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Monday, April 21, 2008

Mosaic: More Condos Available!

Ad for Mosaic Houston

Expect to see a lot more, uh . . . interesting advertising for the Mosaic towers on Almeda. Nancy Sarnoff reported in the Chronicle this past weekend that “about 65 units have closed” out of a total 790 in the two towers. The second glass tower is currently under construction at the eastern edge of Hermann Park.

That’s a long way to go, but the path sounds a whole lot steeper when you compare Sarnoff’s report to what Jennifer Dawson reported in the Houston Business Journal last August:

As of last week, 218 condos had sold in the first tower. Units in the second phase won’t go on sale until early next year. Ken Manfredi of Miami-based Developer Sales Group is handling Mosaic’s condo sales.

After the jump: More evocative ad imagery! Plus: the view from above.

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Monday, March 10, 2008

New Hermann Park Train Does Not Kick Ass, Apparently

New Hermann Park Train

The Hermann Park kiddie trains are running again! But blogger Lou Minatti considers the replacement C.P. Huntington too “plasticy”:

A news photographer was there and we chatted for a bit. According to his sources, the old train was replaced due to three reasons: The old 50’s-era train had no dead man’s switch, it wasn’t wheelchair-accessible, and our collective asses are bigger than they were in the 1950s. Hence the need for the much wider train.

Photo: Lou Minatti

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Tuesday, March 4, 2008

Mecom Fountain: Nighttime Photo Opportunities Return

Mecom Fountain, Main and Montrose, Houston

If you’ve been waiting for your chance to take the perfect dramatic nighttime photo of the Mecom Fountain, act now! The fountain at the middle of the five-way intersection of Main, Montrose, and Hermann Dr. is currently bubble-bath-free and lights up properly at night, thanks to a more-than-$100,000 renovation effort approved by City Council back in November and completed last week.

Back in the fall of 2006, someone had stolen the 264 bronze canisters and light bulbs that lit up the fountains. After staying in the dark for months, it got some help more recently . . . with floodlights from high atop Hotel ZaZa. Maybe now those floods can be turned into motion detectors!

Security measures to protect the Mecom Fountain lights will include additional surveillance by the Houston Police Department, the Hotel ZaZa and the Houston Parks and Recreation Department.

After the jump, photos of the fountain lit up the way it was and how it’s supposed to be, plus a view of the Hermann Park beauty taking a bath.

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Friday, August 17, 2007

Mosaic: Second Tower Rising

Mosaic Tower Under Construction, July 2007

The glass tower is half full: 218 of the 394 units in the first Mosaic tower have been sold, reports the Houston Business Journal. Are those just the north-facing units? Because directly to the south, the second tower is ready for liftoff:

Phillips Development & Realty LLC of Tampa, Fla., which is developing both condominium towers near Hermann Park at a cost of $203 million, secured a $141 million loan from Chicago-based Corus Bankshares Inc. last week to refinance the first building and finance the second one. . . .

Phillips says the company financed the first Mosaic tower as a rental property because that was the only way to secure funding.

Why is it called Mosaic? There are a lot of tiny units in there, 18 to a floor, averaging 980 square feet. They start at $165,000.

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