I can't wait to see Houston after all this is built.

Wow, very impressed Houston! Keep it up! Recession what?!

Hey whats up, just moved here from Indianapolis and as you can see I have been a member for a while.... Just wondering if you guys could tell me about some details of houston, where to eat, hang out, meet people, party, gallery's etc. Would be greatly appreciated, thanks!!!

^^
sure, we would be glad to help!
pm me, and ill give you all the details. :cheers:

As I know (and everyone knows) that this thread is D-E-A-D on SSC...

..I guess i'll try to revive it.:nuts:


Downtown

Swamplot (http://swamplot.com/dance-building-dance-houston-ballet-makes-a-downtown-debut/2008-12-03/#more-4357), on the new Ballet Center...



Click the link at top to read the rest.

Houston Ballet Center (diff designs.) (The rendering SRG posted is a fake one!)

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/ballet-glass.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/ballet-solid.jpg

Embassy Suites-19 or 21 floors

Back on track after being on hold for a while.

Expect the 19-story Embassy Suites to break ground by March 09. It will be built at 1515 Dallas at LaBranch near Discovery Green Park and the Hilton Americas.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC02613.jpg


Five Allen Center-50 floors LEED GOLD

Nothing new on this one for a while now... I guess there still waiting until 50% is leased or it may be dead already.:(

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/5AllenCenter.jpg

One Park Place- 37 Floors T/O

Discovery Tower- 32 Floors u/c Curremtly on floor 8 or 9. LEED Platium with wind turbines on the top.
http://www.discoverytowerhouston.com/images/gallery/Render_1.jpg

MainPlace-46 Floors u/c Currently on floor 4 (I think) and the parking garage is on floor 1. LEED Platium
http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/1508/600xpopupgalleryey0.jpg



Uptown

Regent Square- 4 towers

Construction to begin in 2Q of 09.

http://i44.tinypic.com/20qb402.jpg

BLVD Place- On Hold :bash:

High Street- On Hold :bash:

Rice Village Sonoma-On Hold :bash:

Titan- Cancelled :bleep:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/TitanChronAd.jpg

Turnberry Tower-Cancelled :bleep:
http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.luxist.com/media/2007/08/turnberrytowerhouston.jpg

2727 Kirby- T/O

I would tell you guys about the Texas Medical Center but its too much. Its like something new breaks ground twice evry month.

Earth Quest Adventures

This a 1,600 acre dinosaur theme park. It was suppose to be only 50 acres. Its ground breaking is sometime between early 09 - Fall 09. Also it will be in a non-dense area of Montgomery County, right off of I-59 on both sides in New Caney,Texas. The cost for this is 1.5 Billion dollars.

http://i40.tinypic.com/1zyagjr.jpg

I will post further information on all these projects soon.:)

Nice park!!!

Nice park!!!

Yeah it will be an Awesome Park!:banana:

The developer says it will be the 2nd largest attraction in Texas (Alamo is 1st) bringing in 1+ Million visitors each year when it opens.

Including hotels, an IMAX, a theme park and a museum. The IMAX will be 4D. Dill says, “If a dinosaur sneezes, you’ll feel it. Water will spring out from your seat.” The 155,000 square foot non-profit museum will be an all green facility with a 200 foot observation center. The plan is to begin moving dirt on the museum either late summer or early fall of this year and will take an estimated 18 to 24 months to build. After museum completion, construction on the rest will follow. The project should be finished by the summer of 2012 at the latest.

http://products.rednews.com/base/member/mw...mercialBuzz.pdf

Cool...I wish that in SC, and MD would get new amusement parks!!!

^ How many Amusement parks does SC and MD have?

Meanwhile in Houston..

Discovery Tower (also on the left is One Park Place T/O)
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/2799/img0348eo2.jpg

Taken earlier today by Jax.
http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?showtopic=10424&st=570&start=570

One Park Place (taken o 1/9/09)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/3169787764_8f84a0d231_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1037/3168955663_cdff882fe7_b.jpg

MainPlace

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/3168962265_b4e749fbb1_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/3169789826_0c91feccde_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1195/3168951291_dc63d904a6_b.jpg

Taken By Photolitherland on SSP.

From Swmplot...

Discovery Tower, going up across McKinney St. from Discovery Green Downtown, has its first tenant — and it’ll be taking the whole building.

Beginning in late 2011-about the time Hess's current lease at One Allen Center expires — the 31-story tower with the wind turbines on top will be renamed Hess Tower.

This new building, to be renamed Hess Tower, will be the first energy efficient Gold LEED design in downtown Houston.

btw Hess is a New York based company

^ How many Amusement parks does SC and MD have?


South Carolina shares half of Carowinds with NC outside of Charlotte, boasts the wonderful South of the Border :lol:, and the Hard Rock Park in Myrtle Beach opened AND closed this past year. So, I guess 2, but I'm not sure that South of the Border truly counts, though I've never been. So, I guess it's actually more like one half of a true theme park? :nuts:

Houston has some BEAUTIFUL towers going up! I've never been to TX, but I hope to venture out that way for graduate school next year... Houston will be a must see for sure! :cheers:

^^^ Oh thats cool.:) Hope you have a great time in Houston IF you visit.:D



Heres something new that was released today..

SouthPointe

Renderings

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/Drawing.jpg


http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/Astroworld.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/Drawing2.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/Drawing3.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/south-pointe-bridge.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/south-pointe-water-bridge.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/Suthpoint.jpg

From Swamplot...

One of Swamplot’s best tipsters forwards a link to a website featuring lovely renderings of a family of glassy office buildings and blocky parking garages squatting on the former AstroWorld site — along with a rather direct question: “Is this real???”

Well, the Crosswell Torian website is a real website, where the development company proudly presents its AstroWorld tower roundup under the name SouthPointe: “a hundred+ acre, transit-oriented mixed use development.” But a brand-new 13.5-million-sq.-ft. project doesn’t exactly seem tailor-made for today’s cautious real-estate market.

If the SouthPointe design isn’t real, though, it’s a brilliant parody — down to the ultra-generic name and its not-so-silent extra vowel. It expertly answers this question: How might a bunch of suburban developers — some of them from, say, Conroe — make a complete mockery of Houston’s highest profile and best connected redevelopment site?


* * *

To be fair, the former AstroWorld site brings with it a number of problems: It has far-too-easy access to Houston’s major employment and activity centers by freeway, light-rail line, and even pedestrian bridge. In less deft hands, the development might make it too easy for people to transfer from one transportation method to another. Fortunately, the designers of SouthPointe have avoided that sort of nonsense with their clever plan, clearly modeled after several better-known suburban office parks.

Except this office park appears to be built out of several smaller office parks, each of which is labeled with a separate theme: “institutional/medical,” “office/corporate,” residential, or “mixed use/urban.” A collection of separately themed office parks — on the site of a former theme park. Get it?

They even have a website Now that was made today.:P

http://crosstorian.com/southpointe

Also this developement has been redesigned multiple times due to its location, the developer already owns the land and the site is already cleared.

:rant: Quit hogging it all. :bash: :cry:

:rant: Quit hogging it all. :bash: :cry:

Theres always enough to go around your city just have to wait for its turn!:nuts::cheers::tiasd::baeh3::crazy:;)

As I know (and everyone knows) that this thread is D-E-A-D on SSC...

..I guess i'll try to revive it.:nuts:


Downtown

Swamplot (http://swamplot.com/dance-building-dance-houston-ballet-makes-a-downtown-debut/2008-12-03/#more-4357), on the new Ballet Center...



Click the link at top to read the rest.

Houston Ballet Center (diff designs.) (The rendering SRG posted is a fake one!)


No, that's the building that the Houston Ballet is currently in. My apologies though as I did get it wrong. I must have clicked on the wrong link for the photo.

No, that's the building that the Houston Ballet is currently in. My apologies though as I did get it wrong. I must have clicked on the wrong link for the photo.

Apology Accepted.:)

New Renderings of Regent Square:

Forgot to post this yesterday and as you can see its 4 towers now..:)

http://photos-a.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v1724/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30398184_5256.jpg


http://www.cbre.com/NR/rdonlyres/3839781A-02F3-45C0-900D-8F6208D527A1/695771/OfficeRendering_webjpg.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/Location.jpg

After a delay and a new design for this developement expect a ground breaking in 2Q of 2009..

More renderings and info here: http://www.cbre.com/USA/US/TX/Houston+Galleria/property/regentsquare.htm?pageid=0

I present to you two new renderings of Five Allen Center...:D

Look at the Modern Sculptre!:)

From Swamplot..

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/5-allen-center-sculpture.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/5AllenCenter.jpg

A major downturn in the economy tends to make it a bit easier to happen upon images of developments that have been planned in secret — though finding them can be somewhat less exciting than unearthing plans that are actually likely to happen. A tipster reports HAIF user lockmat’s discovery of two images of Brookfield Properties’ planned Five Allen Center office tower Downtown. We saw one hazy picture of this building back in June. But is there any more to it now than just a few pretty pictures?

Five Allen Center is marked “pre-development” on the Brookfield website: a 50-story, 1.2-million-sq.-ft. office tower planned for a 2.5-acre site at the northwest corner of Downtown — at the northeast corner of Houston Ave. and West Dallas. That’s a rather prominent position.

^ How many Amusement parks does SC and MD have?

Meanwhile in Houston..

Discovery Tower (also on the left is One Park Place T/O)
http://img150.imageshack.us/img150/2799/img0348eo2.jpg

Taken earlier today by Jax.
http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?showtopic=10424&st=570&start=570

One Park Place (taken o 1/9/09)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/3169787764_8f84a0d231_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1037/3168955663_cdff882fe7_b.jpg

MainPlace

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3086/3168962265_b4e749fbb1_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3268/3169789826_0c91feccde_o.jpg

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1195/3168951291_dc63d904a6_b.jpg

Taken By Photolitherland on SSP.

Well we have a six flag's, and two water parks under construction...People are always saying that Maryland is over built, when we just need more thing's than other states!!! :ohno: VA is the one that is over built all over... :lol: Then we have national harbor, we had the worlds only indoor six flag's but it got shut down!!!



OH YEAH, OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA!!! GOOD BYE BUSH MOVE TO TEXAS!!! :lol: (Sorry I had to say that in your thread) :lol:

Well we have a six flag's, and two water parks under construction...People are always saying that Maryland is over built, when we just need more thing's than other states!!! :ohno: VA is the one that is over built all over... :lol: Then we have national harbor, we had the worlds only indoor six flag's but it got shut down!!!



OH YEAH, OBAMA OBAMA OBAMA!!! GOOD BYE BUSH MOVE TO TEXAS!!! :lol: (Sorry I had to say that in your thread) :lol:


Lol one day Texas will turn on Bush when the state turns blue:D

Apology Accepted.:)

???????????

ok........

Lol one day Texas will turn on Bush when the state turns blue:D


:lol: You guy's didn't turn on his father... :lol:

Because his father is'nt really a dumba$$ like himm..

As for this thread im done updating it because nobody is commenting on future developments and construction photos on Houston:ohno:..(Greenville can stay in the spotlight but ONLY on skyscrapercity;)) No offense but its really the only development thread that gets alot of comments and it has a downtown development thread. (here on ssc)

This thread is D-E-A-D!!! :deadthrea

Because his father is'nt really a dumba$$ like himm..

As for this thread im done updating it because nobody is commenting on future developments and construction photos on Houston:ohno:..(Greenville can stay in the spotlight but ONLY on skyscrapercity;)) No offense but its really the only development thread that gets alot of comments and it has a downtown development thread. (here on ssc)

This thread is D-E-A-D!!! :deadthrea

I hope you keep updating the thread. I love to see updates on Houston. Sorry I hardly make comments......

Latest News

http://www.khou.com/video/index.html?nvid=328757

HOUSTON—On the east side of downtown sits the future site of the new Dynamo stadium.

“We think it’s about an $80 to $85 million stadium. (It will have) 21,000 seats, but nothing fancy though. It’s very functional,” said Dynamo GM Oliver Luck.

Many say that the stadium will be functional enough to keep in Houston a championship team that has made noises about moving into the suburbs. It’s hoped it will be functional enough to keep the fans happy.

“It’s gonna be much more fan friendly in terms of concessions and restrooms and some of those things that we just don’t really have over at Robertson Stadium. Most importantly, it’s going to be much easier to get to in terms of the parking and access. A rail line will literally run right next to the stadium,” said Luck.

The new stadium is expected to encourage new development. When it’s finished, it’s expected to increase the property values of everything around it.

It’s reported that after the Dynamo moves in, that extra property tax money would kick $20 million into the project.

Reports indicate that the city is already in the game, but county commissioners still have to approve the deal.

“No one’s taxes are increased. It’s just taking the increased taxes, some of that money and allocating that to help build the stadium,” said Houston council member Peter Brown.

TSU will also pass along $2.5 million for the right to play its football games there, said TSU Athletic Director Charles McClelland.

“We’re gonna’ have our own locker rooms. We’re gonna share the sales for concessions, on ticket sales so it’s gonna’ be the home of the Texas Southern University fighting tigers,” said McClelland.

The players should take to the new field in the first part of 2011.


Renderings

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m25/nobious/DynamoStadium/image002.png

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/dynamo-stadium-pano-middle-1.jpg

http://i100.photobucket.com/albums/m25/nobious/DynamoStadium/image001.png


Thesite is already cleared; is located in the Warehouse Discrict.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee233/nbrooks503/Stadiumsite_Panorama1.jpg

The rendering of the stadium looks like a space ship (UFO whatever you call it) and it will probaly light up the area; send property values up.

I hope you keep updating the thread. I love to see updates on Houston. Sorry I hardly make comments......

Ok I will. Hope you make comments on the developements though.

Ok I will. Hope you make comments on the developements though.
I vill try my best. I am not online very often, though.

I love Houston and am very excited about urban development there. It is incredible to see all the projects downtown, uptown, midtown, the medical-center etc. Houston is a great city and deserves much more praise than it gets.

The stadium project looks nice. Il ike the fact that it sits on the edge of downtown.

Outpatient care center in the TMC 25 stories and u/c

http://www.whrarchitects.com/_filelib/ImageGallery/Photos/healthcare/methodist/methodist_002.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC01940.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC01941.jpg
From ChannelTwoNews on HAIF

Here's an article on Deyaar Developement from Dubai. They might possibly try to build a 89-story tower with an 52-story tower attached and named "Deyaar post Oak" in uptown.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2008/11/24/story1.html?page=2

Deyaar Development of Dubai made headlines by purchasing six acres of vacant land in December 2007 for what would be the firm’s first U.S. project. Company representatives did not comment then and would not comment now on their plans, but the firm specializes in building tall commercial and residential towers in its homeland.

32 stories yes? no?

Well this is going up in the TMC.


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1155/3174702695_b6a72fb983_o.jpg

Great Pix. Houston rocks!
I would perfer the Deyaar development in the downtown area, though.

Great Pix. Houston rocks!
I would perfer the Deyaar development in the downtown area, though.


Yeah everyone says that. The company is from Dubai so they will most likely do something amazing! If the towers are built they would be an eyesore just like the Williams tower. Six acres a land for two towers is alot! :D
:dance2:

Yeah everyone says that. The company is from Dubai so they will most likely do something amazing! If the towers are built they would be an eyesore just like the Williams tower. Six acres a land for two towers is alot! :D
:dance2:

I don't think Williams Tower is an eysore. I like it, especially with the waterwall in front of it.

This is a concept that is getting closer to be becoming a realility.

It will be called the "Astrodome studios". :banana:

From Swamplot


Still waiting in the wings, the long-promoted but as-yet-unmade proposal to turn the long-vacant Astrodome into a giant indoor movie lot is almost ready for its closeup, says Christine Hall in the Houston Business Journal. Astrodome Studios co-executive directors Elise Hendrix and Cynthia Neely

along with a laundry list of supporters, including “Dazed and Confused” director/writer Richard Linklater, are one month away from presenting a proposal to Harris County that would put a major soundstage and movie production studio into the proclaimed “Eighth Wonder of the World.”

“We would have absolutely everything a creative agency would need to film a movie,” Hendrix says. “With 140,000 square feet, you wouldn’t have any problem building a city in there if you needed to.”

But what would an Astrodome movie studio look like, really? To help unimaginative county officials picture the transformation, Astrodome Studios has prepared the dramatic photo-illustration above, along with a series of similarly rich diagrams:

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/1.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/2.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/3.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/4.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/6.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/7.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/8.jpg

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/9.jpg

This development has a website and a myspace lol.

Site:http://www.astrodomestudios.net/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=1


Myspace page:http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=203362342

Construction updates!

Mainplace

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/MainPlace/DSC03968.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/MainPlace/DSC03953.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/MainPlace/DSC03962.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/MainPlace/DSC03969.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/MainPlace/DSC03973.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/MainPlace/DSC03959.jpg

2727 Kirby

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC03997.jpg

Methodist Outpatient Center
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC03744.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC03986.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC03992.jpg

BioScience Research Collaborative (aka Rice Collaborative Research Center)
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC03748.jpg

MD Anderson Alkek Hospital Vertical Expansion
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC03979.jpg

Methodist Hospital Research Institute + Cranes
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04006.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04021.jpg

Texas Childrens Hospital Maternity Center
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04014.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04016.jpg

Memorial City Condos + Cemex Center w/ Westin & MH Tower in distance
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC03869.jpg

Condos
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC03887.jpg
From Watteliegh on SSP

Possible website?

http://www.nanoworldheadquarters.org/

Also New info on this.

HRE continuing this despite downturn in economy

http://www.realtynewsreport.com/HoustonDeals.htm


The Nano World Headquarters, located in Houston, is also being spearheaded by Historic Real Estate. Nano World Headquarters is a $580 million project. It will serve as a center for scientific nanotechnology collaboration world-wide and as an accelerator for start-up companies, offering a centralized intellectual hub and a state-of-the-art shared equipment facility. The headquarters will be a point of intersection where private sector, government and academic institutions will come together to create new opportunities for high salaried, high tech jobs and increase the economic development throughout the region.

The Nano project will include over 200,000 sf of shared facilities, the largest in Texas, including a 5,000 square foot Class 1000/100 Clean Room and over $35 million in equipment for nanotechnology, energy, medical and aerospace applications. The shared facilities will be available to startup companies, private sector research groups, and university and government researchers with appropriate hourly fees for equipment use.

Additionally, Historic Real Estate is introducing the Texas Gulf Coast’s only private, 100 percent waterfront community, The Peninsula on Clear Lake. The gated community is located o 30 minutes from downtown Houston and is a community featuring 37 waterfront estates and four family compounds with direct channel access to Clear Lake, Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico. The Peninsula, a $90 million project, will host “The Showcase of Homes on the Water” event in March. The event is projected to attract over 10,000 home and boating enthusiasts during the three weekend event.


“Historic Real Estate is committed to creating the best places for people to live, work, play, stay, learn and be entertained,” said Historic Real Estate’s Executive Director, David Goswick. “We are dedicated not only to designing and developing these locations but also to understanding the human landscape of the communities we seek to enrich.”

Galveston Bay Hotel- A 425 room hotel, full sevice marina, and 2 residential towers...

http://www.studioredarchitects.com/images/stories/easygallery/66/1209114510_final-finish.jpg

America's Plaza- 7 acre urban property with 1800 residential units, 100,000 square feet of office and retail space, and an outdoor amphitheater. Said to be in the "shadows of downtown..." (Near the Dynamo Stadium)

http://www.studioredarchitects.com/images/stories/easygallery/125/1216150132_Birdseyeview.JPG

Link: http://www.studioredarchitects.com/index.php

New info on EarthQuest from: http://www.hcnonline.com/articles/2009/02/13/kingwood_observer/news/08realtor.txt

The plans for the much anticipated Earth Quest Adventures, slated to be constructed in East Montgomery County, are closer to reality with the fast-approaching ground breaking scheduled for the fall.

East Montgomery County Improvement District President and CEO Frank McCrady discussed the plans for the dinosaur-themed park and museum with the Kingwood Realtor Advisory Board Feb. 12.

“We have had board meetings and developer meetings; in two weeks the EMCID board will be issuing bonds on the project,” McCrady said. “The Houston market is ready, willing and able to accept a thematic theme park and destination place to go in regards to any type of recreational activity.”

The Earth Quest Adventures project will be located north of Kingwood, at Roman Forest Boulevard and U.S. Highway 59.

The design process for some of the rides and areas of the park are still in the design process but for the most part, the schematics for Earth Quest are complete.

“The project is moving forward and we are expected to break ground on Earth Quest either the end of this fiscal year or the first quarter of 2010,” McCrady said.

The park is scheduled to open for the public in 2011 or 2012.

The dinosaur theme park will be situated toward the rear of the park and will feature several roller coasters that will go in and around the mountains constructed as a part of the theme.

There will be a temperate side of the mountain which will simulate a rain-forest like atmosphere, another side will showcase volcano-like activity and yet another side will feature a snowy climate.

“There are different components for each side and a centerpiece connecting all the different parts, which is like the center of the park,” McCrady said.

The actual park itself is around 200 acres and several hotels are already slated to be built around the park including a hotel featuring rooms situated in the tree tops that offer a view of the park.

Additionally, McCrady discussed the development of Valley Ranch where there is current retail development that will further enhance the theme of the community, a lifestyle center.

The retail centers in Valley Ranch will feature an outdoor shopping experience and offer shoppers outdoor places where they can relax and interact with friends and fellow shoppers.

Kyle Bauer, owner of QLS Family Fitness Health Complex, also addressed the luncheon, explaining the recent additions and expansion of their facility and the center’s dedication to the community.

_________

Discovery Tower 2.15.o9

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/DiscoveryTower/DTNewsCap21509.jpg

Downtown YMCA...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/rdavis4559/mailgooglecom.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/rdavis4559/mailgooglecom2.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/rdavis4559/mailgooglecom3.jpg

I've been scared to look at this thread this whole month but I'm brave so here I go!!!

THERE IS A LOT OF DEVELOPMENT GOING ON IN HOUSTON!!!

I've been scared to look at this thread this whole month but I'm brave so here I go!!!

THERE IS A LOT OF DEVELOPMENT GOING ON IN HOUSTON!!!

Lol.

Glad you looked at this thread!!

Nobody really post updates (beside me) nor makes comments on developements here anymore.:ohno:

Where did all the Houston Forumers go?!?!

___________

Update on the Dynamo stadium with another rendering!

Is Dynamo stadium on th Eve of being a done deal?

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/dynamosign.jpg



http://www.majorleaguesoccertalk.com/is-downtown-stadium-in-houston-on-the-eve-of-being-a-done-deal/1977

With the Houston Dynamo’s opening match of the CONCACAF Champions League’s knockout stage quickly approaching on February 24th, it’s time to take a quick look at what’s going on here in Houston.

The franchise made the move from San Jose to Houston, with the impression that it would be easier to obtain a stadium deal in Houston. With the Dynamo’s fourth season starting next month, the club still calls the rundown Robertson Stadium, located on the University of Houston campus in the Third Ward, home. Without rehashing the long, tortuous route the stadium process has taken, it appears that the Houston Dynamo will be starting the 2011 MLS season in a new stadium located on the eastern edge of Downtown Houston. This afternoon, Houston Dynamo CEO Oliver Luck made an appearance on the Ken Hoffman show on 1560 The Game. While Luck was primarily there to promote the Dynamo’s new $150 season ticket package and the $32 special for 4 tickets to the Dynamo’s game against Atlante on Wednesday February 24th. However, Hoffy asked Luck about the status of the stadium negotiations, Luck did not say a final deal had been forged, but nonchalantly and openly stated the team would be in a new downtown stadium in 2011. Gone were the caveats and spin of the past.

More importantly, Luck stated that an unnamed bank has agreed to involve itself in the financing of the Tax Increment Redevelopment Zone a/k/a TIRZ that is at the heart of the public funding associated with the potential stadium. Unlike the sporting palaces recently built for the Astros, Rockets, and Texans, the Dynamo stadium carries a projected cost of under $100 million with only a fraction of the cost coming from public sources. This means that instead of relying on local taxes, which would require a vote, to fund the stadium, the City of Houston and Harris County will provide funds through the TIRZ that will go towards infrastructure improvements. Little, if any, public money will be used on the actual stadium. While a deal has not been finalized, the fact that a bank has agreed to finance the TIRZ, despite the credit crunch and current economy, is an indication that the Dynamo, the City, and the County are on the eve of finalizing a stadium deal.

Speaking of the current economic situation, MLS and the Dynamo, as well as most of the other MLS teams, should be applauded for providing affordable season ticket packages.

Here are some construction pics from last month that I forgot to throw in.

Pictures from The Woodlands, which to anyone who does'nt know is located about 25 miles north of downtown Houston. The area is booming and its where The Woodlands Mall and Waterway is located.

Just a few years ago there was nothing but urban sprawl BS out in this area but now it starting to look like an actual city!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3019/3131403692_e2d337d144_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/3130572361_9c1945ef5e_o.jpg

This is the new developement for the Woodlands. The tallest tower (20 stories) is already u/c and the others are already built or in the process of being built.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/3130572145_b82d7b822d_o.jpg

A low rise under construction named 'Avia' in The Woodlands Market Square. (Can you see the rendering?)
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3229/3130572005_6365ac9c3a_b.jpg

Some more development along the waterway. The white building on the left is the new Marriott Hotel.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3296/3130571799_ec3b19f1ca_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3115/3130571571_c91042820e_o.jpg

___________

Texas Medical Center


A lot of the projects I barely know about.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3084/3175540710_54ce6fcb9c_o.jpg

Behind the not yet finished Outpatient care center on Main Street.
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1104/3174705191_19f4b3c2a4_o.jpg

This tower is located quite a ways away from the main medical center.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/3175539404_b1175319dc_o.jpg

Look at all of those cranes!
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1103/3174703377_086b3da708_o.jpg

MD Anderson Caner Center Vertical Expansion
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1004/3174702233_41eb67501e_o.jpg

Forgot the name of the building on the right....
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3125/3175534908_75970838a9_o.jpg

(Off Topic) Hundreds of Muslims downtown saying that they did not condone terrorism. Pretty Crazy is'nt it?!

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3082/3174700475_2ce6421469_o.jpg
(All pics from Photolitherland on SSP)

Metro nearing deal on next 4 rails.

After two years of negotiations with two firms, the Metropolitan Transit Authority may be close to reaching a deal with a contractor to build and operate its next four light rail lines.

"We’re in final negotiations," said George Smalley, a Metro spokesman. "In a negotiation, though, you never know until it’s really over."

The pending breakthrough with Parsons Transportation Group comes three years before Metro has said all five of its additional rail lines will be complete. The fifth rail line, the University line, remains in preliminary stages of development; another agreement will have to reached on that line.

Despite the tight time frame for the new lines, Metro officials say they are sticking to the 2012 target date.

Metro’s Red Line, which runs along Main Street, has been operational since 2004.

The Metropolitan Transit Authority’s board has to approve the contract, which will likely appear on this week’s agenda, Smalley said.

Last April, Metro announced that Parsons Transportation Group would design, build, operate and maintain four of its rail lines after yearlong negotiations with Metro’s first choice, Washington Group International, fell apart. In the end, WGI and Metro were "hundreds of millions" of dollars apart, Metro’s President and CEO Frank J. Wilson said at the time.

Wilson declined to reveal WGI’s estimate for the North, Southeast, East End and Uptown lines, but the figure was made known to Parsons.

An analysis prepared last year put the cost of all five new rail lines, including the longer and costlier University line, at $2.6 billion.

Negotiations with Parsons covered maintenance and operation, elements not common in most rail contracts, industry sources said.

Any design flaws discovered during the first few years of operation will be taken care of by Parsons, Smalley said.


‘Still set on that path’

Metro leaders remain confident that the five lines, which total 30 miles, can be completed on schedule.

"We’re still set on that path," Smalley said, "but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy."

Valley Metro light rail in Phoenix opened its 20-mile, $1.4 billion line in December after four years of construction.

Metro’s negotiation process seems to have taken a reasonable length of time, given the scope of the project, said Henry Kay, a Maryland Transit Administration deputy administrator.

"I can see us easily taking that long to contract for far less value with far less at stake," Kay said. "They’re making a commitment to provide service over many years."

Negotiations began in January 2007, when Metro announced WGI would be its builder. After the deal failed, Metro paid WGI $77 million for its preliminary work which was handed over to Parsons. Metro has paid Parsons $11.8 million for its work under a temporary agreement.

Among the "moving parts" involved in the deal include the unknown amount of funds Metro may receive in the stimulus package, Smalley said. Metro has requested $410 million to help begin work on the North and Southeast lines and an additional $70 million to convert high-occupancy vehicle lanes into toll lanes.


http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6264974.html


The east side/brown line is already u/c
________________

Houston-Galveston rail still a possibility?


A commuter rail line between Galveston and Houston has been on the drawing board for so many years that many people have come to think of it as the community’s longest-running fantasy.

But Galveston Mayor Lyda Ann Thomas and City Manager Steve LeBlanc returned from Washington, D.C., with the impression that the rail project has a better chance of getting federal funding than any other transportation project.

Thomas and LeBlanc visited officials in Washington about a long list of requests for funds to help the area recover from Hurricane Ike. On that list is $10 million for a preliminary engineering study to run a commuter service along the Galveston-Houston & Henderson line, which runs alongside state Highway 3.

The Galveston representatives carried a letter in support of the commuter rail project that had been signed by the mayors of League City, Texas City, La Marque, Dickinson and Webster, as well as County Judge Jim Yarbrough and Harris County Commissioner Sylvia Garcia. The Galveston representatives bumped into members of the Galveston County Commissioners Court, who were making similar requests for help recovering from the storm.

The commuter rail line would be built in two phases: Galveston to League City, and then from League City to downtown Houston.

The plan for commuter rail has several selling points:

• Passenger demand is estimated at 11,000 trips daily. Getting those people out of cars and into rail cars would improve air quality and reduce congestion on existing highways;

• The cost of widening Interstate 45 to accommodate the volume of traffic that the rail line could handle would be $2.2 billion — the cost of the rail project is estimated at $400 million;

• The ability to move that many passengers quickly would give the region another evacuation route;

• The project would improve mobility in a rapidly growing area — it would, for example, tie into the University of Texas Medical Branch’s plans to develop a campus at Victory Lakes, just off Interstate 45 at FM 646 in League City; and

• The project would allow better use of one of the least-used tracks in the region and would provide an opportunity to replace the old Causeway Bridge, built in 1910, which is one of the most dangerous points on the Intracoastal Waterway — the narrow barge lanes have been a hazard for years.

The project has been on the books for so long that it’s hard to imagine it coming to life soon. But fans of light rail should know, one way or another, fairly soon. Officials requested that the $10 million for the engineering study be included in the 2010 appropriations.

http://www.galvestondailynews.com/st...6906ec00bea818

Also the trains will go 79MPH.

I hope this really something happens soon. It has gotten more attention now due to Ike.

Great news. I was riding the light rail in Houston last year and really liked it.
I am glad the system will be expanded. I also hope the commuter rail to Galveston is giong to happen soon.

Wow, Houston is really booming! Good to see all these projects even with the downturn in the economy. Looks like Texas is doing better than places like California, Nevada and Florida.

Because his father is'nt really a dumba$$ like himm..

As for this thread im done updating it because nobody is commenting on future developments and construction photos on Houston:ohno:..(Greenville can stay in the spotlight but ONLY on skyscrapercity;)) No offense but its really the only development thread that gets alot of comments and it has a downtown development thread. (here on ssc)

This thread is D-E-A-D!!! :deadthrea

No don't do that. I enjoy your updates!

Wowzers Houston, keep up the good work!

Keep updating Houstonian. Although I have not commented or post my own pics, I look forward to your update. Perhaps this weekend, I can take a few photos of downtown and some nearby area. There is supposedly a few low rise going up in the heights area, but no construction so far

Couple of Updates..

Outpatient care center almost t/o. Nw all it needs is the three spires. :)

http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/3168/img0432o.jpg
Sorry for the poor quality more pics of this coming soon

______________

Town Country/CityCentre

Ok most of y'all don't know anything about this developement. Its a mixed use urban developement in suburban area of Houston (west Houston), currently u/c.

More info here: http://www.citycentrehouston.com/home.html

Renderings:

http://i37.tinypic.com/2mra60y.jpg

http://i38.tinypic.com/j8lb9t.jpg

http://i33.tinypic.com/2z51xyt.jpg

http://i37.tinypic.com/2ai0rj5.jpg

Hotel Sorella
http://i34.tinypic.com/w0q6o7.jpg

Construction update from Jan.

http://www.citycentrehouston.com/construction.html

_________

Building Implosion

Also Compass Bank building in Uptown ( 2200 Post Oak.) Will be imploded on March 15th o make way for.... ( possibly a new tower).

Here's a pic of the building.

http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/issaaa/Porter%20Park/Houston-PostOak038.jpg

Uptown/Galleria desperately needs a few more tall, at least 50 to 60 stories. Williams Tower looks a bit out of place. If only they had build those other two talls (one is Marathon Oil building I believe) near Willams Tower, that would have been different. As forthe proposed 89 floor potentially going up in the Galleria, it is ok, but I think it might be better (look wise) for it to go up in downtown.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3122/3130572361_9c1945ef5e_o.jpg



I must know more about this canal. Where exactly is it, and is it man-made?

I must know more about this canal. Where exactly is it, and is it man-made?

Its in the Waterway Square in The Woodlands, Texas (The Woodlands is north of Houston). Im pretty sure its not man-made as well.

1717 Ashby is a 23-story, mixed-use highrise that has been in the works since July o7.
Residents and the Developers have been in a dispute because of concerns of traffic problems;the Houston city council rejected their permit application 8 times yet, there still trying to build this.

More info here: http://www.buckfund.com/index.html

Renderings: (Sorry for the large renderings)

http://www.buckfund.com/images/properties/1717bissonnet/07018-A401.jpg

http://www.buckfund.com/images/properties/1717bissonnet/07018-A401-SL.jpg

http://www.buckfund.com/images/properties/1717bissonnet/07018-A203-crop.jpg

http://www.buckfund.com/images/Ground-Floor-Plan.jpg

http://www.buckfund.com/images/UrbanPlaza.jpg

Have you seen the placard with the "Stop Ashby Highrise" with the monstrous building. That is hilarious. I love it when rich people bitch and moan against one another!

Have you seen the placard with the "Stop Ashby Highrise" with the monstrous building. That is hilarious. I love it when rich people bitch and moan against one another!

Yeah I've seen it. :lol: I wish they would just shut up and let the developers build this. Some of the people that live in that area still have sign's in their front yards.

Looks like the 'Ashby Highrise' was caught partying in a club! :D
---->
http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1221772513/gallery_3613_112_388326.jpg

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1221772513/gallery_3613_112_52508.jpg
(Pics taken on Halloween; are from HAIF)

The Old YMCA will be imploded sometime in 2010 and Chevron plans to buy the block it sits on.

Pic of the Y from photolitherland on HAIF.
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3518/3193465106_82dfda6fee_o.jpg

:lol:

I'm not sure about the status of the Ashby Highrise, but it was in the news a lot. Hopefully, I will have time tomorrow to take som pics.

I actually go to that YMCA downtown sometimes to play volleyball. It's next to some major buildings and should fetch a good price.

Any news on the supposed 80+ stories in the Galleria or has this recession killed that all together?

And LOL at the PIC, was that yours?

No Updates?! :(

Well I have soome :)

YMCA now has a crane!

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04185.jpg

Outpatient Care Center, now almost t/o.
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04273.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04276.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04270.jpg
From ChannelTwoNews on HAIF

I have a few but I don't know how to post pictures here.

I have a few but I don't know how to post pictures here.

the url of the image

WEDGE Hotels Corporation is actively engaged in the pre-development process for a 240-room Hilton Garden Inn adjacent to WEDGE International Tower on Louisiana Street and Clay in downtown Houston, TX. Project is expected to break ground in 2009 and open in 2010. See rendering on right side of page.


http://www.wedgerealestateholdings.com/development.html

http://www.wedgerealestateholdings.com/images/dev1.jpg

This development will kill another parking lot if built. :)

___________

From yesterday, Legacy at Memorial almost t/o.
http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1221772513/gallery_3613_2_310881.jpg
From Jax on Haif

LOL!, I was just about to post a picture of that building I took last week. Oh well. The only problem I have with that building is that it blocks the view of downtown from Spott's Park. I haven't seen a render, but it doesn't look like that cool of a building though.

What about Houston Pavilions? Any pic updates?

What about Houston Pavilions? Any pic updates?


The Houston Pavillions have been completed since October of last year, they're doing 'ok' (ecnomic crisis caused problems); I'll post pics later.

____________

Here's some good news. :D

From Swamplot...

Here’s a surprise: a construction permit for a new 23-story Chinatown Asiatown condominium tower was issued yesterday for Park 8 Place. Remember Park8? That’s the freeway feeder megastrip project planned for just across Brays Bayou from Arthur Storey Park, along Beltway 8 south of Bellaire Blvd. The one that called itself “The Land of Oz.”

The entire development was supposed to include three 20-something-story residential towers, a hospital, two 2-story retail-and-office strips, and a couple of parking garages — all in a quaint freeway-and-park-side setting. A foundation was poured for the first condo building last year, but Park 8 CEO David Wu put the project on hold after he was unable to secure financing. So the construction crane came down.

If a single condo tower is the only piece of the project that’s now been funded, the result might be a little less overwhelming than the complex portrayed in this old Park 8 promotional video:

48eVh5LGNT4


According to the city report, yesterday’s permit cost Lyda Swinerton Builders more than $46K. The official address for the project is 8018 W. Sam Houston Pkwy. South.

http://swamplot.com/the-land-of-oz-ready-t...3-13/#more-7304 (http://swamplot.com/the-land-of-oz-ready-to-rise-again/2009-03-13/#more-7304)

here is a link to some picks of the Pavilion.

enjoy!

http://www.houstonpavilions.com/retail_property.php

^^^^^


I wish the Houston Pavillions went with the original plan, 3 residential towers. :(


____________

Thanks to burgeoning demand for the Museum's educational exhibitions and programs, we currently host 500,000 schoolchildren annually—in addition to more than 2.5 million other visitors. However, the Museum's current facilities were built to accommodate just 200,000 visitors a year.

Demand for the Museum's educational programs far outpaces available classroom space.

The current HMNS@100: Building for a Second Century of Science capital campaign is designed to provide funding for an expansion of the Museum's facilities that will better accommodate both our swelling numbers of visitors and the community's escalating interest in thought-provoking exhibitions and informative educational programs. We need your help to make these plans a reality for Houston's future. Get involved – and help us build for the next century of science education in Houston.

You can also celebrate our centennial at one hundred fun family events planned throughout 2009 and get an inside look at the Museum's vast collections—we've selected a hundred of the most compelling objects from millions of possibilities.

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/other%20things/hmns100-duncan.jpg
The Duncan Family Wing - part of the Museum's planned expansion.


http://www.hmns.org/images/HMNS100-image5.jpg

http://www.hmns.org/images/HMNS100-image1.jpg

http://www.hmns.org/see_do/hmns_at_one_hundred/support_hmns_100.asp

Legacy @ Memorial from Swamplot (http://swamplot.com/more-aig-bonus-photos-right-back-atcha/2009-03-19/#more-7474) 3.17 taken from the AIG building.

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/fog-construction-legacy.jpg
Stephen Cullar-Ledford

^^Nice

Here's some ground level pics of Legacy @ Memorial, from yesterday. This tower is now t/o.

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04434.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04438.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04453.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04457.jpg

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DSC04464.jpg
From Watteleigh on SSP

What is the Legacy? I haven't heard anything about it, and the first time I saw it was when I was driving on I-10 a few weeks ago.

What is the Legacy? I haven't heard anything about it, and the first time I saw it was when I was driving on I-10 a few weeks ago.


The Legacy at Memorial is 274 apartments in a 25 story tower, 60 loft units in an adjacent wood framed building, and an 8 story parking garage. Construction began in Sept. of o7.

Here's a rendering;
http://www.hayneswhaley.com/project_images/MemorialCondos.jpg

--->
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3633/3378775173_03714e87a1_b.jpg
Jax FlickR

I went to a hotel in the museum district this past weekend to stay for a couple days and I thought I would bring my camera to post pictures on here. But I realized it is much harder than one would think, how do poeple get good pictures when I take garbage? :nuts: It's not too bad, but it's not like those quality compilations with lots of good photos.

I went to a hotel in the museum district this past weekend to stay for a couple days and I thought I would bring my camera to post pictures on here. But I realized it is much harder than one would think, how do poeple get good pictures when I take garbage? :nuts: It's not too bad, but it's not like those quality compilations with lots of good photos.

Maybe its the camera lol. :nuts:

_______________________

New Dynamo stadium is done deal

From Khou...:D

HOUSTON -- The Houston Dynamo are finally going to get their new stadium.

They cleared the final hurdle this week by getting funding from a Spanish bank based in Madrid.

The Dynamo is paying about $60 million toward the cost of the stadium.

The City of Houston and Harris County will pick up the rest of the tab.

The stadium will be built across Highway 59 from Minute Maid Park where the Houston Astros play.

It will seat 21,000 fans and will have around 35 suites.

The Dynamo say they hope to keep the average ticket price under $20.

Construction will begin in the fall and is expected to take about 18 months.

The Dynamo plan to play their season opener at the new stadium in 2011.

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/khou090324_mh_dynamo-stadium.694b5ecd.html

Right, no that's not the problem. Vantage points possibly?

Right, no that's not the problem. Vantage points possibly?

Yeah maybe, would be great if you post your pictures though! :)

Here's a view of TMC from Channel 13's Towercam, taken today.

http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/houstondevelopmentphotos/Houmedctr32409.jpg

Compare it to the same view but, from last July.
http://i649.photobucket.com/albums/uu218/houstondevelopmentphotos/EWNTMC.jpg

When I have free-time this weekend I will. I am loaded with school garbage to do and things to study for. Blaaaaahhhhhhh :(

^^^ ok.

_____

From today on SSP..

YMCA

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/rdavis4559/ymca01.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a373/rdavis4559/ymca02.jpg

Heres some updates.

____________________________

Town & Country/City Centre

Construction almost complete, pics from last month.

http://www.citycentrehouston.com/February09.html

____________________________

New Park in Midtown?

Shell of burned-out church to become Midtown park

05:25 PM CDT on Wednesday, March 25, 2009

By Lee McGuire / 11 News

HOUSTON -- The fenced-off remnants of a gutted Fourth Ward church are about to become the centerpiece of a new Houston park.

The Houston City Council voted Wednesday to buy the land and what’s left of the Bethel Baptist Church, which caught fire in 2005. Now, the Parks Department and city engineers will examine the building to see if ambitious plans for the park’s development can take shape.

Since the fire, Pastor Robert Robertson has struggled with vandals and the weather—the two forces that often knock down the barbed-wire fence surrounding the property.

“African American slaves built this building,” he said. “We are hoping and praying that the history of this building can be saved.”

Robertson says members of his congregation struggled to decide whether to sell the property to the City, but ultimately decided the Church would not be able to raise enough money to restore the crumbling building. “The congregation got together after a lot of prayers and a lot of thinking,” Roberts said. “We had to come to the decision that it was a dangerous building.”

Descendants of slaves completed the Bethel Baptist Church in 1950, on a plot of land in the Fourth Ward that had belonged to the church since 1896. Now its four walls stand without a roof to connect them, in the shadow of downtown skyscrapers. The weeded lot is surrounded by sleek condominiums and an apartment complex in what is now known as Midtown.

“The history of this community is important,” Robertson said. “I hope and pray that the history of this community will remain.”

A “TIRZ,” or “Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone” has come up with roughly $360,000 to buy the property and build a park there. The plans call for three of the church’s four walls to be reinforced and serve as stand-alone borders for an outdoor garden.

Houston Mayor Bill White says the park will be a monument to the old Fourth Ward, a section of Houston settled by former slaves. “Houston has turned a corner in recognizing that historic preservation is worth it,” he said.

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stori....6e85865a.html

Pdf. with renderings
http://www.khou.com/images/0903/bbcRendering_090325.pdf

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3063/3046693829_a7e4fbd1c6.jpg?v=0
by rhaaga from flickr

_____________________

1717 Ashby Highrise

Yesterday, The Houston City council yet again, rejected the proposal of 1717 Ashby Highrise for the 9th time. Why? Traffic is still a concern for the area.

the url of the image

I am having difficulty with posting pictures as well. It's not as simple as the url thing. I did a little research and according to the posting rules for this forum, I can't post attachments. Any help on how to alter those settings?

I am having difficulty with posting pictures as well. It's not as simple as the url thing. I did a little research and according to the posting rules for this forum, I can't post attachments. Any help on how to alter those settings?
I'm guessing you mean pictures from your own computer? Certainly. All you would need to do is go to either imageshack or photobucket, I prefer imageshack, and upload the pictures from there. Go with the 17 in. monitor choose (its like 1270 x ___) and it will change the size of the pic. You should be sent to a new page with the picture and then links below it. Just click the picture and it will bring you to a new page. Copy the url of that page and paste it here. Also remember the ____

Highland tower, which is now on the 10th floor.


http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc151/smalltowntexas/DSC04521.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc151/smalltowntexas/DSC04525.jpg

http://i218.photobucket.com/albums/cc151/smalltowntexas/DSC04532.jpg
Watteleigh SSP

I'm guessing you mean pictures from your own computer? Certainly. All you would need to do is go to either imageshack or photobucket, I prefer imageshack, and upload the pictures from there. Go with the 17 in. monitor choose (its like 1270 x ___) and it will change the size of the pic. You should be sent to a new page with the picture and then links below it. Just click the picture and it will bring you to a new page. Copy the url of that page and paste it here. Also remember the ____

Ok. I didn't think I had to go through a website but that makes sense now with the html thing. Many thanks.

More info has been found regarding the secret Hines north tower (block 69).

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1237377429/gallery_723_64_99325.jpg

Here's the rendering that was posted on an achitect's website but was later taken off, fortunaetly Wattleigh on SSP, saved a copy of the rendering.

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/6964/renderingmg7.jpg

New detailed renderings of the 28-story residential tower for Regent Square. :D

West View
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/39874_7186769213RS-Condo-view-3-her.jpg

Southwest View
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/39874_7190241435RS-Condo_view2.jpg

Northwest View
http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/39874_719375706RS-Condo_view1.jpg

http://www.handelarchitects.com/mediatedsp...are_Houston.pdf


New York City-based Handel Architects LLP has revealed its design for a new 28-story residential tower in Houston, Texas. The Regent Square tower will include 150 condominiums, a 15,000-square-foot (1,400-square-meter) amenity deck, and 10,000 square feet (930 square meters) of indoor amenity areas. LEED certification is expected.

The design combines two distinctly different halves. The eastern half features floor-to-ceiling curtain wall with views of downtown Houston. The western half introduces double-height outdoor space to each unit with expansive views towards Memorial Park. Gary Handel, AIA, is serving as partner-in-charge. The building is part of a 15-acre (six-hectare) master plan for a pedestrian-oriented neighborhood. The developer is GID Urban Development Group.

http://www.architectureweek.com/cgi-bin/wl...4/news_1-1.html (http://www.architectureweek.com/cgi-bin/wllk?http://www.archweek.com/2009/0304/news_1-1.html)

Newest rendering of the Dynamo Stadium

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/dynamo-stadium-blimp.jpg

The Perennial- 2011
http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d38/Tigerdude07/ThePerennial.jpg?t=1242241703

Wow nice, I love that last building.

Seems like a fantasy. Where is it supposed to be?

Newest rendering of the Dynamo Stadium

http://i294.photobucket.com/albums/mm99/YahTrickYah57/dynamo-stadium-blimp.jpg

its getting better

Seems like a fantasy. Where is it supposed to be?

Its not, it will be located on the former compass bank site in The Galleria. Its by Redstone Companies, if you enter the domain 'www.theperennial.com' you'll be redirected to the Redstone Company Website. More info here..

http://swamplot.com/


its getting better

Yup. :cheers:

New Rendering of the Houston Intermodel Transit Terminal
http://files.cosential.com/FirmFiles/8/images/46009_gardenviewLG.jpg

http://www.eekarchitects.com/portfolio_projects.cfm?ProjectID=127610

^^ what's that classy building in the background?

The proposed Terminal Station

will that make Houston's light rail better? Its kind of sucks now.

will that make Houston's light rail better? Its kind of sucks now.

Yes. 4 rail lines are currently approved, 2 of those are already u/c. All should be complete by 2012. Houston light rail will always suck. No underground or Elevated rail lines. :ohno:

[COLOR="Indigo"]
Its not, it will be located on the former compass bank site in The Galleria. Its by Redstone Companies, if you enter the domain 'www.theperennial.com' you'll be redirected to the Redstone Company Website. More info here..


Wow. On post oak? That will be something having the perennial close to BLVD Place.

And we have to be optimistic about public transportation (light rail) in Houston. There are copious amounts of people who don't see the benefits and that is where there are conflicts. But in the future, hopefully, it will have sparked some form of urbanism... (optimism)

Something has to be said for Houston starting right up with light rail rather than just a beginner downtown streetcar or commuter rail line..typically with light rail, the more comprehensive the system, the more ridership each segment gets.

Downtown Embassy Suites hotel starts construction

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2009/05/18/daily34.html

American Liberty Hospitality has begun construction on the first privately-developed, full-service hotel to be built in downtown Houston in 27 years.

The Embassy Suites hotel, with 262 two-room suites, will be located at 1515 Dallas, near the George R. Brown Convention Center and Discovery Green Park.

Construction is expected to be completed in spring 2011 on Embassy Suites, which is part of the Hilton family of brands. The hotel will have about 6,000 square feet of meeting space, a rooftop swimming pool, spa and fitness center, restaurant and a street-level café and wine bar.

Nick Massad, president of American Liberty Hospitality, says the project will help attract more convention business to town which, in turn, will be a boost for all downtown hotels.

Mayor Bill White and officials from the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau are scheduled to attend a ceremonial ground-breaking event May 26 at the site.

GBI International Injected a New Stimulus to Further Prop Out Houston Asian Town

http://www.zzi.net/news/20081112000557.shtml

Stimulating Local Projects

When some investors are lingering on the sideline to be spooked when confirmation of economic weakness materialized, GBI envisioned a new stimulating project, including commercial, residency, and warehouse buildings.

The Twin Towers, two 12-story buildings consisting of approximately 250 four-start luxury condo rooms, 192,000 square feet professional office space, 40,000 square foot conference center, and a 10,000 square foot international bank, is estimated $92.5 million.

Central Park, an approximate $350 million project, gauges 476,000 square feet of commercial space and seven high-rise condo buildings with 812 residential condo units.

The Twin Tower and Central Park, both located in Asian Town/Houston, touted the prospect not just as Houston's conquest on business diversity but as an ideological turning point, one could embrace commercial bank, professional office space, and resident condominium, likening the conventional segregation between commercial and residency sites.

Foreign Trade Zone, approximated $213 million which GBI acquired 340 acres in Fort Bend County to be developed, has approximately 7.5 million square feet of office warehouse buildings.

Residential projects, New Horizon Villas, Villas at Ashford Point, and Fondren Gardens, comprehend the spectrum from high-end to lower middle income families, which has a $41.3 million value.

GBI's 6 local projects with launching $700 million pave the way to resurge Houston's booming economy by bringing more business and job opportunities. They also target to make Asian Town to be another hot tourist spot in Houston.


...and the Presentation...

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/Z_T/20081108-gbi01.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/Z_T/20081108-gbi02.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/Z_T/20081108-gbi03.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/Z_T/20081108-gbi04.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/Z_T/20081108-gbi05.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/Z_T/20081108-gbi06.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/Z_T/20081108-gbi07.jpg

http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/Z_T/20081108-gbi08.jpg

[b][size=3]
http://i609.photobucket.com/albums/tt171/Z_T/20081108-gbi05.jpg


Put the developments inside the Beltway and close together! :ohno:

The new building in the TMC lights up at night! :banana:
http://www.instacam.com/instacamimg/khout/khout_l.jpg

Sorry, these pictures are way overdue. I took them about 3 months ago and never posted them.

http://img190.imageshack.us/img190/2668/img1246.jpg
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/3584/img1248t.jpg
http://img16.imageshack.us/img16/9956/img1249v.jpg
http://img30.imageshack.us/img30/3385/img1252y.jpg
http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/210/img1255g.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/268/img1269l.jpg
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/7531/img1286f.jpg

I came across this site in a google search for more info regarding the New Caney Dino Park. A few things...

1. To the person who posted the pics of The Woodlands... you should come back and take some more. Town Center has exploded with shops, bars, and hotels. Avia on Market Street is close to completion, and all along the waterway there are beautiful new structures being built including a new luxury apartment complex... millenium something... In fact, there are now constructing a FOURTH parking garage to accomodate all the traffic, and this one is taller than all the others. Hubbel and Hudson has also opened a store on the waterway complete with a cafe. There is also a new wine bar with patio views of the waterway (which is manmade), and the dancing fountains. Tons of new construction going on up here in The Woodlands.

2. Dino Park is now scheduled to begin infrastructure construction in December 2010.

3. I love all the photo's you guys post!

That's all for now :)

Just posting some TMC Activity, all picture taken from HAIF, not mine!

MD Anderson Admin. Support Building
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/MD3.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/MD1.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/MD2.jpg

TCH Maternity Center

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/TCH2.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/TCH1.jpg

TCH Neurological Institute

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/TXCH1.jpg

Also, a pic provided by Jax, in HAIF of Discovery/Hess Tower and MainPlace.
http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/index.php?showtopic=11978&st=950&gopid=349942&#entry349942

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/3-4.jpg

i love seeing new scrapers going up downtown.

Nov. 21, 2004, 12:16AM

River runs through Montrose
New high-rise will be called the Riparian, but where's the water?
By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

It looks like the owner of the River Cafe has a lofty new plan for his Montrose restaurant.
A visit to the 18-year-old cafe reveals a sign on the door that reads: "Coming Soon: The Riparian, a 13-story high-rise featuring an upscale restaurant."

Just behind the sign is a poster-sized rendering of the proposed Riparian.

Riparian?

Riparian, according to Webster's New World College Dictionary, means "of, adjacent to, or living on, the bank of a river or, sometimes, of a lake, pond, etc."

Owner Mark Stauffer could not be reached, and no other details were available — like the location of this said river.

Located at 3615 Montrose between Westheimer and West Alabama, the River Cafe has been a neighborhood institution for almost two decades. Its walls have featured work from local artists, and its outdoor patio was always prime for people watching.


this was an ignorent article. where's the water? not a very good reporter if she couldnt figure out the where talking about the river cafe instead of a actual river.

whats up with this? this looks nice!

More info has been found regarding the secret Hines north tower (block 69).



Here's the rendering that was posted on an achitect's website but was later taken off, fortunaetly Wattleigh on SSP, saved a copy of the rendering.

http://img76.imageshack.us/img76/6964/renderingmg7.jpg

this was an ignorent article. where's the water? not a very good reporter if she couldnt figure out the where talking about the river cafe instead of a actual river.

This development is dead.

whats up with this? this looks nice!

Don't know, last thing was heard about it was something about building a tower and parking garage on the same block. That was from April.

By Photolitherland on SSP
http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=114123&page=135

Lets start with Downtown....
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/OV1.jpg

MainPlace...
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/2-5.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/1-13.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/3-6.jpg

Hess Tower
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/DT1-1.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/DT2-1.jpg

Embassy Suites
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/4-5.jpg

Smaller developments, New YMCA and Ballet Bldng.
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/YMCA.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/HoustonBalletCenterforDance-2009122.jpg
http://www.oxblue.com/pro/open/houstonballet/centerfordance


TMC Action.....

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/TMC1.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/TMC2.jpg

http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/TMC3.jpg

nice pics. hess and main place almost look done.

Yes. 4 rail lines are currently approved, 2 of those are already u/c. All should be complete by 2012. Houston light rail will always suck. No underground or Elevated rail lines. :ohno:

Light Rail does not need to be underground or elevated to be successful.

Light Rail does not need to be underground or elevated to be successful.

well no, but an elevated system in houston would be more effecient considering the high volume of commuters in they city.

BP Building, Energy Corridor
http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/642/122809119.jpg
UrbaNerd

West Ave, Kirby at Westheimer
http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l151/ricco67/P1000307.jpg
ricco67

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/8135/1228091825926072.jpg

http://img109.imageshack.us/img109/790/1228091805940666.jpg

http://img97.imageshack.us/img97/6549/1228091916027068.jpg

http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/9296/1228091745793378.jpg
UrbaNerd

Embassy Suites, Downtown
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/EmbassySuitesHotelCBD-20100113-1701.jpg

Houston Ballet Building, Downtown
http://i324.photobucket.com/albums/k353/northbayoukid/Going%20Up/HoustonBalletCenterforDance-2010011.jpg

I love that new little BP building. Thay have such an nice little business park there.

Epicentre Houston proposal for the Astroworld site:

http://www.urbanicagroup.com/img/0/3/01BqXq5am.jpg

http://www.urbanicagroup.com/home/home?id=392

^^
LOOKS AWESOME!

Looks like Epicentre is on hold.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/7037724.html

REAL ESTATE
Watching the grass grow at the AstroWorld site
By NANCY SARNOFF Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
June 5, 2010, 12:24AM
Share Del.icio.usDiggTwitterYahoo! BuzzFacebookStumbleUponEmail Close [X]It's been about five years since the rides at AstroWorld were dismantled and the 104 acres that housed the amusement park were left barren. Now it could be another five years until something is built on the property.

The parcel sold at the end of last month to a Fort Worth investment partnership, and the new owner has no plans to develop the land.

“We intend to hold it for wealth preservation and appreciation,” said Michael Mallick of the Mallick Group. “We're probably looking at a five- to seven-year horizon.”

Neither the buyer nor seller would disclose the purchase price.

A partnership led by the Mallick Group acquired the South Loop site from Conroe-based Angel-McIver Interests, which had owned it since 2006. The company bought it from Six Flags for $77 million before the real estate market tanked.

The old AstroWorld property sits across Loop 610 from Reliant Park and near a light rail stop.

It's Mallick's first major investment in Houston. The boutique real estate firm developed the Horseshoe Bay Resort Marriott in the Hill Country and has been involved in public/private inner-city redevelopments in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.

“We feel like Houston is probably one of the stronger economies in Texas right now,” Mallick said.

The calls he's received since buying the property are proof that others agree.

It leaves open the chance that something could happen to the property sooner rather than later.

“Given the tidal wave of phone calls I've received since we purchased it, I really don't know at this point,” Mallick said. “There's a huge amount of interest in the entire tract and portions of the tract.”

The story in Texas
Texas should be one of the states that leads the way in the national housing recovery.

Home prices here didn't experience extreme highs and lows. Housing and lot inventory have remained relatively stable. And state employment has fared better than other areas, housing analyst Mike Inselmann said at last week's National Association of Real Estate Editors conference in Austin.

“In terms of activity, we are the most active state,” the president of housing research firm Metrostudy said.

Prices in some of the most volatile housing markets, such as Riverside, Calif., and Las Vegas, increased as much as 40 percent during the boom, only to see those gains be reversed later.

The markets in Houston and Dallas/Fort Worth never got as high as 10 percent.

Demand has been strengthened by population growth, too. The Houston and Dallas metro areas grew by more than 140,000 people over the last two years, far more than other big cities.

Inselmann said the “unindicted co-conspirators” in the housing crisis were a “witches brew” of strong local economies in markets with strict growth limitations, making it hard for builders to add new housing stock.

When demand in those markets increased, prices rose and housing became unaffordable for a lot of folks.

Enter subprime lending. That just fueled the flames that had already sparked, Inselmann said.

Texas had subprime lending, too. We just didn't need it as much.

Here, builders were able to keep up with demand, and home prices remained under control.

High apartment demand
Nationwide, demand for apartments was “shockingly strong” in the first quarter, according to Greg Willett of MPF Research.

Absorption, the change in occupied units, totaled 130,000 units during the first three months of the year in both new and older properties, Willett said at the Austin conference.

That's especially high, considering the market was 170,000 units in the red during 2008, a year of heavy job losses.

Houston-area absorption totaled just 1,400 units during the first quarter, and occupancy in this market fell to 87.3 percent, the lowest of all 64 metro areas in MPF's data. The occupancy rate was down 3 percent from the year earlier quarter.

“What you see in Houston that you don't see in other markets is there's still a lot of new product coming on,” Willett said.

Occupancy nationwide was about 93 percent.


Personally I think this is great. That site has too much potential to just become some giant office park.

^^

Sounds like Epicentre is actually gone with the old owners of the site. I wonder if the new owners are going to develop a site plan and just parcel it out or develop the thing themselves. Sounds like they will parcel it out, if they are so worried about "capital preservation". This has to be one of the hottest properties in the US right now.

Personaly if I was going to develop the site I would have something similar to the Stapleton or Mueller redevelopment since the only thing that is lacking along that corridor is a residential componant. Plus easy access to the medical center.

Looks like West Avenue is taking off.



http://http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/5448931.html

West Ave could grow
Upper Kirby retail, residential development to open in 2009
By NANCY SARNOFF Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Jan. 12, 2008, 12:42AM
.
STEVE CAMPBELL CHRONICLE
The West Ave development at Kirby and Westheimer could end up even larger than originally planned.

Share Del.icio.usDiggTwitterYahoo! BuzzFacebookStumbleUponEmail Close [X]The West Ave development that's going up on five acres at the southwest corner of Kirby and Westheimer will have 180,000 square feet of retail space and 380 apartments when it opens in 2009.

But future phases are being pondered that would expand the project significantly.

The developers are looking at nearby tracts for what could lead to a hotel, office space, condo tower and more shopping space.

West Ave is well under way, and the developers project an August 2009 opening.

The complex will have five stories of apartments atop two levels of retail space and a small section of office space, where one of the developers, Urban Partners of Dallas, will have offices.

On a recent tour of the property, president Robert Bagwell wouldn't get specific about the tenants but said he has 18 signed commitments — representing about 30 percent of the retail space — that are in the process of being converted to leases.

He said West Ave will have an "organic" feel with primarily local and regional tenants, including clothing stores and restaurants.

"We're not trying to do a Rodeo Drive," Bagwell said.

Restaurants will take up about 45,000 square feet of the retail space.

The apartments will average more than 1,000 square feet and rent will go for about $1.75 per square foot.

Retail rents are in the $40 to $50 range.

Urban Partners is owned by Atlanta-based apartment developer Gables Residential, but operates independently. West Ave is being developed by both companies.


A downtown lease?
Developers of at least three new office towers planned for downtown said they'd start construction even if they hadn't leased any space first.

But one may have a leg up on its competition.

Industry sources said accounting firm KPMG is negotiating a lease for space in MainPlace, the 1 million-square-foot tower that Hines is building at the corner of Main and Walker.

Sources reported differing amounts of space the company would occupy: more than 100,000 square feet and 200,000 to 250,000 square feet. The sources didn't want their names used because the deal hasn't been announced.

KPMG is currently in Bank of America Center.

Hines wouldn't comment, and a KPMG spokeswoman said the company didn't have "anything to announce at this time regarding real estate in Houston."


Wave of development
A wave of development in the Houston area is being fueled by a shrinking amount of office space.

Top-class building vacancies were under 7 percent citywide in the fourth quarter, according to a CB Richard Ellis report.

More than 5 million square feet of space is under construction.

The dominant energy industry has been the source of much of this demand.

Rents for the best buildings have increased 23 percent to $29.54 per square foot, the report said.

Trammell Crow Co. and Crescent also have announced new buildings downtown and are expected to start construction soon.


Hotel growth
The Ritz-Carlton is close to sealing a deal to operate a hotel in BLVD Place, according to a source familiar with the situation.

Wulfe & Co. is developing the 21-acre mixed-use project, planned for the corner of Post Oak Boulevard and San Felipe.

Developer Ed Wulfe wouldn't comment, and a representative of Ritz-Carlton, a division of Marriott International, could not be reached.

The deal would be a return to the market for the luxury hotelier.

The St. Regis on Briar Oaks Lane near San Felipe was a Ritz-Carlton before the hostelry terminated its contract in the late 1990s because of financial and management disputes with the property owner.

Several years later, downtown's historic Texaco building was considered for a Ritz, but it never happened.

If the deal gets signed, the property is likely to include condos.

Luxury hoteliers have been putting residential units in their properties to help subsidize the cost of building their high-end projects.

"The way they make numbers work is to build condos in conjunction," said hotel consultant John Keeling of PKF.

The Ritz-Carlton would compete with other Galleria-area hotels, such as the St. Regis, the Houstonian, the Westin and the Omni.

In a recent industry newsletter, hospitality consulting firm HVS said two more are planned for this part of town — a 200-unit Le Meridien and a 250-unit
W Hotel.

The report said they would be in a new mixed-use development "just blocks from the Galleria."

Jenni Benzaquen, senior director of public relations for Starwood's Luxury Brands Group, which includes
W Hotels, said Houston is a "market of interest," but that the company has "no formal plans" to open here.

Le Meridien could not be reached.

Keeling said a half-dozen hotels are planned between the Galleria, River Oaks and downtown, but they won't all be built.

"There will be fallout," he said. "The ones built first are the ones that win."

Chronicle reporter David Kaplan contributed to this story.

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

Personaly if I was going to develop the site I would have something similar to the Stapleton or Mueller redevelopment since the only thing that is lacking along that corridor is a residential componant. Plus easy access to the medical center.

The same people doing Stapleton, Forest City Covington, are doing a 100,000 resident community in the south part of Albuquerque at Mesa Del Sol. They are a total class act and provided the financing is there, they deliver the goods. I wonder if the stadiums were a factor in the choice of office development?

How is Regent Square doing? Any known tenants?

They don't have any tenants listed on their website.

What you're seeing here, between the West Avenue project and the Epicenter project is that good projects are still getting off the ground. It's just that bad projects are dead in their tracks.

I will say I never really "saw" the potential in the Six Flags site. It was a good location for Six Flags, now it no longer has that. But that's living in the past I guess. Houston has numerous far better sites for major redevelopment.

^ The BP Building and the admiring comment up at the top of this page is rather ironic now, lol.

^ The BP Building and the admiring comment up at the top of this page is rather ironic now, lol.

Yes! It is very ironic. I was thinking the exact same thing. My brother used to work for a design company that always took him there to shoot corporate videos for BP, so I know that building and the whole center pretty well. The funny thing is, it's supposedly one of the most energy efficient buildings. It's gorgeous inside, as well as the surrounding areas. Too bad that that "energy efficiency" doesn't make up for the disaster.

Haver you heard of anything news about the Astroworld lot? I'm really hoping on Astrodome Studios. That would be great.

Ah excellent lads!

Looks like Bayou Place now has a vacant tenant now that the Angelika Theater is closed.


Popular downtown theater closes suddenly
Christine Dobbyn
Monday, August 30, 2010

http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=news/local&id=7635355

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Houston's Angelika Theater is suddenly closed Sunday, leaving fans stunned and saddened.

Many people were caught off guard Sunday by the closure. One woman had even driven 90 miles only to find the doors locked. It was a sign that ruined a lot of Sunday afternoon plans.

"I'm just stunned," said one person we spoke with Sunday.

"Very shocked," added Angelika fan Kimberly Garcia. "It had always been here since we can remember."

Karen Dailey drove from Beaumont through a traffic accident detour while her husband kept her newborn at home.

"This was my first time out of the house without my baby in four months and this was gonna be my treat and I guess I'll turn around and go home," she said. "I am very sad."

The closure was so fresh on the inside that flowers remained in the ticket booth. On the outside were wilted faces and looks of confusion all day. The Angelika has been a popular spot for specialty, foreign and independent film fans.

"It's horrible news because this is a place they show independent movies and it's unlike any other film house," said Angelika Fan Leo Grove.

"There's definitely the consumer base here," said Angelika Fan Olga Pena. "There's more people we know when they find out will be crushed."

The sign says, "After 13 years of service to the Houston community, the Angelika's lease has been terminated by its landlord."

Angelika fans hope it's not too late for a sequel.

"Houston can't do without it," said Angelika fan Melissa Moore. "We need it."

Angelika management says it will explore alternative cinema locations in the Houston market.

On Monday, Bayou Place released the following statement:

"The Angelika Film Center had a terrific run at Bayou Place over the past 13 years. We had hoped that they would stay longer but unfortunately, after saying they would commit, Angelika changed its mind. It is amazing to think how far downtown Houston has evolved since Bayou Place first opened and helped spark the rebirth of downtown. Bayou Place is extremely proud to have a played a leadership role in the renaissance of downtown and looks forward to being a part of the community for years and years to come. We will be upgrading Angelika with an operator of the highest quality and we will be making the announcement shortly.

- Gary Rhodes, General Manager, Bayou Place

Thanks to the Federal Goverment, it seems like funding has been jeopardized for light rail expansion.

Rough road ahead as feds deal blow to Metro rail line
By MIKE SNYDER and BRADLEY OLSON
Copyright 2010 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 8, 2010, 7:39PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7191292.html

Mayor Annise Parker and her new Metro leadership team prepared Wednesday to confront the daunting financial, legal and logistical challenges posed by a federal finding that the agency's rail car procurement violated federal laws.

"There's a path forward" to salvage Metro's light rail expansion plans, Parker said. "It's very rocky, it's steep, but we at the new Metro can get it done."

Earlier Wednesday, Peter Rogoff, the administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, hand-delivered a letter stating that to qualify for federal funds, the Metropolitan Transit Authority must cancel its contracts to buy 105 rail cars from a Spanish company and rebid the purchase.

A four-month investigation, Rogoff wrote, found that Metro's previous leaders had violated federal procurement law and "Buy America" rules intended to preserve American jobs.

Design cash still available
A Sept. 3 memorandum prepared by FTA lawyers states that Metro negotiated with the winning bidder, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, or CAF, "to the exclusion of all other bidders."

In addition, Metro permitted CAF, but not the other bidders, to continue to revise its price, the memo states.

"The results of the investigation are both alarming and disturbing," Rogoff wrote.

Metro executed two contracts with CAF in 2009. The agency has paid the Spanish company about $40 million, said George Greanias, Metro's acting president and chief executive officer.

Greanias said the prospects of recovering the money already spent on the contract were uncertain.

Because the FTA believes the two federally funded expansion projects now under way have merit, Rogoff wrote, the agency will assist Metro in continuing construction. He said $50 million in federal money was available for engineering and design work on the North and Southeast rail lines.

Biggest grant uncertain
But the status of the largest batch of federal funds, a $900 million grant, remains uncertain. If Metro submits a sound plan for procuring rail cars, Rogoff wrote, the FTA will resume its analysis and discussions of that grant.

Greanias said he still believes Metro can meet its schedule of building the North, Southeast, East and University lines by Oct. 31, 2013. The Uptown line, serving the Galleria area, is in an earlier stage of development, he said.

Bill King, a prominent critic of Metro's rail plans who has studied the agency's finances, scoffed at Greanias' assertion.

"It's a complete fantasy," King said. "They've got to start all over with that process."

City Councilman Clarence Bradford, who sits on council's Transportation, Infrastructure and Aviation Committee, said the FTA's decision and the delays it caused have made him "seriously concerned about Metro's financial stability."

He questioned whether Metro has the money to complete its rail plans.

Rebidding the rail car purchase could take as long as 20 months, Greanias said. He said it was uncertain whether CAF would be permitted to submit a new proposal.

Representatives of CAF and the four other companies that bid on the Metro contract could not be reached Wednesday.

Wolff raps losing bidders
Parker, whose criticism of Metro was a major theme of her campaign last fall, placed the blame for the FTA findings squarely on Metro's previous leaders installed by her predecessor, Bill White.

"Today's decision by the FTA confirms my instincts that there were serious problems at Metro and affirms my decision to replace the majority of the Metro board and to ask them to bring in new leadership to run the organization," the mayor said.

David Wolff, who was Metro's board chairman at the time the agency struck the rail car deal, said the procurement process reflected innovative thinking on the part of former CEO Frank Wilson.

Wilson wanted the vendor to assemble two prototype cars to ensure proper assembly of the remaining 103 cars in the United States, Wolff said.

Wolff attributed the FTA's decision to the lobbying efforts of contractors whose bids, which Wolff characterized as more expensive, were not accepted. And he said Parker's administration shared in the blame.

"It's unfortunate that the mayor's people couldn't handle this Buy America issue more productively," Wolff said.

He said it was a mistake for Metro in May to have sent a response to the FTA quoting the voice mail of a senior FTA official who said the agency believed the procurement was proper.

While acknowledging that the FTA had delivered a tough report, Parker said Metro's relationship with the federal agency had improved dramatically.

This will help Metro comply with the FTA's requirements as quickly as possible, she said.

Recalling her campaign pledge to "clean house" at Metro, Parker said, "When you clean house, you end up with a pile of debris in the middle of the floor, and the FTA has gone through that pile of debris, and there were some problems there."

Metro: 2013 rail-line completion 'not feasible'

Metro: 2013 rail-line completion 'not feasible'
By MIKE SNYDER and BRADLEY OLSON
Copyright 2010 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 9, 2010, 12:14PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7191292.html

The Metropolitan Transit Authority today retracted its acting president’s statement that the agency could complete construction of three rail lines by October 2013, saying a delay of up to a year is expected.

“Following additional consultation with project managers, it is now clear that meeting the October 2013 completion date is not feasible,” Metro said in a statement.

George Greanias, Metro’s acting president and CEO, had said Wednesday that he was sticking to Metro’s original schedule calling for completion of the lines by that date.

On Wednesday, Mayor Annise Parker and her new Metro leadership prepared to confront the daunting financial, legal and logistical challenges posed by a federal finding that the agency's rail car procurement violated federal laws.

"There's a path forward" to salvage Metro's light rail expansion plans, Parker said. "It's very rocky, it's steep, but we at the new Metro can get it done."

Earlier Wednesday, Peter Rogoff, the administrator of the Federal Transit Administration, hand-delivered a letter stating that to qualify for federal funds, the Metropolitan Transit Authority must cancel its contracts to buy 105 rail cars from a Spanish company and rebid the purchase.

A four-month investigation, Rogoff wrote, found that Metro's previous leaders had violated federal procurement law and "Buy America" rules intended to preserve American jobs.

Design cash still available
A Sept. 3 memorandum prepared by FTA lawyers states that Metro negotiated with the winning bidder, Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles, or CAF, "to the exclusion of all other bidders."

In addition, Metro permitted CAF, but not the other bidders, to continue to revise its price, the memo states.

"The results of the investigation are both alarming and disturbing," Rogoff wrote.

Metro executed two contracts with CAF in 2009. The agency has paid the Spanish company about $40 million, said George Greanias, Metro's acting president and chief executive officer.

Greanias said the prospects of recovering the money already spent on the contract were uncertain.

Because the FTA believes the two federally funded expansion projects now under way have merit, Rogoff wrote, the agency will assist Metro in continuing construction. He said $50 million in federal money was available for engineering and design work on the North and Southeast rail lines.

Biggest grant uncertain
But the status of the largest batch of federal funds, a $900 million grant, remains uncertain. If Metro submits a sound plan for procuring rail cars, Rogoff wrote, the FTA will resume its analysis and discussions of that grant.

Bill King, a prominent critic of Metro's rail plans who has studied the agency's finances, scoffed at Greanias' assertion.

"It's a complete fantasy," King said. "They've got to start all over with that process."

City Councilman Clarence Bradford, who sits on council's Transportation, Infrastructure and Aviation Committee, said the FTA's decision and the delays it caused have made him "seriously concerned about Metro's financial stability."

He questioned whether Metro has the money to complete its rail plans.

Rebidding the rail car purchase could take as long as 20 months, Greanias said. He said it was uncertain whether CAF would be permitted to submit a new proposal.

Representatives of CAF and the four other companies that bid on the Metro contract could not be reached Wednesday.

Wolff raps losing bidders
Parker, whose criticism of Metro was a major theme of her campaign last fall, placed the blame for the FTA findings squarely on Metro's previous leaders installed by her predecessor, Bill White.

"Today's decision by the FTA confirms my instincts that there were serious problems at Metro and affirms my decision to replace the majority of the Metro board and to ask them to bring in new leadership to run the organization," the mayor said.

David Wolff, who was Metro's board chairman at the time the agency struck the rail car deal, said the procurement process reflected innovative thinking on the part of former CEO Frank Wilson.

Wilson wanted the vendor to assemble two prototype cars to ensure proper assembly of the remaining 103 cars in the United States, Wolff said.

Wolff attributed the FTA's decision to the lobbying efforts of contractors whose bids, which Wolff characterized as more expensive, were not accepted. And he said Parker's administration shared in the blame.

"It's unfortunate that the mayor's people couldn't handle this Buy America issue more productively," Wolff said.

He said it was a mistake for Metro in May to have sent a response to the FTA quoting the voice mail of a senior FTA official who said the agency believed the procurement was proper.

While acknowledging that the FTA had delivered a tough report, Parker said Metro's relationship with the federal agency had improved dramatically.

This will help Metro comply with the FTA's requirements as quickly as possible, she said.

Recalling her campaign pledge to "clean house" at Metro, Parker said, "When you clean house, you end up with a pile of debris in the middle of the floor, and the FTA has gone through that pile of debris, and there were some problems there."

Americas Plaza

News on development near East Downtown where the soccer stadium will be.

Now Alan is master planning 10 acres in the East End in a project called Americas Plaza.

Alan is also redeveloping Two Americas Plaza, a 29k SF former warehouse, into retail space. Shell conversion and infrastructure work is mostly done, and Canal Street Gallery, Trentino Gelato, and Mallie's Bakery occupy the building, but 25k SF is still available. He thinks this project is particularly important because 900 new residents have moved into the two-block area in recent years, but no new retail has been built to keep up. Alan handled the “recycling” first—the rest of the master plan is primarily residential space and will be new construction on vacant land. There will also be a park with underground parking and a mini amphitheater oriented toward the downtown skyline. Alan is open to selling land or partnering with developers to build apartments consistent with his master plan.

Alan says his development is a slow, incremental process, but one crucial to making sure the amenities keep up with the increase in density.

http://www.studioredarchitects.com/theme/images/portfolio/americas-plaza/Americas%20Plaza%20Studio%20Red%20Aerial.jpg

http://www.studioredarchitects.com/theme/images/portfolio/americas-plaza/Americas%20Plaza%20Studio%20Red%20Plan.jpg

New offices planned in Citycentre.

New offices planned for west Houston
http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/2010/09/new_offices_planned_for_west_h_1.html

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/CityCentre1.JPG
CityCentre, the $500 million mixed-use development at the site of the old Town & Country Mall.

The developer of CityCentre has announced plans for two new office buildings at the west Houston mixed-use complex tucked into the southeast corner of I-10 and the Beltway.

Midway Cos. said it's close to reaching 100 percent occupancy in the project's two existing office buildings and apparently there's demand for more.

The new addition will be two six-story towers with a total of 250,000 square feet, including 33,168 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Construction will start next year on the buildings, which will cover 1.6 acres on the western edge of the project fronting the Sam Houston Parkway.

The current downtown post office property might go on the market as the USPS consolidates it's Houston operations.

Downtown post office's fate may be sealed soon
Property to go on market if decision made to consolidate operations
By NANCY SARNOFF Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 2, 2010, 12:41AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/7228347.html


The future of the downtown post office — at least whether it will be sold - could be decided this week.

The U.S. Postal Service is supposed to determine if it wants to consolidate the downtown operations to a facility in north Houston. If the answer is yes, the property will go on the market, according to spokeswoman Dionne Montague.

The 516,978-square-foot operation processes all incoming and outgoing mail for Houston. The north Houston facility on Aldine Bender would be expanded if the consolidation were to take place.

The decision has been a long time coming. The downtown property at 401 Franklin went up for sale in early 2009 with the condition being that whoever bought the property would have to replace it elsewhere.

No qualified bidders came forward.

Then in April of this year, the Postal Service said it would study the option of consolidation and solicited a request for qualifications so those interested in the property could show they had the financial wherewithal to purchase it.

The sale would clear the way for a large-scale redevelopment of the site, which comprises 16 acres.

In recent years, the property has been envisioned as a public park, outdoor amphitheater or a mixed-use development project with housing, a hotel and entertainment venues.

Landry's is now proposing to replace the Flagship Hotel in Galveston with an Amusement Park.


Owner to demolish Flagship Hotel
By HARVEY RICE
Copyright 2010 HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 6, 2010, 11:23AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/travel/news/7233944.html

GALVESTON — The Flagship Hotel, one of the few hotels built on a pier over the ocean, will be torn down and an amusement park built in its place if the Galveston City Council approves, city officials said today.

The Galveston Planning Commission unanimously gave its permission Tuesday for the restaurant chain to build an amusement park on the pier that will be called the "Pleasure Pier," according to city spokeswoman Alicia Cahill and a staff report.

The staff report says the hotel, badly damaged by Hurricane Ike in September 2008, will be torn down.

Landry's last year submitted plans to the Planning Commission for repairing the hotel and building an amusement park on the pier, but the plans approved Tuesday envision a larger amusement park without the hotel, according to the staff report.

Landry's officials were not immediately available for comment.

The original application called for a 110-foot high amusement ride, but the new application asks permission for a 225-foot ride. The application does not state whether it's a ferris wheel, roller coaster or other ride.

The pier was built in the 1940s as a ballroom, outdoor theater, snack bar and fishing pier. The Flagship Hotel was built in 1965 through leases with the then-city-owned pier and was eventually purchased by Landry's.

The pleasure pier proposal is scheduled to go before City Council Oct. 28.

Springwoods Village a major mixed-use community where residents would be able to walk to a town center with shops, offices and other public amenities is set to break ground just south of The Woodlands in early 2011.

Developer betting on N. Harris' future
1,800-acre community will take root next to The Woodlands
By NANCY SARNOFF HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 6, 2010, 11:36AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7234185.html

A major mixed-use community where residents would be able to walk to a town center with shops, offices and other public amenities is set to break ground just south of The Woodlands in early 2011.

The new community, called Springwoods Village, will encompass 1,800 acres in north Harris County at the crossroads of Interstate 45 and the Hardy Toll Road, according to Coventry Development Corp., which announced the project Tuesday.

David Jarvis, Houston director of residential consulting firm Metrostudy, said the project is one of the largest and most ambitious announced in recent history.

"This is evidence that the community is bullish on our local economy and housing demand," he said.

The developer aims to build a project where residents can live close to their jobs, cutting down on highway commutes.

Plans for Springwoods Village were shaped in part by The Woodlands, the 28,000-acre master-planned development to its north with community parks and a large commercial component comprising shopping centers and office buildings.

"The way it was planned with an eye toward the environment is a model we used," said Keith Simon, senior vice president of Coventry Development Corp. "The scale is completely different, but the concepts are very similar."

The announcement comes at a time when the economy and local housing market still remain weak.

While home sales have been down from year-earlier levels, observers expect the market to have turned by the time builders are selling homes in Springwoods Village.

"In the next two or three years the Houston housing market will definitely be better than it is today, barring any major event," said research economist James Gaines at the Texas A&M Real Estate Center. "At this point, (it's) hard to figure out how much better."

Costs cheaper now
Coventry's Simon said by the time the streets and drainage systems are developed, the real estate market is likely to have improved. And starting the project now lets the developer to take advantage of cheaper construction costs.

He's also betting on growth from the proposed segment of the Grand Parkway that's expected to run through the southern portion of Springwoods Village.

A boost from Exxon?
A nearby tract owned by Exxon Mobil Corp. potentially could provide a boost to housing demand in Springwoods Village.

Earlier this year, the oil giant said it was conducting a study of its U.S. real estate that could result in the potential use of its land for consolidated office space, but that nothing would be decided until the space study was completed in 2011.

Exxon Mobil spokesman Alan Jeffers would not provide the exact location or size of the site, but said the study's timetable still applies.

"We're continuing with the office requirement study and will continue into next year before any decisions are made," Jeffers said Tuesday.

The Springwoods Village property is bounded by Interstate 45 on the east, Spring Stuebner Road on the south and Spring Creek to the north.

Lots of greenspace
More than 20 percent of the project will be developed with parks and other green space, including a nature preserve.

When it's completely built out — which could take 20 years - Springwoods Village is slated to include as many as 5,000 housing units, including single-family homes, apartments and townhomes, about 8.5 million square feet of commercial office space, more than 1 million square feet of retail space and up to 600 hotel rooms.

It also will have public facilities, like an elementary school, police and fire station and possibly a library.

The majority of the community is in the Spring Independent School District, but about a quarter of it on the western edge is in Klein's school district.

Some $100 million in infrastructure work will begin in the second quarter of 2011 around the time the developer will start marketing parcels of land to builders.

Coventry also may develop some of the commercial space itself. The developer's affiliates also own approximately 1,000 acres near Baybrook Mall and several retail centers, as well as 10 acres south of the Texas Medical Center.

The Springwoods Village site is owned by an affiliate, as well.

The privately held firm has offices in Houston, Denver and New York City but doesn't have a formal corporate headquarters.

http://www.springwoodsvillage.com/images/small/100920_Context-Map.jpg

http://www.springwoodsvillage.com/images/large/100920_Springwoods%20Village%20Districts.jpg

http://www.springwoodsvillage.com/images/large/SW%20Nature%20Preserve%20context%20plan.jpg

Embry-Riddle is now looking at putting a branch if it's aviation school in Houston.

Aviation school looks at Houston
Embry-Riddle narrows its list to two cities
By JENALIA MORENO Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
Oct. 6, 2010, 9:50PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7235342.html

Houston is vying with a northern Illinois city for the home of the next aeronautical university campus, with its 60,000-square-foot academic center and a hangar.

Last month, the Daytona Beach, Fla.-based Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University announced plans to build its third residential campus. The prestigious university that teaches aviation and aerospace is deciding between the Ellington Airport area and Rockford, Ill., which is nearly 90 miles northwest of Chicago. It had considered other cities, including Los Angeles, before shortening its list.

"This is a university that would provide education in a specialized field that would bring even more prestige to Houston, which is why we hope to be their final choice," Mayor Annise Parker said.

Houston already has an established aviation and aeronautical industry, with NASA and three major airports, and officials hope that will help to attract the school. An incentives package to bring the university here is still being worked out by city leaders.

"It would definitely be a tremendous boost and a real benefit to having Embry- Riddle to be part of the aviation and aeronautics community in Houston," said Mario Diaz, aviation director for the Houston Airport System.

On Tuesday, University President John Johnson will tour the Ellington area and hear from community leaders about Houston's advantages.

"We are going to be extremely aggressive in pursuing this project," said Dan Seal, executive director of the Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership.

In Daytona Beach, the university teaches about 5,000 students. The university also runs a campus in Prescott, Ariz., where up to 1,700 students attend. It provides instruction through more than 130 campuses in the U.S., Europe, Canada and the Middle East, and offers online teaching. In Clear Lake, for example, it employs six full-time instructors. It also employs four full-time instructors in San Antonio.

"The big reason for this initiative is we've outgrown or are very close to outgrowing our two campuses," said Mark Friend, Embry-Riddle's dean of the central region, which is operated out of San Antonio. "In order to reach out more to the aerospace and aviation community, we have to look elsewhere."

Within five years, the new campus would teach 1,000 to 2,000 students, Friend said.

The campus would include a 5,000-square-foot hangar, big enough for 10 small aircraft, a 20,000-square-foot administration complex and student housing in addition to the 60,000 square feet of classrooms and labs.

The last time Houston went head to head with Illinois was in May, when then-Chicago-based United Airlines and Houston-based Continental Airlines announced they would merge. The new United is now based in Chicago.

With job cuts expected in the local airline industry as well as at NASA's Johnson Space Center, the new campus could attract more students who want to train for other aviation and aeronautical careers, Seal said.

http://www.bisnow.com/archives/houstonre/2010/Q3/images/fingercompanieswholefoods.jpg


http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=10181

Finger Cos. prez Marvy Finger tells us he’s looking at a 2011 multifamily groundbreaking on the site of the Whole Foods he’s developing at Waugh and W. Dallas. He bought the land from AIG three years ago and is vacillating on the design. He originally planned a traditional six-story, 420-unit project with courtyards. Now he’s doing preliminary drawings on a 28-story tower with the same finishes as his Museum Tower and One Park Place, but smaller units (1.1k SF compared to 1.6k and 1.4k, respectively).

In the image above, the multifamily project would sit on the green space along W. Dallas. The perks of a taller building: It’d be more attractive to young professionals, and Marvy says he’s found people feel safer in taller buildings. The high-rise, which would have 300 units, would also leave room to develop a sister tower on the site later.

http://assets.bizjournals.com/story_image/659291-300-0-1.jpg

Houston, T.X. – Skanska USA’s Commercial Development business unit today announced that it has acquired the site at 3009 Post Oak Boulevard in Houston for a planned Class A office building that will be 100 percent self-financed.

3009 Post Oak Blvd, located in the Uptown/Galleria submarket of Houston, is situated on 2.3 acres of land and will consist of an office building above the garage totaling 19 floors and 300,000 square feet of rentable office space. The new office building will feature a facade consisting of all glass curtainwall with floor plates that maximize efficiency. In addition, there will be an expansive double height ground floor lobby fronting Post Oak Boulevard adjacent to a circular autocourt. The building will also provide panoramic views of the Central Business District, Texas Medical Center and Greenway Plaza to the east with unobstructed views of the adjacent landmark Gerald D. Hines Water Wall Park directly to the west.

Construction work is scheduled to commence in early 2011 and the building is expected to be completed in 2012.

http://assets.bizjournals.com/story_image/659291-300-0-1.jpg

http://www.bisnow.com/archives/houstonre/2010/Q3/images/M59.JPG


http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=9684

Midway is also developing M Fifty Nine (rendered above), a Class A office building in the Museum District. It’ll be 13 floors with 74k SF of office space and 7k SF of ground-level retail. Once construction starts in 1Q11, look for it at the intersection of Montrose and 59 — it'll be easy to spot off the highway. The property is designed by Munoz Albin and will have great views of downtown; a GC hasn't been selected. Midway is working with Stream on preleasing and is ramping up the possibility of building another hotel in the Med Center

http://impactnews.com/northwest-houston/328-news/8428-city-plans-commuter-rail-tod
City plans commuter rail TODCity plans commuter rail TOD
By Patrick Brendel and Josef Molnar Friday, 21 May 2010

JERSEY VILLAGE — Revised from the printed edition. In anticipation that the city of Jersey Village could become a stop on a future commuter rail line to Houston, officials are considering investing $40 million to create a transit-oriented development on the south side of Hwy. 290 that could become the new city center and a regional hub.

Click for larger image
A rail district is currently studying the feasibility of a $348-million heavy commuter rail line connecting Hempstead to Houston on existing freight tracks along Hwy. 290, and Jersey Village is in the running for a rail station.

City Council should receive a full financial report from project consultants in June. Th e council should be prepared to make a decision in 2011 on whether or not to proceed with the plan, about the time the rail plan will be released, City Manager Mike Castro said.

Even if Jersey Village is not selected as a rail stop, however, officials are motivated to annex and zone the unincorporated area around Wright Road before the Jones Road extension is complete—and in preparation for the $4.6-billion Hwy. 290 program—to prevent the 297-acre tract from becoming just another swath of suburban sprawl.

"The potential of this project is enormous for [Jersey Village]," said Mayor Russell Hamley. “It could change the entire image of Jersey Village to that of a dynamic commercial, retail and transportation center."

Transit-oriented development
Transit-oriented development (TOD), as the name suggests, refers to commercial and residential districts built around mass transit stations or corridors and designed to encourage ridership on buses, trains, etc.

Typical TODs have high-density mixed-use buildings around a transit station, with lower-density spreading outward for one-quarter to one-half mile, which is the assumed maximum commute for most pedestrians. TODs also are designed to encourage cycling and walking, control the flow of automobile traffic and reduce the amount of land devoted to parking, compared to conventional development.

Jersey Village TOD
Jersey Village’s TOD conceptual plan—created by Kimley-Horn and Associates consultants and approved in March by Jersey Village city council—would incorporate those principles into developing the triangular area bounded roughly by Hwy. 290, Spencer Road and Wright Road. That area currently contains some single-family residences, mobile home communities and industrial development.

Click for larger image
According to the plan, the potential rail station would be built on the south side of Hwy. 290 between Wright Road and the future Jones Road, which would bifurcate the TOD. Filling out the TOD would be a grid of neighborhood streets, including a “Main Street" anchored on the north end by a central plaza and the rail station, and on the south by a new City Hall.

Radiating out from the rail station are differently zoned districts, called: “TOD Core" (three- to five-story commercial/office and civic buildings); “TOD Transition" (two- to three-story commercial/office); “TOD Neighborhood" (two- to three-story commercial/residential); and, “Neighborhood Transition" (one- to two-story office/residential).

Running along Hwy. 290 is the densest “Highway Mixed Use" district, zoned for four- to six-story buildings purposed for commercial, office, civic or other uses. The conceptual plan also identifies potential sites for parks, a large hotel and a future light rail station.
Money and the TOD
In mid-April, Kimley-Horn consultants unveiled the TOD’s $40-million price tag to the council, which does not include the cost of a new civic building. Consultants are exploring several funding options, including public improvement districts, management districts, tax increment reinvestment zones and city bonds. To spread out the burden, the council prefers creating the TOD in three phases of $12–$13 million each.

If the city executes the TOD plan, it will take about 20 years before the development is fully built out. Planners estimate the TOD would generate about $4.3 million in annual property and sales tax revenue, while it would cost the city about $1.9 million per year to provide services to the area.

"That’s where the residents see their return: sales tax, property tax," Castro said. "That’s a substantial part of it: the intangible. If this is a desirable location, that alone will work towards increasing the value."

To implement the plan, the city would annex the 297-acre area and apply zoning, but would not buy any land or build any structures except for parks, roads and public places. Jersey Village is the only entity in Northwest Houston with zoning authority.

"If we annex, we as a city have greater control," Castro said. "If we don’t, it’s the wild west. If we don’t annex, we don’t get property and sales taxes."

Hempstead rail line
While Jersey Village officials are considering TOD plans, the Gulf Coast Rail District—a collaboration among Harris County, the City of Houston and Fort Bend County to explore improving the regional rail network—are conducting a feasibility study of constructing a $348-million, 40-mile heavy commuter rail from Hempstead to Houston’s Loop 610, where it would connect with Houston Metro’s Northwest Transit Center. ThTh e $715,000 study by Houston-based engineering firm Klotz Associates should come out by early 2011.

In contrast to light rail—already running in Houston and part of the long-term Hwy. 290 program—heavy commuter rail can run on existing freight tracks, owned and used by Union Pacific. It would take about five years to establish agreements, upgrade the tracks, receive the trains and cars and get heavy commuter rail running, estimated Maureen Crocker, interim executive director of the rail district.

"[W]e would be using rail that is already there," she said. "With light rail we would need to go buy the right of way and lay the track, but here we wouldn’t need to do that."

Jones Road and Hwy. 290
Click for larger image
Even if Jersey Village is not selected as a heavy rail stop, the council could go forward with the plan anyway to prepare for opportunities created by the Jones Road extension and Hwy. 290 program.

"We’ve envisioned the plan as the rail is the icing, not the cake," said Joe Willhite of Kimley-Horn. "Development out further on Hwy. 290 has stopped. People are not willing to drive an hour-and-a-half anymore one way to work."

The new Jones Road corridor is likely to spark developers’ interest. Construction of the $4.8-million section is expected to begin in the fall and wrap up in fall 2011.

Source: City of Jersey Village

More on TODs
A transit-oriented development is a mixed-use development designed to maximize transit use.

As part of the planning process, Jersey Village officials visited several TODs in the Dallas area.

TODs can be large or small, but all TODs use form-based code, a type of zoning strategy concerned with how buildings look and feel, rather than what their particular use is.
http://impactnews.com/images/stories/NWH/2010/05/01-map.jpg

http://impactnews.com/images/stories/NWH/2010/05/11-map.jpg

SOMETHIN' NEW AT THE GALLERIA
http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=10599

It’s been 28 years since the Galleria last saw office construction, but that’s about to change.

The building will have a two-story lobby with an art wall (Skanska’s interviewing artists now) and seven stories of parking. It'll be the only office with frontage to both 610 and Post Oak and is adjacent to two parks. If that isn’t enough of a draw, John says they’re getting a traffic signal dedicated to the property. Greg tells us the building will have state of the art mechanical systems, including an Energy Recovery Wheel, which uses cool exhaust to strip heat from intake and reduces consumption 25%. The building is pre-certified LEED Gold and the gentlemen say they hope to reach Platinum.
Skanska’s Mike Mair, Greg Mondshine, Donald McCormick, and John Kirk took a break from planning the 300k SF, 19-story office building to chat. Mike tells us the site on 3009 Post Oak is ideal because of the Galleria's traditionally stable occupancy and pent-up demand for new product. Greg, who’s handling leasing, adds that many tenants in the area have leases expiring in the next three years, providing great opportunities for lease up. But Greg says pre-leasing is tough in Houston, and they’re going ahead with the $60 to $90M, 20-month construction with or without a tenant locked in. It’ll be 100% self-financed, so Skanska can react whenever timing is best. Although no groundbreaking is set, opening is slated for 2012.

http://www.bisnow.com/archives/houstonre/2010/Q4/images/3009postoakrendering.jpg

http://www.bisnow.com/archives/houstonre/2010/Q4/images/autocourt.jpg

WHAT'S UP AT WEST AVE
http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=10510
Prepare for a flurry of activity at Kirby and Westheimer: West Ave is bringing on the retail.

We snapped Gable’s VP of retail Darin Botelho and retail manager John Benton on site. They tell us leasing of the 398 luxury apartments opened in February ’09, and it’s now a whopping 96% occupied. Retail’s working to catch up—10k SF Rome Salon and Day Spa opened in June, and nine retailers have announced openings. That brings the 190k SF of retail space to 43% leased. The project was developed by Gables Residential and Gables Urban with Gables Construction breaking ground summer ’07. It was designed by Looney Ricks and Kiss (LRK). The seven-story concrete structure with stone, brick, and stucco exterior has an Art Deco-inspired façade with varying roof elevations and roofline design elements, covered walkways and three skybridges.

Tootsies is anchoring West Ave’s retail after three decades in Highland Village. Sorry, folks, owner Mickey Rosmarin isn’t allowing photos inside his space yet, but we did capture the construction site: that scaffolding will be a glass entrance. The 34k SF store was designed by Gensler and is being built by SpawMaxwell. Mickey toured us around his space, which includes a 300’ runway and three party areas (two inside, one outside) with full-service kitchen and bar. Mickey says he wants to be out of his old space Jan. 1, but most of the final build is outdoors, so opening will depend on the weather.
Our years of practicing finding Waldo helped us locate the aforementioned skybridges. A number of the tenants told us they signed leases over two years ago, but have been waiting to build out. Among the paused: Anita Jaisinghani, owner of Pondicheri, a restaurant named for the city in India where she recovered from malaria as a child. She’s especially proud of the metal detail work done by Factory’s Spencer Elliot. Anita says it took him 18 months to get it all done, but the result is a unique storefront and pivoting doors. Anita is also planning an edible herb wall in the restaurant. She’s opening for breakfast to engage the residents and take full advantage of being in a mixed-use property. The other upcoming arrivals: Ava Brasserie (6,500 SF) and Pizzeria Alto (4,500 SF), both owned by Schiller-Del Grande Group, Ivory Bridal, an unnamed restaurant/lounge concept by Adwest (5,000 SF), Eddie V’s,Azur West, and Cru Wine Bar (2,100 SF).
http://www.bisnow.com/archives/houstonre/2010/Q4/images/westave.jpg

http://www.bisnow.com/archives/houstonre/2010/Q4/images/skybridges_001.jpg

THIRD ONE'S A CHARM
http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=10485

CityCentre’s such a popular place to play, it can be easy to forget it’s a workplace, too. But apparently a number of tenants haven’t—office building CityCentre One is 100% occupied and CityCentre Two is projected to fill by year end. According to Colvill Office Properties’ Michael Anderson, who’s handling leasing, that’s ahead of schedule. And we all know what that means—CityCentre Three is on its way. Midway Cos.’ dual tower concept is slated for construction in 2011, and will cover 1.6 acres adjacent to Hotel Sorella. Midway director of development Brandon Houston says the new building will be six stories in each tower, with 250k SF of combined office and 33k SF of ground-floor retail space.

http://www.bisnow.com/archives/houstonre/2010/Q4/images/citycentre3rendering-bltwayview.jpg

lots of interesting new projects. im very interested to see what the post office will decide about the facility downtown. That is a choice piece of property that building sits on and the potential is incredible especially considering that the new ballet center is almost finished too. Plus there is the park across the street so nothing would block any potential views.

The train station in Jersey Village would be huge!!! To even think that Houston would be making a move towards rapid mass transit is amazing. This is something the city needs badly, so badly. plus it would really help the jersey village area.

i want to check out what type of businesses they have at city centre too.

Where in the world did the graphic artist find that weird vector art of a Czech DMU to put as a background silhouette in that map of a potential rail line.

http://swamplot.com/mirabeau-b-condos-in-montrose-dont-owe-anything-to-anybody/2010-10-25/#more-22612

Just what is it that’s allowed construction on the Mirabeau B. condos on the corner of Hyde Park and Waugh to go forward when so many other projects have stalled? How about a little thing called . . . zero debt. After flirting with turning the building rental last year, developer Joey Romano now says he’s back to the original plan of selling all 14 units in the 4-story building — though he’ll also consider leases with purchase options “on a case by case basis.” Construction began in May; Romano expects the building to be complete by next July

Official website: http://www.mirabeaub.com/

http://www.mirabeaub.com/IM/about_g01.jpg

http://www.mirabeaub.com/IM/about_g03.jpg

Uptown Area: River Oaks District

http://www.olivermcmillan.com/riveroaks

http://www.olivermcmillan.com/pdf/Houston.pdf

http://www.olivermcmillan.com/images/deve/houston/Houston_lg.jpg

http://www.olivermcmillan.com/images/deve/houston/ROp4_1109finlA%20Small.jpg

http://www.olivermcmillan.com/images/deve/houston/ROp1_1109finl_CORRECTEDA.jpg

http://www.olivermcmillan.com/images/deve/houston/ROp5_1109finl_CORRECTEDAsmall.jpg

http://www.olivermcmillan.com/images/deve/houston/ROp3_1109finlA.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/2693648621_759a137584_b.jpg

Diablo lad, what is the status of the River Oaks District? I have been hearing cries of cancellation? Is this true?

As far as I know the project is still a go.

they are still leasing those apartments.

Love the last rendering of it.

New development proposed in Clear Lake.

Big project in works near Space Center
$150 million development may have shops, apartments, offices and hotel
By NANCY SARNOFF Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle
April 14, 2007, 10:12PM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/biz/4714275.html

A Houston developer plans to demolish 12 low-rise office buildings near the Johnson Space Center to build a $150 million mixed-use real estate project with apartments, a hotel, shops and office space.

Griffin Partners purchased the buildings, in the city of Nassau Bay along NASA Parkway, from a group that had held them for many years.

The purchase price was not disclosed, but commercial land prices in the area can range from $25 to $35 per square foot, according to Ken Page, a real estate broker with Cushman & Wakefield.

Located on 27 acres, the buildings comprise 437,406 square feet and are about 50 percent occupied. The remaining leases expire at year's end, at which time Griffin Partners will begin demolition.

This will be the first development project of this scale for the commercial real estate firm, which was founded 27 years ago and was formerly known as Griffin Juban.

The developer expects to break ground on the project in phases, depending on demand for space. It will sell parcels to residential and hotel developers and build the office and possibly the retail space itself.

President Edward Griffin envisions the project with a 200-room hotel, up to 100,000 square feet of retail space, at least 300,000 square feet of office space and some 300 apartments.

The existing office buildings were built between 1964 and 1970. NASA and its contractors have occupied space there, but now the largest tenants are IBM and real estate companies. Two of the buildings have been vacant since 1985.

"It's time for them to be redeveloped into higher and better uses. It's the front door to NASA," said Page, who represented the seller, Nassau Development, in the transaction along with Scott Myers of Cushman & Wakefield.

Griffin wouldn't elaborate, but said it is working with the city and Harris County on various economic develop- ment incentives.

Zoning changes may also be required for the development to proceed, as the city of Nassau Bay put height restrictions on its buildings.

Griffin said he expects office and retail demand to come from residential development in the area as well as from new jobs that are expected due to Lockheed Martin Corp.'s contract with NASA for the new Orion spacecraft.

"There are a lot of new rooftops down there, and that bodes well for retail," he said.

Access to the property will be improved when the new NASA Parkway bypass is completed.

U of H is building a 167k sf, six-story Health and Biomedical Science Center


http://www.bisnow.com/archives/houstonre/2010/Q4/images/uhhealthctr.jpg

http://www.bisnow.com/houston_commercial_real_estate_news_story.php?p=11195

The University of Houston is building a 167k SF, six-story Health and Biomedical Science Center. The facility will consolidate researchers from different departments and colleges under one roof and will develop the College of Optometry with a new ambulatory surgery center, which UH says is the first of its kind in an optometry school. Spaces for outpatient ophthalmic procedures and LASIK are also included in the property design. The project broke ground last week and is slated to be completed mid-2012.

Due to the economy EarthQuest Adventures is now back on the drawing board. :ohno:

Money holds up EarthQuest; investors want re-phased project

http://www.hcnonline.com/east_montgomery/news/article_77d711fb-5fd9-5f3f-a27a-16d68f507d70.html
Posted: Monday, November 15, 2010 12:00 am | Updated: 1:03 am, Sun Nov 21, 2010.

By TIM WILLERT | 1 comment

It’s back to the drawing board for the proposed EarthQuest Adventures project.

Literally.

The developer told East Montgomery County Investment District board members Nov. 10 the 550-acre mixed-use project, which features a 150-acre dinosaur theme park and museum, must be re-packaged and built in phases in order to secure investors.

“We don’t know if we can raise $500 million for a green field project in this market,” Marlin Atlantis CEO John Marlin told the board.

Which is why Marlin proposed a redesign that is going to require about $200 million less to get started but will make two potential investors happy.

One, Guggenheim Partners, a financial services firm based in New York, would be willing to invest between $200 million and $300 million if the project is re-phased, while a second investor, an unidentified Houston group, is close to committing $85 million to the project, Marlin said.

“I feel real good about where we are going,” he said. “I am just as confident today that we can get EarthQuest done.”

The first phase of the re-design — the dinosaur theme park and museum - will cost approximately $307 million to build, but will begin generating income and attracting other investors, EMCID President and CEO Frank McCrady said.

“This is a model that has worked in other theme park developments,” McCrady said. “As an investor, I think it’s more of a wise decision to take the main development and do it first and then add ancillary development.”

The EarthQuest Adventures project will be located at Roman Forest Boulevard and U.S. Highway 59.

The second phase of development presented to the board, known as Earth Walk, would include a retail development portion. Additional phasing will include a water park, entertainment center component and hotel component as funding becomes available.

“The most important thing is the cost of funds for additional development goes down once construction starts,” McCrady said. “If you have a proven project, you abate some of the risk.”

That goes for tenants, too, Marlin told the board.

“My guess is that by the time the them park is half done, hotels and retailers will show interest,” he said.

As for a new timetable, Marlin told the board it likely would be the end of January before a new package can be presented to investors, and another six months beyond that before construction starts.

“That’s a reasonable expectation,” McCrady said. “You can pick a date and we’ll be wrong three times.”

Contour Entertainment President Christopher Brown, the project’s master planner and lead designer, presented a preliminary re-phase to board members, letting them know that a $500 million vision and a $300 million reality “is a very different thing.”

“We’re trying to make the strongest showing we can,” Brown said, “but it won’t all be there on opening day.”

And that’s OK with McCrady.

“We’d rather break ground on a theme park than wait for everything to get funded at once,” he said. “Our main interest is ensuring that they get the right partner, the right investor, instead of rushing in and going with the wrong investor.”

Late 2010 groundbreaking, delivering in 2012
14 stories
3009 Post Oak new 19 story office building in Galleria/Uptown
300,000 SF
LEED Gold
Directly across from Waterwall
On proposed METRO Uptown line
Developed, built, and self-financed by Skanska
http://usa.skanska.com/upload/brochure/3009/3009Postoak.pdf

http://i628.photobucket.com/albums/uu4/AtticaFlinch/untitled-1.jpg

Bill Coats Memorial Bike Bridge which broke ground last month and is scheduled for completion in seven months. The modern, arched $3.6 million bridge will span more than 290 feet across Brays Bayou. Significant funding was provided by federal programs, along with 20 percent of necessary funds coming from the city of Houston.

http://culturemap.com/newsdetail/11-10-10-crowd-turns-out-to-break-ground-on-bill-coats-memorial-bike-bridge/

http://www.mc2architects.com/images/stories/Hermannbridge/1.jpg
http://www.mc2architects.com/images/stories/Hermannbridge/2.jpg

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Porchman/HAIF%20Crap/pedbridge.jpg

New office project in The Woodlands.

Builder has faith in lake location
Work to begin early next year in The Woodlands on office project
By NANCY SARNOFF
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Oct. 23, 2010, 1:49AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/7260546.html

http://www.chron.com/photos/2010/10/20/23774753/260xStory.jpg
Ziegler Cooper Architects
Rendering: Despite the uncertain economy and slower office market, the developer is confident about Research Forest Lakeside because of its location.

Share Del.icio.usDiggTwitterYahoo! BuzzFacebookStumbleUponEmail Close [X]

The owner of 76 acres along Lake Woodlands is moving forward with a recently completed master plan for the site that includes more than 1.4 million square feet of office space in eight new buildings.

Warmack Investments, which has owned the land for about five years, plans to break ground on the first building early next year.

It will be the first in a series of office structures to be developed on the site, which is already home to two buildings leased to Hewitt Associates, a human resources consulting firm that recently combined with insurance conglomerate Aon.

The multiyear project is called Research Forest Lakeside and will be developed along the lake between Research Forest and Lake Woodlands drives.

Including the Hewitt buildings, the master plan calls for 1.9 million square feet of space, a small portion of which will be used for retail.

Despite the uncertain economy and slower office market, the developer is confident about moving forward largely because of the project's location.

The first building, which is not contingent on bank financing, will be developed on a speculative basis, or without any leases. It will contain 66,000 square feet in three stories when it opens roughly a year from now.

"The Woodlands has always been a unique market within the greater Houston area," said James Warmack. "We feel like there will be demand and the market will be even better by then."

The developer hopes to have larger buildings leased before starting construction.

Warmack Investments, a family business that has developed and owned shopping centers, has offices in Colorado Springs, Colo., and Texarkana, Texas.

It sold a large portion of its real estate in the mid-2000s and purchased a portfolio of corporate properties owned by Hewitt.

The architectural team of Ziegler Cooper and Odell Associates designed the master plan, which outlines an energy-efficient development that aims to attain Gold certification through the U.S. Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program.

What the condos went for
More than a dozen new condos on the edge of Midtown were sold at auction a week ago for prices totaling $2 million — representing an average of around $143,000 apiece.

The 14 units, which were sold separately, are in Chenevert Condominiums, a four-story building developed last year at 3501 Chenevert St. The condos that sold were the building's remaining units.

They were part of a larger auction held a week ago at the George R. Brown Convention Center.

Bids on some of the condos started at $35,000, according to Auction.com, which handled the sales.

The building contains 27 units of two- and three-bedroom lofts, flats and penthouses.

Units previously sold that weren't part of the auction went for as low as between $140,001 and $160,000 and as much as between $215,001 to $250,000, according to the Houston Association of Realtors, which lists sale price ranges on its website.

Environmental giant
Downtown's newest office tower may not have a list of tenants signing up for space, but it is set to have something few if any other skyscrapers in Texas can boast: the highest level of environmental certification a building like it can attain.

The Houston office of Hines said MainPlace has been pre-certified at the Platinum level under the widely used Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program for Core & Shell rating system.

The company said the property is set to be the only LEED Platinum skyscraper in Texas.

What makes it so green? A green roof, efficient heating and ventilation systems, sunshades that result in up to 40 percent of the building's facade being protected from the sun, and a condensate recovery system.

The 46-story building comprising nearly 1 million square feet on Main Street between Rusk and Walker was developed by Hines for the Hines CalPERS Green fund.

Pickard Chilton designed the property, which will be ready for occupancy in early 2011.

KPMG has leased the top four floors of the building, but no other tenants have been announced.

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

Rice Village to get high-end apartments
By PURVA PATEL Copyright 2010 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 30, 2010, 8:29PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/realestate/7360445.html

An upscale condo and retail project in Rice Village will be replaced by high-end apartments.

Houston-based Hanover Co. plans to build a five-story mixed-use property on the site where other developers had originally planned to build a much-anticipated retail and residential development called Sonoma.

The project will have less retail and apartments instead of condos, said John Nash, president of Hanover.

The finished brick property will boast 381 rental units, 13,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor, above-ground and underground parking, and a public plaza. The project, at Bolsover and Morningside, will generate less traffic than Sonoma because of the limited retail, Nash said.

Some area residents had complained about the closure of part of Bolsover after a portion of the street was sold to the developer of Sonoma.

A spokeswoman said the city has sent a letter allowing a delay of development of the site until 2015 due to economic conditions. The city separately took revenues from the sale of Bolsover to create new sidewalks on Morningside, which will be built soon, said Janice Evans, a spokeswoman for the mayor's office.

Construction of Hanover's unnamed project will start next summer and the first residents should be able to move in during 2012, Nash said.

Sonoma was put on hold in 2008 as economic uncertainties and tumultuous credit markets kept the developer from securing the loan it needed to move forward. Other condominium projects also fizzled around the same time, including Turnberry Tower, a 34-story, 184-unit building planned near the Williams Tower.

Hanover hasn't yet closed on a construction loan. The developer is reviewing several proposals from potential partners and is in talks with several lenders, Nash said.

"We think now is a good time to get in on the early part of the next development cycle," he said. "We're just going to be more conservative and put more in equity this go around."

In the past, the company has put about 25 percent equity into projects but now intends to put in about 40 percent to secure financing, he said.

Hanover recently sold its interests in multiple tracts of land and more than two dozen apartment projects it built across the country. Among those were the posh 7 Riverway high-rise in Houston and a parcel at a new mixed-use complex near the Galleria.

The company plans to buy the site and close on it next summer.

High-end rental units are an ideal use for the property, developer Ed Wulfe said.

"Dense residential is what's needed in our urban core and this is a good example of one with a residential tower with all the amenities in the immediate neighborhood," Wulfe said. "I think it will be very successful."

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/Rendering2.jpg

MTA announced today that various light rail projects cancelled last year are back on track to start this year.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2011/01/metro-confident-light-rail-projects.html

^^ That was bound to happen anyways. It would be politically unpopular to hold up funds for light rail regardless.

Midtown Grove Apartments
Houston, Texas
http://www.oxberrygroup.com/Midtown_Grove.html

Midtown Grove Apartments project is located in Houston's Midtown district. Just a block away from the Chenevert Condominiums, this 51 Unit building is completing the revitalization of the Holman-Chenevert area.

Construction photos of Midtown Grove.

http://www.oxberrygroup.com/Images/Residential%20Pics/MidtownGroove/MidtownGroove001.jpg

http://innerlooped.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/design.jpg

http://innerlooped.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/siteleft.jpg

Well hooray for building in midtown but boo on that design for those condos. thats nothing but a run of the mill trac apartment complex with stucco. boring!

MTA announced today that various light rail projects cancelled last year are back on track to start this year.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2011/01/metro-confident-light-rail-projects.html

still waiting on my train from spring branch to downtown.

Bill Coats Memorial Bike Bridge which broke ground last month and is scheduled for completion in seven months. The modern, arched $3.6 million bridge will span more than 290 feet across Brays Bayou. Significant funding was provided by federal programs, along with 20 percent of necessary funds coming from the city of Houston.

http://culturemap.com/newsdetail/11-10-10-crowd-turns-out-to-break-ground-on-bill-coats-memorial-bike-bridge/

http://www.mc2architects.com/images/stories/Hermannbridge/1.jpg
http://www.mc2architects.com/images/stories/Hermannbridge/2.jpg

http://i215.photobucket.com/albums/cc161/Porchman/HAIF%20Crap/pedbridge.jpg

really? the city is talking about how they are so in debt then give up 20% of the budget for a 3.6 million dollar bike bridge? i fail to see the logic in how this well help the city or make any money at all. what a waste. i could think of lots of better projects to waste millions on.

Looks like either Texas City or League City is going to get an outlet mall.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers confirms plans for Houston area **Updated**http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/01/tanger_factory_outlet_centers_1.html

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/Tanger%20Rendering.jpg

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers confirmed today that it is looking to bring a shopping center to southern Houston.

We reported earlier that Tanger was among three developers competing to bring an outlet shopping mall to the Houston area. Simon Property Group said it plans to build one in Texas City. Taubman, the other said to be looking, hasn't yet confirmed its plans.

Greensboro, N.C.-based Tanger put out a release saying it's looking at building in League City, but didn't say exactly where. A groundbreaking would be expected in late 2011 and the center would likely open a year after construction starts, the company said.

Representatives for Simon and Tanger have said they're still in the pre-leasing phase, meaning nothing's a done deal until enough retailers have signed on to make development viable.

We'll post more details about Tanger's plans here when we get them.

UPDATE: Tanger is looking at 35 acres near Interstate 45 and FM 646 for its center, spokesman Mike Buescher said.

The 300,743 square foot project would include about 95 brand name and designer outlet stores, he said.

"We feel League City and the Houston markets represent an underserved market for the outlet industry," he said.

He declined to say which retailers, if any, had already pre-leased.

i hate strip malls. that is all.

i hate strip malls. that is all.

Same here but what else can I say?

It's a slow news week.

Article on the expansion of the Texas Medical Center beyond its central campus.

Medical Center's brand expands west
By NANCY SARNOFF
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Dec. 4, 2010, 7:25PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/7323891.html

Houston developer David Wolff and the Urban Land Institute hosted an event recently celebrating the westward expansion of the Texas Medical Center beyond its central campus.

Officials with the Medical Center attended, as did executives from Texas Children's Hospital and the Methodist Hospital System, which serve as anchor institutions for the medical complex known as "the Texas Medical Center — West."

"It is what the Medical Center would look like if you could start from scratch," said Wolff, president of Wolff Cos. and former Metro chairman.

Located on 170 acres at Interstate 10 and Barker-Cypress , the area has 10 acres of ponds, hundreds of trees and lots of free parking.

"You've got a much more user-friendly environment, and it's easy to get in and easy to get out," Wolff said.

The Texas Medical Center doesn't have an ownership stake in the westside campus, "but it blesses it because it will be of the same quality," Wolff said.

The expansion has the same branding as the main campus in terms of signs, landscaping and architectural quality of the buildings.

Wolff Cos., which has developed large swaths of west Houston, sold a large parcel of land to Texas Children's.

When its emergency center and hospital services open in the spring, Texas Children's Hospital West Campus will have a 294,000-square-foot inpatient facility and five-story, 221,000-square-foot outpatient clinic building, which opens in December.

The Methodist West Houston Hospital consists of a 478,500-square-foot full-service hospital, as well as a six-story, 150,000-square-foot medical office building. All available space in Methodist's medical office buildings is committed, and the hospital is already under way with plans for its next building.

The new campus represents an initial investment of more than half a billion dollars and nearly 1.2 million square feet by Texas Children's and Methodist.

Wolff still owns 23 acres adjacent to the medical campus, which could eventually be populated with specialty hospitals, long-term care centers, hotels or other affiliated uses.

"I think it's an untapped market," Wolff said.

West Houston, reaching from Beltway 8 to west of Katy, has more than 1 million residents and 400,000 workers.

The West Houston Association predicts continued growth for the greater west Houston area through 2025, with an almost 50 percent increase in residents and a 40 percent increase in employees.

Magic Johnson and his new investment partner are planning on turning the Hotel Icon Downtown into either a W Hotel or Ritz Carlton Hotel.

Hotel Icon deal a slam-dunk
Magic Johnson, partners will align Houston property with national hotel brand
Houston Business Journal - by Jennifer Dawson , Reporter
Date: Friday, January 7, 2011, 5:00am CST.

Read more: Hotel Icon deal a slam-dunk | Houston Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2011/01/07/hotel-icon-deal-a-slam-dunk.html


A luxury chain such as The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Co. or W Hotels & Resorts could alter the downtown Houston lodging landscape in the wake of this week’s foreclosure of Hotel Icon.

The new owner of the 135-room hotel is a joint venture between Centurion Partners LLC and Canyon-Johnson Urban Funds LLC, which is owned in part by basketball icon Magic Johnson. The owners — in their first venture together — plan to align the property with a national hotel brand within the next 45 days to boost interest in making reservations. And the partners say they are looking for other ...

Dynamo stadium nears home stretch



$95M multi-use venue won’t use public funds, team and city officials say
Houston Business Journal - by Allison Wollam , Reporter
Date: Friday, January 21, 2011, 5:00am CST .Related:
Sports Business .

Read more: Dynamo stadium nears home stretch | Houston Business Journal

After nearly five years of intense negotiations, the Houston Dynamo are gearing up to break ground on a long-awaited East End stadium at the end of this month.

The only remaining minor hurdle is approval of the newly created Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone 15, a public financing tool that encourages public-private partnerships and is based on increased tax revenue generated by the development of the stadium.

Harris County Commissioners Court and Houston City Council will consider the measure it next week. If all goes well, the Major League Soccer team will break ground on the new stadium Jan. 29, marking ...

Read more: Dynamo stadium nears home stretch | Houston Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2011/01/21/dynamo-stadium-nears-home-stretch.html

Final Rendering

http://i134.photobucket.com/albums/q93/cramroop/DynamoPark.jpg

University of Houston is now a tier one university.


Carnegie elevates UH to Tier One Status
“Very high research activity”
Vilas Bhuchar, Jan 24, 11.

http://www.houstontomorrow.org/livability/story/carnegie-elevates-uh-to-tier-one-status/

The University of Houston has been elevated to Tier One status by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, according to the Houston Business Journal.

The Carnegie classification, commonly regarded to be one of three indicators reflecting an institution’s rank as a Tier One university, is a significant step for UH to reach overall Tier One status, which would categorize the school as being involved in “very high research activity” and potentially lead to the recruitment of higher profile faculty and students and more research dollars, adds the story:

UH had sought after Tier One status for decades, according to Richard Bonnin, a spokesman for the university. However, the school made a renewed effort when Renu Khator began as university president three years ago.

Khator had previously predicted it would take five to seven years to reach Tier One status, according to the school.

The Carnegie Foundation classifies more than 4,000 colleges and universities in the United States. Fewer than 300 are classified as research universities. In its newly published classifications, it cites 109 universities for Top Tier designation, which means very high research activity. The Carnegie classification is commonly regarded to be one of three indicators that reflect an institution’s rank as a Tier One institution

Universities are reclassified about every five years. UH, which previously was in the “high research activity” category, now becomes the third public university in Texas in the top-tier research group, joining The University of Texas at Austin and Texas A&M University.

UH faculty reported receiving more than $100 million in research grants last year, more than any of the state’s other emerging research universities. UH’s goal is $200 million by 2021.

Bonnin said the new classification will mean increased visibility that could lead to the recruitment of more high-profile faculty and students, lead to more research dollars and stimulate the Houston-area economy.

“I am so happy and so proud,” UH President Renu Khator said in a statement. “Our students – who today begin a new semester with this incredible news – can say with pride they are getting a Tier One education.”

The university will host a “Celebration of Excellence” event at 11 a.m., Jan. 28 at Cullen Performance Hall in recognition of the Tier One achievement.

University of Houston is now a tier one university.

So that puts Texas at three tier 1 public? I know UTSA and Texas State are going for it too.

So that puts Texas at three tier 1 public? I know UTSA and Texas State are going for it too.

Yes, and Houston will now have two tier one universities. However there is currently a push for more Tier One universities so UTSA and Texas State are not out of the run yet.

More news on the proposed new Dynamo Stadium.

'Fine print' of Dynamo deal for stadium packs a kick
Houston officials say $3 million tax rebate was part of package all along
By BRADLEY OLSON
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Jan. 31, 2011, 11:35PM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7406870.html

The city is poised to strike a 30-year deal giving back $3 million in projected sales tax to the Houston Dynamo as they prepare to construct their $60 million stadium.

City officials say the tax rebate always has been a part of the deal that kept the team from leaving Houston, one that will make the city and county owners of a new sports stadium for which they did not have to pay.

The rebate will amount to $3 million over 30 years, said Houston Chief Development Officer Andy Icken, a primary negotiator for the city on the deal.

"This was viewed as a trade-off to get this much public infusion for a stadium that, in the end, is getting donated to us," Icken said. "We were never going to go into this unless there was a substantial private investment in the project."

Icken said the deal mirrors sales tax rebates the city gave the Houston Texans when it negotiated over the future Reliant Stadium.

Critics say such a tax deal is inappropriate when the city is laying off workers and struggling to close a budget gap expected to reach nearly $120 million in the next fiscal year.

"This is the problem with all of this: The city that can't afford to give away anything picks winners or losers and gives away another $3 million of taxpayer revenue," said former Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Paul Bettencourt, a frequent critic of the stadium package. "You never hear the full deal when it first comes out. … You have to wait to see the fine print to find out what public revenue you actually gave away."

Icken denied that the rebate is a new element of the deal, pointing to a December memo he sent City Council members in which he said council would be asked to vote "to reimburse the team for a portion of sales and liquor taxes collected by the operations of the stadium."

Councilman Mike Sullivan, who voted for the main elements of the deal struck last year between the city and Harris County, said he did not recall any discussion of such a rebate. "I think this evolved as negotiations have taken place with the city and the county, and we're really just now seeing the changes," he said.

Vote on Wednesday
City Council is expected to vote Wednesday on the rebate package and a final agreement with the county over the creation of a tax zone that will facilitate public investment in infrastructure improvements around the new stadium.

If council approves the two measures this week, the Dynamo are expected to begin construction with the goal of finishing the stadium by April 2012, in time for that year's season, Icken said.

Council's vote could end a drawn-out process that dates to months before March 2008, when the city acquired six blocks just east of U.S. 59 downtown for $15.5 million.

To entice the Dynamo to build a $60 million stadium with private investment, the city and Harris County have committed $10 million each that will come from debt borrowed against future tax revenues that are expected to stream into east downtown. The funds, from a tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, will be used to pay for infrastructure improvements.

To gain the participation of Harris County, the city created two new TIRZs the county can use for its own large-scale development projects. The county also paid $7.5 million to the city, about half the cost of the land, to become a part-owner of the stadium with the city after it is completed.

To gain the participation of Harris County, the city created two new TIRZs the county can use for its own large-scale development projects. The county also paid $7.5 million to the city, about half the cost of the land, to become a part-owner of the stadium with the city after it is completed.

January 28, 2011
Downtown demolition starts on Sheraton
http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/01/demolition_of_downtown_eyesore.html

Demolition on the Sheraton to take place.

Demolition of the Sheraton-Lincoln Plaza at 711 Polk has started. The building has been fenced off and crews are on site.

When Brookfield bought the site last year for $6.5 million, it said it had plans to raze the building, add a landscaped surface parking lot and restore three levels of underground parking beneath the hotel. The company says the concrete and steel will be recycled.

The hotel is slated to become a parking garage for another building Brookfield Office Properties owns nearby, Total Plaza.

"We can now raise rents there because 1201 Louisiana has a view now," Paul Layne, an executive with Brookfield, told an industry group earlier this week.

He also said Brookfield is working with the city on getting incentives to tear down and redevelop other abandoned eyesores downtown.

He was light on specifics, but in a follow up interview he said that financial assistance from the city would be welcome.

"We're hoping this will part of the first of a number of opportunities that the city would have to rid itself of derelict properties," he said.

While the city hasn't made any commitments yet, the discussions are ongoing, said Andy Icken, the city's chief development officer.

"We're exploring ideas of what's been done in other cities, but we don't have a plan yet," Icken said.

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/DSCN0085.jpg

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/91.jpg

Site plan & renderings for the H-E-B at West Dunlavy and Alabama (which was controversal earlier because of some objections from a few disgruntled neighbors) and the new Whole Foods in Montrose.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010
What the New Montrose H-E-B Is Gonna Look Like
http://swamplot.com/?s=H-E-B+west+dunlavy+alabama

H-E-B agreed several months ago to wall off the ends of Sul Ross and Branard streets, which dead-end into the site of its future Montrose market at West Alabama and Dunlavy, and which served as entrances for the Wilshire Village Apartments that were torn down there last year. But what about devotees of that obscure local Montrose pastime known as walking to the supermarket? If they’re coming from the neighborhoods to the west, should they be able to get through that way?

Over the weekend, the Lancaster Place Civic Association worked out a “compromise” between homeowners on the dead-end portions of Sul Ross and Branard — mostly opposed to having pedestrian gates at the ends of their streets — and homeowners and renters in that neighborhood to the south and southwest of the site, most of whom wanted them included. H-E-B Houston prez Scott McClelland says he’ll have H-E-B’s in-house architects design what the association came up with: A pedestrian gate on Branard, with a timer that will lock it after dark. Sul Ross, which is closer to the store entrance, won’t have a gate, but will have a panel in the wall that would make it easier to put one in later.

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/montrose-heb-gates.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/montrose-heb-entry.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/montrose-heb-w-alabama.jpg


Thursday, January 6, 2011
Austin Powers the New North Montrose Whole Foods
http://swamplot.com/austin-powers-the-new-north-montrose-whole-foods/2011-01-06/#more-24779

That’s a mighty oh . . . Austinish-looking shell of a Whole Foods Market sprouting at the northeast corner of Waugh and West Dallas. The building — last pegged at 48,000 40,450 sq. ft. — faces north, to a big parking lot and AIG’s American General Center on Allen Parkway beyond. The design comes from the same architecture firm responsible for the flagship Whole Foods in downtown Austin, now named Stone Soup 6 Architecture. They’re from Austin too! The corners of the building are already stoned. And it looks like even more rocks from the Hill Country are headed for that little Hoo-Ray Tower entrance at the center:

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/montrose-whole-foods-dwg.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/whole-foods-montrose-const.jpg

Houston's about to get it's own first Prada store.

1st Prada Store in Texas to Open in Houston
2 other stores debut in Houston Galleria
Updated: Wednesday, 02 Feb 2011, 1:59 PM CST
Published : Wednesday, 02 Feb 2011, 1:35 PM CST
http://www.myfoxhouston.com/dpp/business/110202-prada-miu-miu-omega-houston-galleria

HOUSTON - Shoppers with more extravagant tastes will be pleased with the addition of four stores scheduled to open in The Houston Galleria in 2011.

The first Prada store in Texas will be built in The Galleria by fall 2011. The clothing and accessories brand was made more popular following the release of the motion picture "The Devil Wears Prada," which starred actresses Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.

Miu Miu, a brand under the Prada Group, is scheduled to open its doors in The Galleria during the summer.

The clock is ticking until the first Omega boutique in Houston opens in early summer. Omega, known best for watches and jewelry, was represented in several independent Houston jewelry stores, but will now be able to sell its goods directly.

The Michael Kors and Jimmy Choo stores in The Galleria will be scheduled for renovations beginning in the late spring.

“We are very thrilled to be the premier location for these exclusive brands,” said Nicole Delmer, director of marketing for The Galleria. “We remain committed to providing our shoppers with a quality shopping experience that includes first-rate retail stores and restaurants.”

The Houston Galleria is owned and operated by Simon Property Group, Inc. Other Simon shopping centers in the Houston area include Katy Mills and Houston Premium Outlets® in Cypress.

Groundbreaking of the new Dynamo stadium finally taking place.

Dynamo’s dream site comes true
At long last, ground is broken on new stadium
By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ
Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 5, 2011, 11:29PM

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/soc/7414868.html

Driving up to the site on the East End on Saturday afternoon, Dynamo coach Dominic Kinnear smiled as he surveyed the crowd of over 2,000 waiting to celebrate the groundbreaking for the team’s new stadium.

More than five years after relocating from San Jose, Kinnear was eager to share the franchise’s greatest off-the-field accomplishment with its loyal orange-clad fans.

“I’m happy for them,” Kinnear said. “About six years ago, they were soccer-starved. They were given a team and organization, and they supported us. They are a part of this. For this to come to them, they obviously take part and pride in this.”

Kinnear arrived in a caravan with team co-owners Gabriel Brener and Oscar de la Hoya, MLS President Mark Abbott, AEG president Tim Leiweke, City Councilman James Rodriguez, County Judge Ed Emmett and Dynamo president Chris Canetti.

More than 500 orange hard hats were passed out, and most of the Dynamo coaching staff and players were in attendance. Brian Ching even drove a front-end loader before county and city officials joined team and MLS executives and the players for the symbolic dig.

“This shows the hard work Oliver Luck put in, the hard work Chris Canetti put in and the work the whole organization put in,” said defender Eddie Robinson.

Vision accomplished

Ching, the franchise’s all-time leading scorer, was on the stage with Kinnear, Mayor Annise Parker, Emmett and the rest of the VIPs.

“It’s finally here,” midfielder Brad Davis said. “I’ve been in the league 10 years and haven’t had my own stadium. To see this day finally be here, there’s a lot of excitement, and it’s hard to put into words.”

The road to the East End stadium was a long one for the former San Jose Earthquakes. The franchise bolted to Houston in December 2005 and began lobbying for a stadium right away. Luck, who left his post to become athletics director at his alma mater, West Virginia, this past summer, was missing but not forgotten at the festivities.

Almost every speaker acknowledged Luck’s contributions in persuading the city and county to work together to secure the land under former Mayor Bill White’s administration. Parker then helped push the deal forward by working out a deal with County Commissioner El Franco Lee to finally get the project on the Commissioner’s Court agenda.

In between that time, the Dynamo played on and mostly won by claiming more MLS points than any franchise since their inaugural 2006 season. They also remained active in the community.

“I’d like to thank Dominic Kinnear and our team,” Canetti said. “Your work on the field and in the community has been amazing. You are champions on both fronts. You laid the groundwork for this stadium dream, and it is a home you so deserve. Thank you all for seeing the vision.”

Golden opportunity

De la Hoya, the former Olympic gold medalist and world champion boxer, was easily the most popular non-Dynamo player in attendance. A roar swept through the crowd each time his name was mentioned, and the Golden Boy was mobbed for pictures whenever fans got close.

“This is really a dream come true,” said de la Hoya. “The Dynamo is a great team in Houston and for soccer in general. All these kids looking up to the team, to build a home for them really is something special.”

The new stadium will be built as a soccer-specific venue, but the Dynamo will share it with Texas Southern’s football team.

The squared circle

De la Hoya also promised to bring world-class boxing events to the stadium, drawing an ovation after making that announcement.

“Fortunately, we were able to work out the final elements of this,” Parker said. “And now we have a great triangle of public facilities. You have Toyota Center. You have Minute Maid Park. You’ll have a new Dynamo stadium and the George R. Brown Convention Center right in the middle.

“This is the heart of what we show the world when they come to visit Houston, and it’s great to have the orange on this end.”

As the temperature warmed up and the sky was brighton Saturday, Parker summed up what the fans and organization were thinking.

“The sun is shining on the Dynamo,” Parker said.

Good News on Dynamo Stadium..

Houston's about to get it's own first Prada store.


I thought there was already a Prada in Marfa? That would make this the 2nd Prada in Texas ;)

http://drewtewksbury.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/uzzle_prada.jpg

^^ Of course the one in Marfa doesn't actually sell anything. :lol:

According to Parents Magazine, the Children's Museum of Houston is the best childrens museum in the US.

February 07, 2011
Children's Museum of Houston ranked best in the U.S. by Parents Magazine
http://blogs.chron.com/momhouston/2011/02/childrens_museum_of_houston_ra_1.html

Parents Magazine announced today they have named the Children's Museum of Houston the best in the United States.

To choose the best, the magazine researched museums throughout the country to find which were the most family-friendly. They then worked with the members of the Association of Children's Museums to survey which museums had the best exhibits, programming, staff and facilities.

According to the survey Houston came out on top. Here's the entire list:

1. The Children's Museum of Houston
2. The Children's Museum of Indianapolis
3. Please Touch Museum, Philadelphia
4. Boston Children's Museum
5. Madison Children's Museum
6. Kohl Children's Museum
7. Children's Museum of Pittsburgh
8. Children's Museum of Phoenix
9. National Museum of Play, Rochester, NY
10. Minnesota Children's Museum

Also Houston was included in Yahoos Top Budget Travel Destinations for 2011

http://travel.yahoo.com/p-interests-37581806

Harrisburg Blvd getting a much needed facelift.

Dressing up Harrisburg Blvd.
http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/02/dressing_up_harrisburg_blvd.html

If you've been down Harrisburg Boulevard east of downtown, you may have noticed new sidewalks and other changes.

Area advocates say the new developments mark what they hope are part of a revitalization of the area, which includes the coming Dynamo Stadium.

The sidewalks are part of the Greater East End Management District's plan to create a more pedestrian friendly area. The management district is paying for new benches, lighting and signs along the boulevard, in anticipation of the METRO Light Rail and to create better access to new local businesses.

So far, the district has started replacing sidewalks and planting trees on streets near businesses. "They're trying to use their funds wisely," said Jose Monterrosa, a spokesman for the district. "This is just the beginning of the transformation of the East End."

The district is funding the sidewalks and intersection upgrades with about $2.25 million. When finished, walkways along about one third of the total length of the East End line will have been upgraded. The district is tying to raise more money to carry the improvements through the rest of the line.

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/Harris1.jpg

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/Harris2.jpg

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/Harris3.jpg

Travis Street Plaza

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/gallery/1287546407/gallery_723_64_29876.jpg

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/haif/topic/24208-travis-street-plaza/

Where M.D. Anderson Will Put the UAE President’s New Building. A possible 20+ st. Tower

One of the things UT’s M.D. Anderson Cancer Center will be doing with that $150 million gift the president of the United Arab Emirates is handing over: Constructing a new 600,000 sq.-ft. therapy building, named after the donor’s dad: the Zayed bin Sultan al Nahyan Building for Personalized Cancer Care at MD Anderson. But where in the Med Center will they fit it? It won’t be replacing M.D. Anderson’s Houston Main Building, the former Prudential Life Insurance Tower already being hacked away at, and which the medical institution reportedly plans to demolish within weeks — a new treatment facility of some sort has been planned for that site for almost 9 years. The new building funded by the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Charity Foundation will land instead on a different demo site: the southeast corner of Moursund St. and M.D. Anderson Blvd., a 5-acre lot which until last year was the home of the UT Health Science Center’s Mental Science Institute. M.D. Anderson bought the 2-story concrete-and-brick building at 1300 Moursund from its sister institution, then had it torn down over the summer, identifying the land at the time only as a location for “future expansion.”

http://swamplot.com/where-m-d-anderson-will-put-the-uae-presidents-new-building/2011-01-20/#more-25212

The Sheraton Lincoln was proposed for a reconstruction in the late 2000s to bring an end to its vacancy. Now it is going to fall victim to the dismantling crews this year for a parking lot. The underground levels will be kept, though. This is all because 1201 Louisiana has a view, but that view is not going to last long. Eventually some developer may have to buy air rights to the parking lot and erect a skyscraper on that site. In that potential process, the underground levels will have to be demoed, also.

So if the Sheraton Lincoln is being demoed, maybe this (the Savoy Houston) should be demoed as well:

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/HAI/Images/Buildings/1/SavoyHouston-Jan08-002a.jpg

Also, there's another demolition at the Texas Medical Center: The Houston Main Building, with a height of 95 metres.

And should 801 St. Joseph Parkway be demolished or put back to use?

^^ Of course the one in Marfa doesn't actually sell anything. :lol:

I read that people used to break into it all the time. They ended up bolting everything down.

Bayou Place is rumoured to get new tenants including a new movie theater.


Tenants will bring brighter nightlife to Bayou Place
By PURVA PATEL
Copyright 2011 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 10, 2011, 11:28PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/realestate/7422420.html

Downtown's Bayou Place — former home to the Angelika theater — has some new tenants, and a movie theater may also be on the way.

About 18,000 square feet of space on the second floor, dubbed Bayou Place Live!, will be home to four nightclubs.

Sources say Cordish Cos., a Baltimore-based development firm that owns the entertainment and retail complex, is close to signing a lease with a new movie theater.

The clubs will join Samba Grille, which opened last year, and Blue Fish, a sushi restaurant expected to open next week.

The tenants signal new signs of life at Bayou Place, where several other spots have closed their doors. In 2008, Sake Lounge shuttered a few months after the high-end dining concept Vin closed. Slick Willie's downtown pool hall is also no longer open.

And last year, Angelika, an art house cinema, shut its doors after a dispute with its landlord, an affiliate of Cordish.

The complex is still home to Hard Rock Cafe, Mingalone Italian Bar & Grill and the Verizon Wireless Theater music venue.

Cordish officials could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Drew Coleman and Daniel Maher, director of operations and general manager for the new nightclubs, said they hope the renovations will help make downtown more of a destination.

Coleman and Maher said they're modeling the concept on entertainment districts in other cities developed by a Cordish affiliate, including the Power and Light District in Kansas City, Power Plant Live! in Baltimore and Fourth Street Live! in Louisville, Ky., where a mix of bars, clubs and restaurants targets different markets.

Coleman said Cordish has no ownership interest in Houston Saloons or Houston Lounge, the Houston companies that own the clubs and whose managing member is Baltimore investor Jake Miller.

The first of the nightclubs, slated to open in March, will have a country western theme and feature a mechanical riding bull. The club will be called PBR, a reference to professional bull riding.

The other clubs are a cigar lounge called Chapel Spirits targeting business people; Shark Bar that will play '80s and '90s music; and Lucy's Liquors, which Maher described as a "laid-back, relaxed and fun club."

The club operators are going for volume business, meaning they want to pack the house with low prices such as $2 happy hours and $5 covers that get guests into all the clubs and no drinks more than $7, Maher said.

"Downtown is a hub. It just hasn't been sold right. Downtown has been so misrepresented with all these nightclubs that come and go. They're very short-term," Maher said. "They've catered to the fast buck, quick money, with expensive drinks. We want to be here for years."

The club operators also plan to build an outdoor patio to wrap around the second floor of the building and have an outdoor open bar at the top of the stairs that lead to the main club entryway.

"We're hoping that will attract people driving by or looking over from their of- fices, so they know we're here," Coleman said.

Adam Brackman, a broker with Houston-based Urban Deal, noted that concept seems similar to projects Cordish has done in other cities but is unsure how it will be received in the heart of the city's theater district.

Many new bars and restaurants in downtown struggle with parking he said, but that should not be a problem for the clubs. "Bayou Place has that covered," he said, noting the theater district has plenty of underground parking.

Plans to improve Buffalo Bayou now underway.

Beautifying Buffalo Bayou
Private funding would be used to color the waterway west of downtown a more attractive shade of green
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7425998.html

By MIKE MORRIS
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Feb. 14, 2011, 4:42AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/7425998.html

A local nonprofit hopes its $55 million plan to overhaul 158 acres of parkland along Buffalo Bayou west of downtown will transform the area into an iconic green space for Houston.

The Buffalo Bayou Partnership's plan calls for extensive upgrades along the bayou between Shepherd and Sabine, intended to improve aesthetics, attract more visitors and reduce the risk of flooding.

The plan will reach City Council this week and Commissioners Court later this month. These expected nods of approval will start talks on final details, to be fleshed out in the coming months.

Construction is expected to start in mid-2012 and take three years.

The effort will be funded almost entirely by private donors, save $5 million from the Harris County Flood Control District. The Kinder Foundation has given $30 million, believed to be the largest gift ever given to a park project in Houston. That leaves the partnership with $20 million to scrape together.

"That area of the bayou is so used," said Nancy Kinder. "The trails are in such dire shape. That was really what caught our focus — that this could be a world-class park if you did just some basic work."

The Kinders hope their gift will spur not only physical improvements, but also a shift in attitudes. Viewed as little more than "big open sewers" a generation ago, perceptions of the city's bayous have begun to change, said partnership consultant Guy Hagstette.

"People more and more understand this is a real asset for Houston, not just a water runoff system," Rich Kinder said.

Plans for this segment of the bayou are part of Buffalo Bayou Partnership's larger vision, outlined in a $1.3 million, 20-year master plan released in 2002, which covers Buffalo Bayou from Shepherd through downtown to the Port of Houston turning basin.

New pedestrian path
Between Shepherd and Sabine, the partnership proposes adding a path closer to the bayou so walkers and joggers won't compete with cyclists on the main hike-and-bike trail.

Two dry ravines would become ponds, one of them the focal point of a fenced-in dog park in an area that pet owners unofficially use for that purpose now.

The distinctive blue lighting along the trails at Sabine Promenade would be expanded along the entire hike-and-bike trail. A five-acre plot next to Jamail Skatepark, currently fenced off, would be incorporated into the park. A raised concrete reservoir there would provide views of downtown, function as an event space and host bike and canoe rentals and, possibly, a restaurant.

The plan also proposes adding two pedestrian bridges, one across Memorial Drive near Jackson Hill Street and one spanning the bayou at the Houston Police Officer Memorial. A pedestrian bridge near Rosemont Street is nearing completion; another running parallel to Shepherd Drive is expected to start construction this fall. Both are parts of separate projects.

Focus on two roles
The plan focuses nearly as much on the bayou's role as a drainage channel as on spark-ling amenities.

A 1950s Army Corps of Engineers project scraped the park of trees and straightened the bayou, with the aim of speeding floodwaters to the Gulf of Mexico.

Resulting erosion problems filled the channel with muck, and, without trees as competition, underbrush thrived, hurting drainage during large storms when the bayou broke its banks, said Harris County Flood Control District Director Mike Talbott.

The district plans to invest more than $5 million to clear brush, remove silt, replant native vegetation and carve wider curves into the bayou in three places to slow down water during mild rainfalls, limiting erosion.

This work to return the bayou closer to its natural state also will create natural slopes from which canoes and kayaks can more easily be launched, and will cause silt to build up in predictable spots, making the deposits easier to remove, Talbott said.

This is a departure for the district, which Talbott said is partly to blame for the bayou's appearance. It had been wary of undertaking industrial maintenance projects on a stream many residents wrongly thought was in its natural state, he said.

"We've stayed away from it as to not create controversy," Talbott said. "Recently, with our improved reputation and with our improved technology, we've been able to step forward and say, 'Let's try to do this now,' and it's not as polarizing."

When the underbrush is gone and the water is accessible, Hagstette said, economic development in surrounding neighborhoods will follow.

"This is going to be a nationally recognized central park for Houston," he said. "For the last half century, it's been viewed as a stretch of bayou. Really, it's a 158-acre park right in the heart of the city, and we need to treat it that way."

City maintenance
Mayor Annise Parker called the plan "transformative," adding it was made possible by the forward-thinking Kinders, who stepped forward when the cash-strapped city could not.

The city is not expected to contribute any money toward construction, though the plan calls for it to assume maintenance of the park in 2016 at an annual cost of $2 million. Parker said that is doable.

"It's certainly not unreasonable to commit to maintaining what will be an incredible gift to the citizens of Houston," she said, adding she hopes the project will encourage more residents to visit the "woefully under-utilized" park to relax, not just to exercise.

"It is a beautiful green heart to the city, and if you go down on the water there are stretches in this segment where you don't know you're in the city," Parker said. "You can't see any buildings. All you can hear are the water and the trees. We need to open that perspective to more people."

OTHER WORK ON BUFFALO BAYOU
In addition to a $55 million project that the Buffalo Bayou Partnership plans along the bayou in 2012, other improvements also are proposed along the bayou between Shepherd to Sabine:

• The 158-acre park's 5-mile hike-and-bike trail will be rebuilt by the Texas Department of Transportation using federal funds. Work is expected to start this fall, according to the partnership. A pedestrian bridge running along Shepherd is part of that project.

• Five sections of that trail, totaling 3,200 feet, are expected to be built by the partnership this year. That will allow the partnership to tweak those sections to fit with its plan and ensure that construction isn't delayed on the federal project, which has been developing for 15 years, officials said.

• A pedestrian bridge near Rosemont, accompanied by a network of trail connections from nearby neighborhoods, is nearing completion. That $7.9 million project is being funded by the Memorial Heights Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone.

• The Houston Arts Alliance is installing a seven-piece sculpture from artist Jaume Plensa on the north side of Allen Parkway at Montrose.

Highland Village to get a new Apple Store.

Monday, February 14, 2011
The New Apple Store on Westheimer: Where the New iPads Will Hit the Street in Highland Village
http://swamplot.com/the-new-apple-store-on-westheimer-where-the-new-ipads-will-hit-the-street-in-highland-village/2011-02-14/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+swamplot+(Swamplot:+Houston's+Real+Estate+Landscape)

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/apple-highland-village-const.jpg

Apple signed a lease last month on a storefront in the Highland Village Shopping Center, a source tells Swamplot. Houston’s first-ever not-in-a-mall Apple Store is heading for the street-front retail block that houses Paper Source and Sprinkles Cupcakes, across Westheimer from the old Tootsies, in a location that formerly housed the Gap. But which side of that building? There’s evidence of construction activity on the west end of the block (shown in the foreground above), but rumors dating from last summer — as well as the “partial” exterior demo permit for the space that appeared in this morning’s list of demolitions — point to the east side of the structure, adjacent to the shopping center’s Drexel St. driveway. That’s where this older map from Gary Allen’s Apple retail fan website had placed it:

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/highland-village-apple-store-map.jpg

Embassy Suites opened a new hotel in Downtown.

February 21, 2011
Downtown hotel opens today
http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/02/downtown_hotel_opens_today.html

Downtown Houston has a new hotel. The 262-suite Embassy Suites Houston-Downtown, at 1515 Dallas and LaBranch in the George R. Brown Convention Center area and overlooking Discovery Green, opened today.

In a statement, Embassy Suites described the hotel as the city's first privately-developed, full-service downtown hotel to be built from the ground up in 28 years.

The neighboring Hilton Americas-Houston, which opened in 2003, is owned by the City of Houston-chartered Houston Convention Center Hotel Corp. and managed by Hilton Hotels Corp.

Embassy Suites Houston-Downtown is developed and managed by American Liberty Hospitality.

Embassy Suites Houston-Downtown is LEED certified for sustainable design, construction and operation. The hotel has recycling, water and energy conservation plans. For example, a "smart switch" turns off all lights when a guest leaves his or her suite.

Embassy Suites now has three hotels in the Houston area. The other properties here are along the Energy Corridor at 11730 Katy Freeway and in the Galleria area at 2911 Sage Rd.

Embassy Suites Houston-Downtown has a rooftop pool, spa and fitness center, two levels of underground parking, 6,000 square feet of flexible function space and features complimentary cooked-to-order breakfasts.

A street-level restaurant serving lunch and dinner will open soon. The restaurant's name has not yet been announced.
-- David Kaplan

http://i733.photobucket.com/albums/ww338/espiau1074/be9c3796.jpg
A recent photos of the building. While I am not a fan of it's design at least it will help bring more pedestrian activity to the area.

I agree with you about the design, but overall it's really not bad compared to what I've seen before...

I agree with you about the design, but overall it's really not bad compared to what I've seen before...

True.

Honestly it's just your typical hotel so it's not like they were going to do anything outlandish anyways.

Now if only downtown can get a Aloft or a W. :cheers:

The Hotel Icon in Downtown is transforming to be either a W Hotel or Ritz Carlton funding from Magic Johnson.

Link: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2011/01/07/hotel-icon-deal-a-slam-dunk.html

As part of the expansion of the Houston Museum Of Natural Science.


Bones of 26 dinosaurs coming to Texas museum
By ALLAN TURNER Houston Chronicle © 2011 The Associated Press
Feb. 27, 2011, 4:14PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/7448632.html

HOUSTON — With hip bones connected to thigh bones and leg bones connected to ankle bones, the Houston Museum of Natural Science's planned football field-size paleontology hall — part of an $85 million expansion set to open in summer 2012 — is an odds-on favorite to become the liveliest boneyard in town.

Denizens of the hall will include favorites such as the menacing Tyrannosaurus rex, the 42-foot-long, 7 1/2-ton Cretaceous period predator, and the birdlike reptile, Quetzalcoatlus northropi, whose skin-covered wings reached a span in excess of 30 feet.

All told, the hall will feature 26 dinosaurs among 61 major mounted skeletons, assistant paleontology director David Temple said. Those exhibits will be complemented by smaller skeletons, a veritable petrified forest, fossils and artistic renderings of prehistoric animals in action.

While the Houston museum's collection may not rival that of New York's American Museum of Natural History, said museum director Joel Bartsch, its presentation arguably will be the nation's most dynamic.

"This will not be old school," he said. "We're not renovating a historic space on the classic idea of displaying skeletons in a row. We're building a new structure. It will have 21st century interactivity."

One of the nation's most popular science museums with approximately half a million school kids passing through its galleries annually, the museum will meld academics with entertainment in an effort to convey how the hall's ancient occupants lived and died.

"All the mounts will be in action," Bartsch said. "Everything will be chasing something; everything will be eating something."

Bartsch said the 200,000-square-foot addition, the seventh expansion of the 102-year-old museum since its current facility opened in the 1960s, will roughly double exhibition space and triple classroom space. The four-story building will include galleries to accommodate traveling exhibits.

Faced with severe space limitations in its current building, the science museum has held much of its collection out of sight in storage. With the new hall's opening, the public for the first time will see the bulk of the museum's 130-specimen Herb and Joan Zuhl petrified wood collection.

Prehistoric skeletons will be hauled from storage to join new acquisitions such as "Willie," a nearly complete Dimetrodon loomisiskeleton currently being excavated by the museum in Texas' Permian Basin. A fearsome Permian period carnivore, the sail-backed animal lived between 280-265 million years ago.

New, too, will be a remarkably well-preserved Triceratops, a three-horned plant-eating dinosaur that lived about 65 million years ago.

The specimen is a double rarity, Temple said. "You see a lot of skulls," he said, but only occasionally is a complete animal found.

Fossils, including a 100-plus-specimen trilobite collection, also will be displayed. Trilobites, ammonites and other invertebrate marine animals will be clustered around video viewing stations screening animated recreations of the ancient creatures scurrying across the ocean floor.

Museum officials described the new paleontology hall as a "paleo safari," but Temple called it a "fight club."

The realistic juxtapositioning of the animals — many poised to eat or be eaten by their display mates — will be the new hall's defining characteristic.

Typical of the displays — augmented by dozens of artistic renderings of prehistoric life — will be the skeletal remains of a juvenile Tyrannosaurus rex attempting to raid a Quetzalcoaltus nest. In a diorama accompanying the display, the T rex has succeeded in munching an egg. But, confronted by several of the Late Cretaceous pterosaurs, its ultimate success is anything but assured.

"They creep me out," Temple admitted of the winged lizards, which could scurry across the ground to skewer prey with sharp beaks. The birdlike creatures were excavated from Texas' Big Bend, thought to have been the approximate point of impact of the Yucatan meteor that is believed to have extinguished dinosaur life.

The pterosaurs were named in honor of Quetzalcoatl, the Aztec plumed serpent god, and military aircraft designer John Northrup, who envisioned aircraft that, like the prehistoric animals, lacked tails. Paleontologists are uncertain if the creatures were capable of flight.

Work underway to add a parking garage in addition to two new restaurants including a new Carrabas and some office space along Kirby.



http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/carrabbas-site-plan.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/carrabbas-parking-hole.jpg

Carrabba’s Kirby Recipe: 3 New Restaurants and a Parking Garage

http://swamplot.com/carrabbas-kirby-recipe-3-new-restaurants-and-a-parking-garage/2010-06-24/

http://swamplot.com/starting-to-dig-on-the-carrabbas-garage/2011-02-28/#more-26158

The owners of the original Carrabba’s Italian Grill on Kirby between West Main and Branard plan to demolish the restaurant, rebuild it, and construct 2 more restaurants on adjacent blocks. First step: building a new 275-car parking garage one block to the north, at the northwest corner of Branard and Argonne. Next, a new and larger Carrabba’s (marked [A] in the site plan above) would go up directly south of the existing building, which would remain open during construction. Once the new digs are complete, they’ll tear down the existing restaurant and put in a parking lot and porte-cochere in its place. Two more restaurants — one possibly named Grace’s, and one with office space upstairs — are planned for blocks north of Branard, one facing Kirby and the other at Argonne.

The Kirby Carrabba’s is one of 2 still owned by the family of co-founder Johnny Carrabba. All other Carrabba’s Italian Grills — more than 200 in 27 states — are owned by OSI Restaurant Partners, the same company that runs Outback Steakhouse and Fleming’s.

The new Kirby restaurant complex may be the first in the city to take advantage of the “transit corridor” incentives passed by city council last year. In return for building a 15-ft.-wide pedestrian area and street-front entrance along Kirby, designers get to push 2 of the buildings close to the street, well into the normal 25-ft. setback. The planning commission approved the site plan earlier this month — along with several related parking variances — even though the transit corridor itself (the University Line on Richmond) hasn’t even started construction yet.


* * *

Even if the 2 Kirby restaurants do show pedestrian-friendly faces to the recently rebuilt street, they still may not draw many actual diners arriving on foot. The new transit corridor incentives require wide sidewalks, storefront windows, and a street-front entrance. But they don’t say how long the restaurants will have to keep that entrance open. If you’re arriving by car, the closest entrances will be on the sides, under the porte-cocheres.

Not included in the redevelopment plan: the property at 2506 West Main previously featured on Swamplot Price Adjuster, and recently reduced by Carrabba Property to $874,900.

Skyscrapers buck the recession: Hines plans another new office tower for downtown Houston

By Ralph Bivins
03.15.11 | 06:24 pm
The Hines real estate organization, which has built 23 skyscrapers in downtown Houston, is planning another one.

The project, if it comes together as planned, would result in a major office building on Main Street, catty-cornered from the historic Rice Hotel building.

Hines would not proceed unless a major office tenant has been signed, but the developer has been in serious discussions with significant corporations looking for downtown space. Some people in the real estate community say this could be the real deal — a big tenant ready to make a commitment and kick off another Hines downtown project — and soon.

The development site is bounded by Main, Texas, Fannin and Capitol. Years ago, a McDonald’s outlet was located there, but it was torn down and another developer proposed to build a condo tower. Hines took control of the ownership of the block several years ago and it is mostly used as a surface parking lot today.

Architect Retained

Mark Cover, chief executive officer of Hines’ southwest region, says an architect has been retained and a schematic design of the new building has been finished.

Hines is not prepared at this preliminary stage to name all of the parties involved or disclose details about the negotiations underway, of course. But after writing about Hines for a few decades, the project appears to me to have the earmarks of a very serious proposal.

Cover says that, yes, it is possible that groundbreaking could occur later this year. Skyscrapers take about two years to construct, so it would be 2013 before the new tower is completed.


http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/03-15-11-what-recession-hines-plans-another-new-office-tower-at-block-69-for-downtown-houston/

More Exxon Campus info

A First Look at the Plans for ExxonMobil’s Humongous New Corporate Campus North of Houston

http://swamplot.com/a-first-look-at-the-plans-for-exxonmobils-humongous-new-corporate-campus-north-of-houston/2011-03-17/#more-26845

The boundaries of the campus mesh perfectly with an area left empty in the announced plans for Springwoods Village, marked here with a big red question mark. According to both sets of plans, the developments will be separated by 2 new roads — one called Springwoods Village Parkway, connecting to I-45, and the other called Holzworth Road, which would separate the new campus from the proposed 150-acre Springwoods Nature Preserve to the west. A segment of the Grand Parkway is planned to intersect with I-45 directly south of Springwoods Village.


http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/xom-campus-map.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/xom-campus-location.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/springwoods-vlg-forest.jpg

In January, the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff reported seeing architectural plans for the campus, which she said included “20 office buildings with 3 million square feet, a wellness center, laboratory and multiple parking garages.” But those plans have not been published. The plans submitted to the Corps, divided into quadrants, focus more on the locations of headwaters and wetlands:

A Swamplot reader who lives in a development directly across I-45 from the site notes that “a major logging effort” appears to be taking place across the freeway, with “dump trucks galore” going in and out.

Are you an area resident or interested party interested in submitting comments on the plans submitted to the Corps? Sorry, you’re too late — the comment period closed on February 17th, after a month of “public notice.” The project is also subject to approval from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. But if you’re waiting for that organization to post information about its public comment period, don’t hold your breath; according to the Corps’s public notice, the same period served as public comment period for the TCEQ too.

Skyscrapers buck the recession: Hines plans another new office tower for downtown Houston



http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/03-15-11-what-recession-hines-plans-another-new-office-tower-at-block-69-for-downtown-houston/

this would be a great place to put a new scraper. i love when they replace surface lots. really wish someone would start some development in south downtown though before midtown. that area really needs some love. its very empty.

Rice U Ready To Build Giant Ceremonial Mound in Center of Campus

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/rice-skyspace.jpg


Friday, March 25, 2011

A multimillion-dollar gift from eclipse chaser and Rice University trustee Suzanne Deal Booth will be used to build a monumental sod-covered pyramid that will serve as the focus of the campus’s long central axis. Construction is scheduled to start early next month on the $6 million mound, which will contain a room inside with bench seating, as well as a second level above. At the top of the flat-topped pyramid, a 72-ft.-square pavilion with a square hole cut into the top will frame views of the sky

http://swamplot.com/rice-u-ready-to-build-giant-ceremonial-mound-in-center-of-campus/2011-03-25/

Hanover at Rice Village

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/hanover-rice-kelvin-dunstan.jpg

In 2007, Houston’s city council sold a block of Bolsover St. in the Rice Village to the developers of Randall Davis’s Sonoma project so that it could be used as a private drive and restaurant plaza linking two phases of the development. Davis and Lamesa Properties did manage to demolish the neighboring buildings, but Sonoma was never built. Now, the Hanover Company is saying it’s ready to build portions of a 6-story mixed-use building directly on top of part of that street. Plans for the new project, called Hanover at Rice Village, show a large plaza with restaurant seating on the eastern portion of what used to be Bolsover, facing Morningside. But the west half of the block is slated for retail space, apartments, and a private courtyard for residents:


http://swamplot.com/hanover-at-rice-village-whats-going-up-over-bolsover/2011-03-29/

http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/bbva.jpg

BBVA to consolidate offices in new building on Post Oak
http://blogs.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/04/bbva_to_consolidate_offices_in.html

BBVA Compass will build a 380,000-square-foot corporate office building at 2200 Post Oak Blvd.

With this building, the bank will centralize operations currently operating out of four offices in the Houston area. BBVA Compass' local executives and staff will occupy approximately 150,000 square feet of the building. The company has several real estate operations in the area because in the last few years, Spanish financial firm BBVA has acquired four US banks -- Compass Bank, State National Bank, Texas State Bank and LNB, formerly Laredo National Bank.

In addition to the corporate office building, BBVA Compass will also relocate its Op and Tech center located on Port West Drive just west of downtown Houston to a new facility being renovated.

BBVA Compass is also scouting for locations in Birmingham and Dallas to combine its operations in those areas.

"Combining our corporate offices into centralized locations in key markets such as Houston, Dallas and Birmingham is a natural evolution in the integration of our U.S. banking franchise," said Manolo Sánchez, BBVA U.S. Country Manager and President and CEO of BBVA Compass. "In addition to the eco-friendly design and state-of-the-art technology of the new building, bringing together our employees into a single location will foster a more open communication channel and sharing of ideas amongst our team."

Houston-based Redstone Real Estate is the developer of the project. Manhattan Construction has been brought on to manage the overall build. BBVA Compass expects to begin occupancy of the building by the end of the first quarter of 2013. The official ground breaking for the space is scheduled to take place in May.

The Houston offices will be built using a green building certification system to conserve energy and water efficiency, reduce emissions and improve indoor environmental quality.

BBVA Compass operates more than 716 branches in the US.--

Kool...

http://www.chron.com/photos/2011/04/21/26048255/260xStory.jpg


Developers propose hotel at Imperial site
By NANCY SARNOFF
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
April 21, 2011, 8:03PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7532438.html

A hotel and conference center are being proposed at the site of the large-scale Imperial Sugar redevelopment project in Sugar Land.

Redstone Cos., owner of the posh Houstonian Hotel, Club & Spa, has agreed to consult with Imperial's developer on the possibility of building the hotel, as well as renovating the historic "char house" — where sugar processing once took place.

For now, Redstone says its involvement in the project is just as a consultant, but ultimately it could be involved in the development of the hotel and conference center.

"It could be a pretty special development for Fort Bend County," said Kim Phillips, a spokeswoman for Redstone, referring to the entire project, which is called Imperial.

Located near the intersection of U.S. 90A and Texas 6, the Imperial project spans 700 acres, including the former Imperial Sugar Co. refinery site. Several structures dating back to the early 1900s are being preserved and incorporated into the development.

One of those is the 65,000-square-foot char house, which is being considered as an office building conversion with ground-floor retail and a restaurant on the top floor.

A mix of shops, office space, restaurants, apartments and other residences are also planned, as well as a minor league baseball stadium, which already has broken ground.

The overall master plan also includes a significant amount of land across from the Sugar Land Regional Airport for a business and technology park.

Johnson Development, a Houston-based developer of such master-planned communities as Sienna Plantation and Riverstone is developing Imperial for owners Cherokee Sugar Land LP and the State of Texas General Land Office.

Johnson estimates the entire 700-acre project will generate $800 million in taxable value.

Proposed hotel
The proposed hotel and conference center would be located in Imperial's "Historical District" where the refinery once operated along U.S. 90A, said Shay Shafie, general manager of Imperial.

An independent study conducted last year suggested the area would best be served by a boutique hotel with 250 rooms and up to 40,000 square feet of conference space, Shafie said.

Known for hospitality
Redstone, a privately owned Houston company, is known for its hospitality portfolio.

In addition to the Houstonian, the company also has Lakeway Resort and Spa and Houstonian Lite Fitness Clubs. Its golf properties include Shadow Hawk Golf Club, The Houstonian Golf & Country Club, Redstone Golf Club, BlackHorse Golf Club and Vanderbilt Legends Club.

The hotel and conference center at Imperial likely wouldn't be completed until as late as 2015 because of infrastructure work still being done at the site.

After a recession-related slowdown hit the once-booming suburb of Sugar Land, developer interest has been increasing, according to real estate experts familiar with the area.

Sugar Land's growing population and $93,025 median household income - nearly 90 percent higher than the state as a whole - has driven much of the activity.

H-E-B is building a store at Texas 6 and U.S. 90A and a Hyatt Place hotel recently opened at Texas 6 and U.S. 59.

Telfair community
Telfair, a 2,000-acre upscale residential community that started in 2005, has been the source of some of the commercial growth.

Even though the city lost thousands of jobs during the recession, companies are again bringing or planning to bring employees to the area.

Old Downtown Texaco building may become apartments


Houston Business Journal
Date: Thursday, April 21, 2011, 7:55am CDT

Read more: Old Downtown Texaco building may become apartments | Houston Business Journal


The former Downtown Texaco building on Rusk St. may be redeveloped into 240 apartments. The 13-story building has been vacant for nearly 30 years.

Read more: Old Downtown Texaco building may become apartments | Houston Business Journal

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2011/04/old-downtown-texaco-building-may.html

Pleasure Pier in Galveston:
Landry’s is proposing a magnificent renovation of the Pier. The renovation will turn the property into a world-class destination such as the Navy Pier in Chicago, and the Santa Monica Pier in Malibu, CA, and many others throughout the country.

http://blog.galveston.com/what-to-do/coming-soon-galveston-island-historic-pleasure-pier/
http://blog.galveston.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/pleasurepier2.jpg
http://blog.galveston.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/pleasurepier3.jpg
http://blog.galveston.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/pleasurepier4.jpg
http://blog.galveston.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/pleasurepier1.jpg

Microsoft to put its first Houston store in Galleria
By PURVA PATEL
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
April 26, 2011, 10:32PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7538625.html

Microsoft is opening its first store in Houston and 10th in the company's chain of retail outlets.

The new store will be in the Galleria mall. The company said it would open soon but would not provide a date. Microsoft began opening stores in 2009. Other locations are in Scottsdale, Ariz.; Mission Viejo, Calif.; Lone Tree, Colo.; San Diego; Oak Brook, Ill.; Bloomington, Minn.; Bellevue, Wash.; Atlanta; and Costa Mesa, Calif.

Stores sell Windows 7 PCs, Windows phones, Kinect for Xbox 360, Office 2010 and other products, as well as provide training and technical support...

Work on the new Houston Dynamo Stadium.

http://www.houstondynamo.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/photos_gallery_view/image_nodes/2011/04/online_20110408_0.jpg

http://www.houstondynamo.com/stadium-construction-photos

DEVELOPMENT
A budding museum zone?
One is preparing to open in the East End, and others are negotiating to possibly buy land
By PURVA PATEL
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
April 27, 2011, 11:22PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/realestate/7540626.html

The East End could soon have its own small museum district.

The owner of a former war history museum in Navasota has started renovations of an abandoned building that will house the collection in the East End. In addition, the Houston Maritime Museum, currently near the Texas Medical Center, and the Houston Railroad Museum in northeast Houston are negotiating to buy land in the area.

The Greater East End Management District, which promotes economic development in the area just east of downtown, hopes the museums will complement its other efforts to make the district more walkable and attract further development.

"We want to make the area more family-friendly and bring families back," said Patrick Ezzell, director of planning and infrastructure for the district.

Families and children are exactly who Jesse Hernandez hopes to attract to the World War II Military History Museum he plans to open late this summer on Canal Street.

"I invested a lot of my personal money in bringing a museum into Houston so the kids can see what our armed forces did for us," he said. "The museum doesn't glorify war, but if we don't know our past, it tends to repeat itself."

The other possible museum moves, the Metro rail line under construction along Harrisburg Boulevard, the management district's sidewalk improvements on major streets, and the district's vision for a trolley connecting the museums encouraged him to relocate to the East End, said Hernandez, who grew up on Canal Street.

Having several museums so close to each other would help make the area more of an entertainment district as well, said David Cook, a real estate broker with Cushman & Wakefield in Houston.

"It would be tremendous. It would be another magnet to bring people into this area," he said, noting that much interest is already being spurred by the development of the Dynamo stadium nearby.

Maritime museum
The Houston Maritime Museum is looking at about an acre of land on North York near Buffalo Bayou, said Anne Olson, president of the Buffalo Bayou Partnership, which owns the land.

The land, directly across from Tony Marron Park, would be near an area of the bayou that will be designated for use by the Texas Dragon Boat Association and Rice University crew team.

"If the maritime museum were to go there, it would be great synergy," Olson said.

The museum, home to ship models, navigational instruments and various industry artifacts, would like to move to a bigger space where it can hold events for students that complement academic programs in the area, said John Kendall, executive director of the museum.

Jack Yates and Stephen F. Austin high schools have Port of Houston Maritime Academies, where classes are taught with an emphasis on skills needed to land entry-level port jobs. Texas Southern University recently started offering a four-year degree program in maritime transportation management and security.

Jack Yates and Stephen F. Austin high schools have Port of Houston Maritime Academies, where classes are taught with an emphasis on skills needed to land entry-level port jobs. Texas Southern University recently started offering a four-year degree program in maritime transportation management and security.

"Right now we do a lot of outreach, but we don't have room to do the educational stuff we would like to do," he said. "We're busting at the seams."

Railroad presence
The Houston Railroad Museum, whose lease on Mesa Road ends soon, is also in negotiations for a new site in the East End.

The museum hopes to buy nearly two acres owned by Union Pacific at the intersection of Commerce and St. Charles streets.

The area was once home to one of the early passenger depots in Houston as well as a roundhouse and other rail facilities dating to before the Civil War.

Aside from having strong historical ties and offering more space for exhibits, the central location would likely attract more visitors, said Doug Weiskopf, a historian with the Gulf Coast Chapter, National Railway Historical Association, which operates the museum.

"Where we're located now is nice, but unless you know the Railroad Museum is here, you're not going to stumble upon it," he said. "In the East End, near downtown, we'll be visible to people who don't know we're here."

purva.patel@chron.com ..

Trader Joe's looking for Houston locations
California grocer has plans for Texas stores
By NANCY SARNOFF
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
May 3, 2011, 11:22PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7549243.html

Trader Joe's, the offbeat grocer whose most popular products include frozen chicken tikka masala, pumpkin ice cream and low-cost Charles Shaw wines nicknamed "Two Buck Chuck," is expanding into Texas with stores planned in Houston and Dallas.

Specific locations have not been named, but the California-based company said in an email Tuesday that it has wanted to be in Texas for a long time.

"We are a company that grows in a very controlled and thoughtful way in order to maintain the Trader Joe's customer experience," spokeswoman Alison Mochizuki said. "We're excited about bringing Trader Joe's to the wonderful cities, towns and neighborhoods in and around Dallas/Fort Worth, Houston and beyond."

The company said it is looking for sites but would not say when new stores would open.

Other small-format grocers are considering entering the Houston market as well, said Matt Keener, a retail broker with CB Richard Ellis.

They include Aldi, an Essen, Germany-based budget grocer, and Sprouts Farmers Market, an independent chain out of Phoenix. Neither company could be reached Tuesday afternoon.

Trader Joe's started in the 1950s as a small chain of convenience stores called Pronto Markets.

In 1967, founder Joe Coulombe made the stores bigger, covered the walls in cedar planks, had the employees dress in Hawaiian shirts and changed the name.

Today, Trader Joe's operates a chain of stores that over the years has developed a cultlike following.

The company sells a line of private-label items and says it is able to keep costs low by buying in volume and directly from suppliers whenever possible. It has more than 350 locations in 29 states.

Keener said Houston has been "crying out" for a hip concept like Trader Joe's that can open in an urban location on a smaller site than most traditional grocery stores.

Keener said Houston has been "crying out" for a hip concept like Trader Joe's that can open in an urban location on a smaller site than most traditional grocery stores.

"It's a really good fit for Houston," he said.

Trader Joe's stores are typically 10,000 to 15,000 square feet, which would allow them to be built in close-in areas where land is at a premium, he said.

Keener expects the company's site search to focus on Inner Loop locations with a young demographic like Washington Avenue or near Memorial Park. But areas like The Woodlands, with its affluent and educated population, could also be a good market for Trader Joe's.

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com..

Post Properties is about to start construction on their third phase of Midtown Square.

Post Properties Ready to Dig Into Midtown Square's Phase III
Posted May 2, 2011
http://houstonrealestate.citybizlist.com/17/2011/5/2/Post-Properties-Ready-to-Dig-Into-Midtown-Squares-Phase-III.aspx

HOUSTON - Atlanta-based Post Properties Inc. has positioned itself to begin the third phase of Midtown Square. The $21.8 million plan will add 124 units to the retail and residential development.

The expansion will feature units averaging 889 square feet and 10,864 square feet of street-level retail space. Post is eyeing a third quarter 2012 delivery.

The developer expects to fund the majority of construction costs through unsecured revolving lines of credit and proceeds under an at-the-market common equity sales program.

Post Midtown Square at 302 Gray St. sits about two blocks south of downtown Houston and two miles north of the Museum District and Texas Medical Center. The studios and one- and two-bedroom units range from 948 square feet to 1,412 square feet and fetch rents from $920 to $2,185 per month.

http://innerlooped.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/post-481x300.jpg

m36V9R5YKYw
Video on the construction of the Houston Dynamo stadium.

Founf this on Swamplot.


West Ave Ready To Push West
http://swamplot.com/
May 11, 2011 – 12:15 p

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/west-ave-small-corner.jpg

Catie Brubaker reports that West Ave is set to begin construction on an expansion in January, consisting of 270 new apartments and 150 new retail parking spaces. The new development will go in the fenced area west of the existing garage, north of Kipling St. and just south of the Regency House condos. Isn’t this area marked “Phase III” on circulated site plans? Yes. The much larger development originally labeled Phase II — stretching all the way south to West Alabama and west to Virginia St. — has now apparently been switched to a later, third phase. Planned for that much bigger extension: “350 multifamily units, a 175-key hotel, 100k SF of office, and an additional 275k SF of retail. Nick [Hernandez of Page Partners] says Page is ‘way down the road’ on preleasing, especially for restaurants.” [Real Estate Bisnow; previously on Swamplot] Photo: West Ave River Oaks

Look Out for Sprouts
http://swamplot.com/

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/sprouts-culver-city.jpg

Next little grocery chain likely to show up in Houston: Sprouts Farmers Market, out of Arizona. Page Partners managing principal Ed Page tells Nancy Sarnoff he’s “actively negotiating on some sites right now” for the fast-growing retailer to set up shop. Where? He wouldn’t say. But in Southern California, Sprouts took over a couple of former Circuit City stores, without even pulling the plug. Sprouts recently merged with a similar health-oriented chain — founded in San Diego by the same family — Henry’s Farmers Market. [Prime Property] Photo of Sprouts in Culver City: Retail Remix ..

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/files/2011/05/Exxon2-600x390.jpg

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/files/2011/05/Exxon1-600x397.jpg

Some recent construction photos of Exxon-Mobil's new campus courtesy of the Houston Chronicle.
http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/05/a-view-over-exxon-mobil/

Attention all beer lovers! Downtown Houston is getting a new brewpub. :cheers:



Brewpub planned for downtown
By RONNIE CROCKER
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
May 17, 2011, 11:06PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7569433.html

Freetail Brewing Co. plans to open a $4.2 million, three-story brewpub in downtown Houston next spring.

In addition to making beers on site, the restaurant will fill 20,000 square feet with public and private dining areas, a game room and a company store. Scott Metzger, founder of the original Freetail in San Antonio, said he has executed a letter of intent and expects to create 100 jobs. He declined to specify where the pub is planned.

Freetail is good. The original is near where I live.

Development on Waugh heats up
Whole Foods and Mandola's restaurant will open in June
By NANCY SARNOFF
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
May 29, 2011, 5:46PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/7585236.html

A relatively staid strip of Waugh Drive between Allen Parkway and West Gray has seen an increase in new development this year, and more projects are on the way.

By far the largest development in this area is a Whole Foods Market scheduled to open June 22 at 701 Waugh.

Contractors are putting the final touches on the store, which will come with various environmental flourishes such as electric car charging stations, recycling bins and a system that collects rainwater to be used for irrigation.

Also in mid-June, Tony Mandola will open his namesake restaurant in a new 7,000-square-foot building he's developing from scratch at 1212 Waugh.

Mandola has operated eateries in different locations around the city since 1982, but he plans to be in this location for the long haul. He bought the land in the fall of 2009.

"It's an investment we'll be able to turn over to our children," he said.

To be sure, the new Whole Foods and other retail in the area are driving some of the residential development planned for the area, as are improvements along Buffalo Bayou, including public art and a pedestrian bridge spanning the bayou near Montrose and Allen Parkway.

Houston-based multifamily developer Hanover is proposing plans for an upscale apartment complex on Waugh and West Gray where a sports bar now sits.

The Finger Cos. is also planning a residential project next to the Whole Foods where it owns land...

A Rooftop Party Deck Behind the 11th St. Someburger? Those Lofty Earlier Designs for 1111 Studewood Place

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/studewood-lofts-11.jpg

Is this what the mysterious new 6-story concrete-frame mixed-use building going up behind the 11th St. Someburger in the Heights is supposed to look like? Sort of, but not exactly. The rendering of the project above (and a whole bunch more, below), found on the website of ZDA Architecture in San Antonio, shows a decked-out version of the more boxy structure that’s pictured on this new sign and that showed up on the corner of Studewood and 11th 1/2 St.

http://swamplot.com/a-rooftop-party-deck-behind-the-11th-st-someburger-those-lofty-earlier-designs-for-1111-studewood-place/2011-06-03/#comments

Already Under Construction.

^^ That building will also have about 20 condos and 9,000 square feet of retail space on the ground floor.

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/06/heights-building-to-have-retail-and-condos/

Latest update on the new Houston Dynamo stadium under construction.

http://www.houstondynamo.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/photos_gallery_view/image_nodes/2011/06/online_20110528.jpg

Latest update on the new Houston Dynamo stadium under construction.

Exciting news!

I took the liberty of creating a thread in Stadiums and Arenas for this puppy: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=1394282 for updates.

:cheers:

Exciting news!

I took the liberty of creating a thread in Stadiums and Arenas for this puppy: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?goto=newpost&t=1394282 for updates.

:cheers:

In case you were wondering the new website also has construction photos of any progress on the stadium.

http://www.houstondynamo.com/stadium-construction-photos

In case you were wondering the new website also has construction photos of any progress on the stadium.

http://www.houstondynamo.com/stadium-construction-photos

Cool! Sadly the thread got fused into the "Soccer Stadiums In The US" thread due to being under 30k capacity (dumb rule IMO) so now it's buried. :(

But it's proof that MSL may transform downtowns every bit as much as other pro sports have. :cheers:

Here are some renderings of Exxon-Mobil's new campus courtesy of Swamplot.

http://swamplot.com/welcome-to-the-land-of-exxonmobil-a-tour-of-the-companys-new-north-houston-campus/2011-06-07/#more-29569

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/xom-central-quad.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/xom-office-bldgs.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/xom-dining.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/xom-childcare-overhead.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/xom-childcare.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/xom-wellness-center.jpg

I Like the entrance way....

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/xom-energy-center.jpg

http://swamplot.com/

I'm really impressed with the design, especially the entrance gateway.

^^

Great design! .....but I would still prefer a stately supertall in downtown Houston.

^^

Great design! .....but I would still prefer a stately supertall in downtown Houston.

Indeed, but blame that on the Greenspoint area. I am certain ExxonMobil doesn't want to experience anything like that again. Of course, Exxon is going to head north towards The Woodlands and not east towards the I-10 Energy Corridor because it wants to be close to the airport. If this sets a precedent, then much of the real estate development in the Houston area in the future could end up being built in and around The Woodlands.

Whole Foods will open the new Montrose store on Wednesday. This store will be one of the most environmentally friendly in the whole chain.


http://www.chron.com/photos/2011/06/15/26771748/260xStory.jpg http://www.chron.com/photos/2011/06/15/26771727/260xStory.jpg http://www.chron.com/photos/2011/06/15/26771717/260xStory.jpg

ENERGY EFFICIENCY
Green features on every aisle
Whole Foods will soon open new location in Montrose has the latest
By NANCY SARNOFF
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 16, 2011, 8:01PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/7614443.html

When it rains, water is collected off the roof to be used later for irrigating the grounds. Old apple crates and other reclaimed wood are used as wall coverings. And when sensors detect enough daylight is shining through the ceiling's 48 skylights, the electric lights are dimmed.

At the new Whole Foods in Montrose, even the huge parking lot out front was built with the environment in mind.

The 45,000-square-foot store, which opens Wednesday at the corner of Waugh and West Dallas, will have a number of embellishments meant to save energy and the environment.

The $18 million building was designed by Austin's Stone Soup 6 Architecture in conjunction with Whole Foods and built by Journeyman Construction.

Located at 701 Waugh, the new Whole Foods is just a few miles from the company's store on Kirby. It's also a bit larger than the Kirby store and has 100 more parking spaces.

Spokeswoman Kimberly Crowder said the new location will help serve neighborhoods the Kirby store hasn't been able to capture.

"It's like three minutes from everywhere," Crowder said. "It's kind of the urban heartbeat of Houston."

Whole Foods said the Montrose store is its greenest in this market.

The store's design even changed so it would be easier on the environment, said Michael Shaw, who managed the store's development for Whole Foods.

Too much concrete
The company initially considered building the store above two levels of parking, which would have reduced the size of the lot out front and created a denser development on the 5-acre site. But the grocer decided against it because the amount of concrete required for that type of construction would have created a "huge heat island" Shaw said.

"All that concrete absorbs heat all day and radiates it at night," he said. "It's a huge energy load."

Green space also reduces that heating effect. Trees placed strategically throughout the parking lot will create a better aesthetic while shading the cars, Shaw said.

Native plants
Also, some 65 varieties of plants will be used in the landscaping. The plants must be native, Shaw said, because "Houston is unique."

"Plants need to withstand heat and humidity," he said Thursday morning under the blazing sun.

The store was designed to limit water use, as well. A 1,500-gallon cistern collects rainwater and uses it as a drip irrigation system.

Other green features:

Two electric car charging stations.

A bike station with screwdrivers, wrenches and an air pump for small repairs.

LED lighting throughout the store and parking lot.

Recycled glass used in the floors of the wine section.

A secondary cooling system where water circulates through a rooftop cooling tower to help cool the refrigeration cases.

The building's facade comprises native Texas limestone and recycled composite lumber.

The store has been certified through Green Globes, a system that rates buildings for their green design, operation and management.

Customers' expectations
Responding to customer demands, new supermarkets in general are being designed to operate more efficiently and older ones are being renovated with environmental extras, said Brian Malarkey, who leads the EcoServices group at Houston architecture firm Kirksey.

He points to research that has been done on skylights and their effect on the retail environment.

"They found stores with skylights did better," he said.

Latest update on the new Houston Dynamo Stadium.

http://www.houstondynamo.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/photos_gallery_view/image_nodes/2011/06/online_20110611.jpg

Photo taken June 11, 2011 courtesy of http://www.houstondynamo.com/stadium-construction-photos

This opens in 2012, right? They are going to have to go awfully fast.

This opens in 2012, right? They are going to have to go awfully fast.

The stadium was scheduled to be completed around April of next year. However that could change so who knows?

Could northeast Houston be the site of another energy corridor?
By PURVA PATEL
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 8, 2011, 10:27PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/realestate/7602127.html

McCord Development has accumulated thousands of acres of land there over the last 20-plus years. And the partial completion earlier this year of a 13-mile stretch of Beltway 8 between U.S. 59 and U.S. 90 has spurred the Houston-based developer to begin infrastructure work for a commercial business park that would target companies focused on reducing the cost of energy.

Executive vice president Ryan McCord envisions a concentration of energy- related companies, startups, researchers and other groups, akin to what the Texas Medical Center is for the health care industry.

Historically, however, most of the area's growth has been north toward The Woodlands, the recently announced home of a huge Exxon Mobil campus; west toward Katy and its well-established Energy Corridor; and southwest toward Sugar Land. These areas have a concentration of neighborhoods where key executives would want to live and therefore be likely to locate their companies, said Gregg Logan, managing director at Robert Charles Lesser & Co.

Logan said the key for the McCord project "will be if the energy companies want to be there, if the executives want to be there."

"There has to be a spark to make it grow like a big company, startup incubator for energy startups, or research institute that would make others want to go there," Logan said.

McCord has no tenants yet, but he recently started pitching the project, called Generation Park, to brokers. He said he wants to land a large corporate campus to kick off the first phase on about 100 acres. He envisions hotels, retail sites and apartments on about 200 acres closest to Beltway 8.

The development, which would be the company's largest to date, would offer cheaper land prices, newer facilities and the amenities of a master-planned community, such as lakes and bike paths, McCord said. He hopes proximity to Bush Intercontinental Airport and the Houston Ship Channel will draw companies with industrial property in east Houston to move or establish corporate offices in the northeast.

Kingwood and nearby master-planned communities such as Summerwood, which McCord developed in the late 1990s before selling to Newland Communities, are also a draw, he said.

"This is a project I expect to work on for the rest of my life," McCord said. "We can take the time to do this right."

The development faces entrenched competition for tenants. The Energy Corridor District in west Houston has enough infrastructure to add 2 million square feet of office space, said the district's general manager, Clark Martinson. It has about 150 acres of undeveloped land.

This corridor is attractive to energy companies in part because it's convenient to master-planned communities such as Cinco Ranch, he said.

"I don't know how big the market share of a new business cluster in the northeast could be as opposed to one in greater west Houston, where there's a much larger share of residential growth," Martinson said.

Tight credit markets are also keeping many businesses from expanding and building, local land broker Duane Heckmann noted.

"But Houston always grows around major thoroughfares, and the completion of Beltway 8 is a tremendous benefit," he said. "Projects like this may look ambitious today, but over 25 years I don't think it will."
..

Is Sundance deal good for Houston?
A similar lease with Aquarium has yet to yield higher level of rent
By PURVA PATEL
Copyright 2011, HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 21, 2011, 11:44PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/realestate/7621004.html

The city of Houston is helping pay to remodel an art house theater in hopes of collecting a percentage of the business, even though a similar agreement with another downtown business has fallen short of expectations.

Sundance Cinemas negotiated a lease earlier this year for the space formerly occupied by the Angelika Film Center in Bayou Place. The city, through the Downtown Redevelopment Authority, agreed to reimburse up to $750,000 of the $2.3 million renovation now under way.

Sundance is to repay the authority, which reinvests some taxes collected from downtown property owners into the area, through "percentage rent" payments based on the theater's annual sales. But a similar agreement to redevelop an old firehouse into the Downtown Aquarium restaurant and entertainment complex hasn't yielded any such payments.

Landry's, which owns the Aquarium, pays $250,000 in annual rent to the city, but it never has paid percentage rent that would be triggered if it posted more than $20 million in annual sales. At that point, Landry's would pay the city 1 percent of the first additional $5 million it makes, with payments increasing if it earns more.

The Aquarium hasn't made the additional payments because its revenue exceeded $20 million only once, in 2004. That year, the company invested nearly $48 million in the property, offsetting its $25.4 million in revenue, so it wasn't required to pay percentage rent under the terms of the agreement. For the lease period ending Feb. 28, 2011, the restaurant had sales of $15.3 million, according to statements it provides to the city.

Under an agreement between the city and Baltimore-based Cordish Co. — which leases Bayou Place from the city and is Sundance's landlord — Sundance will pay the city 10 percent of annual revenue over $3.5 million. The percentage increases if annual revenue exceeds $5 million.

Like the arrangement with Landry's, an earlier percentage rent deal with Cordish has failed to produce revenue for the city.

Generates revenue
In developing Bayou Place, formerly a convention center, the city required Cordish to pay $50,000 in rent plus 25 percent of gross revenue — but only after Cordish covers its expenses.

In the 14 years it has operated Bayou Place, Cordish never has paid the 25 percent because of its investments in building out the Hard Rock Cafe and other improvements offset revenue.

The city's strategy with Bayou Place goes beyond rent revenue, said John Harris, a spokesman for the city's Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department, noting that it also has generated millions in parking revenue and sales tax.

"The city took the empty, unused Albert Thomas Convention Center and gave it a new purpose as Bayou Place and kept it from becoming an economic liability," he said.

Andy Icken, chief development officer for Houston, said Sundance was among five bidders that showed interest in the theater space after the Angelika closed last summer in a dispute with Cordish, an indication of the project's viability.

Developer Ed Wulfe, who represented the city in negotiating the Sundance agreement, said officials believe the Angelika underperformed and based the $3.5 million trigger for percentage rent on revenue Sundance could achieve in three to five years.

That is a more reliable projection than was possible with the Aquarium, Wulfe said, because the marketplace has more experience with movie theaters than with concepts like the Landry's project.

"If we're right, the city stands to earn more rent, but more importantly, it adds to the viability of the downtown theater district and the economic success of all the people near there," he said.

Such agreements are common, especially when a landlord has to make concessions on rent or provide other incentives to get a place leased, Wulfe said.

Relocating money
Steven Craig, an economics professor at the University of Houston, said the deals make sense if they draw businesses or consumers from out of town but not if they simply displace business from one part of town to another.

"If we didn't build the Aquarium or a movie theater downtown, would people still get entertained in Houston? Yes. You're not really importing business," he said. "You're just relocating money from one part of town to another."

Landry's CEO Tilman Fertitta said, however, that the Aquarium project redeveloped a deteriorating area on the northwest end of downtown — creating hundreds of downtown jobs and drawing 1 million visitors a year.

He said the area could have grown more as an entertainment district if Cordish had developed previously planned phases of Bayou Place into more retail, restaurant and entertainment space instead of the offices that sit near the Aquarium today.

"We had plans for that area to look like the San Antonio River Walk," Fertitta said. "It was the most perfect tourist destination spot for Houston, and the city lets them do office space."

Designed to be flexible
Cordish spokeswoman Megan Slattery said it presented its development plans to the city.

"Bayou Place was designed to be flexible and grow as an anchor for a broader bayou front development should the city ever wish to pursue the same," she said in an email.

Under its lease with Landry's, the city removed asbestos and other hazardous materials from the old Fire Station No. 1 and Central Waterworks Building on Bagby and agreed to provide round-the-clock security shared with Bayou Place. The city couldn't say how much it spent.

The original annual rent of $150,000 a year was increased to $250,000 in 2008 to account for additional land the city leased for parking and future expansion.

"We spent $50 million and the city gave us a favorable economic deal to induce us to spend money on the project," said Steve Scheinthal, Landry's general counsel. "In order to get our return, we had to have a low rent expense from the city."..

From Swamplot.


The New Craft Brewery Coming to Cottage Grove
http://swamplot.com/

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/5301-nolda.jpg

Startup Buffalo Bayou Brewing Co. will be located much closer to I-10 than to its namesake waterway, but founder Rassul Zarinfar says that’s by design. A Swamplot commenter dug up the address yesterday: The company has leased a 7,800 sq. ft. warehouse at 5301 Nolda St., at the corner of Detering, in Cottage Grove.

Zarinfar tells Swamplot he was happy to find a location that wasn’t “on the outskirts of town in a super-corporate industrial project.” The company plans to hand-deliver all the kegs it brews themselves, so highway access mattered. Having a location people could easily walk or bike to was also important to him. “Plus,” Zarinfar adds, “we wanted a warehouse that didn’t feel too much like a warehouse, but instead more like an art studio (since beer is art!).”

Arts group plans to call Midtown home with city's help
By PURVA PATEL
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
June 23, 2011, 8:57PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/realestate/7624576.html

A nonprofit group plans to build a community arts complex in Midtown with the help of up to $6 million in reimbursements from the city.

The Houston City Council this week approved a tax reimbursement deal and the $2.5 million sale of 3400 Main, currently a parking lot, to the Independent Arts Collaborative, a group created to run the facility.

The 90,000-square-foot facility will include a performance theater, rehearsal spaces, offices and classrooms, as well as make it easier for various arts groups to work together, said Emily Todd, a board member of the collaborative.

The effort to build the project started in 2004 by arts organizations such as Diverse Works, Main Street Theater and Suchu Dance that were tired of renting. No groups have yet signed a lease.

"They're at the mercy of landlords and spaces that are inadequate," said Todd, adding that the location along the rail line from downtown at Holman and across from the Ensemble Theatre will create a concentration of arts in the area. "These are people who have worked and worked and worked, and this is a way for them to build their audiences but also have much higher visibility."

The Independent Arts Collaborative has raised $250,000 for a down payment and has financed the rest through the International Bank of Commerce. Ensemble/HCC Partners, a partnership that owns two adjacent blocks and of which developer Bob Schultz is a managing partner, is guaranteeing the loan.

Raising $22 million
The collaborative must now raise the estimated $22 million it will cost to build the project, on the block bounded by Francis, Travis, Holman and Main.

The group's deal with the city, also known as a 380 agreement, requires the collaborative to raise at least $10 million for design and construction of the project. At least 25 full-time workers must also be employed by the building's tenants.

The city will make re- imbursements from incremental increases in sales and mixed beverage taxes generated in Midtown, the area expected to be affected by the development.

The payments start the quarter after the building is finished and has received a certificate of occupancy from the city, city spokeswoman Janice Evans said. If it's not built, the agreement expires and no reimbursement occurs, she said.

The collaborative intends to deed the finished building to the city. It would then be maintained by the collaborative and managed by Houston First — recently created by the merger of the city's Convention and Entertainment Facilities Department and the existing government corporation that runs the city-owned Hilton Americas.

According to the agreement, the city believes the project, along with new retail and parking garages on two adjacent blocks, will attract tourism and more development to the area.

Bob Schultz, who developed some of 3600 Main and the site of four businesses on 3700 Main, plans to build office space, retail and some residential units on 3500 Main and the rest of the 3600 block of Main.

Independent businesses
Schultz said he plans to expand on the concept of his nearby developments by bringing more independently owned boutiques and restaurants that are unique to Houston, such as the Tacos A-Go Go and Sig's Lagoon. He envisions the developing blocks along Main becoming an arts district akin to South Congress in Austin or Magazine Street in New Orleans.

"People in the city are gravitating toward areas that are arts districts, and being on the rail, we already get visitors from around the world who are on their way to the Museum District and see interesting activity on our block," said Schultz, president of RHS Interests. ..

Chevron to buy 50-story downtown tower
Houston Business Journal
Date: Thursday, June 23, 2011, 7:54am CDT
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/morning_call/2011/06/chevron-to-buy-office-tower-downtown.html

Chevron Corp. is expected to seal the deal today for an office tower in downtown Houston from Brookfield Office Properties, the Houston Chronicle reported.

The financial terms were not disclosed, but as HBJ mentioned last month, reports have the price pegged at around $380 million, which would set a Houston office building sales record.

The 50-story, 1.3 million-square-foot tower located at 1400 Smith is the former Enron building. Chevron (NYSE: CVX) already owns the other former Enron building at 1500 Louisiana.

The San Ramon, Calif.-based oil giant currently leases the entire building...

The 2011 American Architect Award winning NASA Building 20

http://houston.culturemap.com/site_media/uploads/photos/2011-03-02/AIA_Awards_March_2011_HOK_NASA_Building_20.800w_600h.jpg

That's an awesome looking building!

Could northeast Houston be the site of another energy corridor?

I'm not usually a cheerleader for more sprawl or anything, but this might be a good thing. Houston is so lopsided, where growth keeps going farther and farther west. This is endangering the Katy prairie and good agricultural land, is going to force the completion of the grand parkway, will only clog up the widened Katy freeway in due time, etc.

Instead, there's a brand new 90 freeway and BW8 NE segment sitting out there surrounded by vacant light industrial wasteland and trailer parks. Put some major employment centers out there with good paying jobs, and development will start to spring up. I dunno how that area is, I know the schools zoned for the area are going to be absolutely terrible closer to Houston on the east side, but are Crosby and Mont Belvieu ISD's any good?

swamplot (http://swamplot.com/skanska-ready-to-knock-down-the-houston-club/2011-06-21/)


Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Will Skanska Knock Down the Houston Club?

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/811-rusk.jpg

A source tells Nancy Sarnoff that Swedish construction firm Skanska, which has the Houston Club Building at 811 Rusk under contract, may tear down the 1948 downtown building and build an office tower in its place. A couple of clues: the closing of the building’s ground-floor Hunan Downtown restaurant and the “Closed for Cleaning” sign posted in the window of the Travis St. Burger King. The Houston Club’s lease on 4 floors of the 18-floor building doesn’t expire for another 4 years, though. The building’s previous owner, a limited partnership controlled by Cameron Management, gave up the property to its lender last September after declaring bankruptcy a few months earlier.

swamplot (http://swamplot.com/skanska-ready-to-knock-down-the-houston-club/2011-06-21/)

In my opinion it's retarded to demolish it since there are plenty of surface lots nearby that can be more easily developed and with less cost then demolishing an existing building.

I say just retrofit it and turn it into apartments or condominiums with retail on the street level.

I agree the city of Houston should stop tearing down older buildings.

Mid-rise apartments under construction near Galleria
http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2011/06/mid-rise-apartments-under-construction-near-galleria/

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/files/2011/06/Gablespost-Oak.jpg

Here’s what the city’s newest luxury apartment complex will look like.

Gables Residential is under construction on this mid-rise project at the intersection of Post Oak Park and Post Oak Place.

Tucked just inside the West Loop, the complex will have 316 units in 8 stories. Gables expects a summer 2012 opening.

Northwestern Mutual is providing construction financing for the project.

This is the latest multifamily project to be announced..

Rivals join to build outlet center in Texas City
By PURVA PATEL
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
July 1, 2011, 11:24AM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/realestate/7634935.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+houstonchronicle%2Fbusiness+%28chron.com+-+Business%29

Two competing retail giants said Thursday they have joined to develop an outlet center in Texas City.

Tanger Factory Outlet Centers and Simon Property Group have entered into a joint venture to build a Tanger Outlet Center on a 55-acre site off of Holland Road and Interstate 45, the location Simon Property Group had announced plans to build on earlier this year.

Greensboro, N.C.-based Tanger had intended to build a separate center in League City, but the plans were complicated when the 35-acre site it wanted to build on was held up in a bankruptcy case.

The center's first phase will have 90 outlet stores and 350,000 square feet, according to a statement released by the two public companies. Future expansion could include 120,000 square feet.

Tenants are expected to be announced in July, along with a groundbreaking. The outlet is scheduled to open a year after construction starts.

The center will be co-owned by Simon and Tanger, which owns an outlet center in San Marcos, but bear the Tanger Outlets brand.

Simon will work on the site development, construction supervision, and asset management to the venture, while Tanger will mange and market the venture. Both companies will provide leasing services.

The companies said they expect the center to generate more than 400 construction jobs and 900 part-time and full-time retail jobs.

Officials at the companies could not be reached for comment.

In the greater Houston area, Indianapolis-based Simon Property Group operates the Katy Mills and Houston Premium Outlets.

David Kaplan contributed to this report.

purva.patel@chron.com twitter.com/purvap ..

New Hong Kong Market Moving in Close to Hobby
http://swamplot.com/

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/hong-kong-mkt-5.jpg

The long-rumored fifth Hong Kong Market will soon take over this former flea-market building (on the right in the photo) just southwest of the intersection of Airport Blvd. and the Gulf Freeway, a reader reports. Work is already going on inside the building, which was originally a Sam’s Club. The 2 pagoda-themed strip buildings flanking the building’s parking lot that were put up a few years ago are still mostly empty — only a pho restaurant and a nail salon have moved in. The Pulgita con Aire, aka the National Marketplace flea market, now has its own building with an attached parking garage directly south of its former home (barely visible in the background between the 2 buildings), along Mosley Rd. at 9820 Gulf Fwy. D. Back in February, the owners of the Hong Kong Market agreed to pay $1.8 million in back wages and a $200,000 fine for underpaying the Houston grocery chain’s workers and misleading investigators about its labor practices...

The old Nabisco factory is being converted to an apartment building.

Factory chic near the ballpark
Apartments go in at old cookie plant
By NANCY SARNOFF
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
July 10, 2011, 11:24PM
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/7645840.html

http://www.chron.com/photos/2011/07/05/27043091/260xStory.jpg

The 100-year-old former Nabisco cookie factory near Minute Maid Park has been converted into an apartment building and is expected to open in August.

"It's one of the few residential loft-style properties that was an old factory rather than a converted office building," Pam McGlashen of Orion Real Estates Services, said in a statement. Orion is managing the project.

The five-story building, which has been renamed City View Lofts, has 57 apartments with original exposed brick and pipes, 14- to 30-foot barrel-vaulted ceilings, large factory windows and original maple floors. Asking rents range from $1,025 for a studio to $3,220 for a penthouse.

The 1910 building, at 15 N. Chenevert, was recognized by the Greater Houston Preservation Alliance this year with a Good Brick Award.

In 2004, Silvestri Investments purchased the historic warehouse out of bankruptcy. At the time, plans were to convert the building into condominiums.

ZyYYvWXBzrg

The old Nabisco factory is being converted to an apartment building.

I saw this coming. Great to see it come to life. Thats a great building and will make some nice condos.

kinda upset about the one across from chase possibly being torn down. Granted it has some real ghettoness to it but i still like the look of the building and Houston does not have many historic building left and plenty of empty parking lots that could be filled instead.

More news related to the Exxon Mobil campus.

Home builders moving in ahead of Exxon Mobil
Number of projects keeps growing
By NANCY SARNOFF
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/sarnoff/7655889.html
July 17, 2011, 11:13PM

Home builders are banking on a boost in housing demand near the Exxon Mobil campus under construction just south of The Woodlands.

Employees aren't expected to begin working at the campus until 2014, but the number of projects is growing in advance of the oil giant's move.

Last week, the developer of the Falls at Imperial Oaks announced a 200-lot addition.

The 686-acre housing development in the Conroe Independent School District is just east of Interstate 45 and Rayford Road. That's just a few miles from the Exxon Mobil property near I-45 and the Hardy Toll Road.

The new phase of development is expected to be complete by the end of summer.

David Weekley Homes and Lennar Homes will be building houses priced from the $160,000s to $350,000s.

The developer, Holcomb Properties, also plans to add a gated section of 46 homes ranging from 2,000 to 3,200 square feet and featuring HardiePlank siding and front porches.

Other projects are under way.

Some 5,000 homes are planned for Springwoods Village in the next several years.

The 1,800-acre master-planned community, adjacent to the Exxon Mobil campus, was announced last fall...