Popular Post wilcal Posted April 12, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted April 12, 2018 NIce article with some highlights from the announcement: http://news.rice.edu/2018/04/12/historic-midtown-sears-building-to-anchor-houston-innovation-district-2/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SEARS&utm_campaign=Facebook links Quote The district will combine a variety of commercial uses with housing, food and entertainment, iconic public space and best-in-class infrastructure, Leebron said. “The surrounding neighborhoods’ vibrant and rich culture will be embraced to create an eclectic, engaging streetscape that blends the historic with the new and celebrates Houston’s diversity,” he said. That sounds muy bueno. Quote In developing these plans, Rice worked closely with the GHP, HX and Station Houston, the region’s hub for tech innovation and entrepreneurship focused on digital technologies. Station Houston will serve as incubator and amenity program operator and will work on three key initiatives: connecting ecosystem players to drive high-impact collaborations; supporting entrepreneurs and the innovation community through a range of programs, workshops and events; and working with academic institutions and other groups to develop and connect Houston’s digital workforce. Really good that Station Houston is going to be the operator in my uneducated opinion. Quote The former Sears building will be renovated for the project. The overall design and development of the building will be led by Hines in conjunction with architects Gensler and James Carpenter. The initial phase is expected to be completed within two years. The redevelopment of the building will respect its historic character while making the modifications required to create dynamic space for creative companies in the innovation ecosystem, Leebron said. Two years, as reported before, would be awesome. Keeping the art deco aspect would fantastic. This is looking to be an A++++ situation. 16 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 38 minutes ago, wilcal said: NIce article with some highlights from the announcement: http://news.rice.edu/2018/04/12/historic-midtown-sears-building-to-anchor-houston-innovation-district-2/?utm_source=Facebook&utm_medium=SEARS&utm_campaign=Facebook links That sounds muy bueno. Really good that Station Houston is going to be the operator in my uneducated opinion. Two years, as reported before, would be awesome. Keeping the art deco aspect would fantastic. This is looking to be an A++++ situation. I couldn't agree more! I didn't know Station Houston was moving in! This might be the biggest announcement of the year already. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htownbro Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 I heard construction of first phase will be complete by early 2020 That's fast! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 They're already removing the facade 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Texasota Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Now I'm just suspicious. This all sounds too good. 1 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CREguy13 Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 Video of press conference: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/local/2018/04/12/278818/watch-live-houston-mayor-and-rice-university-president-announce-new-houston-innovation-hub/ Bill Mckeon with TMC talks about how the city is on fire and that a number of things are going to happen this year. I get the sense that TMC3 is delaying its announcement as to not take away from the Midtown Sears announcement, but is coming in the next several weeks. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 16 hours ago, Texasota said: Now I'm just suspicious. This all sounds too good. No, it's incredibly exciting and, like I said on the previous page, this could be the beginning of the tech revolution in Houston along with the TMC3 and the aerospace industry (is the Ellington Field expansion still happening?). A lot of the computer science group pages on Facebook are rejoicing this is coming and it's started quite a lot of discussion among several startups I know. It might be just one lot in Midtown but this can really springboard Houston's own tech industry not related to O&G. Edit: Oh wow, I hadn't seen this nugget before: Quote In developing its plans, Rice will work closely with the Greater Houston Partnership, Houston Exponential and Station Houston, which will serve as the incubator and amenity program operator. The Station Houston is the same one I linked to 2 pages back. They're a great incubator that has quite a lot of success stories. Even more exciting seeing that they are involved..they might just leave that floor at 1301 Fannin to move here because it is a little crunched right now. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllenOlenska Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 1 hour ago, Triton said: No, it's incredibly exciting and, like I said on the previous page, this could be the beginning of the tech revolution in Houston along with the TMC3 and the aerospace industry (is the Ellington Field expansion still happening?). All I know from occasionally driving on Old Galveston Road is that they are building that massive new air control tower at Ellington Field. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Sanjorade Posted April 13, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted April 13, 2018 19 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) This will also help drive demand for Midtown's apartments and breathe energy into the MidMain-area retail. And the image of Midtown seen by passersby on 59 should be enhanced considerably. Edited April 13, 2018 by H-Town Man 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 So was this done to a good number of buildings back in the day? To hide the art deco artwork? During the 60s and 70s, was art deco considered like an unsightly thing? I realize crime went up during this period but is that why all the windows were removed? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 15 minutes ago, Triton said: So was this done to a good number of buildings back in the day? To hide the art deco artwork? During the 60s and 70s, was art deco considered like an unsightly thing? I realize crime went up during this period but is that why all the windows were removed? I think after about 1960 or so, any sort of historic detail in a building seemed "old-timey." Yes, crime and (if I remember correctly) a fear of "riots" were the reasons given for bricking up the windows. Basically, the inner city was viewed as a toilet and the only rationale in running this store was to turn it into a fortress and leave it running as long as it continued to make money. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 (edited) This happened just after the Martin Luther King assassination, in response to the rioting that occurred in many cities across the country. They were worried about their large plate glass windows being broken out. This area wasn't a high crime area. As a matter of fact there was a very popular movie theater on the corner of Main and Richmond called the Delman theater. The midtown area was a bohemian area and the first alley theater was down in this area. I used to go with my dad to a music store on Caroline not far from Sears where he would buy cymbals and drumsticks. There was a very popular jewelry store just south of Sears and they had Paul Bosch do advertising for them. It was quite a busy part of town back in the late 50's early sixties. My family was living in an old duplex on Montrose just south of Alabama. Edited April 13, 2018 by bobruss 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 21 minutes ago, bobruss said: This happened just after the Martin Luther King assassination, in response to the rioting that occurred in many cities across the country. They were worried about their large plate glass windows being broken out. This area wasn't a high crime area. As a matter of fact there was a very popular movie theater on the corner of Main and Richmond called the Delman theater. The midtown area was a bohemian area and the first alley theater was down in this area. I used to go with my dad to a music store on Caroline not far from Sears where he would buy cymbals and drumsticks. There was a very popular jewelry store just south of Sears and they had Paul Bosch do advertising for them. It was quite a busy part of town back in the late 50's early sixties. My family was living in an old duplex on Montrose just south of Alabama. There is a brief shot of retail storefronts on Main Street near Alabama in Brewster McCloud (1970). I think one was a jewelry store. They looked nice. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted April 13, 2018 Share Posted April 13, 2018 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 3 hours ago, bobruss said: This happened just after the Martin Luther King assassination, in response to the rioting that occurred in many cities across the country. They were worried about their large plate glass windows being broken out. This area wasn't a high crime area. As a matter of fact there was a very popular movie theater on the corner of Main and Richmond called the Delman theater. The midtown area was a bohemian area and the first alley theater was down in this area. I used to go with my dad to a music store on Caroline not far from Sears where he would buy cymbals and drumsticks. There was a very popular jewelry store just south of Sears and they had Paul Bosch do advertising for them. It was quite a busy part of town back in the late 50's early sixties. My family was living in an old duplex on Montrose just south of Alabama. Much of your post is likely true. One point of minor clarification though......(assuming I interpreted your post correctly).... the “race riots” around the country were occurring before the assignation of MLK take one of the most notable: Newark. It happens a year before MLK was killed, as I recall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Materene Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 Ellington will outlive me I think, both locations mentioned in this post have very old relevance to me, for one when I was still pretty young around 5 or 6 I had medical care there at the Field as many other dependents of servicemen did. At the time my Father was stationed on the USS Los Angeles Heavy Cruiser ported in Long Beach so that is one thing I will forever remember. The other memory is the old Sears store and after I returned to civilian life after the Army I went to work for Al Parker Buick and I purchased my very first tools at that Sears location because Al Parker service department had a charge account and this was a time your employers looked after veterans and servicemen going out of their way to help you get a foot hold back into your life. Strange how a few things reconnect when so many others have all but faded and disappeared forever. I think it is nice both of these places will be around for a very long time and someone else will remember them 65 or more years later and they might tie a different memory to the both of them. I don't live in Houston any longer and only get bits and pieces of information now , reading this forum has been very useful and insightful to me. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 2 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said: Much of your post is likely true. One point of minor clarification though......(assuming I interpreted your post correctly).... the “race riots” around the country were occurring before the assignation of MLK take one of the most notable: Newark. It happens a year before MLK was killed, as I recall. Your absolutely right! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 On 4/11/2018 at 4:25 PM, j_cuevas713 said: The structure isn't windowless. It's just the cladding on top. And the brick in the ground floor windows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 (edited) 16 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said: Much of your post is likely true. One point of minor clarification though......(assuming I interpreted your post correctly).... the “race riots” around the country were occurring before the assignation of MLK take one of the most notable: Newark. It happens a year before MLK was killed, as I recall. This is what I was talking about. v t e King assassination riots Detroit New York City Washington, D.C. Chicago Pittsburgh Baltimore Kansas City Wilmington Louisville The King assassination riots, also known as the Holy Week Uprising,[1] was a wave of civil disturbance which swept the United Statesfollowing the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. It was the greatest wave of social unrest the United States had experienced since the Civil War.[2] Some of the biggest riots took place in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Chicago, and Kansas City. Edited April 14, 2018 by bobruss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post MarathonMan Posted April 14, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted April 14, 2018 Beautiful tile detailing seeing light after decades of darkness. I’m interested to watch this building transform! 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 21 hours ago, bobruss said: This happened just after the Martin Luther King assassination, in response to the rioting that occurred in many cities across the country. They were worried about their large plate glass windows being broken out. 17 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said: Much of your post is likely true. One point of minor clarification though......(assuming I interpreted your post correctly).... the “race riots” around the country were occurring before the assignation of MLK take one of the most notable: Newark. It happens a year before MLK was killed, as I recall. Full disclosure: I cribbed the following from the comments section of that other website:From a 2006 Cite article by architect Barry Moore:http://offcite.org/from-the-cite-archives-when-good-buildings-go-bad-by-barry-moore/.“it was the threat of race riots. In the tumultuous aftermath of Martin Luther King Jr.”s assassination in l968, local Black Panther activist Lee Otis Johnson organized an 8,000-person strong memorial march, which unsettled much of the business community. Sears, watching from a Chicago torn apart the same summer, reacted by bricking up almost all the Houston store’s show windows and cladding the elegant upper stones with beige metal. And so Fort Sears has remained ever since, hiding from an evolving international city and culture, and wondering where all the shoppers went.” 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted April 14, 2018 Share Posted April 14, 2018 Mods. Shouldn't this be in the Midtown section? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post houstontexasjack Posted April 14, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted April 14, 2018 4 hours ago, bobruss said: Mods. Shouldn't this be in the Midtown section? It’s a significant architectural alteration to a highly visible structure that’s the first phase of a larger redevelopment. I think the likelihood for additional structures in the other phases would warrant inclusion in “Going Up.” 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooklyn173 Posted April 15, 2018 Share Posted April 15, 2018 This whole project sounds amazing and almost exactly as I would have envisioned it in my urban design fantasies. The last item on my wish list would be to have Rice University open up a new Computer Science building there, with state of the art computer facilities for classes, leased time, etc. This would help prime the pump in the area with new people and a new culture. Maybe even dormitories in the future. But I can't really complain based on all of the good news coming from Wheeler nowadays. Related but completely different, NYC has a wonderful example of a department store's transformation to an academic institution. Completely different architecture and environment, but if you ever get a chance, a visit to the CUNY Graduate Center (nee: B. Altman's Department Store) on 5th and 34th. The interior is completely changed (and wonderful) and the exterior is as handsome as it ever was. http://nyccirca.blogspot.com/2013/04/b- altmans-palace-of-trade-moves-uptown.html 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diaspora Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 Just to put a few more puzzle pieces on the table here, this effort is the first foray into reimagining the 9.4 Acres owned and managed by Rice Endowment. http://realtynewsreport.com/2018/04/12/rice-creating-innovation-district-in-midtown-houston-around-1939-vintage-sears-store/ Rice Endowment is working with HR&A Advisors (see, NYC High Line) to plan and develop. While this is pushing forward, TxDOT will be dropping that portion of 69 below grade. Couple that with stakeholders working to reinvision the public spaces (transit stations, cap parks, traffic engineering) and there will be a remarkable amount of churning over the next 36 months. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 Part of the magic of the hub will be an easier transit approach, which promises to be at separate grade. “Edwin Friedrichs, Senior Principal at Walter P. Moore, has said that anything at street grade would mean traffic gridlock, so Rice will be working with HR&A to look at grade separation,” said Greg Marshall, a Rice University spokesman. “We have that top of mind.” What is he talking about? Grade-separating what? On a different note, this would be a great time to revive the Universities Line. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 13 minutes ago, H-Town Man said: What is he talking about? Grade-separating what? Sounds like above-grade light rail station right? That would seriously help with the Richmond/Main/Wheeler intersection. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted April 16, 2018 Share Posted April 16, 2018 34 minutes ago, Triton said: Sounds like above-grade light rail station right? That would seriously help with the Richmond/Main/Wheeler intersection. Changing the grade of the train would be massively expensive, require a long approach on both sides, and involve numerous problems, including the presence of the freeway for starters. And I can't imagine they would raise it just for this building, when it runs at grade past several million square feet of office space downtown. I have to think he is referring to roads, but why would you change the grade of any of those streets? Grade separations are blighty and anti-urban. Street grids are usually efficient enough for just about anything, although it does get a little wonky in that area with the train and the freeway. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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