004n063 Posted April 29, 2023 Share Posted April 29, 2023 6 hours ago, Big E said: The literal biggest middle finger to the neighborhood they could give. If this turns into Houston NIMBYs learning not to emphasize parking in their objections, I'm willing to call it a win. 2 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amlaham Posted April 29, 2023 Share Posted April 29, 2023 I agree that NIMBY is mainly to blame, however, the developer doesn't necessarily have clean hands either. They could EASILY paint it with some kind of mural They could add some kind of green element like the ION garage They could add panels They could/should have done numerous things with the garage that wouldn't have cost them as much but they decided to leave it completely exposed. I'm holding my final judgement until its finished because I still have hope that they'll put ANYTHING on that garage. Literally if they paint the garage black and put glass on the openings (like the Porsche garage on 59), i'll be happy. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted April 30, 2023 Share Posted April 30, 2023 (edited) Apparently, the plan is to paint a great mural on the garage like the X Denver. Edited April 30, 2023 by houstontexasjack 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted April 30, 2023 Share Posted April 30, 2023 6 minutes ago, houstontexasjack said: Apparently, the plan is to paint a great mural on the garage like the X Denver. ^^^ ...says who? as you may attest above, the original renderings/concepts for the X DENVER... illustrated the painted mural style parking garage design. however, the initial as well as current renderings/concepts (that we have all witnessed thus far) for the X HOUSTON... does not indicate any design elements of this particular nature. do you harbor any inside info...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted April 30, 2023 Share Posted April 30, 2023 ^^^ X HOUSTON concept/rendering 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amlaham Posted April 30, 2023 Share Posted April 30, 2023 Maybe we can petition for it somehow? How much could it possibly cost them? 20K max? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted April 30, 2023 Share Posted April 30, 2023 45 minutes ago, monarch said: ^^^ ...says who? as you may attest above, the original renderings/concepts for the X DENVER... illustrated the painted mural style parking garage design. however, the initial as well as current renderings/concepts (that we have all witnessed thus far) for the X HOUSTON... does not indicate any design elements of this particular nature. do you harbor any inside info...? Says a partner at the X Company when I reached out to them. 3 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted April 30, 2023 Share Posted April 30, 2023 13 minutes ago, houstontexasjack said: Says a partner at the X Company when I reached out to them. ^^^ much obliged @houstontexasjack for your prompt response. however, may you please reach out once again to your "partner at the X company" for a more current/recent concept/rendering of the X HOUSTON? as i do recall, once construction began on the X HOUSTON, we really did not receive a more CURRENT concept/rendering. i would love to see this. aren't you curious as well regarding the painted mural parking garage...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 When I went by the site all the workers where in a safety stand down due to a high pressure gas leak. It was really loud so I made a little video of it. All the streets around it were blocked off and HFD was going to cap it off. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hindesky Posted May 2, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted May 2, 2023 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 This is Safety Week at construction sites across the nation. This is from X Houston, notice Il Palazzo condos to the left and Boone Manor in the background. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hindesky Posted May 5, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted May 5, 2023 They are jumping the tower crane 7 sections. 1 is being installed right now and 6 more on the ground. I was talking with a Keystone worker who was rigging the sections up. He said about 10 of his crew is going to Methodist North project next week. He said the plumbers are the ones who hit the high pressure gas pipe on Monday while attempting to install some pipe. It's super hazy due to the smoke from the fields the farmers are burning in southern Mexico. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hindesky Posted May 6, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted May 6, 2023 The now 7 sections taller tower crane. 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post thatguysly Posted May 8, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted May 8, 2023 (edited) This one is becoming very visible from 288. Love pointing out construction to my wife as we drive and she pretends to be interested. Edited May 8, 2023 by thatguysly 2 15 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyc05 Posted May 8, 2023 Share Posted May 8, 2023 54 minutes ago, thatguysly said: This one is becoming very visible from 288. Love pointing out construction to my wife as we drive and she pretends to be interested. I know the feeling most people don't care 😂😭😂 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post cityliving Posted May 8, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted May 8, 2023 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aachor Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 (edited) On 5/8/2023 at 8:15 AM, thatguysly said: This one is becoming very visible from 288. Love pointing out construction to my wife as we drive and she pretends to be interested. Same. Then I describe what it's going to be, and she asks "how do you know all this stuff?!" 😏 Edited May 13, 2023 by aachor 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityliving Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
X.R. Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 It looks like they are done with the garage portion of it? The garage looks different than the drawings, does it not? It seems like they took it upon themselves to make that change. Wonder if they looked at Boone Manor and just decided to copy the look to an extent, because they both use that grey brick to cover portions of the garage. If they did something similar to Boone, I'm not excusing the podium, but it wouldn't be the worst. Also, it a bit funny if they decided to deviate for the better because its almost like they got shamed into doing it because of the quality of the other residential buildings in the area. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityliving Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 The design of the building definitely sucks but I guess in a city like Houston developers can build whatever they want because there is no zoning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooklyn173 Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 Zoning has little impact on good versus bad design. An apathetic market that accepts whatever is dished out is what truly impacts the zeal for better design. If cheap and bland sell, then give 'em cheap and bland. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 ^^^ this particular development is going to become a POWERHOUSE. X always marks the spot... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aachor Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 3 hours ago, cityliving said: The design of the building definitely sucks but I guess in a city like Houston developers can build whatever they want because there is no zoning. Zoning and regulation won't give you good architecture. D.C. has strict zoning regulations and the Federal Government has more money than God, and yet they managed to poop this out. I don't know what's worse, the FBI's HQ, or a 10-story storage building in Houston. And I don't even hate brutalism. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 This building is literally worse than it could have been because the city *didn't* let the developers "build whatever they want". 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooklyn173 Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 The 'developers' were the Federal government and they could build whatever they wanted (within the Federal height regulations for DC) and they are not subject to city zoning regulations. I didn't like the building when it was built but it did win lots of awards at the time (some guy named J. Edgar was very proud of the building). Taste change. People change. Zoning controls have nothing to do with this (or most) designs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted May 16, 2023 Share Posted May 16, 2023 (edited) I'm not talking about the FBI building. I'm talking about X Houston, the building this thread is about. The original design was better, but the planning commission did not grant them a variance for it. In other words, this design is an explicit response to development regulations as applied by the City. Edited May 16, 2023 by Texasota 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hindesky Posted May 19, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted May 19, 2023 Pool deck. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
004n063 Posted May 20, 2023 Share Posted May 20, 2023 Are they covering up that one side for a mural? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cityliving Posted May 26, 2023 Share Posted May 26, 2023 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
__nevii Posted May 26, 2023 Share Posted May 26, 2023 (edited) On 5/15/2023 at 3:58 PM, cityliving said: The design of the building definitely sucks but I guess in a city like Houston developers can build whatever they want because there is no zoning. On 5/15/2023 at 5:25 PM, Brooklyn173 said: Zoning has little impact on good versus bad design. An apathetic market that accepts whatever is dished out is what truly impacts the zeal for better design. If cheap and bland sell, then give 'em cheap and bland. On 5/16/2023 at 7:26 AM, Texasota said: This building is literally worse than it could have been because the city *didn't* let the developers "build whatever they want". Definitely agree with the bottom two posts, it does seem that a true "live-let-live market utopia" could actually have produced a sleeker, sexier, walkable building than what we are getting. The current parking minimum exemptions only encompass Downtown, as well as parts of Midtown and East End, meaning that this building in the Museum District was still subject to the regulations. As a result, the developers were forced by the city to include lots more parking (in garage form) than they would have desired. Parking mandates need to die citywide. Edited May 26, 2023 by __nevii 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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