HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[Wattleigh]

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bus...l-17370673.php

Exclusive: Trendy 6-acre project with retail, apartments could transform part of Houston's East End


Marissa Luck,
Staff writer
Aug. 15, 2022
Updated: Aug. 15, 2022 10:36 a.m.

Houston’s East End is already undergoing major changes, but a hip, new six-acre mixed-use project rising at one the neighborhood’s most visible intersection underscores how quickly the neighborhood is transforming.

Triten Real Estate Partners, a Houston real estate firm, is breaking ground on the first phase of The Mill, a nearly 840,000 square-foot, 6.23-acre development at 2315 Navigation Blvd. at the corner of Canal Street and Navigation Boulevard. Plans for the project include converting a decaying brick building into a boutique office and retail site surrounded by restaurants, open-air plazas and apartments.

Combined with new stores, coworking space and apartments across the street, The Mill is poised to help reshape one of the East End’s key entrances from downtown Houston. The Canal Street-Navigation Boulevard intersection is considered a gateway into the East End area, according to the area’s economic development management organization East End District.

Houston construction firm Arch-Con started work last week on the initial phase of The Mill, which will include 341 market-rate apartments opening in 2024, plus 6,036 square-feet of retail. Future phases include two retail buildings expected to house restaurants or a small bodega grocery store, plus a 90,000 square-foot office project with 8,654 square feet of retail.

Renderings from article

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by Wattleigh

Found by user BEES?! on HAIF - the potential of an incentive plan offered by the Downtown Redevelopment Authority to convert underutilized office buildings to residential.



1801 Smith is already undergoing such a conversion without any incentive program.

This is really good news, downtown certainly has lots of office buildings from 70s and 80s.

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by Wattleigh

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bus...l-17370673.php

This part of the east side is really gaining steam as it's really starting to attract some development near Buffalo Bayou. You have the major East River project by Midway just north of this along the Bayou and several new apartment blocks in the vicinity of this one.

[Wattleigh]

9753 Katy Freeway

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/...ice-tower.html

MetroNational tops out on Memorial City office tower

By Jeff Jeffrey – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Aug 15, 2022


Houston-based MetroNational has topped out on a 190,000-square-foot, nine-story office building in Memorial City, marking a major milestone for a project that was initially put on hold as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The topping out ceremony, a tradition that celebrates the final beam being placed at the top of the building, for the office tower at 9753 Katy Freeway was held Aug. 15. The building is expected to be delivered in the second quarter of 2023.

MetroNational originally broke ground on the office building in early 2020 but paused construction as the pandemic took hold in Houston. However, MetroNational said the additional time allowed the developer to update its design of the building.

Houston-based Kirksey Architecture’s design includes a modern two-story lobby with a 27-foot art wall setting off the patterned terrazzo tile floor.

Each floor of the building will have floor plates offering 22,605 rentable square feet.

The building will also have a range of amenities, including a full-service tenant engagement app, easy access to the Memorial City Club fitness center and close proximity to a number of restaurants and Memorial City's new greenspace dubbed "The Lawn," which offers outdoor entertainment and community events.

MetroNational has not said whether any tenants have signed leases for space in the new office tower.

Image from article

[Wattleigh]

1550 On The Green / Parkside Residences at Discovery Green

c/o Nate99 on HAIF

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

This part of the east side is really gaining steam as it's really starting to attract some development near Buffalo Bayou. You have the major East River project by Midway just north of this along the Bayou and several new apartment blocks in the vicinity of this one.

I did summer intern work at Kellogg Brown and Root on Clinton Dr when I was in college. At that time, that area was the definition of slum. It didn't seem particularly unsafe along Clinton, though. It was just an extremely poverty stricken area. My office did have a great view of the downtown skyline, which was already looking nice at that time.

[Wattleigh]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

This part of the east side is really gaining steam as it's really starting to attract some development near Buffalo Bayou. You have the major East River project by Midway just north of this along the Bayou and several new apartment blocks in the vicinity of this one.

I mistakenly thought I had missed a rendering from the piece on The Mill... forgot it was the recently completed Forth at Navigation which is across the street from that site. It was from the same piece in the Chronicle. Was about to give props for a fairly current view of the skyline in the background.

Thought this was good info on that project...

At Forth at Navigation, a luxury apartment community that opened last year across the street from The Mill site, the project’s 300 units are 94 percent occupied with rents ranging between $1,700 to $3,700, according to the developer, Chicago-based Marquette. When Marquette first acquired land for the site there weren’t many newer luxury apartments in the vicinity, so the developer wasn’t sure how quickly the project would lease, said Darren Sloniger, president of Marquette.

“I thought it would take it couple years to fully lease, but we leased up and stabilized it in nine months,” Sloniger said. “I never would have guessed that would happen.”

He attributes the fast lease-up to the project’s Chicago-style steel and concrete architecture, but also because it filled a demand for high-end apartments in the up-and-coming neighborhood. In 2021, Marquette also bought a 244-unit older apartment project nearby, East End Lofts, which the firm is renovating. Sloniger thinks more residents will seek out the area’s proximity to downtown.

[Wattleigh]

Parkside Residences at Discovery Green

c/o rechlin on HAIF



c/o hindesky on HAIF

[photoLith]

Glad to see those finally completed. I remember that proposal from like 2013 or so. They look really nice at night.

[Wattleigh]

Autry Park

Overview rendering c/o Autry Park Website



More on one of the two small office buildings c/o Paco Jones on HAIF

The Autry Park office building site is bound by Allen Parkway to the north, Buffalo Park Drive to the east, Autry
Park Drive to the south and a high rise residential tower to the west. It is going to be a 6-story, 110,000 GSF building with basement garage parking (about 75 cars). Level 1 will have about 8,000 SF of retail and restaurant space with approximately 5,500 SF of outdoor patio area. Levels 2-6 will be future tenant space and each level (except 5) will have outdoor terrace area. Gensler is the architect.

[Wattleigh]

Hines "Project Green" / SCI New Tower

The tower component of this project looks to be moving ahead, starting next year.

prev renderings / new info c/o Paco Jones on HAIF.

[Wattleigh]

Ismaili Center Houston

Updated renderings from The Ismaili facebook













Construction photos all c/o hindesky on HAIF

June 18





July 9



July 16



July 21



July 24

[colemonkee]

Ismaili Center is going to be really nice.

[Urbannizer]

80-Year-Old Landmark Office Building Downtown To House Luxe Apartment Units

Owners of the nearly century-old downtown Esperson building will convert parts of its office space into multifamily units, part of the greater trend of repurposing old office space as tenants flock to newer, highly amenitized buildings.

The building at 808 Travis St. was first built in the 1940s, and was the largest office building built during the Great Depression, as well as the first Houston skyscraper to have central air conditioning. The renovations, designed by Gensler, will add multifamily units as well as an amenity space on the 17th floor, available to both residents and office tenants.

Owner Cameron Management will decide how much office space to convert based on market demand, so an official square footage and number of units is yet to be determined, according to a Gensler spokesperson. Construction will begin in the first quarter of 2023; renovations are estimated to take a year.

[JMKeynes]

That’s a gorgeous building.

[kingkirbythe....]

It sure is.

[JManc]

Is it going to be for both Esperson buildings? The one pictured is the Niels Esperson Building which is actually from the 20's. The attached Mellie Esperson Building is from the 40's is shorter and boxier and not nearly ornate.

[JMKeynes]

Houston has a lot of potential. I wish that the city would add more greenery to the downtown streets (beyond Bagby) and redevelop the parking garages that exist everywhere.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by JMKeynes

Houston has a lot of potential. I wish that the city would add more greenery to the downtown streets (beyond Bagby) and redevelop the parking garages that exist everywhere.

Problem with planting trees is that they are small and highly vulnerable to being vandalized by the multitudes of shit bags who take delight in destroying stuff that isn't theirs. Downtown is still pretty seedy after work hours.

As for parking garages, they are badly needed. I would like to see all the surface lots redeveloped though.

[pm91]

I would go for some overhangs for the sidewalks to provide some shade tho. Similar to I think it’s the Rice with the chipotle.