pete should tweet that

Give it however long it will take for the Steelyard to get fully up and running, the difference will be that much starker. There's still the second building that will be immediately south of the parking garage, right?

You know, it might be cool to have a thread dedicated to this kind of thing. Showing the transformation. For instance, go to streetview and look at 2nd and Walnut looking west. The change is dramatic form 2007 until now. So many areas east of the RR tracks were just fields and blank lots.

Yea this will be way more presentable once that corner is finished.

Is it safe to assume the area to the east of this will be for parking?

I thought there was at least one more hotel coming to the east, besides the Staybridge and Canopy...

From October 2007...

13167

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill103016a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill103016b.jpg

Looks like it's pretty well glassed in now:

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill111116.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill112716.jpg

You can see inside the lobby that they have started to receive furniture.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill010916.jpg

One of the color-changing lights in that alcove above the front of the building is out of sync with the other lights up there... it's the one on the right. It's really noticeable when the colors are cycling at night, as that light washes the wall with a different color than the others.

I hate hate hate the design of that hotel. It's a horrible design.

I hate hate hate the design of that hotel. It's a horrible design.

I hate the light material they used at the top and I'm no fan of the entrance either.

What's wrong with it?

I like the fact it's look (entry) is unique to every other hotel in Bricktown.

I like it. It would be nice if it was taller, but that's just me channeling the spirit of PluPan.

I saw it from I-235 last week and it looked good next to the Criterion.

What's wrong with it?

It's just personal preference. I don't like the white "stucco" material used on the top because it stands out poorly in my opinion. And the entrance is kind of odd, but my main gripe is with the material used on top.

It would be nice if it was taller.good note, good note. I agree here.

Sitting in the Houston Galleria Area, I realize how little our downtown is, I hate seeing all the restaurants leaving, and all those motels and housing popping up and not seeing the demand.

Sitting in the Houston Galleria Area, I realize how little our downtown is, I hate seeing all the restaurants leaving, and all those motels and housing popping up and not seeing the demand.

Many, many more restaurants are opening vs. closing.

There is plenty of room and demand for good operations.

Sitting in the Houston Galleria Area, I realize how little our downtown is, I hate seeing all the restaurants leaving, and all those motels and housing popping up and not seeing the demand.

It's funny because last time I was in Houston I couldn't get over how dead and poorly designed their downtown was.

It's funny because last time I was in Houston I couldn't get over how dead and poorly designed their downtown was.funny too because last time I was there it was the complete opposite. I was shocked at how alive it was vs the last time I was there.

funny too because last time I was there it was the complete opposite. I was shocked at how alive it was vs the last time I was there.

I would guess we were in different parts of downtown. I stayed at the Doubletree and there are barely any businesses or signs of life on that weekend. Sidewalks were closed off for minor building repairs that forced pedestrians into the one-way "highways" downtown. Anyway, I'm not trying to hate on Houston. Just point out that at least parts of their downtown have a long way to go....

I think Houstons downtown is developing nicely. They just need to cut it out with the parking podiums but that seems to be going away.

The Galleria area of Houston, where he was at, is totally different from downtown Houston. The Galleria has a massive mall.

I'm sure everyone here knows all of that....

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill020407.jpg

Please don't misunderstand. I LOVE all this development...but why do all the hotels in this picture have 3/4 brick and then the top 1/4 is some kind of light colored material?

Money.

It's EIFS.

Please don't misunderstand. I LOVE all this development...but why do all the hotels in this picture have 3/4 brick and then the top 1/4 is some kind of light colored material?

Unfortunately, these particular developer/owners do the minimum they can get by with.

Unfortunately, these particular developer/owners do the minimum they can get by with.

It's the maximum amounts of EIFS (a thin layer of spray on finish over foam insulation) that DDRC will allow downtown. It's about the cheapest material you can find. It's not fair to stucco to compare the two.

This was actually discussed on the first page of this thread.

Modern buildings typically employ a different material on the top floor or two to keep the building from looking monolithic. Prior to the ubiquity of EIFS this was typically limestone or something similar, but that's obviously very expensive so now they use the fake stucco you see here.

There are of course other ways to break up a 100%-brick building without using a different material at the top. However, as has been discussed, the EIFS not only accomplishes this, but is also extremely cheap.

I don't care for the EIFS either. The Holiday Inn Express is all brick but doesn't look monolithic. Why couldn't those places take a cue from the HIE? Oh yeah, cuz it costs money.

From today

13622

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill030517.jpg

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill051317.jpg

What a terrible spot for their name. You can only read it head-on. I've always thought this hotel was a little strange.

^

There is signage on all 4 sides of the building.

Peeking inside, it looks like all the furniture is place and things are pretty much ready to be cleaned up and opened.

http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill060417a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill060417b.jpg

Some photos of the inside, as they are deep into training. Website says first night you can book is 8/15.



http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill072317a.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill072317b.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill072317c.jpg


http://www.okctalk.com/images/pete/springhill072317d.jpg