REVEALING THE FULL PLAN FOR SKANSKA’S DOWNTOWN BLOCK WILL TAKE SOME TIME 
The Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff does her level best to decipher and explain the strange sequence of events at Skanska’s ongoing demolition-construction-demolition-construction project across the street from Pennzoil Place: “The developer planning Capitol Tower, the 35-story office building slated for downtown’s former Houston Club building site, is planning to pour the foundation for the structure next month, but as of now, there are no plans to construct the tower portion of the project. So what’s with all the construction on the property? The Houston Club building was imploded last year, but the garage on the site was to remain because of an existing parking contract. During the implosion, however, the garage was damaged and had to be demolished. Project developer Skanska USA Commercial Development is now building a new garage on the southern half of the block. ‘We’re still executing our project plans,’ said Michael Mair, executive vice president and regional manager for Skanska USA in Houston.” Left out of the explanation: The multi-story steel parking structure and ramps Skanska built for the garage before it was demolished — pictured here under construction in front of the then-still-standing Houston Club Building last March. The downtown block, surrounded by Rusk, Travis, Milam, and Capitol streets, is now empty. [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Swamplot inbox
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I’d been trying to figure out why they built the parking ramps for a building they were going to demolish. Every time I drove by there I kept thinking, why did they build those ramps just to tear them down. Finally, this explains it. I’m no engineer, but I wouldn’t build anything I wanted to keep that was attached to a building set for implosion. I’m wondering if the developer is worried about occupancy rates given the economic situation in the energy sector and the building boom downtown.
They should have to do whatever is needed to reconnect Chase Tower, Chase Garage and the Chase Bank building back to the rest of the tunnel. And if not, I would hope that the surrounding building owners eliminate Skanska’s access to any of their properties through the tunnel.
destroy and old building and do nothing oh and also they destroy the garage accidently…now they have to build a new garage and then sit on the project? Why didnt they just find a vacant lot donwtown and build the building instead of having to go through all this…