bobruss Posted December 2, 2016 Share Posted December 2, 2016 So where's the render? Is this the same plan as they had a year ago? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 Late 60s 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted December 29, 2016 Share Posted December 29, 2016 I think I see something on Block 334 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htownboy Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 20 hours ago, Triton said: Late 60s Man, I wish all those pre-wars weren't mowed down... What a bummer that empty lots sit there now. Older downtowns function like real cities, not seas of boring disconnected, cold office towers. Anyways, a great shot and a great look into the past! Perhaps this is straying from the topic of the discussion, but does anybody have an estimate of how many were destroyed? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 How many were vacant when they were torn down though? Empty blocks suck, but 30 blocks of abandoned buildings doesn't exactly encourage a lively atmosphere 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdueenginerd Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Many US (inner) cites were abandoned in the 60's and 70's. This certainly wasn't unique to Houston. Its important to note too that renovation is most of the time cheaper than new construction. Obviously I can't predict what would have occurred if the buildings were kept, but In my opinion a few of them would have been renovated by the 90's and early aughts. Looking at that building in the foreground in historic aerial photography, thats the corner of La branch and Rusk st . Which today is a surface level parking lot. (Lot 97) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 That is a good point - I guess it's hard to imagine now other cities having lots of abandoned buildings. I wonder how downtown would have turned out if they hadn't demolished the buildings for Houston Center. South downtown wasn't part of that, but it might have kept some of those buildings 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 A number of those buildings were likely torn down to reduce property taxes, reduce maintenance costs, and to provide the ability to make money from use as a parking lot. For those of you who weren't here in the 70's and especially the 80's during the oil bust, Downtown was dead. No one went there much, except to go to work. There was no real demand for space, so no reason for the buildings to be kept. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdueenginerd Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 (edited) Also, since were posting old photos of the building, I'll share a project I'm working on right now. I was able to get a skyline shot of Houston from 1966 which I had digitally restored. I then hired a drone operator to take an equivalent shot for me. Edit, seems like I can only display one imgure link try this: http://i.imgur.com/np541Gz.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/sfw5Mcj.jpg Edited December 30, 2016 by Purdueenginerd 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 (edited) 44 minutes ago, Purdueenginerd said: Also, since were posting old photos of the building, I'll share a project I'm working on right now. I was able to get a skyline shot of Houston from 1966 which I had digitally restored. I then hired a drone operator to take an equivalent shot for me. Edit, seems like I can only display one imgure link try this: http://i.imgur.com/np541Gz.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/sfw5Mcj.jpg I tried viewing your first picture in several different browsers but I am not able to view it. Edited December 30, 2016 by Triton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdueenginerd Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Just now, Triton said: I tried viewing your first picture in several different browsers but I not able to view it. Try this linkhttps://imgur.com/a/66Xxv Not good at this internet thing this week apparently 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Just now, Purdueenginerd said: Try this linkhttps://imgur.com/a/66Xxv Not good at this internet thing this week apparently Awesome! That works. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 1 hour ago, Purdueenginerd said: Also, since were posting old photos of the building, I'll share a project I'm working on right now. I was able to get a skyline shot of Houston from 1966 which I had digitally restored. I then hired a drone operator to take an equivalent shot for me. Edit, seems like I can only display one imgure link try this: http://i.imgur.com/np541Gz.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/sfw5Mcj.jpg Not bad at all in 50 years. The obvious next move will be to remove the freeway, so that development takes off in the foreground and the bayou becomes a greenscape corridor between two skylines. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 5 hours ago, Purdueenginerd said: Also, since were posting old photos of the building, I'll share a project I'm working on right now. I was able to get a skyline shot of Houston from 1966 which I had digitally restored. I then hired a drone operator to take an equivalent shot for me. Edit, seems like I can only display one imgure link try this: http://i.imgur.com/np541Gz.jpg and http://i.imgur.com/sfw5Mcj.jpg Apparently, there were no parking garages Downtown in 1966 (OK, there's one for the Humble Building, and presumably a couple of others). There are a lot of cars in the surface lots. Which may explain why so many low rise buildings were torn down. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 5 hours ago, Ross said: A number of those buildings were likely torn down to reduce property taxes, reduce maintenance costs, and to provide the ability to make money from use as a parking lot. For those of you who weren't here in the 70's and especially the 80's during the oil bust, Downtown was dead. No one went there much, except to go to work. There was no real demand for space, so no reason for the buildings to be kept. And, in the late 1980s, downtown after dark was fairly dangerous. Heck, the Urban Animals had to skate around in big packs just to stay safe! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerNut Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 6 hours ago, Purdueenginerd said: Try this linkhttps://imgur.com/a/66Xxv Not good at this internet thing this week apparently Awesome. Only thing cooler would be if you could make one of pictures where you can slide it to reveal what's changed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post HoustonIsHome Posted December 31, 2016 Popular Post Share Posted December 31, 2016 I was walking passed the Exxon building at about 6:30 one morning and looked up and that building looked so charming, so comforting, so Houston. I will be sad when it is altered. It looks so good when the sun is going down with the Enron buildings in the background. The alterations will make this building look so normal. So nondescript, so anywheresville. This building, Heritage Plaza, BOA, Continental/ Chevron, Wells Fargo all remind me of Houston. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 I doubt it will be altered. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted January 2, 2017 Share Posted January 2, 2017 Even if the existing facade stayed as is, the building is in desperate need of a good scrubbing. I drive by it every single day. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted January 3, 2017 Share Posted January 3, 2017 3 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said: Even if the existing facade stayed as is, the building is in desperate need of a good scrubbing. I drive by it every single day. They redid almost all of the stone cladding not that long ago, maybe 10 years. It shouldn't be too dirty yet. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cougarpad Posted March 6, 2017 Share Posted March 6, 2017 It been a while since I have heard anything on 800 Bell. There was a company planning to renovate it last I heard. Then there were the talks of turning it into a court complex. I thought was a innovative way reuse the tower. Figure you dont need all the floors for the court complex so the rest could be rented out law firms and such. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBlueContractor Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 The study was done, high rise court facilities do not work. Major problems with conveyance of people, i.e. inmates and jury members. Also parking becomes a headache, people end up being late, etc... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted March 8, 2017 Share Posted March 8, 2017 1 hour ago, BigBlueContractor said: The study was done, high rise court facilities do not work. Major problems with conveyance of people, i.e. inmates and jury members. Also parking becomes a headache, people end up being late, etc... That is too bad. Would love to see this building remain in it's current form. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 3 hours ago, BigBlueContractor said: The study was done, high rise court facilities do not work. Major problems with conveyance of people, i.e. inmates and jury members. Also parking becomes a headache, people end up being late, etc... Someone needs to tell Harris County that, since both of the main courthouses are high rise buildings. 800 Bell's elevators are first class, fast, and there are a lot of them. 3 banks if I remember correctly from meetings I attended there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBlueContractor Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 They learned their lesson! Especially with the Jury Issue. They had to build a separate building just to house the jurors before they could go in. But you have to remember that was all master planned and their are tunnels that go from jails to criminal courthouse - it allows for seperation. 800 Bell would not allow that. They were also talking about 800 Bell housing the police HQ at 600 Travis. The original deal that was in place was a really complex delivery. The bottom line is that the COH needs new "social infrastructure", but they do not have enough money to pay for it. They would have to go to the voters asking to get 500+ to rebuild their jails, courthouses, and police center into a "campus". It is spread out right now, where Harris County is bundled together nicely. Not sure what the voters appetite would be on a large bond program for those types of facilities? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 19 minutes ago, BigBlueContractor said: They learned their lesson! Especially with the Jury Issue. They had to build a separate building just to house the jurors before they could go in. But you have to remember that was all master planned and their are tunnels that go from jails to criminal courthouse - it allows for seperation. 800 Bell would not allow that. They were also talking about 800 Bell housing the police HQ at 600 Travis. The original deal that was in place was a really complex delivery. The bottom line is that the COH needs new "social infrastructure", but they do not have enough money to pay for it. They would have to go to the voters asking to get 500+ to rebuild their jails, courthouses, and police center into a "campus". It is spread out right now, where Harris County is bundled together nicely. Not sure what the voters appetite would be on a large bond program for those types of facilities? Why would they need to separate the jurors any more than they currently do? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 The cases heard in municipal court are all small misdemeanors. Jury separation is a far smaller issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparrow Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 (edited) 3 hours ago, Houston19514 said: Why would they need to separate the jurors any more than they currently do? What's all this talk of separating anyhow? I thought the jury building for the county was more of an organizational convenience than a need to isolate the populace from the law. I served for nearly 2 months on a trial at the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse a few years back, and on many occasions walked in thru the metal detectors right behind or in front of the guys that were on trial or lawyers from either side. We jurors exercised good practice (as did they) and didn't ride in the same elevator up with them--we would just wait for the next one. Edited March 9, 2017 by Sparrow 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigBlueContractor Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 27 minutes ago, Sparrow said: What's all this talk of separating anyhow? I thought the jury building for the county was more of an organizational convenience than a need to isolate the populace from the law. I served for nearly 2 months on a trial at the Bob Casey Federal Courthouse a few years back, and on many occasions walked in thru the metal detectors right behind or in front of the guys that were on trial or lawyers from either side. We jurors exercised good practice (as did they) and didn't ride in the same elevator up with them--we would just wait for the next one. Correct... It was more of preventing from you waiting outside in the rain when they have a pool they are picking from. Let's say it is more of convenience and knowing that your tax dollars are being well spent. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 On 1/2/2017 at 6:09 PM, Ross said: They redid almost all of the stone cladding not that long ago, maybe 10 years. It shouldn't be too dirty yet. Let's hope your mother isn't reading this... On 3/8/2017 at 7:24 PM, Ross said: Someone needs to tell Harris County that, since both of the main courthouses are high rise buildings. The public elevators in the criminal courthouse are incredibly inadequate. Those in the civil courthouse just have pretty long waits at peak times - far longer than what you experience in a typical commercial building. 9 hours ago, BigBlueContractor said: They learned their lesson! Especially with the Jury Issue. They had to build a separate building just to house the jurors before they could go in. The current centrally located underground jury assembly facility is at least the second one. There was an earlier version in Congress Plaza, on Congress between Fannin and Main, built in the very early 80s. Before that goes a bit before my time. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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