HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[Michi]

Designated Minimum Lot Size & Minimum Building Line Areas already exist and are not a new thing. You can find more on them, and where they exist in the city, here:

http://www.cpexecutive.com/cities/ho...004095271.html

...and here:
http://mycity.houstontx.gov/public/

*Click on the pull-down menu icon (upper-left stack of papers)
*Scroll to bottom and click "Lot Size" & "Building Lines" to turn on those layers.

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by NYC2ATX

Sometimes I wonder if Houston has been without zoning for so long that implementing such a system at this point would be nearly impossible. I mean, in much of the city's core there's almost no districts that have only one or a select few building types. There's odd, random building scales and uses all over the place, so much that every zoning code would instantaneously have multiple illegalities on every block. How does one even zone a city like Houston?

...and why would one want to?

Dallas always had zoning (admittedly more laissez-faire than places on the East and West Coasts), yet its development has not been hindered. I don't think Houston property development patterns are so arbitrary that a zoning plan couldn't be designed to fit it - and to allow development to continue. But as Riverside points out, there are certain characteristics that certain neighborhoods want to retain (which explains the NIMBY reactions to the high-rises), and zoning seems to be the best and most transparent way to achieve it.

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by Michi

Designated Minimum Lot Size & Minimum Building Line Areas already exist and are not a new thing.

De facto zoning. A formal zoning plan would be more transparent.

[toxteth o'grady]

Duck! And cover...

This property, once a fallout shelter for a Chinese national, is being marketed as a data storage center (or centers):



From BisNow:

"Caldwell Cos associate VP Blake Virgilio tells us his firm is handling leasing for a three-building complex in Montgomery called the Westland Bunker. That includes an existing 105k SF office/disaster recovery building and an existing 38k SF underground data center (the only one in Houston). Phase II, a 108k SF underground data center, will deliver in April. Blake says the site is a real fortress. It’s isolated—45 minutes north of Downtown Houston and 100 miles from the coast—and powerful (it was built to withstand a direct nuclear attack).

Even the four-story office building is hardened, fully generator-backed, and layered with massively redundant connectivity so it’s always business as usual. If the underground aspect is throwing you off, you can relax—it’s 345 feet above sea level, only 85 feet below Dallas. Speaking of relaxing, the property has an onsite swimming pool for employees. (Blake calls it a country club for IT pros.) Blake says Caldwell is leasing all three buildings in Westland Bunker, each of which has space available. He hopes to capitalize on data center demand in Houston, which has increased tremendously in recent years. Besides, companies like to have their data centers close, and we all know North Houston's corporate activity is booming."

[toxteth o'grady]

Another day, another tout. This time from Travel & Leisure:

National magazine names Houston one of America's Favorite Cities

[toxteth o'grady]

The 10 Waterway development in the Woodlands has shrunk 3 floors and is now a 17-story building. There's a full-page ad in the HBJ showing what the new building looks like; gone is the top floor decorative feature in favor of a flattish roof. Still no word on a start date from Howard Hughes and no links to the render shown in the ad.

Also, the University of Houston has dropped a few more details on their proposed medical expansion, known as the Health and Biomedical Sciences Building 2 - on campus, 280,000sf with a 75,000sf research lab, and opening by 2017. The proposed medical school, which is separate, would not open until 2020.

[toxteth o'grady]

This was posted on the Dallas thread, but it's relevant to Houston, too. Public hearings have been scheduled on the high speed rail proposal that's Bob Eckols' baby...

Learn more about Texas high-speed rail at these public meetings

[JManc]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

The 10 Waterway development in the Woodlands has shrunk 3 floors and is now a 17-story building. There's a full-page ad in the HBJ showing what the new building looks like; gone is the top floor decorative feature in favor of a flattish roof. Still no word on a start date from Howard Hughes and no links to the render shown in the ad.

Also, the University of Houston has dropped a few more details on their proposed medical expansion, known as the Health and Biomedical Sciences Building 2 - on campus, 280,000sf with a 75,000sf research lab, and opening by 2017. The proposed medical school, which is separate, would not open until 2020.

I would think UH would want to build near the TMC along with the other medical/ nursing schools.

[Double L]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

Duck! And cover...

This property, once a fallout shelter for a Chinese national, is being marketed as a data storage center (or centers):



From BisNow:

"Caldwell Cos associate VP Blake Virgilio tells us his firm is handling leasing for a three-building complex in Montgomery called the Westland Bunker. That includes an existing 105k SF office/disaster recovery building and an existing 38k SF underground data center (the only one in Houston). Phase II, a 108k SF underground data center, will deliver in April. Blake says the site is a real fortress. It’s isolated—45 minutes north of Downtown Houston and 100 miles from the coast—and powerful (it was built to withstand a direct nuclear attack).

Even the four-story office building is hardened, fully generator-backed, and layered with massively redundant connectivity so it’s always business as usual. If the underground aspect is throwing you off, you can relax—it’s 345 feet above sea level, only 85 feet below Dallas. Speaking of relaxing, the property has an onsite swimming pool for employees. (Blake calls it a country club for IT pros.) Blake says Caldwell is leasing all three buildings in Westland Bunker, each of which has space available. He hopes to capitalize on data center demand in Houston, which has increased tremendously in recent years. Besides, companies like to have their data centers close, and we all know North Houston's corporate activity is booming."

I've been inside that building. It's really cool. Went there for a political fundraiser.

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by JManc

I would think UH would want to build near the TMC along with the other medical/ nursing schools.

On HAIF, they're speculating the new facility will be placed on campus - because of its proximity to the community. I tend to think they would indeed like to be located on Medical Center property - close to the campus.

[Urbannizer]

New 4-story building proposed for Houston Ave:

http://www.andersoncanyon.net/four-s...velopment.html

• 22 lofts
• 6,500 square ft of retail

[toxteth o'grady]

A new mixed-use development is going up north of Camp Strake and south of Conroe. A site plan is shown on HBJ but I can't find a render to post here:

Exclusive: Huge mixed-use project slated for prime spot north of Houston

http://media.bizj.us/view/img/404071...1242-0-754.jpg

[toxteth o'grady]

Here's a development I do have a picture for - a new development in Kingwood:

Grand Parkway expansion spurs another development

[Houston1836]

800 Bell (former Exxon building) to be "reconstructed, not renovated"... (apologies if this has been posted before).

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/b...n.html?ana=twt

[toxteth o'grady]

You say "reconstruction", I say "potato". I'm not sure the new building is going to be the icon the old building was, even if it is bigger. But maybe the investment will be worth it. It still makes me want to get my old wood-veneer stereo speakers out of the attic, just to see if they make an architectural statement.

[photoLith]

The renovation of the Exxon Building is going to be a big loss for mid century modern architecture and now it will just look like another generic shiny glass building.

[toxteth o'grady]

Meanwhile...

All the enthusiasm for planting new structures on existing surface parking lots has led CBRE to worry whether there will be any parking left downtown.

Oh, the irony: New downtown Houston garages will make surface parking even worse

Then again, some see parking as an opportunity for creative expression. The Menil, for example...

Parking lots can be pleasant?

[Houston1836]

Designed to address Buffalo Bayou’s development, UH College of Architecture students aim to reinvent Houston’s river with their award-winning proposal, RISKY HABIT[AT] : DYNAMIC LIVING ON THE BUFFALO BAYOU. The project was displayed at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale.



http://www.archdaily.com/556530/univ...-intervention/

[Urbannizer]

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/m...rway-near.html

Originally Posted by HBJ

New midrise apartment project underway near CityCentre

A longtime Houston commercial developer is making its first foray into the multifamily sector with a midrise luxury apartment project near CityCentre.

PRD Inc. has been developing office and retail properties in Houston since the 1970’s. The company also manages multifamily properties.

In 2012, PRD purchased 4.2 acres at 150 Sam Houston Parkway for its first multifamily development. The property is one mile south of CityCentre and sits across from the east side of Terry Hershey Park.

“We’ve never developed a multifamily project from the ground up,” said David Park, PRD’s vice president. “It’s a big jump for us, but we’re excited.”

PRD has begun construction on Ascension on the Bayou, a Class A apartment building that features five stories of living over two levels of parking, one underground. The LEED Silver-certified building will be energy efficient and use brick, stone and metal materials in its construction.

[toxteth o'grady]

Another company that's been flying under the radar has broken ground on a five level 98,500 sf headquarters out by Memorial.



Houston’s Stoller Group breaks ground on headquarters building in Memorial area