DT: Block TU Tower
#1
Posted 13 December 2005 - 06:38 PM
Developers planning 60-story skyscraper for Fort Worth
By Sandra Baker
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH — A Fort Worth architect and a Dallas development firm expect to be under construction as early as next summer on a spiraling 60-story, $200 million modern office and condo tower on the east side of downtown that, if built, will become the city’s tallest building and the first skyscraper built here in more than two decades.
Ken Schaumburg and William "Bill” Cawley, chairman and chief executive of Cawley Wilcox Cos., have teamed together on the ambitious project that could spur redevelopment in an area of downtown that has seen modest growth in the past several years, but which could probably bring some of the highest values to downtown real estate.
Cawley said the project, to include 200,000 square feet of office space and 300 condos, is still in early design and budgeting stages, and that not all of the financing has been obtained. He said his company and other investors will back the project, which could be completed in mid-2008.
"I don’t expect that to be a problem,” Cawley said. "Fort Worth is a great office market, and it’s a great city. It’s one of the most stable markets in the U.S. We expect to do it, but we’re very early in our process.”
Schaumburg and representatives with Wilcox Development Services, the developing arm of the Cawley Wilcox Cos., met with city officials Monday in a predevelopment planning session for the 900-foot-tall building, planned for the city block bounded by Seventh, Eighth, Calhoun and Jones streets.
A name for the project has yet to be chosen, but it is being referred to as the Block TU project in city filings.
"It looks like everything is good to go,” Schaumburg said.
The condos are expected to sell for at least $350 a square foot, meaning the largest condos at 5,000 square feet, will top out at $1.75 million, Schaumburg said.
The building’s floors each will be 20,000 square feet. The street level will have retail space, followed by 10 floors for parking for 1,100 cars. Separate parking entrances for the office tenants and the residents are planned.
Above the parking floors will be a transitional floor of open space, followed by 10 floors for offices. Above the office floors will be a floor for the building’s mechanicals and then a sky lobby, which will house recreational uses for the condos, including a swimming pool. Those floors will be topped with 37 floors for condos.
Schaumburg, though, said he’d also like to see a public restaurant on the top floor.
The condos will range in size from about 800 square feet to 5,000 square feet, with most of the condos being 1,500 to 2,000 square feet, Schaumburg said. Costs will begin at $350 a square foot, which will set the top end of the market downtown. Marketing efforts for presales will likely begin in late February, he said.
If completed, the building will surpass the city’s tallest building, Burnett Plaza, 801 Cherry St., which is 40 stories and 567 feet high. The second-tallest building is D.R. Horton Tower, 301 Commerce St., at 547 feet high, but 38 stories. Carter Burgess Plaza, at Seventh and Main streets, is also 40 stories, but it is 525 feet high.
The east side of downtown has a few warehouses and several empty lots that are used for parking. The Intermodal Transportation Center opened at Ninth and Jones streets in 2002, which increased the number people traveling in and out of the area.
City leaders say the project will be a huge boost to downtown, because most of the recent development has been focused on the south end near Lancaster Avenue and to the west off of Seventh Street. The northeast edge of downtown is also undergoing a residential renaissance with the Trinity Bluff project.
"We’ve long seen the potential of that area to benefit from the growth of downtown,” said Fernado Costa, the city’s economic development director. "The pedestrian environment and connection to transit make that site particularly valuable.”
The site is also a few blocks from the world-renowned Bass Performance Hall and within a couple of blocks of the heart of city’s office and commercial buildings, where about 40,000 work.
Andy Taft, president of Downtown Fort Worth Inc., a nonprofit booster group, said the project will tap into two markets — office and residential — that are in great demand. He said he’s hoping that the development could spur more developments.
“The office space is very tight in downtown and the combination of office and residential in that location is an intriguing idea,” Taft said. “There is a lot of land in that cooridor for redevelopment opportunities.”
Mayor Mike Moncrief said the proposed building would certainly change the city’s skyline.
"We encourage development and growth,” Moncrief said. "I know there’s demand for square footage downtown, offices large and small alike. Downtown continues to change as we continue to grow.”
The vacancy rates for Class A office space in downtown Fort Worth has remained at historic lows for the past couple of years, and if forecasts are correct, it’s going to keep getting tighter.
Grubb & Ellis commercial real estate company said that the largest tenant demands would take place in the Class A office market sector, the buildings that are the most modern and with the latest amenities. Corporate relocations and consolidations are creating the greastest demand for space, Grubb & Ellis said.
Other projects are also in the works for downtown Fort Worth.
Klabzuba Oil and Gas Co. in Fort Worth plans a 10-story Class A office building near the southwest corner of Weatherford and Lexington streets, on the western edge of downtown. The company said the 200,000-square-foot building could be under construction in mid-2006.
Schaumburg said Cawley approached him earlier this year about a possible project.
Schaumburg bought the land in April from TXU Electric Delivery, which had used it for fleet parking. At the time, Schaumburg said he anticipated using the city block to expand his nearby Le Bijou luxury town house development, that will be under construction in the coming weeks.
"I had planned on a condo project, but this makes it pretty exciting to combine both,” Schaumburg said. "This is the highest and best use of the property.”
The Cawley Wilcox Cos. are not unfamiliar with Fort Worth. Wilcox Capital in July bought the three-building Overton Centre office complex in southwest Fort Worth. In 2002, it bought the Green Oaks Hotel, a west Fort Worth landmark, and in 2003, it bought the Ridglea Bank Building off Camp Bowie Boulevard.
Most recently, Wilcox Development developed the JPMorgan International Building, a 1.1 million-square-foot building in Dallas, the 420,000-square-foot Sybase corporate headquarters in Dublin, Calif. and the 250,000-square-foot Blue Shield of California building in Sacremento.
Schaumburg is serving as design architect on the project, but Omniplan in Dallas will be the architect of record.
The Fort Worth building will equal two 60-story buildings in downtown Dallas, the Bank One Center at 1717 Main St., and Fountain Place, 1445 Ross Ave. The tallest building in the Metroplex is the 72-story Bank of America Plaza, 901 Main St., in downtown Dallas, according to Dallassky.com.
Schaumburg is behind several high-dollar condominium projects, including The Versailles, at Henderson and Peach streets, and Bluff Street, at 959 Bluff St. He’s also planned a $48 million, 23-story condo tower on the western edge of downtown that would overlook the Trinity River at Peach Street and Lexington Avenue.
Staff writer Anna Tinsley contributed to this report.
Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727
sabaker@star-telegram.com
#2
Posted 13 December 2005 - 06:56 PM
#3
Posted 13 December 2005 - 07:39 PM
The location would not be on the top of my list, but may be a good catayst to that area.
Cost per condo sounds really high to me.
#4
Posted 13 December 2005 - 08:10 PM
#5
Posted 13 December 2005 - 08:33 PM
I was just perusing the Star-Telegram's website, and I noticed this little tidbit...sounds ambitious, don't know if they'll be able to sell condos at that price, but I'd like to see it happen. Just maybe with a different architect .
Developers planning 60-story skyscraper for Fort Worth
By Sandra Baker
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
FORT WORTH — A Fort Worth architect and a Dallas development firm expect to be under construction as early as next summer on a spiraling 60-story, $200 million modern office and condo tower on the east side of downtown that, if built, will become the city’s tallest building and the first skyscraper built here in more than two decades.
Article edited for brevity...
Staff writer Anna Tinsley contributed to this report.
Sandra Baker, 817-390-7727
sabaker@star-telegram.com
#6
Posted 13 December 2005 - 08:33 PM
Here, CRB
Could work here. It is different. Still waiting for development to occur near the Trinity River on the East side of DTFW by the 183 bridge, just south.
Should have used the word VIABLE. Makes it look like it's ALL about the money. Hint, hint. Jumping waaay ahead here Fernie.
Well, if he REALLY thought that he could sustain the value of DTFW residentials WITHOUT the MU of commercial/ retail properties, then I think he was fooling himself all along. Le Bijoux will never thrive on it's own and it would have done VERY little to DTFW on it's own.
www.iheartfw.com
#7
Posted 13 December 2005 - 08:38 PM
#8
Posted 13 December 2005 - 08:46 PM
#9
Posted 13 December 2005 - 09:38 PM
Has Schaumburg ever done anything on this scale? Might be worth it to wait and see what it looks like before we dismiss it as bad just because his name is attached.
I'm pretty sure he's never done anything bigger than Pecan Place. I actually like his lowrise architecture, it's just kind of hard to imagine a 60 story skyscraper designed by the same guy. We'll have to wait and see...
Oh, yeah, and I really don't think this is going to happen either. I was right about XTO not happening, although this project has a more realistic office portion, which may or may not legitimize building condos at that price (the majority would cost between 500K and 750K). But hey...if pessimism makes me right, I can't complain, and if I'm wrong, well, we get a new tallest building! Works fine for me either way.
#10
Posted 13 December 2005 - 11:07 PM
The Fort Worth building will equal two 60-story buildings in downtown Dallas, the Bank One Center at 1717 Main St., and Fountain Place, 1445 Ross Ave. The tallest building in the Metroplex is the 72-story Bank of America Plaza, 901 Main St., in downtown Dallas, according to Dallassky.com.
If this does get built, it would be nice to know we will at least have one skyscraper thats reaches Dallas' skyscraper hight standards. From what I understand, Reunion Tower in Dallas, is only a few feet shorter (7ft I think) than FW's tallest tower. I always have envyed and admired Big D's skyline.
#11
Posted 13 December 2005 - 11:15 PM
Oh, yeah, and I really don't think this is going to happen either. I was right about XTO not happening, although this project has a more realistic office portion, which may or may not legitimize building condos at that price (the majority would cost between 500K and 750K). But hey...if pessimism makes me right, I can't complain, and if I'm wrong, well, we get a new tallest building! Works fine for me either way.
I dunno, this sounds legit. XTO was purely speculation. The S-T article, back when XTO was "considering" a 50-story tower, XTO never had details laid-out and no definite plan to bring that project to light. This 60-story tower seems to be on the way to become reality just like the plan to turn the former Bank One building into "The Tower". Time will tell I guess
#12
Posted 13 December 2005 - 11:22 PM
At 900 feet, it would be Texas' fifth tallest.
1. JPMorgan Chase Tower Houston - 1,002 ft.
2. Wells Fargo Plaza, Houston - 972 ft.
3. Bank of America Plaza, Dallas - 921 ft.
4. Williams Tower, Houston - 901 ft.
5. Block TU Tower, Fort Worth - 900 ft.
I also think it would be the state's tallest building with residents. We couldn't call it the state's tallest residential building because of the mixed uses.
We also need to remember that the XTO building was also mentioned as a sort of "off the cuff" comment at a meeting. However, I do have information that some design sketches were done, but the project was deemed unrealistic fairly early in the process.
#13
Posted 13 December 2005 - 11:26 PM
#14
Posted 14 December 2005 - 05:34 AM
http://www.dfw.com/m...fw/13404635.htm
#15
Posted 14 December 2005 - 08:05 AM
I wonder if this was part of their marketing campaign to create a buzz that will pre-sell units. The last 23 story tower Schaumburg proposed stalled/ died early b/c of lack of pre-sales. If this story sounds legit people may be more likely to sign up early.
#17 gdvanc
Posted 14 December 2005 - 09:57 AM
The rendering... Each piece looks somewhat familiar for some reason. I don't hate the top section. In real life, it might be cool or it might not. Hard (for me) to tell. The rest of it... I don't know. I don't see it and think, "Holy cow! That's awesome!" I don't know that I'm particularly jazzed about the "this was 3 different buildings before the tornado" look. In real life, it might look good or it might look very, very bad. Again, I can't tell from the rendering. Probably because I'M NOT AN ARCHITECTURE CRITIC! I don't even wannabe one.
The top might add to the skyline. Personally, I'm more interested in the street-level. If it's groovy from the ground, I'm good. If it isn't, I'm not - no matter what it adds to the skyline. That's just me and my irrelevant priorities.
#18
Posted 14 December 2005 - 10:01 AM
The artist conception has what looks like balconies going all the way up to the top - that's great! The prices are expensive, but probably wouldn't keep the place from selling 85-90% easily.
Fort Worth CBD has needed more office space for a long time. Assuming this 200,000 sq ft office block gets started, downtown will finally become an option for the thousands of companies which will go office shopping around the Metroplex in the future. Should this project get approved, I'm certain several other projects with a Class A+ office component would surface within months.
AND it would be so cool to see Fort Worth showing up on near the top of the tallest building lists. My gut is telling me (and kinda warning me) that there might be another good ole competition to build the tallest building in Texas on the 10 years horizon. In Fort Worth, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, I'm pretty confident that there is enough potential demand to accommodate the volume of CBD Class A office space the ego buildings would propose.
#19
Posted 14 December 2005 - 10:02 AM
Does that figure sound just a little light for a structure that large? And judging from John Robert's comparison, this project would be the most ambitious in all of Texas since the mid eighties (in terms of commercial/res space and skyscrapers). Which brings up another question, if such a project is so truly feasabled, why is it that better financed, more experienced developers are not leading with such an ambitious project.
#20
Posted 14 December 2005 - 11:00 AM
#21
Posted 14 December 2005 - 11:29 AM
#22
Posted 14 December 2005 - 11:48 AM
But then again, I think a building inspired by the RoboCop films would be cool. You know, part man, part robot, part cop with very little attempt to blend them together.
If Class A office space is in demand and projected to go up plus there are already residential projects in the neighborhood, why are they proposing a mixed use building?
I guess I just don't get... bll.... blah...... sorry, I puked again. As I was saying, I guess I don't get it.
Perhaps Chicken Express could make it their corporate headquarters, and put a giant 22 foot yellow rubber chicken on the top, then it would be taller than Dallas! mmmmmm, Chicken Express.
#23
Posted 14 December 2005 - 12:11 PM
Nothing this big. Something like this constitutes a 5X leap from their biggest project. This is something you would more expect from a Crow or Hines type operation than from a firm whose priciple business to date has been commercial lease and mid level investment services. From the looks of it, they have NO experience in Residential building or sales which puts a big question mark on it from my perspective. KS's track record with downtown res. sales has been spotty at best which further questions the deal. It just seems that if this is such a good deal - there are rents to be made (economic, not litteral), then why hasn't the smarter money lead with something this big. Again, nothing this ambitious is going up in Austin, Dallas, or Houston - cities with a much higher demand for high rise residential.
#24
Posted 14 December 2005 - 01:04 PM
Did that Ken guy draw up that monstrosity??? Someone please tell me that rederings are never accurate into the final design. Of course you gonna reach 900'ft when you stack buildings on top of each other.
Did anyone notice that the top portion of the rending looks so much like Burnett Plaza from the side that faces the west? Elevator shaft as well. If built, will that be FW's signature style of skyscraper's with elevator shafts as the perfered crown for tall buildings???
#25 David Love
Posted 14 December 2005 - 01:07 PM
Just Make It Happen!
I don’t care what it looks like as long as they build it, I know I’ve seen better looking Lego creations, but considering all the things that have to fall into place to make something of this size happen, it’s a miracle in itself when they do. If / when they do build it just add a few extra feet, a spire, room for more than one restaurant, who cares just make it the tallest in the Metroplex. Bragging rights and the extra free publicity should more than cover the cost of 20 or 30 extra feet, then again they could just be hedging, all along planning for an extra 50 feet, then by the time Dallas realizes it, they’re in 2nd place and it could take “years” to regain the lead.
My only worry is the spiraling cost of concrete, with the recent wave of disasters added on top of China already absorbing a large percentage of the world’s production; building materials are going to be a major concern.
#26
Posted 14 December 2005 - 01:43 PM
#27
Posted 14 December 2005 - 01:50 PM
#28
Posted 14 December 2005 - 01:52 PM
#29
Posted 14 December 2005 - 01:58 PM
...more like Burnett Plaza morphing into the W lol!
#30 David Love
Posted 14 December 2005 - 02:15 PM
KS? Does it have a blue roof? Turretts on top? Cannot tell from the FWST rendering. I still question the seemingly insatiable demand for downtown living. I drink of the pro-DTFW cool-aid but stop short of thinking it Manhattan. Flight to the suburbs, flight to the country to get acreage, now a return to downtown.... in 5 years what will be the next trend?
Don’t think the urban lifestyle is a fad, your choice of words “trend,” might be more accurate, better still, it seems to be more of a stage or a phase in someone’s life. When it’s outgrown or time to move on, someone else is ready to move in. Most that fit this segment seem to be pre or post large family stage, “yuppies” or “empty-nesters” as they’re most often referred to and with the baby boomer segment in full swing, that segment of the market is just going to get larger.
#31
Posted 14 December 2005 - 03:13 PM
well it is nice to see something interesting on this forum again.
or maybe i meant some interesting news, i dunno.
#32
Posted 14 December 2005 - 03:48 PM
At those prices we "yuppies" will be "empty-nesters" by the time we can afford one! Most yuppies can only afford AMLI or Firestone let alone this new Optimus Prime Transformer Tower!
Seriously though, I drove through So7 the other day and saw 17 Cadillac Seville's. So unless Snoop Dogg is moving in, I have the feeling the market is almost completely empty-nester. I also saw them installing ermergency defibulators on every corner to keep away those pesky empty-cardiac-arresters! Oh jeez, I crack myself up.
#33
Posted 14 December 2005 - 05:19 PM
They asked some people off the streets of downtown on thier opinion, half were like awesome and the other half said it wasn't suitable for Fort Worth. A lady said that would make us like Dallas. Less buildings makes us a more charming city? What's that all about?
I'm sure a replay will happen for the 6 and/or 10pm news
#34
Posted 14 December 2005 - 05:27 PM
Plus, KS is the boy who cried wolf in my mind. I've heard plenty of declarations, now I'd like to see the wolf.
#35
Posted 14 December 2005 - 05:29 PM
Developers plan 60-story development in Fort Worth
Holli L. Estridge
Staff Writer
Local developers are in the planning phases for an estimated $200 million, 60-story office-condo tower in downtown Fort Worth.
Situated on the southeast corner of Calhoun and Sixth streets, the structure would be the central business district's tallest skyscraper and the first built there since the 1980s.
Fort Worth architect Ken Schaumburg, and Dallas' Wilcox Development Services and OmniPlan are partners on the project, which could have 200,000 square feet of office space, 300 condos, a top-level, club-type restaurant and 10 floors of parking. The proposed tower has not yet garnered financing.
Schaumburg, who owns the tower site, will primarily handle the condo design. The units would offer floorplans up to 5,000 square feet, with prices in the $350 per square foot range.
Schaumburg said he had originally purchased the property with a smaller project in mind. "I bought it with the idea of doing probably 300 condos on it, without the office component," he said. "Bill's (Cawley of Cawley-Wilcox Cos., of which Wilcox Development is a part) forté is high-rise office development. He approached me with the idea of doing both."
The partners are discussing making the tower an even larger project, Schaumburg said, with more condo units per floor. If they decide to go that route, they would have a 50-story building instead -- still the tallest in downtown. Shaumburg said 10 floors of parking situated beneath the structure, but on and above street level, would eliminate the series tunnels and bridges associated with many other downtown skyscrapers.
"The parking garage is a spiraling garage with the office and condos," Schaumburg said, of OmniPlan's design. "The public and office tenants will have no connection to the condo parking and tenants."
Representatives of OmniPlan could not be reached to comment on the tower project.
Cawley said his firm was looking for a site to build 200,000 square feet of office space when he began talks with Schaumburg. GVA Cawley, a Dallas-based real estate firm Cawley leads as president and CEO, already owns the Ridglea Bank Building off Camp Bowie Boulevard and the three-building Overton Centre office complex.
"Fort Worth has one of the most stable, and one of the best office markets in the country," Cawley said. "Rental rates and occupancy are high and vacancy is low."
The planned office space, city leaders have said, will help meet heavy demand for Class A office space, which has a low vacancy rate. Schaumburg said Cawley expects to presell 50 percent of the office space before the tower breaks ground. Developers anticipate completing design work, marketing tools, videos, virtual tours and a rendering by mid-February 2006. Then, they will begin pre-sales and the four- to six-month-long process of architecture, engineering and permitting work.
The project, if built at 60 stories, would surpass in height Fort Worth's tallest tower, the 40-story Burnett Plaza located at 801 Cherry St. The new tower would stand as high as downtown Dallas' Bank One Center and Fountain Place.
#36
Posted 14 December 2005 - 05:38 PM
Erik France
#37
Posted 14 December 2005 - 05:42 PM
Anyways, maybe the skyline with that new tower looks better at night all lit up? If so, too bad this region doesnt stay dark half the year like in Antartica! HAHAHAHA!
#39
Posted 14 December 2005 - 06:15 PM
If the building actually comes out to be 900 feet, then it will only be 21 feet shorter than the Bank of America Plaza, and taller than Dallas' second tallest building.
At 900 feet, it would be Texas' fifth tallest.
1. JPMorgan Chase Tower Houston - 1,002 ft.
2. Wells Fargo Plaza, Houston - 972 ft.
3. Bank of America Plaza, Dallas - 921 ft.
4. Williams Tower, Houston - 901 ft.
5. Block TU Tower, Fort Worth - 900 ft.
I also think it would be the state's tallest building with residents. We couldn't call it the state's tallest residential building because of the mixed uses.
We also need to remember that the XTO building was also mentioned as a sort of "off the cuff" comment at a meeting. However, I do have information that some design sketches were done, but the project was deemed unrealistic fairly early in the process.
Wow Mr Robert's only 21 feet? 22 feet higher and we pass Dallas? The Star-T said Dallas has two 900 feet towers now, was the Star- T wrong?
#40
Posted 14 December 2005 - 06:58 PM
BTW, to stay on topic. For what it's worth, the renderings look like that of a General Hospital. And money talks, unless of course you are Ken Scha.... what's his name?
www.iheartfw.com
#41
Posted 14 December 2005 - 07:33 PM
http://www.dallasarc...e.info/tall.htm
Bank of America Plaza is the tallest at 921 feet. The Renaissance Tower is 886 feet to the top of the lighted pylon. However, 176 feet of that is the decorative and communication devices added in 1986. That gives the true building height of 710 feet and 56 stories. Bank One Center is the third tallest at 787 feet and 60 stories. Chase Tower is 55 stories and 738 feet., and finally, Fountain Place is 62 stories and 720 feet.
#42
Posted 14 December 2005 - 07:59 PM
1. Notice that there is nothing at street level. Haven't we learned how detrimental it is to street activity to have essentially vacant ground floors? City Center Towers (DR Horton & Chase) as examples of this. I thought that era was over. I don't give a damn how tall a building is if the ground floor is just going to be more modernist/brutalist/constructivist garbage.
2. The rest of the building is abominable. It displays no craftsmanship at all. Pick a style and go with it for godsakes.
3. Haven't we decided not to take anything with Schaumburg's name on it seriously?
#43
Posted 14 December 2005 - 08:12 PM
A lady said that would make us like Dallas. Less buildings makes us a more charming city? What's that all about?
Gee, and Dallas is the only city on the face of the planet with tall buildings...
The print article about the tower and the article I posted from yesterday's ST website give two entirely different locations. One says "the block bounded by 7th, 8th, Calhoun and Jones," while the other says "the SE corner of 6th and Calhoun." The SE corner of 6th and Calhoun currently has a building on it according to dfwmaps.com, but the DBJ also lists the location as 6th/Calhoun, so I don't know which one to believe. Anybody know the real location to clear this up?
Also, these renderings are obviously quite preliminary, but they look totally unlike what I expected. I wasn't expecting it to look so...normal. I'm not going to say it looks ugly yet because, like I said, these are preliminary renderings. Anybody remember what the Tower's first renderings looked like? Man those were hideous...but The Tower turned out a lot better than those first glimpses had me thinking. I think this design shows some promise, the curved glass facade on the residential portion looks really great! It would look even better if just the residential part was flipped so that the curved facade faced what I assume to be the street (instead of the roof of the parking garage), but what am I saying, I don't have much faith that this will be built anyways, I guess it all remains to be seen.
Anybdoy else want to call the 900' height estimate suspect? How do they plan to get that tall with 37 floors of condos, maybe have 15' ceilings in every unit? Seriously, I plugged in some pretty unrealistic floor-floor heights and couldn't get anything taller than about 750 or 800 ft (sans crown, which doesn't look to be that tall, if it even exists).
#44
Posted 14 December 2005 - 08:41 PM
but what am I saying, I don't have much faith that this will be built anyways, I guess it all remains to be seen.
I'm hearing that alot, I can't blame anyone for thinking like that tho. I guess in a city that hasn't constructed a skyscraper in 20yrs, it's EASY to be skeptical. Especially when we've been teased with "rumors and possibilities" before.
Now for anyone old enough to remember the skyscrapers that DID go up in the 80's,
were the announcements for them seem far fetched? I mean now that we do have them, a potential new one is hard to believe. So at a time when our current buildings didn't exsist, I'm sure everyone though "NO WAY POSSIBLE!"
#45
Posted 14 December 2005 - 08:57 PM
#46
Posted 14 December 2005 - 09:05 PM
Is there a marina in the works to join it? Curious.
www.iheartfw.com
#47
Posted 14 December 2005 - 11:05 PM
Second, I am very pleasantly surprised by the design. The clean, rationalist modernism should blend well with City Center, Burnett Plaza and the Bank of America building, but still stand out. Its refreshing to not get a pseudo-historical brick and cast stone job that’s patronizingly referred to as ‘traditional Fort Worth style.’ It reminds me of this Perkins+Will building in Chicago, but on steroids.
contemporaine
Third, building over the parking is a good idea that saves adjacent blocks from becoming parking garage blocks. We have enough of those downtown as is.
Most of all, thank God there are no styrofoam ruins peeling off it.
And Sam, what do you mean it displays no craftsmanship? That would be an impossible judgement to make from a four inch drawing. If you mean it is not encrusted with ornament, in my book that’s a good thing, and doesn’t really have anything to do with craftsmanship. The Kimball and the Modern are the most finely crafted buildings in town and also happen to be the most minimal.
#48
Posted 15 December 2005 - 01:35 AM
#49
Posted 15 December 2005 - 04:43 AM
Throw me a bone here people.
I think it looks like a "Gamers Tower". Do you?
www.iheartfw.com
#50
Posted 15 December 2005 - 12:03 PM
Secondly, the building should be designed in a way that contributes to the shape of the skyline, rather than simply adding a rectangular block to it. There are many ways to accomplish this (through shape of the building, addition of spire(s), etc.)
I agree w/ the essence of what Dismuke said regarding building another building that is cold looking. It is entirely possible to design a forward-looking, modern structure that is pedestrian friendly (doesn't loom over the sidewalk and block the sun), and has an enduring style that complements the older early 20th century structures Downtown.
BTW, the "spiraling" design shown on the front page of the FWST is HORRENDOUS - presumably from the hand of KS. The Omniplan one is vastly superior but still needs much work.
Great idea packing tons of density near the transit hub - we need more TOD density.
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