HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[Clev]

It's good seeing downtown getting more residential.

[HoustonHorns]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Wow. I like the design. I also wonder what hotel brand this will be.

[AustinTay]

Originally Posted by HoustonHorns

You're right! Downtown isn't very urban, but Downtown/Midtown are still by far the most urban areas in Houston.

By far? That's reaching a bit considering downtown is still pretty desolate and Midtown is still too underdeveloped in many areas. In a few years it will be the most urban area by far though; the foundation is already set with skyscrapers, mid and low-rise mf buildings. The area just needs to fill out more but one has to wonder why developers have not been building high-rises in Midtown. I'm sure there is a logistical reason.

Either way it's not hard to understand why someone would choose to live in a high-rise in River Oaks over Midtown/downtown. Personally, I would want to be in the core of the city but not everyone in this suburban city is pro-urban.

[toxteth o'grady]

Today's BisNow was a rundown on projects happening Downtown. They have been mentioned as the developer of a 39-story apartment tower near the convention center that was previously posted. There is another Trammell Crow project going in south of the Ballpark:

"...Trammell Crow Residential (3) is also hoping to break ground this quarter on a six-story, 267-unit multifamily community. It will deliver in Q1 ’17..."



This project is south of the Marquette, so I'm not sure it's associated with the other midrise that's supposed to be to the east.

[toxteth o'grady]

So is the New Woodlands too expensive?

Did Howard Hughes pay too much for its new master-planned community?

[toxteth o'grady]

Reality - what a concept! The theory behind a Chinese developer's plans for a $300 million Pearland development called the Ivy District.

Pearland mixed-use development awaits city approval

[Shasta]

Originally Posted by AustinTay

By far? That's reaching a bit considering downtown is still pretty desolate and Midtown is still too underdeveloped in many areas. In a few years it will be the most urban area by far though; the foundation is already set with skyscrapers, mid and low-rise mf buildings. The area just needs to fill out more but one has to wonder why developers have not been building high-rises in Midtown. I'm sure there is a logistical reason.

Either way it's not hard to understand why someone would choose to live in a high-rise in River Oaks over Midtown/downtown. Personally, I would want to be in the core of the city but not everyone in this suburban city is pro-urban.

Because developers are in it to make money.

Downtown Austin works because of the Lake, proximity to UT and there are no other places to put up a true high rise in Austin.

In Houston, there are PROVEN areas for a residential high rise to work; mainly Uptown, River Oaks, Allen Parkway, Greenway Plaza/Upper Kirby, Hermann Park/Med Center. Downtown was an unknown until Finger Cos. opened One Park Place and it has proven to be highly successful. Sky House just opened. There's a race to get out of the ground by 4 other proposed residential high rises downtown. There's one rumored high rise for midtown but it'll be the first and therefore a risky proposition. It's hard to get lending with risk.

[toxteth o'grady]

Is anyone familiar with the Hamilton Apartments? HBJ has a building permit listed for 1800 St. Joseph Parkway, which puts it right at the NW corner of I-45 and I-69 downtown. This is apartments on top of a garage structure. Permit is almost $15 million.

[Urbannizer]

2100 Taft: New 6-story mid-rise.

http://www.miradorgroup.com/2100-taft-gallery/









2110 Mason

[Urbannizer]

New design for 3615 Montrose; Spring 2015 start date.

Originally Posted by Chron

Condos Planned for Montrose Site

A developer planning an 8-story condominium building on what longtime Houstonians may remember as the River Cafe site on Montrose requested a variance from the city so it can build the structure closer to the street.

This is at least the third such request made this week from a developer planning a large-scale residential project in the area. Read about the first here and the second here.

The Montrose project is proposed for the northeast corner of Montrose and Marshall across from the Parc IV & V condominium towers. The developer is listed as Montrose & Marshall LLC on the variance, which apparently isn’t the first that’s been submitted to the city for the project.

Groundbreaking is planned for the spring of 2015.

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/...montrose-site/

[toxteth o'grady]

New design? I don't even remember the old design.

Okay, this is the Taft...



And this is the Mason...



What's the difference?

(Actually, since they're right around the corner from each other, it makes a little bit of sense...)

[toxteth o'grady]

The Southmore, re-rendered (from Swamplot):





Demolition is almost done on the block where this is going up.

[Monarch]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

The Southmore, re-rendered (from Swamplot):





Demolition is almost done on the block where this is going up.

simply gorgeous! well done.

[toxteth o'grady]

The Houston office market, by the numbers:

Avison Young report

It should be noted that much like the county-by-county depiction of the vote in presidential elections, looks can be deceiving, as the biggest tracts have some of the smallest inventories of office space. But 6 million square feet of office space absorption in two quarters is phenomenal:

[toxteth o'grady]

Where the demand for office space downtown is coming from...

San Francisco energy company about to open Houston office and La Porte site

[toxteth o'grady]

This could be a big deal. UT is going to open an engineering college in Houston. I'm not sure about the size or scope, other than they might graduate 2,000 engineers a year once they hit their stride. For an undegraduate campus, that would be 8,000 students, and that does not include grad students.

UT plans Houston energy engineering institute

[TexasCreed]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

This could be a big deal. UT is going to open an engineering college in Houston. I'm not sure about the size or scope, other than they might graduate 2,000 engineers a year once they hit their stride. For an undegraduate campus, that would be 8,000 students, and that does not include grad students.

UT plans Houston energy engineering institute

It's highly doubtful that their goal of graduating 2,000 more students a year in engineering would all come from a new Houston branch. More likely most UT system schools will continue their expansion of engineering departments. It's also strange that this would be an expansion of UT and not a new sister school in the University of Texas system. I would really like some clarification on that.

Good engineering schools are the toughest to build. Although partnerships with local businesses are great I still feel like University of Houston and Rice would have a large edge for a very long time in the local market. It's most likely that we will see modest effort by the UT system to move into the Houston market.

[toxteth o'grady]

That said, UT Dallas started from nothing in the mid-'80s and quickly ramped up to have one of the largest student enrollments in the state. Houston has a desperate need for engineers to serve the oil and gas industry, so a lot of those UT engineers will find they're in demand.

And for reference, St. Thomas has an entire student body population of 2,000.

[Shasta]

Sorry, but UT's plan is stupid. If they have that much money sitting around, then they need to spend it on making other system schools better.

Rice, UH, and A&M are not going to like this one bit. The reason there's an engineering glut isn't due to higher education, but rather our high schools aren't producing enough qualified students in the first place.

ATM likes to consider itself a Houston-area school. It would be easier for folks in Bridgeland to commute to ATM than UH these days.

Also, Schlumberger recently gave UH its old headquarters. UH turned it in to an Energy Research Park. It started new engineering programs and has landed tons of corporate money. This smells like UT is chasing the money rather than doing what is in the best interest of the State.

[toxteth o'grady]

I'm not sure why HBJ is a week behind the Chron with the news about the Ivy District, but it goes to Pearland City Council on August 25.

Details revealed for mixed-use project in Pearland

They're also just now waking up to the news about the Micro Center development, also known as the Shoppes at Uptown:

Wal-Mart, another hotel to come to the Galleria area