Thanks for the updates. Great shots from MainPlace.

How did you manage to get up there on the balcony (if you don't mind my asking)? That isn't open to the public, is it?

^
No, its not open to the public, but I just went and found a manager of the building, told them I was taking pictures for a skyscraper forum and they let me go up to the balcony, which was still a vacant floor at the time.

And it was that easy?

^
I have professional camera gear and for whatever reason most of the time, it makes people take you more seriously, and its easier to get into places you usually cant. I dont understand why, but it just works. I've gotten into a lot of the taller buildings downtown and in the medical district just by being nice to some employee that works there and sometimes people bring me up to their offices to take pictures out their windows. The cops arent usually too fond of my camera gear though when Im taking pictures on the street, and the people in the Chase Tower dont like camera gear either, so I have to hide it whenever I go in there.

http://assets.bizjournals.com/housto...n/12.9.jpg?v=1

Link

Link

Love it, reminds me of The Aqua in Chicago.

I like it.

Dang, I hope that gets built, I love the design. I counted about 40 stories in that render.

New Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan building for personalized cancer care.

http://www.rdmag.com/uploadedImages/...errsonx250.jpg

http://www.rdmag.com/Lab-Design-News...d-Cancer-Care/

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=Qgrd88hYLLY" target="_blank">Video Link

It looks like things are picking up again! Where is that though? There wasnt an address for it. Im assuming its in the Medical Center, but where?

It's at the southeast corner of Moursund St. and M.D. Anderson Blvd.

^
Its really good that are researching pancreatic cancer, my grandpa, great grandpa, and great uncle on my moms side have all died from pancreatic cancer, and once you know you have it, thats it, youre done.

Houston officials will unveil sweeping plan for 'Convention District'
By NANCY SARNOFF, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Updated 11:41 p.m., Sunday, January 1, 2012

The newest vision for the eastern edge of downtown includes hotels and residential buildings in place of what are now parking lots.

Officials also picture a bustling pedestrian scene where shops and restaurants line the streets leading to the city's 1.2-million-square-foot George R. Brown Convention Center, which, too, would grow as part of their plan.




http://www.chron.com/business/articl...or-2434156.php

^
Awesome, hopefully all that gets implemented.

http://i527.photobucket.com/albums/c...rland/-1-1.jpg
http://www.chron.com/business/articl...or-2434156.php
Pictures from article. I would love to see all of this built, but what I envision unfortunately happening will be that half of that stuff will get built, the rest of those lots will be turned into parking garages for some of those projects. I hope thats not the case, but developers in downtown Houston love instead of incorporating parking structures into buildings, they just like taking up the lot next to their building with a miserable parking garage.

http://i527.photobucket.com/albums/c...herland/-2.jpg
http://www.chron.com/business/articl...or-2434156.php

Render of new convention center Hotel across from the Hilton.

http://i527.photobucket.com/albums/c...herland/-3.jpg
http://www.chron.com/business/articl...or-2434156.php

In the above plan it looks like something will be built in front of the Embassy Suites to hopefully cover up a little bit of that disgrace of a building that faces Houstons premier public park.


Seeing all of this new possible developments makes my heart race and I cant wait to see construction start once again!!!! Seeing parking lots disappear makes me a happy man. In that first render, seeing no parking lots is just ah, amazing! The only problem unfortunately right now is that Discovery Green is so packed because there is usually cheap parking available right across the street for the suburbanites to park their cars so they dont have to walk too far. If all of these surface lots get covered up, where will people park? There is some parking under Discovery Green but its like 10 bucks or so, when parking on the surface lots is usually 5 bucks. I hope they at least have a parking garage built into one of these future buildings that has public cheap parking and not just for residents or workers of the buildings and instead for Disco Green patrons. If the parking goes away, so does the crowds. There's always a caveat.

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On another note, I was just reading Swamplot and found more info and a more detailed map of what may happen around Minute Maid Park in the future.

City Playing Musical Blocks with Downtown Houses
http://swamplot.com/city-playing-mus...es/2011-11-03/

It's also about time someone cleans up the area under 59, that place is a hot mess and a blight. All around it looks like some amazing things are about to start; very exciting! But all of this could take years upon years to complete, maybe even 2020, who knows? I have been hearing a lot about the new convention center hotel though at least, so that could start fairly soon. The rest of the stuff in the renders is probably just speculation to the best of my knowledge.

This new render just seems to be expanding upon this old render from maybe 3 years ago or so. I guess we will just have to see how it all pans out.
http://i527.photobucket.com/albums/c...en-embassy.jpg
http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/h...tion-district/

The convention center hotel in this old render seems to still have the same basic design as the new render shows interestingly enough.

And another one right by the new Whole Foods.

http://houston.culturemap.com/newsde...se-in-houston/
http://static.culturemap.com/site_me....800w_600h.jpg

^
Thats pretty puke inducing suburban highway side hotel type architecture right there, but at least its density; wish we didnt just have to settle for crap in order to get density. This city should be better than that.

Oooo the convention area looks awesome. It would be insane to see that stuff get built. Hope it starts soon. Very Kewl...

:cool:

Anyone?

I will make a list later tonight.

That convention district would be amazing! Sure would love to see that done. Get rid of the parking lots. =)