HoustonMidtown Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Artista restaurant is in Hobby Center... http://www.thehobbycenter.org/index.php?q=node/131 Lots of others nearby https://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&q=Restaurants&ie=UTF8&cd=1&near=Hobby+Center+for+the+Performing+Arts,+Houston,+Harris,+Texas+77002&f=l&geocode=FZ4fxgEdY8dQ-g&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=23.875,57.630033&hq=Restaurants&hnear=Hobby+Center+for+the+Performing+Arts,+Houston,+TX+77002&z=14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 I'm assuming they're watching Wicked at the Hobby Center? Yeah, they were. They ended up eating at the Hobby Center's café, but that was okay, as one of them had been to Canada recently and thus, the prices seemed quite reasonable... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricco67 Posted August 17, 2013 Share Posted August 17, 2013 They had high food prices I'm the land of milk and honey? Who would have thunk it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Has anyone heard anything about this? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Has anyone heard anything about this? Just that it's in the process of being approved. I tried to get a copy of it, but they didn't want to give it out until it's been fully approved. There's some interesting info on this website. http://arup.com/~/media/Images/Projects/H/Houston_Theater_Masterplan/Gallery/Images/Houston_masterplan_streetview_900x600_c_Arup.ashx?mh=800&mw=1000 http://arup.com/~/media/Images/Projects/H/Houston_Theater_Masterplan/Gallery/Images/Houston_masterplan_900x600_c_Arup.ashx?mh=800&mw=1000 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Nice finds! I'll have to skim through those when I'm not on my phone. Did it say anything about potentially tearing down/redeveloping the Bayou Place property? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 This city just keeps getting better and better. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 (edited) Yep, I was super pleased to hear the info from a Houston First leader. He only said the Bayou Place demo was an "option" they were considering to not have a huge barrier down the middle of the theater District, so not sure that will actually end up happening. Who owns Bayou Place anyways?Edit. Woah.. Just clicked the links. There's the pedestrian streetscape improvements they want to make to that area! Edited May 13, 2015 by cloud713 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 Nice finds! I'll have to skim through those when I'm not on my phone. Did it say anything about potentially tearing down/redeveloping the Bayou Place property? It didn't say much at all. But the renderings show at the least a massive remodel of Bayou Place, with the portion covering the Bagby Street being eliminated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 (edited) Yep, I was super pleased to hear the info from a Houston First leader. He only said the Bayou Place demo was an "option" they were considering to not have a huge barrier down the middle of the theater District, so not sure that will actually end up happening. Who owns Bayou Place anyways?Edit. Woah.. Just clicked the links. There's the pedestrian streetscape improvements they want to make to that area! The City owns Bayou Place. It's operated by The Cordish Companies, on some sort of long-term lease/development contract. Personally, I think they (Cordish) have done a pretty lame job with it... I wouldn't mind seeing it turned over to a different developer with more exciting ideas. EDIT: Damn. According to Wikipedia, Cordish has a 50-year lease, beginning in 1997. Hopefully there are some clauses giving the city some flexibility... Or they can convince Cordish that tearing down part of it will make the rest more valuable. Edited May 13, 2015 by Houston19514 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 13, 2015 Share Posted May 13, 2015 (edited) The Houston First leader mentioned that when they were planning this plan that one of the options was tearing Bayou Place down (he made it sound like the whole complex) and redeveloping those blocks, so I guess there is some flexibility..?Also when I mentioned the Chronicle property as a possible new venue location he kind of grinned. Not saying they're gonna build a new venue there, but they've at least considered it.. Edited May 13, 2015 by cloud713 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) just had some time to do an internet search for the Master Plan and stumbled across this PDF from April 29th. must of been the most recent meeting that he referenced.. http://www.houstontx.gov/council/c/committee/20150429/PresentationTheaterDistrictMasterPlan.pdf edit.. WOW! complete redevelopment of the Jones Plaza, Fish Plaza, Tranquillity Park, a new pedestrian bridge across the bayou, and options for a complete tear down/redevelopment of Bayou Place to name a few... Here's a quick overview of some of the plans. Edited May 14, 2015 by cloud713 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Houston is going park-crazy!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 It's been a huge driver for economic development (and obviously quality of life) and most developers/leaders are realizing the benefits..I'm intrigued by the comparison of NYCs Time Warner Center to Bayou Place 3. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 I'm hoping that a Nice Hotel can Materialize along the Bayou, where "3" building is shown. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigereye Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 just had some time to do an internet search for the Master Plan and stumbled across this PDF from April 29th. must of been the most recent meeting that he referenced.. http://www.houstontx.gov/council/c/committee/20150429/PresentationTheaterDistrictMasterPlan.pdf edit.. WOW! complete redevelopment of the Jones Plaza, Fish Plaza, Tranquillity Park, a new pedestrian bridge across the bayou, and options for a complete tear down/redevelopment of Bayou Place to name a few... Here's a quick overview of some of the plans. Looks like there'd also be a Brazos St pedestrian thoroughfare from City Hall through Tranquility Pk & behind demo'd rear half of Bayou Place, connecting to Fish Plaza restaurant pad site. Also assuming the only the front half of Bayou Place up to Sundance Theater since they keep referencing Film Center examples. So that means the possibility of a new venue to replace the Verizon Wireless Theater. Where does the Hard Rock Cafe end up in all this? Jones Plaza had been rumored for a renovation for some time now. Interesting to see how it Tranquility Park shape up in this. With LED technology, the lighting plan for Alley Theater in particular could be a memorable addition... can't wait to see how that ends up. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moore713 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 It appears they will be keeping the front section of bayou place. . Which could actually work out for places like hard rock if they shift to say green st or along the new dallas corridor higher visbity..I never noticed how much bayou place back in broke up the flow of the street... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rechlin Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Bayou Place isn't even 20 years old. Isn't it a bit wasteful to be considering tearing it down already? Or is it really too low-density for the area now? As others have said, the Houston Chronicle block seems like a better place to redevelop in the immediate future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) Bayou Place essentially does to the Theater District what GRB does to the east side of downtown, separating it in half. They want to get rid of that.. If they can achieve the same by only getting rid of the street cross over then so be it, but that's a prime location to bring residential into the theater district. Or a hotel, like someone mentioned a few posts up. Either way there would be quite a bit of room left over (~ 2 blocks) for a new venue or whatever other amenities they want to bring to the area. I'd imagine it would be easier to redevelop/demo Bayou Place, which the city already owns vs the a Chronicle property, which they would have to purchase. And idk if demo is drastically more expensive for high rises vs low rises, but that could factor into costs too?Edit. And it was built in the 1960s.. So it's 50 years old. Not even 20 years old would make it younger than the GRB, which replaced it.. Edited May 14, 2015 by cloud713 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Good find Cloud!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 (edited) Bayou Place essentially does to the Theater District what GRB does to the east side of downtown, separating it in half. They want to get rid of that.. If they can achieve the same by only getting rid of the street cross over then so be it, but that's a prime location to bring residential into the theater district. Or a hotel, like someone mentioned a few posts up. Either way there would be quite a bit of room left over (~ 2 blocks) for a new venue or whatever other amenities they want to bring to the area. I'd imagine it would be easier to redevelop/demo Bayou Place, which the city already owns vs the a Chronicle property, which they would have to purchase. And idk if demo is drastically more expensive for high rises vs low rises, but that could factor into costs too?Edit. And it was built in the 1960s.. So it's 50 years old. Not even 20 years old would make it younger than the GRB, which replaced it.. Thank you for pointing this out. This building is much older than one might think. Many of the recent changes were done about 20 years ago, but Bayou place has been around since the 1960s. Bayou Place btw was Downtowns original convention center until GRB was built. It was a novel idea at the time, but it has not aged very well and is the most awkward of buildings as it sort of just slumps its entire mass across several blocks and butts up against the Bayou. It has almost zero street interaction with the rest of the district and simply does not fit with the rest of the districts aims and goals. It was the perfect building for its time, but has out lived its usefulness and purpose. Its also not like its some architectural gem or anything. Its a pretty standard modern building. If you look at the theater districts presentation and look at the examples of inspiration for blocks "1" "2" and "3" holy crap they are really looking at expanding Houston's architectural palette! I'm seeing a great diversification in architecture which is refreshing and bold. This is also a wonderful chance to really bind the whole district together as one cohesive whole instead of random assortment of theater buildings that happen to be close to one another. This is a fantastic idea overall and is just another look into just how far this city is moving along and the renaissance downtown is entering. Edited May 14, 2015 by Luminare 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
downtownian Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Thank you for pointing this out. This building is much older than one might think. Many of the recent changes were done about 20 years ago, but Bayou place has been around since the 1960s. Bayou Place btw was Downtowns original convention center until GRB was built. It was a novel idea at the time, but it has not aged very well and is the most awkward of buildings as it sort of just slumps its entire mass across several blocks and butts up against the Bayou. It has almost zero street interaction with the rest of the district and simply does not fit with the rest of the districts aims and goals. It was the perfect building for its time, but has out lived its usefulness and purpose. Its also not like its some architectural gem or anything. Its a pretty standard modern building. If you look at the theater districts presentation and look at the examples of inspiration for blocks "1" "2" and "3" holy crap they are really looking at expanding Houston's architectural palette! I'm seeing a great diversification in architecture which is refreshing and bold. This is also a wonderful chance to really bind the whole district together as one cohesive whole instead of random assortment of theater buildings that happen to be close to one another. This is a fantastic idea overall and is just another look into just how far this city is moving along and the renaissance downtown is entering. As a downtown resident, I actually really appreciate Bayou Place. I often walk to Sundance Cinema for movies and I've been to four concerts at the music venue over the past year. Plus I frequently get take-out from Blue Fish. Agree that it breaks up the Theatre District but I hope that anything that takes it place has at least the same functionality for downtown residents. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 As a downtown resident, I actually really appreciate Bayou Place. I often walk to Sundance Cinema for movies and I've been to four concerts at the music venue over the past year. Plus I frequently get take-out from Blue Fish. Agree that it breaks up the Theatre District but I hope that anything that takes it place has at least the same functionality for downtown residents. I will definitely agree with this. I was actually surprised with just how much they have retrofitted Bayou Place with all these different amenities. But its clear that the district has outgrown Bayou Place and I think Downtown is outgrowing Bayou Place and you could probably better distribute all these various amenities throughout the district instead of housing it all in one building. It could be a way of further expanding amenities while also giving the theater district what they want Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kennyc05 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 It appears they will be keeping the front section of bayou place. . Which could actually work out for places like hard rock if they shift to say green st or along the new dallas corridor higher visbity..I never noticed how much bayou place back in broke up the flow of the street...I always thought they should move to Greenstreet. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 btw guys, if you haven't clicked the link, what i included was definitely not everything shown in the PDF. that annual lunar festival doesn't currently exist, right? after the initial excitement settled down i went back and re looked at things and didn't realize the other new developments they hope to attract to the area besides the Bayou Place stuff. residential next to Lyric Center, and a few other boxes (next to Ballet venue and one by the Aquarium) http://www.houstontx.gov/council/c/committee/20150429/PresentationTheaterDistrictMasterPlan.pdf 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 The one thing I was hoping to see in the Theater District Master Plan, but do not (yet) see is a plan to demolish the Hobby Center parking garage and replace it with some site-sensitive mixed-use, benefiting from the frontage on Buffalo Bayou. I'll continue to hold out hope since what we are seeing so far is just an overview of the Master Plan presented to a city council committee. Hopefully, the full plan will include getting rid of that parking garage. (On a related note, there was recently news that the Theater Under the Stars musical theater school (which is housed in the Hobby Center) is running out of space. They could expand into whatever replaces that parking garage.) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Hopefully whatever is built will not need to get torn down again in 10 years when the Pierce Elevated is gone and the whole world over there changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkultra25 Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Thank you for pointing this out. This building is much older than one might think. Many of the recent changes were done about 20 years ago, but Bayou place has been around since the 1960s. Bayou Place btw was Downtowns original convention center until GRB was built. The Albert Thomas Convention and Exhibit Center. There's a replica of Congressman Thomas' office at Bayou Place, across from the elevators near the Sundance Cinemas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 H town man, even if the Pierce were getting removed in that section (the plan is to keep that part for downtown connectors), why would the future Bayou Place development be insufficient in 10 years? It probably won't even happen for close to that length of time (the master plan goes out to 2025). The conceptual design references include twin 750' Time Warner Center towers with a huge retail plaza at the bottom (Columbus Circle?). Hard to imagine anything near that scope being insufficient for that site in the foreseeable future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 This city just amazes me. We can look back and say we lived during the Houston transformation. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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