HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[Urbannizer]

Shell is building a campus of some sort near The Woodlands, which may be ready for occupancy sometime next year. It's expected to be something small compared to the ExxonMobil Campus; not a U.S HQ relocation from downtown to the The Woodlands.

[TritonHouston]

Originally Posted by oscarinhouston

I don't know if is true or not, but I heard from a source in the Exxon Project that Shell is planning on also create their own campus. Is it true???

Yes. But as Urbannizer said, it is to be a campus focused on a specific part of the company. It has been reported to be north of 1488.

[TexasPlaya]

I thought was building (been under construction) a medium size campus in the Energy Corridor on the north side of I10 near Diary Ashford.

[Wattleigh]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

I was thinking the location can be somewhere just west of the loop to Memorial City.

My guess was for Westchase, mostly because there is a CityWest Boulevard that's been there for a long time. It's home to the ex BMC campus and the new Phillips 66 campus.

As for the Shell Developments, it's been a rumor for a while, but it's not a big deal if it's just some division. They've been expanding the Westcreek campus that TexasPlaya mentioned in the past few years, and are adding their third 12-story building in about two years at this time. Prior to that, they added a few 6 story and smaller structures at around the time the market was cooling down a few years back.

[Clev]

Originally Posted by timoric

It is pretty clear that these campus projects are preferred over downtown trophy towers to the sadness of the Haifer community. The seed of hope is that all the downtown living initiative stuff and infill will eventually make it better to be closer in again to attract talent and we will see them come then.

It was very concerning when Exxon decided to leave Downtown Houston. Shell has been trying to downsize for years, so hopefully they don't decide to leave too. Hopefully the new residential projects and Chevron's decision to stay downtown will encourage other energy companies to move back some day. I want urban campuses like Devon's in Oklahoma City to catch on in Houston.

[toxteth o'grady]

I think there are too many major tenants downtown for Shell's move to be concerning. It's not like Dallas, where an entire 50-story building sat empty for many years.

[toxteth o'grady]

Good morning. BisNow brings word of Midway's latest addition to Kirby Grove - known as Avenue Grove.



"Here’s Avenue Grove, as rendered by munoz albin. It’s the second building to commence in the project—developer Midway is already well underway with an office tower, and the $10M reinvention of Levy Park is chugging along. Shon tells us Midway has been hoping to take its City Centre concept (a central green space and a few core buildings) and replicate it in an urban area. He says it’s been a great partnership with the City—it’s handling the Levy Park renovations (which will debut as soon as spring 2015, depending on what the groundhog has to say next year)—and Shon hopes this will be a model for how the City can revitalize aging parks."

[Monarch]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

Good morning. BisNow brings word of Midway's latest addition to Kirby Grove - known as Avenue Grove.



"Here’s Avenue Grove, as rendered by munoz albin. It’s the second building to commence in the project—developer Midway is already well underway with an office tower, and the $10M reinvention of Levy Park is chugging along. Shon tells us Midway has been hoping to take its City Centre concept (a central green space and a few core buildings) and replicate it in an urban area. He says it’s been a great partnership with the City—it’s handling the Levy Park renovations (which will debut as soon as spring 2015, depending on what the groundhog has to say next year)—and Shon hopes this will be a model for how the City can revitalize aging parks."

midway cos., is obviously a very special company with sensational / innovative leadership. everything, that they seem to touch.. ends up being golden. i simply love the new moniker "avenue grove". reminds me a bit of something as per LA vs MIAMI. this company, has a serious knack for making their ultra modern concepts.. a bit more sexy. so very happy that they are in houston.

[JManc]

^ where is that going up?

[toxteth o'grady]

Levy Park. Right next to Kirby Grove and the Sheraton Four Points.

[toxteth o'grady]

Meanwhile, a couple of Pearl developments that I had not heard about before were scheduled for City permits and then withdrawn, according to Swamplot. No details, other than their names - Pearl on Smith and Pearl on Helena.

AN APARTMENT DEVELOPER’S NEW MIDTOWN PEARLS ARE MISSING

[toxteth o'grady]

The Chron sums up the demand. Energy related development is staggering, and it accounted for 64% of all new leases.

Report explores global energy impact on real estate

"...The energy industry accounted for 64 percent of the square footage leased in Houston in 2013.

West Houston submarkets saw the most dramatic increases in office space demand, with vacancies dropping below 1 percent in some areas.

Rents hit a new high of $35.52 per square foot per year in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Last year, 3.9 million square feet of new space opened, including 2 million square feet in west Houston. Sixty percent of it was preleased, primarily to energy firms.

As of the end of last year, 14.2 million square feet of space was under way, of which 6.3 million square feet was in west Houston. Some of the new space includes a 3 million-square-foot campus for Exxon Mobile Corp., a 1.2-million square-foot project for Phillips 66; 620,000 square feet in two buildings for Shell; and a 450,000-square-foot building preleased by Technip...."

[ktp7]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

The Chron sums up the demand. Energy related development is staggering, and it accounted for 64% of all new leases.

Report explores global energy impact on real estate

"...The energy industry accounted for 64 percent of the square footage leased in Houston in 2013.

West Houston submarkets saw the most dramatic increases in office space demand, with vacancies dropping below 1 percent in some areas.

Rents hit a new high of $35.52 per square foot per year in the fourth quarter of 2013.

Last year, 3.9 million square feet of new space opened, including 2 million square feet in west Houston. Sixty percent of it was preleased, primarily to energy firms.

As of the end of last year, 14.2 million square feet of space was under way, of which 6.3 million square feet was in west Houston. Some of the new space includes a 3 million-square-foot campus for Exxon Mobile Corp., a 1.2-million square-foot project for Phillips 66; 620,000 square feet in two buildings for Shell; and a 450,000-square-foot building preleased by Technip...."

I wonder why energy companies seem to be avoiding Downtown. Would it be bad publicity to build a new tower or are rents just that much higher downtown?

[Clev]

Originally Posted by ktp7

I wonder why energy companies seem to be avoiding Downtown. Would it be bad publicity to build a new tower or are rents just that much higher downtown?

I don't really know why either. Downtown rates are $38.16 per square foot, as of 4Q 2013. I'm not sure how much more that is than the Woodlands or the Energy Corridor.

http://www.coydavidson.com/office/ho...eport-4q-2013/

[toxteth o'grady]

HBJ has more details on the Pearl City Center, which will be two separate complexes instead of one.

Morgan Group breaks ground on new CityCentre apartment complex

BisNow just forwarded the following render:

[toxteth o'grady]

Now that the City has dropped its plans to convert the Post Office site into a criminal justice center, there is speculation it could be redeveloped for highrises and retail. It seems to be most suitable for apartment and condo towers, given its location, but retail would fit into the space well. What I'm not sure about is where this is in relation to the light rail.

Downtown Post Office Building Likely To Become Mixed-Use Development

[DBGHouston]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

Now that the City has dropped its plans to convert the Post Office site into a criminal justice center, there is speculation it could be redeveloped for highrises and retail. It seems to be most suitable for apartment and condo towers, given its location, but retail would fit into the space well. What I'm not sure about is where this is in relation to the light rail.

Downtown Post Office Building Likely To Become Mixed-Use Development

Adds 9 square blocks of land into downtown. It backs up to the existing heavy rail lines; Amtrak serves Houston from those lines. The light rail is close, but not adjacent. The closest station is Preston which is five blocks. Not really close, but not too far either.

This location extends downtown north of the Bayou; it is highly visible from approaches to the city from the north, west and east. There are hotels, dozens of bars and restaurants, and 12,000 theater seats within five-ten blocks.

The mayor did the right thing. Now let's insist that whoever steps up to the plate can deliver quality and vision: a highrise cluster including a supertall over mixed use business and retail. If the outcome is a hermetically sealed jumbo apartment building it will be a huge loss.

[toxteth o'grady]

Then again, someone may just take the existing building and turn it into a version of the Downtown Aquarium.

[toxteth o'grady]

Someone was asking where UH was going to put all the new student housing in the future. How about north of the Gulf Freeway?



Private ‘Aspen Heights’ UH Dorms Planned for North of I-45

[toxteth o'grady]

According to Swamplot, HCC is going to build a dorm, too.



Unfortunately, it doesn't have any of the verve of the building that will be torn down to make room for it...

HCC IS PLANNING A STUDENT DORM BUILDING TOO, AT ALABAMA AND ALMEDA