften the impact of these parking garages by integrating vertical landscaping into the design?
IAPW hardy, easily maintained greenery would disguise the structure, and have a cooling effect, both real and perceived.
We can rule out the more invasive ivies. Tomatoes would be attractive, but they're seasonal and might drop rotting fruit on unsuspecting passersby. Anything that produces pollen or has a scent would be greeted with howls of protest by allergy sufferers, which means everyone in Houston.
I like moss, but some people think it's creepy. 
Does anyone have info on how this can be realistically achieved?

[bobruss]

Dbigtex56, I agree with that idea 100%. I suggested something along those lines for the garage the was recently finished just north of the historic district that is a fairly ugly concrete box.

There are many examples of living walls on the internet but not sure if it something that most garage operators would probably want to keep up with as far as watering and maintaining them. They can be really beautiful and completely change the harshness of a steel and concrete facade.

Heres a link to images of walls. https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=living+plnt+walls&FORM=HDRSC2

Edited April 27, 2018 by bobruss

[hindesky]

They have 2 lanes of Walker closed for the crane and will soon be closing the entire street after they finish this section.

[hindesky]

Street is completely closed for the crane. They weren't working today but the laminated mats are blocking the street.

[lockmat]

There's nothing wrong with making money, but when it's the only thing and the community isn't taken into consideration, it's a real shame. This is a sad project.

[rechlin]

The garage is now complete.  I believe the monthly contract rate is $187+tax.  From a promotional email:

 

• Garage is open to the public starting October 2018
• Garage is used for both visitor and monthly parking
• All garage functions are managed from the 803 Fannin garage office located on the ground level of the garage
  • Office hours from 8am to 5pm M-F
  • Onsite Security 24/7
• Traffic flow through the garage is all one way
• 1,050 Spaces
  • All unreserved spaces
  • Handicapped spaces located on levels 1 and 1 ½ first come first serve
• 13 floors, approximately 399,600 sf
• Three elevators located on the Northwest corner of garage at Fannin and Rusk
• Clearance Height 7'
• Two entrances at Fannin
• Two exits at Walker
• Pedestrian door access
  • Two at Fannin
  • One at Walker
• Traffic egress assistance 4PM-6PM M-F
• Parking access
  • Parking card
  • EZ tag reader
  • High speed roll down grille
• Location
  • West half of the block (block 94)
  • Bounded by Rusk, Fannin, and Walker streets
  • Adjacent to 1110 Rusk Garage
  • Adjacent to renovated Le Meridien Hotel (Formerly known as Melrose)
  • Aloft Hotel on the opposite side of Fannin street
  • Directly beside the Central Station Capitol EB (Red Line) rail on Rusk
  • Directly across from Texaco building (The Star Apartment) on Rusk
  • Across from Club Quarters Hotel on Fannin and Rusk  

Photo from a few minutes ago:

 

[KinkaidAlum]

Such a beautiful restoration and then this gets plopped down next to it. Downtown really needs to address the garage situation. They're a necessary evil but it is well past time to put some design regulations in place.