HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by Hawk89

Correct. Downtown Houston has a tall mass of buildings right in the middle that is more impressive than any other U.S. City besides NY and Chicago, in my opinion. The height really is incredible. The problem is that the tall mass is surrounded by parking lots. If you guys fill those in with 10-20 story buildings, then I definitely believe that Houston deserves the title of 3rd best skyline in the U.S.

The infill is happening and parking lots are being replaced by structures, fortunately. That's been happening (slowly) for quite some time (as per this thread), but the pace is picking up significantly, at long last. I'd love to see it look more like those pics of Seattle that were posted elsewhere in the forum the other day (aerial photos?).

Seems like mostly good news coming out of Houston on most fronts. Makes me very sad that I haven't been able to make the move back to Houston as soon as I wanted to (I've been gone from there since I was a teenager). For all I know, by the time I move back the boom will have subsided.

[Hawk89]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

The infill is happening and parking lots are being replaced by structures, fortunately. That's been happening (slowly) for quite some time (as per this thread), but the pace is picking up significantly, at long last. I'd love to see it look more like those pics of Seattle that were posted elsewhere in the forum the other day (aerial photos?).

Seems like mostly good news coming out of Houston on most fronts. Makes me very sad that I haven't been able to make the move back to Houston as soon as I wanted to (I've been gone from there since I was a teenager). For all I know, by the time I move back the boom will have subsided.

Seattle definitely does have the density. I love our aerial views. I think those are the best shots of the city. However, I like Houston's symmetry. All of the tall buildings are right in the middle, unlike Seattle, where our tallest is on the edge of Downtown. Houston is growing at a unbelievable rate so it has the potential to fill in those lots very quickly.

[timoric]

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[timoric]

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[Urbannizer]

Something's going on at Gillette & W. Dallas. A fence, trailer, and two port-a-potties went up on Monday, according to zstrater86 on HAIF:

[toxteth o'grady]

Bisnow's got a feature on development in the Woodlands. A few new midrise developments are mentioned, including a new building for CB&I and Building 6 in Research Forest Lakeside. There's also the 390-unit One Lake's Edge, of indeterminate height.

Houston's Most Popular Submarket?



I think this is Repsol's building.

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Something's going on at Gillette & W. Dallas. A fence, trailer, and two port-a-potties went up on Monday, according to zstrater86 on HAIF

The last time I went by, I thought the property was being used as a staging yard for other projects nearby.

[toxteth o'grady]

Also on Bisnow:



Wildwood Corporate Center. This building is only 2 floors (and 128,000sf), but Phase 2 is supposed to break ground in Q4 and will be 8 floors (200,000 sf). No render of that one yet.

[Urbannizer]

Originally Posted by HBJ

Take a look inside the Galleria renovation

It currently looks like a war zone — gutted, filled with debris and piles of dirt. But through the retail rubble that was once home to stores like Crate and Barrel and Ralph Lauren at the Galleria, a new, larger Saks Fifth Avenue will rise, upping the ante on luxury in the area.

I took a tour of the site, sporting a hard hat and yellow vest. While there wasn’t much to see, there was a lot to imagine after talking with Galleria General Manager Greg Noble, and learning more details about the multimillion-dollar renovations and new construction.

“There is a huge demand for luxury space in Houston and we just don’t have the supply. Now we are creating it,” Noble said.

Here are the highlights:

• A stand-alone, 14,000-square-foot building dubbed “The Jewel Box” will be built on theCheesecake Factory’s existing parking deck facing Westheimer. The space will house luxury retailers who want visibility. Noble said several “new-to-market” tenants have expressed interest in the plans, but would not elaborate on which retailers are interested or how much rent the space will charge.

• Saks Fifth Avenue will move into a renovated 198,000-square-foot space located next to its existing space. Saks is set to open in early 2016.

• The existing Saks building will be renovated, providing 110,000 square feet of space for new restaurants and retail. Construction will begin on this space after Saks moves into its new building. Saks will stay open during the renovation.

• Saks will take up part of Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M), which will consolidate into its Galleria store facing Hidalgo Street. The consolidation will affect 136 positions, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. However, the company is confident that most of those employees will find jobs at other local Macy's stores.

• A new multifamily tower will also be built on the former Macy’s site, but Noble wouldn’t give details on the project, only to say that it is part of the master plan for the complex, and that the team is currently focused on the retail component of the project.

Article: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/b...enovation.html

Renderings of the stand-alone component:

[texanuh]

What I like most is the chrome Toyota 2000GT, but in all honesty it looks pretty good.

[Von]

IAH design plans unveiled: Terminal D to be replaced by new international terminal

Molly Ryan
Reporter-
Houston Business Journal
Apr 24, 2014, 4:37pm CDT

Our traffic at Terminal D has quadrupled since we first opened,” Jarret Simmons, assistant aviation director of planning for HAS, said in an interview with the Houston Business Journal. “It’s at capacity right now, and every year since 2007 we’ve had at least one new international carrier arrive. In the last year, we had two new carriers arrive

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/m...l-d-to-be.html

[Urbannizer]

There was a fire overnight at The Suzanne apartments. Unlike the Axis apartments that burned down last month, this one is made out of steel - so it was put out pretty quickly. By Jax on HAIF:



http://www.chron.com/news/houston-te...8475.php%C2%A0

[N90]

Just ran the numbers.

DT-TMC-UT (everything inside that Triangle)
Land area: 54 square miles
High rises and skyscrapers existing in Triangle: 366
Proposed and under construction in Triangle: 68
Rest of the city's proposals and construction: 46

[Clev]

Why have there been so many fires in Houston lately? Did they ever find the cause of the first building that caught fire?

[citykid09]

I thought that the stand alone part that they were adding to the Galleria would face Westheimer. The Galleria defiantly needs to update the two towers connected to it. They are aging the center and making it not look worth of those high-end retailers.

[TowerSpotter]

Originally Posted by citykid09

I thought that the stand alone part that they were adding to the Galleria would face Westheimer. The Galleria defiantly needs to update the two towers connected to it. They are aging the center and making it not look worth of those high-end retailers.

The Westin hotel was renovated not too long ago from the interior but not the exterior. Although I do agree they should really give the exterior a makeover.

[citykid09]

Originally Posted by TowerSpotter

The Westin hotel was renovated not too long ago from the interior but not the exterior. Although I do agree they should really give the exterior a makeover.

Well they did say with this Galleria redo that the exterior would get a face lift as well, I guess to keep up with the new guys BLVD Place, River Oaks District, etc. So hopefully that means the two towers as well. What happend to the plans to add a condo tower to the Galleria?

[TowerSpotter]

Originally Posted by citykid09

Well they did say with this Galleria redo that the exterior would get a face lift as well, I guess to keep up with the new guys BLVD Place, River Oaks District, etc. So hopefully that means the two towers as well. What happend to the plans to add a condo tower to the Galleria?

Yeah I'm guessing it has to do with keeping up with the other guys. If so those stripmalls on Post Oak Boulevard are totally doomed for re-development.

Maybe your referring to the Multifamily highrise? Thats still on tract, its bolded in the article above posted by Urbannizer.

[DBGHouston]

Is there something I'm missing here, buried in this story? How ironic that in order to attract higher-end shoppers and retailers they are going to destroy the only architecturally significant - and I would argue "classy"- component of the entire complex: The Philip Johnson facade for Saks Fifth Avenue, originally a Marshall Field's. (see the fourth photo down and the telltale signature curved wall with the names of imaginary retailers on it) Wouldn't it make more sense to try TRY to integrate the new building design with that and make something MORE instead of just destroying one of the only good things about the place? But I suppose they can slap up some stucco and tell their share holders that they are doing something productive.

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Renderings of the stand-alone component:

[N90]

The mass infill development factory spat out another one today. Credit to Urbannizer!

At 2020 McGowen, 100 units, 5-6 floors, say hello to Viewpoint Square.


http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/h...-2020-mcgowen/