rechlin Posted November 19, 2014 Share Posted November 19, 2014 I have the webcam going again. Thanks for your patience. Let's hope it stays up longer this time! http://webcam.rechlin.net/811main/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 There seems to be some activity on the site today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PD_1 Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 They have moved some equipment on site and started digging asphalt around the perimeter of the block. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted November 20, 2014 Share Posted November 20, 2014 They have moved some equipment on site and started digging asphalt around the perimeter of the block. From Rechlin's webcam: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted November 26, 2014 Share Posted November 26, 2014 11/25, heavy equipment has disappeared. Sorry for my pics being out of focus on the left side, not sure what was up with my phone at the time. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted November 27, 2014 Share Posted November 27, 2014 Got my invite to the groundbreaking. Going to drop in on all my old alumni pals. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
democide Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 Houston ISD breaks ground on new campus for arts high school Come Tuesday, the cement will be ripped up and construction will begin on a new five-story, 168,000-square-foot building for the Houston ISD's High School for Performing and Visual Arts.The sleek, $80 million project will include a 200-seat mini-theater, 200-seat black box theater, 150-seat recital hall, rooftop garden and outdoor art studio. The centerpiece will be an 800-seat main theater, complete with a balcony, that will fit the prestigious magnet school's entire faculty and student body with room to spare. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 A couple of photos from the groundbreaking: 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted December 15, 2014 Share Posted December 15, 2014 The ripple effect the school is going to have downtown is going to be amazing, especially for the families that begin to move downtown. And think about the opportunities a lot of these kids are going to have being so adjacent to the Theater District. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post rechlin Posted December 17, 2014 Popular Post Share Posted December 17, 2014 Digging has begun. There are a bunch of trucks on site and pavement is now torn up on the north corner of the block (click for bigger view): And my webcam should now be more reliable: http://webcam.rechlin.net/811main/ 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 So, if my count is right, you've got five under construction projects in view without so much as turning your head, all of which will be well along if/when Six Houston shows up to block the view of a couple of them. Cool. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechlin Posted December 18, 2014 Share Posted December 18, 2014 So, if my count is right, you've got five under construction projects in view without so much as turning your head, all of which will be well along if/when Six Houston shows up to block the view of a couple of them. Cool. Yes, it's pretty fun! Actually if you look closely, you can already see the following in the webcam: HSPVA digging Hampton Inn/Homewood Suites George R Brown parking garage prep work and eventually renovation Marriott Marquis Texaco renovation 500 Crawford apartments EaDo Station apartments (or at least the crane for it) And once construction becomes more visible, you should see: Nau Center (all you can see so far is the cover over the locomotive) Incarnate Word parking garage And if they ever build them, you should see: Block 98 residential high-rise 6 Houston Center Alexan Downtown (if it is tall enough) And if I turn the webcam slightly to the left, once it gets tall enough, you should see: Catalyst apartments 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mab Posted January 8, 2015 Share Posted January 8, 2015 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZKB9 Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 No activity at all on the construction cam. Does anybody know when they'll start work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downtownian Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 No activity at all on the construction cam. Does anybody know when they'll start work? Would they hold a groundbreaking but then delay construction by a few months? "In the Houston Independent School District, which passed a $1.9 billion bond in 2012, officials are considering delaying projects several months in hopes of soliciting lower bids from contractors. They also are weighing cost-cutting moves such as weeding out pricier materials and square footage from campuses."http://www.chron.com/news/education/article/Houston-ISD-plays-waiting-game-with-construction-6054083.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted February 8, 2015 Share Posted February 8, 2015 (edited) Would they hold a groundbreaking but then delay construction by a few months? "In the Houston Independent School District, which passed a $1.9 billion bond in 2012, officials are considering delaying projects several months in hopes of soliciting lower bids from contractors. They also are weighing cost-cutting moves such as weeding out pricier materials and square footage from campuses."http://www.chron.com/news/education/article/Houston-ISD-plays-waiting-game-with-construction-6054083.php They are trying to take advantage of the slump in oil prices hoping that labor costs will be a little lower as well as material costs due to private projects on hold or delayed. Many school districts almost always take the lowest bid possible and if they see a chance to get that bid lower than they will go for it. HISD also has a terrible reputation of setting ridiculous prices per sqft. Like prices you could never achieve in the current market...or any market for that matter! They are literally stuck in a time warp in a time when prices were fairly cheap and inflation never rose, but the thing is that prices did go up and inflation went up through the years not gone down. The entire time they have kept their same absurd price per sqft! I know that schools don't need the best finishes or have to be works of art, but their prices are so dumb that it really puts a strain on what is potential for these projects. Don't think just because this is magnet school that it will be safe from their buffoonery. Lets just say I know of one particular magnet school project (which has the potential to look very nice btw) is very slim by means of budges because they will not accept a higher price per sqft. Now some might ask, Luminare, maybe they are just being really good at not spending a lot of money. I say that's bs. They are stingy! Pinching pennies when they could save dollars later! If I were to show you prices for other schools built in Houston outside of HISD then you see the stark difference and immediately understand how crazy they are. This project will still happen because these magnet schools are the gems in their crown, but we probably won't see this project begin construction until at least this summer. Design wise I should assure that the designs themselves will be intact and won't change much unless their were some freak mistakes in programming, but lets just say that the finishes will be less than desirable. This is all just what I have seen so far in my short experience and looking up the history of projects for HISD. Edited February 8, 2015 by Luminare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Soo.... are they still waiting? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Soo.... are they still waiting? Waiting for something. There's a whole lot of nothing going on on that block. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted April 9, 2015 Share Posted April 9, 2015 Waiting for something. There's a whole lot of nothing going on on that block.True. But, at least it's a pretty fence! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 And that was a fun groundbreaking. I think at some point the School District will realize prices are not going to come down a whole lot and get off the pot. Somewhere I saw that materials costs for projects in the Woodlands had dropped about 7%, but that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 And that was a fun groundbreaking. I think at some point the School District will realize prices are not going to come down a whole lot and get off the pot. Somewhere I saw that materials costs for projects in the Woodlands had dropped about 7%, but that's it. The problem is that HISD is completely unreasonable when it comes to their sqft pricing. They are way behind the times in terms of the costs it takes to build a school and to build it very well with decent to good materials. Conroe ISD on the other hand is very flexible and understands what the market is and at the same time is willing to invest in the materials necessary for the job. HISD just doesn't want to spend the money. They are in for a rude awakening when they get all these kids 10 years from now from milennials and gen Y who actually expect their inner city schools to be on par or above those of their suburban peers. Hopefully by then the old guard who were satisfied with provided lower quality schools to inner city kids (mostly minorities) will be replaced by more forward thinking individuals who actually want to provide better schools for every race of people who live in the inner cities. The interesting thing is when the wealth flips from suburb to inner city. Will we see the same thing that happened to inner city schools last century take place in the suburbs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quietstorm Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 The problem is that HISD is completely unreasonable when it comes to their sqft pricing. They are way behind the times in terms of the costs it takes to build a school and to build it very well with decent to good materials. Conroe ISD on the other hand is very flexible and understands what the market is and at the same time is willing to invest in the materials necessary for the job. HISD just doesn't want to spend the money. They are in for a rude awakening when they get all these kids 10 years from now from milennials and gen Y who actually expect their inner city schools to be on par or above those of their suburban peers. Hopefully by then the old guard who were satisfied with provided lower quality schools to inner city kids (mostly minorities) will be replaced by more forward thinking individuals who actually want to provide better schools for every race of people who live in the inner cities. The interesting thing is when the wealth flips from suburb to inner city. Will we see the same thing that happened to inner city schools last century take place in the suburbs? @Luminare Do you think the HISD schools built what this last bond proposal were poor quality? I ask because my kids went to Lockhart Elementary, Lanier Middle School and Carnegie Vanguard High School. Each of these schools represents a very different dynamic. Lockhart is predominately black and in Third Ward. Their new facility was built a few years ago and doesn't appear to be poor quality, but I'm not sure about the building materials. Lanier is an old building, but is still considered a "good" school; while the new Carnegie Vanguard moved from Sunnyside to Midtown and has become even more desirable. A friend's daughter is #998 on the wait list. I'm wondering if building materials at Carnegie are any better, or if a school's zip code causes folks to presume building quality. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted April 10, 2015 Share Posted April 10, 2015 I've seen Lamar and I've seen schools on Northside; it appears the renovations are updating the school buildings nicely. But updates cause their own controversies, as the demolition of the old Wheatley High demonstrated. (Incidentally, a lot of famous names in basketball went through that high school; it used to be a direct pipeline to Guy Lewis and U of H). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted April 30, 2015 Share Posted April 30, 2015 So...? Any new info on when construction is going to start? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/15699/pat_meeting_minutes/hspva/041315_HSPVA_PATMinutes.pdf We’ve been unable to agree on a Guaranteed Maximum Price with the general contractor. GMP negotiations are part of the routine scope-to-budget process on any project. Under the contract, the district is authorized to terminate negotiations in the event that the construction manager is unable to provide a GMP proposal that is acceptable. The program manager is recommending that we exercise that option to move on to another general contractor so that we can move the project forward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 The problem is that HISD is completely unreasonable when it comes to their sqft pricing. They are way behind the times in terms of the costs it takes to build a school and to build it very well with decent to good materials. Conroe ISD on the other hand is very flexible and understands what the market is and at the same time is willing to invest in the materials necessary for the job. HISD just doesn't want to spend the money. They are in for a rude awakening when they get all these kids 10 years from now from milennials and gen Y who actually expect their inner city schools to be on par or above those of their suburban peers. Hopefully by then the old guard who were satisfied with provided lower quality schools to inner city kids (mostly minorities) will be replaced by more forward thinking individuals who actually want to provide better schools for every race of people who live in the inner cities. The interesting thing is when the wealth flips from suburb to inner city. Will we see the same thing that happened to inner city schools last century take place in the suburbs? http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/15699/pat_meeting_minutes/hspva/041315_HSPVA_PATMinutes.pdf Yep.....exactly what I had thought....... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 It would be funny if the cost cap could have been raised to a commercially acceptable level with a couple years’ worth of now foregone parking revenue from the lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 So stupid smh... at least we know the project is moving forward Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toxtethogrady Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Damn - a PM holding a GC's feet to the fire on a guaranteed maximum price? How novel. Usually a GC files a claim for changed conditions and the project owner rolls over like a dog wanting its belly scratched... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Urbannizer Posted September 26, 2015 Share Posted September 26, 2015 A new GC has been selected; construction will resume soon. 091415 HSPVA PAT Meeting Minutes.pdf 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.