HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[treblelino]

Embassy Suites may not be classified as a skyscraper. Even if it is, there is no letter E at the top of the hotel in those empty spaces.

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

I haven't seen this rendering yet for the Marriott Marquis. It looks like they redesigned the top a little. I still think this will be about 400 feet.

They got rid of the pompadour?

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

Some news on Five Allen Center..

They say they're still looking at a pre-lease - sometime next year. So ground breaking could still be a way's off.

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by photoLith

I thought they were going to break ground on the Marriott like now pretty much.

I thought groundbreaking was going to be the beginning of next year.

That 34-story project looks to be for a tenant other than Apache, which is supposed to build its 30-story home near Four Oaks Place and the Astoria. Either its for a different tenant or it's wishful thinking.

[Urbannizer]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

I thought groundbreaking was going to be the beginning of next year.

That 34-story project looks to be for a tenant other than Apache, which is supposed to build its 30-story home near Four Oaks Place and the Astoria. Either its for a different tenant or it's wishful thinking.

Several HAIFers have confirmed that the 34-story tower is indeed for Apache. They bought some land that's part of BLVD Place and plan to build their new HQ there. The 30-Story tower planned to go up near Four Oaks Place is for BHP Billiton.

The tower is also similar to the largest building seen here in the latest plan for BLVD Place:

[texboy]

Wow, Houston is going to be loaded with tower cranes come this time next year! Not that it already isn't. Exciting times to be living in this city for sure!

KJ

[houston19514]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

I thought groundbreaking was going to be the beginning of next year.

That 34-story project looks to be for a tenant other than Apache, which is supposed to build its 30-story home near Four Oaks Place and the Astoria. Either its for a different tenant or it's wishful thinking.

This one is clearly Apache. You are confusing it with BHP Billiton. BHP Billiton plans the 30-story tower that is in the Four Oaks Place complex (and rumor has it some preliminary site work has started).

[Reverberation]

I just received this email alert this afternoon;

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/r...o-be-emerging/

Houston high school to be turned into a luxury mixed-use development? Bidding war winner emerging

By Whitney Radley
7.10.13 | 12:56 pm
he bidding war is coming to a close for the Houston Independent School District's High School for Law Enforcement & Criminal Justice campus, which went on the market earlier this summer.

Will HISD select the $42 million bid from St. Thomas High School, the adjacent all-boys Catholic school looking to increase the footprint of its 17-acre campus? Perhaps not, The Leader speculates, since St. Thomas officials aim to charge HISD $225,000 each month over the next five years while the high school finds a new home.

Although the $41,121,411.11 offer from AV Dickson Street, LLC appears to be less on the front end, the investment firm promised to lease back the school to HISD for just $100,000 per month — which could mean a savings of $7.5 million for HISD in the long run.

Plus, as The Leader notes, the sale of the property to a non-educational entity would put the prime 10.9-acre plot back on the tax rolls to funnel an additional $450,000 per year (or more) into the district's coffers.

The group behind AV Dickson Street, which closed on the nearby Bayou Park apartment complex at 4400 Memorial Drive in April, is looking to "create a 26-acre mixed-use luxury retail-office-residential development on the combined properties" over the next decade, according to The Leader.

This site wraps around St. Thomas High School from Memorial Drive to Shepherd.

[AustinTay]

Originally Posted by Reverberation

I just received this email alert this afternoon;

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/r...o-be-emerging/



This site wraps around St. Thomas High School from Memorial Drive to Shepherd.

That's my old high school, heard about this a couple months ago. It used to be a good school.

[Urbannizer]

Energy Corridor construction update thanks to Bisnow:

Energy Tower III



Woodbranch Campus Expansion



Energy Center Three



Office buildings by Transwestern



6-Story Texas Medical Center West Expansion



http://www.bisnow.com/commercial-rea...-paul-frazier/

[Urbannizer]

More Energy Corridor stuff, Energy Tower IV breaks ground next month.

Originally Posted by HBJ

Mac Haik Realty to move forward on next Energy Corridor Tower

Mac Haik Realty said Thursday it is moving forward with the development of the Energy Tower IV, a speculative, Class A office building in the Energy Corridor.

The 17-story, 450,000-square-foot tower will be identical to the Energy Towers II and III at Kirkwood and Interstate 10.

Energy Tower IV is scheduled to break ground in August with occupancy slated for late 2014.

Energy Tower III topped out last week, and Houston-based Technip USA Inc. — which leased the entire tower in April — is expected to move in by the end of January, said Steve Bryant, director of leasing. Energy Towers I, II and III are all 100 percent leased.

Full Article: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/b...orward-on.html

[shakman]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

They got rid of the pompadour?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! I like the pompadour look. Hopefully that is an older rendering?

[JoninATX]

Now Houston just needs to build a 1,200ft.+ mixed use tower.

[treblelino]

Child, yes! They got rid of the pompadour.

[toxteth o'grady]

Originally Posted by Urbannizer

More Energy Corridor stuff, Energy Tower IV breaks ground next month.

This sounds like a re-announcement, since IV has been speculated about for a while. This picture from the Chron should look familiar.

Houston developer to add new tower to Energy Corridor

[Urbannizer]

Updates taken today

BLVD Place by Skylineview



Astoria site by Skylineview, trailer now gone. Construction said to begin at the end of this month.



Another rendering of Capitol Tower, time of day has changed:


A fence is now in place to demolish the current building on the site, but the rent-a-bike rack has to stay due to a 30-day notice requirement.

By Nate99 on HAIF

[cloud713]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

Well the renderings for the 46-story version of it seem to show it at about 630 feet tall. That link that Von posted shows a rendering, and I counted 51 floors. I don't think that is the larger version, though, because they said the design wouldn't be finalized until the end of the year. The current design calls for 815,000 square feet.

1600 Louisiana that Chevron will occupy is planned to have 1.7 million square feet. That tower seems to be around 750 feet tall. It's planned to have 50 floors. 609 Main seems to have a larger footprint than 1600 Louisiana does. So let's say they doubled the size of 609 Main to that of 1600 Louisiana and added 50 percent of the height of 1600 Louisiana. That would be 25 more floors for a total of 71 floors. Adding half the height of 1600 Louisiana in feet would be another 375 feet for a total of 1,005 feet. Of course these are just estimates based on the renderings.

i didnt realize there were renderings for a 46 story version. there was a diagram of the Hines tower somewhere showing the side view of the 41 story tower, with a 9 story crown, so your count of 51 floors was pretty close. agreed they havent released the larger version yet and wont until the end of the year.
1600 Louisiana has all of that square footage because they have a huge 4 story podium at the base, which is being included in that amount. im not sure the 815,000 ft includes the podium of the Hines tower. i dont see them doubling the size of Hines but even if they "only" bump it up 25%, thats a 51-52 story tower, with a 12 story crown (assuming they keep the proportions of the tower, and bump the 9 story crown up 25%). so we would have a 64 story building. that would mean its a contender for being 900'.
as for Chevron only being 50 stories, if you look at the large rendering the tower itself is 50 floors, with the top and bottom stories being 2 floors high, and then the podium which is 3 floors underneath the tower, each floor being double height too, giving you a 58 story building. i think Chevron could easily be an 800+ footer.. or maybe im just hoping since i think downtown needs some 8-900 footers to fill in the void between 800' and 1000'. id love to get another supertall though.

edit. here is the Hines rendering showing the 9 story crown.

[Urbannizer]

609 Main at Texas said to be 52 Stories now, from HAIF:

Originally Posted by cfewell22

I spoke with a guy who is a structural engineer on this project, he did not disclose the height but did tell me the building will be 52 stories.

Signs up for 3737 Buffalo Speedway

By LarryDierker on HAIF

[Tom In Chicago]

Drove by this site earlier today, are they demolishing anything on that block to build this new office building? Looks like they're keeping the trees. . .

. . .

[Tom In Chicago]

Looks like the existing office building will remain. . .

http://3737buffalospeedway.com/

. . .