Texas Medical Center

Alief
05/10/10 5:45pm

The Bellaire Corridor Donut: There’s an International Zone Between the Loop and Beltway, but Not So Much Dough

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Houston Data, Sharpstown, Southside Place, Texas Medical Center
46 Comments

University of Houston architecture professor Susan Rogers explores the Bellaire-Holcombe corridor from Highway 6 to the Med Center and finds a donut in her path.

For each census tract that intersects Holcombe or Bellaire Blvd., Rogers tallied the total number of residents born outside the United States and those residents’ country of origin, using 2000 Census data. The results surprised her:

Most of the action is in the zone between the Loop and the Beltway. “The diversity drops steeply inside 610,” she notes:

I had graphed the street from just 610 to Hwy. 6 for a talk on the links between Asia and Houston and then decided to add the rest as a potential “contrast” – what I found when I completed it absolutely astounded me – the absolute drop is so stark – and of course the income graph is nearly the exact opposite . . .

That graph showing median household income in the same census tracts:

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Apartments
02/12/10 5:28pm

Houston’s Volunteer Apartments

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Texas Medical Center
23 Comments

The Hospitality Apartments at 7300 Bertner just north of OST are “not posh. But they’re perfectly nice,” explains Ann Hightower, whose husband Joe founded the organization that runs them 42 years ago. “Totally functional, with linens, dishes, a stove and oven, a microwave, TVs and access to free laundry.”

Where’s the swimming pool? There isn’t one, but that’s not usually too much of a concern of the people staying there. All the residents of the 42-unit complex are out-of-towners undergoing treatment at the nearby Texas Medical Center.

Joe [Hightower] estimated the apartments have been filled “99-plus percent of the time” over the years.

“You could probably have four projects this big in Houston and just barely meet the demand,” Ann said after the organization’s annual meeting on Super Bowl Sunday. “And then you would uncover another layer of need.”

Residents stay anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months — for free.

The nonprofit has never applied for or received money from any government agency. The organization has relied on personal fundraising efforts by the Hightowers and friends and the generosity of Houston congregations, private foundations and hundreds of individual contributors. It has no debt, pays no salaries and operates each apartment for less than $10 a day.

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Cancellations and Delays
01/12/10 12:39pm

Baylor and Rice: The Deal Is Officially Dead

by
Quicklink, Rice University, Texas Medical Center
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BAYLOR AND RICE: THE DEAL IS OFFICIALLY DEAD Just out from the presidents of the two institutions: A formal “we’re not going to merge” statement: “Baylor College of Medicine and Rice University have ended our discussions about a possible merger of our two institutions. At the same time, both institutions have agreed to develop further our existing academic and research relationship, which has grown significantly over the years.” [Rice University]

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Proposed Developments
05/13/09 10:17am

Hanging Around the Old Fire Station, Waiting for the Next Development

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Texas Medical Center
8 Comments

Hunting down information about the abandoned Modern Fire Station at the corner of Fannin and South Braeswood just south of the Med Center, Houston building arch-ivist Lauren Meyers stumbles upon dangling plans for a new development on the huge vacant lot behind it, which was once home to an apartment complex.

The city sold the [fire station] to an entity named Texas SFI Partnership 33 in February of 2007. Texas SFI Partnership 24 owns the Lanesborough Apartments that are to the west of the fire station at 1819 S. Braeswood Blvd. Lanesborough’s parent company is The Richdale Group, and Richdale is a part of Slosburg Co. A representative of Lanesborough via Slosburg informed us that the property, including the large tract of land to the south, is slated to become a large mixed-use development with a medical emphasis.

There is no timeline for the project and it is still in the design phase. An existing sign on the large empty tract advertises a “Better Lifestyle” with Lanesborough apartments and richdale.com, but there is no other information about the future development on it.

What about that cool 1950 fire station?

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Quicklink
03/26/09 12:50pm

Rice-Baylor Merger: Yup

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Rice University, Texas Medical Center
2 Comments

RICE-BAYLOR MERGER: YUP A joint statement just out from the presidents of Rice University and the Baylor College of Medicine: “We are pleased to announce that the governing boards of Rice and BCM this week approved the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that lays out a broad framework for formal negotiations about a possible merger of our two institutions. While no decision on a merger has yet been made and many issues remain to be resolved, our boards have concluded that a closer affiliation has abundant potential benefits for both institutions, as well as for our home city of Houston.” [Swamplot inbox]

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Cancellations and Delays
03/26/09 10:07am

Baylor Hospital: Internal Organ Failure

by
Medical Buildings, Proposed Developments, Texas Medical Center
10 Comments

Here’s a construction-cam view from this morning showing progress on Baylor College of Medicine’s fancy new Clinic and Hospital on Old Spanish Trail, a stretch south of the main Medical Center campus — and, apparently, too big of a stretch for the financially strained institution. The Chronicle is reporting that BCM has decided to finish building the hospital exterior, but that it’s not gonna build out the building’s innards at all. For a while. Until it gets the money.

Or something changes. The medical school decided to build its own facility after breaking off an association with Methodist Hospital in 2004. A later bad hook-up, with St. Luke’s, ended in 2007. When BCM began serious conversations with Rice University about a merger last year, the new hospital was considered a major obstacle to a deal: Rice didn’t want it. If BCM becomes a part of Rice (which at this point appears quite likely), the hospital will have to be jettisoned somehow.

In an e-mail to faculty, [Baylor interim president William T.] Butler said the temporary suspension buys time to acquire additional capital through philanthropy, federal funds and other sources, gives the markets a chance to settle and provides an opportunity to consider project partners.

Sources said that by not building out the interior, it’s also possible the hospital shell would be more attractive to a buyer wanting to tailor the facility to its own desired specifications.

But in his e-mail to faculty, Butler dismissed such speculation: “Taking this pause will allow us to ultimately fulfill the plan to build the hospital,” he wrote. “The board has made it clear it is committed to this project.”

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Homes for Sale
01/21/09 9:21am

Addio, Buon Appetito? Holcombe Home Cooking

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Restaurants, Texas Medical Center
6 Comments

The time-travel vehicle known as the Buon Appetito Restaurant — housed in an old duplex on Holcombe just west of the Medical Center — has been put up for sale.

What could you do with this place?

“Move out the tables and chairs,” reads the mock-Sicilian listing, “and is ready for your signle fam. residence.”

Or . . . take over the restaurant and run it yourself:

This is also an excellent opportunity for someone to step in and start running this already successful business. The owner has been there for 32 years and is retiring. Everything is included in the sale.

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Attractions
01/08/09 1:16pm

Imagined History of that Med Center Fountain Plaza

by
Parks, Texas Medical Center
2 Comments

As a prelude to the extended narrative of his and John Nova Lomax’s latest grand pedestrian effort — a 14-hour walk from IAH to Downtown — Marfa city councilmember and Houston bingo scofflaw David Beebe describes his first encounter with the Gus and Lyndall Wortham Park at the southwest corner of Holcombe and Main. It’s the walkway and fountain assembly that replaced the Shamrock Hotel:

On this day, as on many days, the fountain is actively spouting water columns to nobody, as the fountain downtown on the light rail line is supposed to do (but is always messed up). This bizarre guilt trip tribute to the concept of public space mixes elements of a grand promenade with Vegas style accents contrasting with the feel of a confined and secluded corridor. Its out of the way entrance and low visibility from Holcombe is probably why I had never seen it before. This is a very good park to go to if you don’t want anyone to find you. I couldn’t help but picture Nixon and Kissinger walking side by side alongside the fountain and columns planning the next offensive maneuver in Vietnam.

Photo: David W. Beebe

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Demolitions
11/05/08 2:51pm

Just When You Thought It Was Already Long Gone: A Second Demolition for the Shamrock Hotel

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Historic Preservation, Houston History, Proposed Developments, Texas Medical Center
2 Comments

Interior of Edwin Hornberger Conference Center, Former Shamrock Hotel, Houston

The last remaining building associated with Houston’s 1950s-era glam-magnet Shamrock Hotel is slated to be torn down, reports Cynthia Lescalleet in the West U. Examiner. The Shamrock’s former ballroom facility at 2151 W. Holcombe became the Edwin Hornberger Conference Center in 1996, nine years after the Shamrock itself was famously axed.

The Texas Medical Center has more building plans for the site:

TMC will build 250,000 square feet of office space in three floors to be added atop the Bell building, which also houses the existing parking garage, said TMC’s John Kajander. The added space is to support TMC institutions, he said.

The building housing the Hornberger’s foyer and ballroom “is nearing the end of its useful life,” he said, and will be taken down.

A little Hornberger history:

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Quicklink
07/07/08 10:24am

New Short-Term Housing for 40 Veterans, South of the Med Center

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Temporary Housing, Texas Medical Center
No Comments

NEW SHORT-TERM HOUSING FOR 40 VETERANS, SOUTH OF THE MED CENTER There are an estimated 3,600 homeless veterans in the Houston area, and only 250 available beds. “Eight veterans already have moved into their new quarters in the previously vacant apartment complex in the 7300 block of Fannin. Applications to fill up the 14 units still are being accepted.” [Houston Chronicle]

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Art
06/23/08 10:36am

The Modigliani: Gated, and Very Close to the Med Center

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Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Riverside Terrace, Texas Medical Center, Townhomes
12 Comments

The Modigliani, Townhouses on South MacGregor Way, Houston

Nancy Sarnoff reports that construction is about to begin on a new gated 52-townhouse development on South MacGregor, east of 288. The developer, Joseph Casimir of Cypresswood Capital, reports on the project’s website that the development

bears three distinctive yet integrated architectural flavors: Florentine, Venetian, and Romanesque, affording you a lifestyle of unparalleled comfort and understated sophistication.

The townhouse development is called The Modigliani, after an Italian artist who spent most of his adult life in Paris, and who died of TB at the age of 35, aggravated by persistent alcoholism and drug abuse.

The 4.3-acre site at 3028 S. MacGregor Way is next door to the University of Texas Harris County Psychiatric Center and across the street from Brays Bayou. Casimir bought it in 2006 for $4.6 million, then demolished the 1936 Wright Morrow estate on the property. The previous owner, the UT Health Science Center at Houston, had intended to build a mental health outpatient facility on the site, but put it up for sale after encountering vocal opposition from neighborhood residents and State Rep. Al Edwards.

Below: Elevations and a site plan!

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Institutional Buildings
06/05/08 10:57am

Twist and Whisper: Texas Children’s Neurological Secret

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Medical Buildings, Texas Medical Center
No Comments

Rendering of Dan & Jan Duncan Neurological Research Institute at Texas Children’s HospitalIt sure looks like there’s been a dramatic twist in the plans for the new Dan & Jan Duncan Neurological Research Institute that Texas Children’s Hospital is building in the heart of the Med Center Campus, right behind the waterfall parking garage on Moursund St. Renderings of the building looked a little different at the groundbreaking ceremony last December. A construction permit for the superstructure of the 14-story, 370,000-sq.-ft. tower was approved yesterday.

Texas Children’s doesn’t seem to be putting out a huge amount of detail about the new structure on its website, which is probably understandable for a building that will be housing hundreds of thousands of lab mice. Any knowledgeable readers want to share a little more about the plans . . . and that new twisting corner?

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Apartments
03/14/08 10:10am

Med Center Houstonian: No Condo

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Highrises, Hotels, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southgate, Texas Medical Center
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Screen Shot from Planning Commission Meeting Showing Proposed Houstonian Hotel in Texas Medical Center from Main St.

Nope, no condos in the planned Houstonian Medical Center hotel — but there will be 100 apartments. Medistar consultant Doug Williams gave a few more details about the planned 40-story Main St. tower at the edge of Southgate in yesterday’s Planning Commission hearing:

  • Parking-structure base will be 12 stories, with a green space on top, and contain 14,000 sq. ft. of meeting and ballroom space.
  • Building will have 303 guest rooms, plus 100 apartments for longer-term stays, 70 of them furnished.
  • This is a Redstone project.
  • The developers are also buying the Baylor Clinic building next door, which Baylor rents from St. Luke’s.
  • The plans include a new skybridge that will connect the new tower to the Baylor Clinic next door, so hotel guests can use the existing Baylor Clinic skybridge to cross Main St. Representatives of Rice have expressed interest in connecting the university’s new Collaborative Research Center one block to the north to the new building by skybridge as well.

The commission approved a revised version of the variance request but attached several conditions having to do with landscaping and parking spaces.

After the jump, the view from Southgate!

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Commercial Real Estate
03/13/08 10:23am

Houstonian Texas Medical Center: Slow Multimedia Reveal

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Condos, Highrises, Hotels, Neighborhood Associations, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southgate, Texas Medical Center
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View from Main St. of New Houstonian Hotel and Condominiums, Texas Medical Center, Houston

From fuzzy video stills to washed-out photocopies: In the agenda handout for today’s Planning Commission hearing are hazy images that provide even more details about the new 40-story hotel and condo tower Medistar wants to build on Main St. in the Medical Center, at the eastern boundary of Southgate.

The drawing labels identify the hotel as the Houstonian Texas Medical Center, or Houstonian TMC for short. The architect is the Hill Glazier Studio of HKS, out of California. And a section drawing gives an actual height for the tower.

After the jump: It’s very tall!

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Condos
02/29/08 3:30pm

Live on TV: New Med Center Hotel-Condo Tower

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Highrises, Hotels, Neighborhood Associations, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southgate, Texas Medical Center
No Comments

Screen Capture of Planning Commission Discussion of New Medistar 40-Story Condo and Hotel Tower at Dryden and Main St., near Southgate, Texas Medical Center, Houston

Thanks to some intrepid reporting lazy online-video scanning over here at Swamplot, we now have more information about Medistar’s 40-story hotel and condominium tower planned for the corner of Dryden and Main St. in the Medical Center.

Yesterday, the Planning Commission voted to defer any consideration of Medistar’s request for a lot-line variance along Main St. But the president of the Southgate Civic Club voiced his objections to the variance — and other aspects of the project — anyway.

After the jump, more stills from the civic-club president’s presentation to the Planning Commission, plus a few bits of armchair analysis from our crack crew of expert TV watchers.

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