Downtown

Downtown
02/05/10 10:50am

Inside the Harris County Jail

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Institutional Buildings, Interiors
10 Comments

The Chronicle’s Chris Moran finds inmates on the move at 1200 Baker St.:

They were working, waiting in line for the dentist, moving to other floors to appointments (medical, dietician, counseling, therapy) getting processed for release or shuffling off to a court appearance. In fact, my guess is I saw fewer inmates inside cells than on the move.

As a result, it seemed as though nearly as many uniformed detention officers, sheriff’s deputies and mental health and medical professionals were moving and monitoring as well.

The concrete halls amplify and echo sound, so any time someone raised his voice it startled me a bit. And the rattling of leg irons always sounded as if it were coming from just a few feet behind me even if the inmates were far away.

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Discovery Green
02/03/10 3:43pm

How Does a Nice Meal at Discovery Green Sound?

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Downtown, Restaurants, Washington Corridor
21 Comments

The Wall Street Journal‘s Katy McLaughlin picks on a few loud restaurants:

Many of the most cutting-edge, design conscious restaurants are introducing a new level of noise to today’s already voluble restaurant scene. The new noisemakers: Restaurants housed in cavernous spaces with wood floors, linen-free tables, high ceilings and lots of windows—all of which cause sound to ricochet around what are essentially hard-surfaced echo chambers.

Upscale restaurants have done away with carpeting, heavy curtains, tablecloths, and plush banquettes gradually over the decade, and then at a faster pace during the recession, saying such touches telegraph a fine-dining message out of sync with today’s cost-conscious, informal diner. Those features, though, were also sound absorbing. . . .

Restaurateurs often say the only complaints they get about noise are from older clientele. As people age—and particularly when they are 65 or older—they often lose acuity in hearing high-frequency sounds, making it harder to understand speech, says Mark Ross, a professor emeritus of audiology at the University of Connecticut.

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Attractions
01/27/10 3:28pm

Drive-By: The Cop Copter Inside Headquarters

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Downtown, Houston Architects, Museums
10 Comments

Now hanging above the ground floor of the Houston Police Dept. headquarters building at 1200 Travis St. Downtown, just outside the police chief’s media briefing room: a retired police helicopter. It’s part of Brave/Architecture’s design for the HPD Museum, which is being relocated from the Houston Police Academy building near IAH.

Renderings and a construction photo of the new 3,050-sq.-ft. museum space, copter and all:

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Downtown
01/19/10 2:32pm

One Shell Plaza: License To Cruise

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Highrises, Houston History, Office Buildings
8 Comments

At the end of a long article chewing over the possibility that Shell Oil might move out of its longtime Downtown office-tower home, real estate writer and promoter and longtime mustache-wearer Ralph Bivins finally reveals why he likes One Shell Plaza so much: Long ago, the 50-story concrete building with the travertine facing saved him and his brother-in-law from a possible night in the slammer.

A few decades ago, the Houston Police Department employed some officers who had a sore spot against guys with long hair and other suspected hippies. Anytime, you could get pulled over because having long hair and a mustache was “probable cause” for HPD to make a traffic stop. I was in the passenger seat late one night when my slightly shaggy brother-in-law got pulled over in the Montrose area. Even though we were doing nothing wrong, the policeman gave him general hassle, scrutiny and in-depth questioning.

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Cancellations and Delays
01/05/10 5:06pm

Downtown Sheraton-Lincoln Redo: Too Many Reservations

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Commercial Real Estate, Downtown, Hotels, Quicklink
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DOWNTOWN SHERATON-LINCOLN REDO: TOO MANY RESERVATIONS Hey, how about those plans to renovate the vacant 1962 Sheraton-Lincoln Hotel on Polk St. Downtown between Louisiana and Milam, and turn the once-swank 28-story hulk into an all-suites hotel with meeting spaces and restaurants? “More than two years later, it doesn’t look like much work has been done at all. ‘Omni is not involved in the project,’ Caryn Kboudi, a representative for Omni Hotels, told Hair Balls. ‘I believe Songy still is.’ . . . The Harris County Appraisal District lists the owner of the building as Downtown Houston Hospitality LP, which is based out of Atlanta, the same place as the Songy corporate headquarters. That could be a sign that Songy still owns the property, but it’s impossible to say, because no one from Songy has returned our phone calls or e-mails.” [Hair Balls]

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Comments
12/10/09 3:50pm

Comment of the Day: Not So Dry in the Hogan-Allnoch Dry Goods Building

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Demolitions, Downtown, Historic Preservation, Quicklink
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COMMENT OF THE DAY: NOT SO DRY IN THE HOGAN-ALLNOCH DRY GOODS BUILDING “I looked at this building for a client last month and can tell you that it is in BAD shape. Despite what the court may have decided, Harris County has already accomplished ‘demolition by neglect’ on this building. It has MAJOR structural problems and pieces of the building are literally falling on the sidewalk below. The masonry wall is coming apart due to extreme settlement, failing lintels, and 80 years of water infiltration. The most amazing thing about this building was to see that most of the wood joists in the building have twisted and cracked as the floors have moved due to the settlement of the exterior walls. The only way to save the building would be to literally tear it down brick by brick and rebuild it one brick at a time. Additionally large portions of the heavy timber structure would have to be replaced due to the cracking but also due to water damage on the south facade. There is a Walter P. Moore report that confirms most of this. In the interests of public safety, (unfortunately) the wrecking ball is the only solution for this building.” [mt, commenting on Old Building Still Blocking 27 Cars from Parking Downtown]

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Apartments
12/09/09 2:41pm

Old Building Still Blocking 27 Cars from Parking Downtown

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Demolitions, Downtown, Historic Preservation, Minute Maid Park, Parking, Public Buildings
4 Comments

What’s getting in the way of county commissioners extending the clear zone around Minute Maid Park with a much-needed 27-car county parking lot at the corner of Texas Ave. and Austin St.? Well, there was the owner of a Galena Park chemical business who shouted from the back of the room at yesterday’s commissioners court hearing that he wanted to buy the building sitting on that land — the 1923 Hogan-Allnoch Dry Goods Building at 1319 Texas Ave. — and turn it into a nutcracker factory or something. Plus, darn it, the building is getting less valuable as time goes by!

The building has gone to auction twice. In 2007, the minimum bid was set at its appraised value of $3.25 million. For a September auction, the appraised value was lowered to $1.98 million. There were no takers at either auction.

Lawrence Chapman of the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance said the most recent auction used an outdated 2008 appraisal and that a new appraisal would bring in an even lower price tag that could save the four-story building from demolition.

Art Storey, the county’s public infrastructure director, estimated the building would cost $150,000 to demolish, but as much as $5 million to restore.

And so the latest delay: Commissioners voted to circle the block for another 3 months — and get another appraisal in the meantime.

Photo: Flickr user telwink [license]

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Development Regulations
12/09/09 10:14am

La Carafe Having Trouble Spilling Over into the Lot Next Door

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Downtown, Houston History, Nightlife
14 Comments

Owner Carolyn Wenglar reports she is having a few problems getting a permit for the planned expansion of La Carafe across from Market Square Downtown. Wenglar recently purchased the adjacent vacant lot on the corner of Travis and Congress, and had plans to turn it into a beer and wine garden for long-storied bar she’s owned for more than 20 years. John Nova Lomax reports:

. . . she has been told that patrons would not be allowed to carry drinks from the bar to the tables on the lot. Wenglar told Hair Balls that the narrow space between the two properties is a city-owned alley, and to cross that alley with booze in hand would . . . be in violation of Texas liquor laws, and thus have held up her permit.

The La Carafe building, which began its life in 1847 as a bakery — and at one point served as a Pony Express station — is just 15 ft. wide. The alley runs along its east side.

Photo: Flickr user Richart

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Commercial Real Estate
11/20/09 2:52pm

The Surrender of Greenway Plaza: Morgan Stanley’s Great Houston Office Building Investment Flop

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Downtown, Galleria, Greenway Plaza, Office Buildings, Real Estate Investing
4 Comments

What do all these Houston office towers have in common?

That’s right — they’re all part of the vast Crescent Real Estate Equities empire, which at the peak of the market 2 years ago comprised 54 properties in all, stretching from Texas to the California coast. That’s when Morgan Stanley snatched up the whole thing for a mere $6.5 billion, thanks in part to a little $2 billion loan from Barclays Capital.

Today, Morgan Stanley announced it is giving up on the whole thing. Back to the bank all those properties go. All of them. (Okay, minus a few that were jettisoned along the way.)

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Development Strategies
11/18/09 2:18pm

History in the Making

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Downtown, Historic Preservation, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Real Estate Investing, Transportation
6 Comments

HISTORY IN THE MAKING A whole lotta railroad action next to the site of the planned Crawford Stations on the East End line, between Minute Maid Park and Discovery Green — but will this train be rolling?: “If a series of deals go through, the city would be able to create a ‘super block’ previously eyed for a new hotel, redevelop Avenida De Las Americas and move two historic houses and a railroad engine to create a small historic area on the eastern side of downtown. The train would complement the homes and proposed heritage center — which would be paid for with privately raised funds — and underscore the importance of locomotives in Houston’s history in facilities across the street from the former Union Station. . . . But the plans also call for an unusual process to sell land to a wealthy, well-connected real estate investor and former council member, and force the city to move the historic homes.. . . Several City Council members raised questions about the initial step in the process, which the council will consider today, to appoint an independent appraiser to name a price for the land on Avenida De Las Americas, between Capitol and Rusk. If the city sees the price as favorable and decides to sell, it would then be up to Louis Macey, who owns a far larger piece of land that abuts the area, to buy. . . . Andy Icken, deputy director of the city’s Department of Public Works and Engineering, said the city needs to relocate the homes before the Metropolitan Transit Authority begins building light rail lines along Capitol and Rusk. . . . The city has chosen to sell the houses through a process normally used with abandonments because it is likely to get more money that way, he said. By itself the land’s potential may be limited, but if an appraiser can consider its value in the context of other downtown land — which is possible in this case because Macey is the adjacent landowner — it is almost certain to fetch a higher price, he said.” [Houston Chronicle]

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Commercial Real Estate
11/16/09 1:03pm

Kiddie Party on the Plaza: A Discovery Tower Construction Update

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Downtown, Green Design and Development, Highrises, New Construction, Office Buildings
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A reader sends in photos of the new Hess Tower, formerly known as Discovery Tower, under construction adjacent to Discovery Green Downtown.

You can see the tower isn’t quite finished yet but it sure looks like that plaza in front of it already is! Though really, all those office workers look a little young, don’t you think?

More pics:

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Attractions
11/11/09 6:50pm

Openings and Closings: That Flood of New Establishments

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Baytown, Downtown, East Montrose, Galveston, Houston Heights, Hyde Park, Montrose, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers, Spring Branch, Strip Centers, Upper Kirby, Washington Corridor, West End
2 Comments

So much new stuff going on it’s impossible to keep track of it all!

  • Opening Soon? A new “Houston Ave. Bar” at the site of the former Farmers Coffee Shop on the corner of Houston Ave. and White Oak. Here’s the evidence: A permit for a “2 story addition” to the property was approved by the city last month. The corner is already a popular gathering place for floodwaters — several commenters on HAIF have posted photos of the intersection after Hurricane Ike (see above) and Tropical Storm Allison.
  • Moved: The Central City Co-op Wednesday market, from that Ecclesia space next to the Taft St. Coffee House to new digs at the Grace Lutheran Church at 2515 Waugh, just north of Missouri St. Sunday markets are still at Discovery Green. Next up for the co-op crew: Selling enough veggies to pay off those loans used for the church buildout.
  • Opening Softly, Later This Month: A place called Canopy, from the folks who brought you that place called Shade. Claire Smith and Russell Murrell’s new restaurant will go in the spot where Tony Ruppe’s was, in the double-decked strip center at 3939 Montrose, reports Cleverley Stone. Three meals a day, 7 days a week, plus 3 seating areas:

    a bright and refreshing dining room, festive bar and side street patio. We will eventually offer curbside “to go” service.

  • Opening Early Next Month: The brand-new Dessert Shoppe, in the strip center portion of 19th Streete in the Heights. Fred Eats Houston writes that sisters Sara and RaeMarie Villar will be serving up “whole cakes and pies to individual desserts, along with assorted breakfast pastries, cookies, quiches, cupcakes, and some breads.”
  • Reopened, for the First Time Since Ike: The Shriner’s Hospital for Children in Galveston. The combined boards of the International Shriners and Shriners Hospitals for Children had originally decided to close the hospital for good, after 30 inches of water wandered through the building’s first floor during the Hurricane. Shriners voting at this summer’s convention in San Antonio reversed that decision. The new hospital will have a smaller staff and budget. The Chronicle‘s Todd Ackerman reports that the hospital should already be open for reconstructive surgery cases; burn victims will have to wait until December for treatment.

And yet even more new stuff:

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