They just planted a lot of pine trees on either side of 249 in between the beltway and grant road. Hopefully they will do the same going further north. It will look nice in about 10 years.

Downtown Hyatt set for $35 million revamp
 

Hyatt Regency Houston is planning a $35-million revitalization project at the downtown hotel.

The project will include the transformation of all 900 guest rooms, the addition of new, high-tech meeting space and a Shula's fine-dining steakhouse.

Greenwich, Conn.-based Starwood Capital Group LLC is responsible for the multimillion project, which is expected to be complete in late October.

Steve Trent, managing director of the Hyatt, said the project represents a rebirth of the downtown hotel. He said it's especially timely given the new downtown attractions currently under way at Discovery Green and Houston Pavilions.

The guest rooms will be renovated to include the signature Hyatt Grand Bed, work desks and wall-mounted consoles for Internet connectivity.

Guest room baths will include a walk-in shower, black marble-top vanity and matching black marble flooring.

The project also calls for the expansion of the hotel's meeting space. Specifically, 30 guest rooms on the hotel's sixth floor will be transformed into nine meeting rooms and three high-tech boardrooms.

Shula's America's Steakhouse will replace the hotel's two existing lobby level restaurants.

The Hyatt Regency, located at 1200 Louisiana, opened in 1972 and was the city's first atrium-style hotel.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/s...l?ana=from_rss

An early rendering of 6 Houston Center from Crescent's Q1 Investor presentation. The report itself is from last year... but it's something.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w...on/6HouCtr.gif

Why?

Houston is considered a major inland city on the Texas Gulf Coast region of the state, its even connected to the ocean via the Houston Ship Channel. Tropical plants & palms grow very well here because of the high humidity.

Now palm trees in Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, or any other part of the state not near the coast just look so out of place its not even funny.

I'm in Beaumont right now & theres a lot of palm trees all around this city too.

hey..........palm trees look better here than they do in Oakland, California!!! I was shocked the last time I was in OAK and saw palm trees!!!

.............although, there were not guns hanging from the trees!!

I don't think of palm trees when I think of Houston. They look more natural alongside the coast in my opinion and Houston is around an hour from the coast (depending on where you are coming from). Thats just my opinion and it doesn't bother me at all if you like palm trees in Houston. I don't get out of my car and start screaming at palm trees when I see one. I just think they look out of place.

I live in southwest Houston around the Sharpstown area and I never see palm trees (that I can remember) around southwest and west Houston. I know Ive seen a street lined with them around the Galleria area and of course occasional house will have one.
I don't have a problem with an individual palm tree, but I dislike them when they are used for decorative purposes outside of a mall or business or whatever. It just looks out of place to me.

Palm trees in Houston make perfect sense. Technically, we are further south than San Diego and Jacksonville. Right in the heart of America's groin.

:previous:

I was just basing what i said on driving down I-45. Its just something i thought of one day when i had to drive from Texas City to The Woodlands. Palm and Pine tress, their they are...

:yes:

I agree- palm trees are perfect for a hot humid climate. They are tall enough to provide shade but they do not block prevailing winds. Air movement is very important in our climate so palm trees are actually recommended.:tup:

What's the status of 6 Houston Center?

6 Houston Center is supposed to break ground on 2/7

Also, a first look at the proposed Ritz Carlton for BLVD Place

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...er-view-up.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...-view-down.jpg

More at: http://swamplot.com/a-first-look-at-...-16/#more-1011

:previous:

:worship:

Now that is a TOWER. Look at that baby, she is bueatiful. Ohh man, very nice find. To HOT.......


:banana:

Nice

:slob: :worship: :notacrook: :cheers: :yes: :tup:

Omg Omg Omg Omg Omg!!!!!!!!!!! That Is Hottt!!!! We Need A Drawing/diagram Of That Pronto!!!

Sweet looking tower.

So, Hanover is planning on building a very HIGH END apartment tower that is rumored to be 55 stories tall at BLVD Place and now a 200 room plus Ritz Carlton with 150 plust condos on top is also planned? WOW.

If this Ritz-Carlton turns out to be the rumored 66 story tower for Uptown, then Wulfe's BLVD Place will be HUGE.

If all pans out, Hanover's Tower could come in around the 625 to 675 foot mark and the Ritz (if 66 stories) could come in around 750 to 800 feet. NIFTY NIFTY NIFTY...

This is good news. At first I thought this was for West Blvd. inside the loop off of Kirby so my hear skipped a beat. Then I realized this is for outside the loop so my heart sank. Still good news on a very nice looking tower. :)

I count 60 stories (not counting any mechanical penthouse), plus there are clearly many mezzanine levels in there as there are quite a few double/triple height floors in there. 66 total levels sounds about right.

Ritz is definitely over 800 feet, perhaps closer to 850 feet. Don't recall the height info. It is good that Williams Tower will now have some tall company. Those are just teaser renderings.. I have seen some really sexy ones.. this tower will be pretty awesome.