I guess I will start off with the Dominion on Post Oak. This is Uptown's new condo that is scheduled to open Dec. of 2004. The condo has 17 different floor plans and will be 31 stories tall.
http://www.whitecoresidential.com/login/images_dominionpost/dlogo.jpg
http://www.pbase.com/mancusoj/image/34729519.jpg http://www.pbase.com/mancusoj/image/34729520.jpg http://www.pbase.com/mancusoj/image/34729521.jpg http://www.pbase.com/mancusoj/image/34729522.jpg

got any renderings of what itll look like finished?

http://www.whitecoresidential.com/login/images_dominionpost/webphoto3.jpg
http://www.ediarchitecture.com/Images/catagory%20images/Highrise/Dominionupclose124.data_/images/Dominionupclose124_05.jpg

also, what is the height of this one? :)

Not very tall. 351 feet or 107 meters since we are in a European forum.

The Harris County Civil Justice Center should be done soon. I got the pics from the Houston forum.

Rendering
http://www.lattatech.com/Images/harris_county_civil1.jpg
http://img9.photobucket.com/albums/v24/guesswhat/civilrender.jpg



Construction pics
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/YakuzaIce/My_Pics/5.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v248/YakuzaIce/My_Pics/6.jpg

http://www.geocities.com/yakuzaice/Prime.jpg



Centrally located in the heart of Houston's prestigous Uptown Galleria/Post Oak area, Prime at Post Oak is a 21 story, 156 unit development within walking distance froma plethora of shopping and dining options.

The top 2 story levels offer 5 two story penthouses. The average unit size is 1800 sq. ft., and 80% of the units will have spectacular views of the Galleria area. Floor seven will house a 3,000 sq. ft healthclub and 6,000 sq. ft. terrace with a pool. A seven level parking structure will be behind the west tower.

http://rootsweb.com/~txgenweb/postcards/Towns/Houston/HoustonTxStateHotel.jpg

Club Quarters Hotel is downtown Houston's newest hotel. It was renovated from the historic Texas State Hotel and opened this summer. Other locations include NYC in midtown and downtown, D.C. near the White House, Downtown Boston near Faneuil Hall, Central Loop Chicago near Sears Tower and another location at Wacker and Michigan Avenue, downtown San Francisco across from the Embarcadero Center, downtown Phialdelphia opposite Liberty Place, London adjacent to St. Paul's Cathedral and another location at Gracechurch near the Tower of London.

Club Quarters are private, full service hotels for member organizations designed for the business traveler, subsidized for family and friends' use on weekends and holiday periods.

There is a huge crop of midrises going up inside the loop, but IMO I find this one to be the most interesting. This midrise will be located on Whitee Oak Bayou, just north of downtown.

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/11/hr1320211-5.jpg
http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/11/hr1320211-1.jpg

Wow, hadn't heard about this one until now. Does it or the Dominion have any kind of street interraction (like retail, or overall pedestrian friendliness)?

I don't know if the bottom floors will have retail or not, but since it is on Post Oak there should be plenty in walking distance.

Another one of the many midrises going up on the west side of the loop.


http://www.har.com/mediaHR/96/1161496-1.jpg

Situated on a prime, ½ acre Inner Loop site, this proposed 34 unit development will have structured parking for 72 cars. With concrete and steel frame construction, the brick and precast façade offers an elegant streetscape in scale with the residential neighborhood. With 11 foot ceilings, each unit will have hardwood floors, balconies or terraces, granite countertops in kitchens and baths, and stainless steel appliances. Unit sizes range from 1 bedroom / study to 3 bedrooms. The development will also have a pool and lush landscaping.

Say, that's bound to be sleekest apartment buildings when built. Anymor info on these, texasboy.

I know. I am also trying to find info on this midrise going up. Hopefully another Houston former will have info.

Houston has enough of these Camdens, but here is anoother one that will be located in midtown. From the looks of it, it will be located on the light rail line.

http://www.ediarchitecture.com/Images/catagory%20images/Highrise/thumbs/midtownlarge.jpg

Camden will likely break ground in mid- to late 2005 on the superblock project in Midtown. The mixed-use development is in position to move forward after Camden recently purchased the last two acres it needed of the five-acre site.

Also,

In another deal that took three years to piece together, Campo says Camden will probably break ground in early to mid-2005 on a multifamily complex in the Fourth Ward. The 9.1-acre site that encompasses seven blocks is roughly bounded by Valentine to the west, Ruthven to the north, the Interstate 45 feeder road to the east and St. Joseph Parkway and Baldwin to the south

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/66/hr1325066-1.jpg


The Edge Condominiums, a 6 floor midrise building, 93 Unit, new construction Condominium Building, at the Edge of Downtown Houston. Near vibrant midtown shops, the Trolley, restaurants and hot spots. Construction to begin fall of 2004, occupancy in summer of 2005.

Here is an article

Developers give Midtown condos an 'edge'
Jennifer Dawson
Houston Business Journal
A new mid-rise condominium project featuring 93 units is set to break ground in Midtown as early as October.


While Midtown has become popular for apartment and townhome development, the new complex could be the largest condominium development in the area in the past 30 years.

Midtown Condominiums LLC, an affiliate of Fidelity Management Co., is building the complex, which will be called The Edge. The seven-story project will be located on 1.07 acres bounded by Baldwin, Pierce Ave., Bagby and St. Joseph Parkway, directly southwest of downtown Houston.

Development partners John Tuschman, his son James Tuschman, and Bahram Pirzad named their project The Edge because it is on the edge of downtown, Midtown and the Fourth Ward.

The project's first two levels will be used for parking, the third level will hold the common areas and the top four levels will house the residential units, all of which will have balconies.

Building amenities will include a formal lobby, lounge, pool, home movie theater, exercise area, business center, four elevators and three atriums, all within a six-minute walk of the MetroRail downtown transit center.

The 23 penthouse units will feature wood floors, granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, wall coverings, high ceilings, a skylight in the master bedroom and one to two fireplaces per unit.

Price is key
John Tuschman, the managing member of Midtown Condominiums, says with prices ranging from $143,000 to $400,000, The Edge will have some of the lowest-priced residential units in the area. Most of the units will cost between $150,000 and $225,000, he says.

"The whole idea is to provide residential units well below what is available in the market," Tuschman says. "We felt that there was certainly a need for ... lower priced housing."

Tuschman says there are currently only 80 units available for sale in this price range in the area, and most are three-level townhomes without many amenities.

One-bedroom units in The Edge will range in size from 950 square feet to 1,150 square feet. Two-bedroom units will be between 1,100 square feet and 1,450 square feet in size. And three-bedroom units will be larger than 2,000 square feet.


"It sounds like what they're doing is a real good idea, in terms of the size of the units and pricing," says Richard Zigler, director of research for O'Connor & Associates.

The Edge's pricing structure may be one of its biggest draws because it is difficult to find in-town condos for less than $250,000, Zigler says. In addition, he speculates that buyers willing to pay close to $500,000 for a condo would probably choose downtown or the Galleria over Midtown anyway.

Ric Campo, chairman and CEO of Camden Property Trust, a real estate investment trust specializing in apartments, says if The Edge can keep prices under $350,000 to $400,000, it should have success in Midtown.

"If someone can build a moderately priced mid-rise, they would do very well down there," Campo says. "Price point is really the key."

Second time around
The Edge represents Tuschman's second attempt to develop a residential property in Midtown.

Through Fidelity Management, where he is president, Tuschman purchased a parcel of land just behind the old Days Inn in 2002 for a 44-unit condo project. He and his partners decided not to build the complex after learning of the U.S. Vets' plan to convert the old hotel into a residence for homeless veterans.

Tuschman, his partners and a number of limited partners bought The Edge tract in February. After working on it for the last few months, Tuschman succeeded last week in getting the city to approve a zero lot line for the property.

"It took us over four months to get the variance," Tuschman says.

Tuschman expects more of the new Midtown residential developments to be higher density because of the price of land, which he says ranges from $60 to $65 per square foot.

"The land is so expensive there right now," Tuschman says.


F. Charles Le Blanc, executive director of the Midtown Redevelopment Authority, says prices are lower than that, from the high $20s to high $40s per square foot. Coincidentally, when the authority was formed in 1995, he says land was going for $2 to $8 per square foot.

Le Blanc says if land costs continue to rise, so too will the chance of seeing more condominium development in Midtown. The Edge could be the first of several condo projects, but developers will likely wait to see how this first complex fares, he says.

"I think they'll sell," Le Blanc says of The Edge units. "I think you'll see more condominium-type projects."

Tuschman says a recent study shows that there is an immediate need in the area for 80,000 housing units, and two-thirds of the potential residents would rather buy than rent.

In addition, he says more condos are needed to serve the Texas Medical Center, which is connected to Midtown by the light rail. There are currently 70,000 employees working in the Med Center, which is expected to have 90,000 employees within four years, he says.

"There is this huge pent-up demand for sale housing close to downtown," Tuschman says. "Nobody's really meeting that need."

The Edge will get started on that perceived need as soon as the land is vacated.

Alpine AutoWerke, a car detailing and repair company located at 311 Pierce, will move its operations on Oct. 12.

"We plan to break ground immediately thereafter," says Tuschman, who also is president of the Tuschman Foundation, a family organization that gives charitable grants to area nonprofits.

Does anybody or a Houston forumer know if this condo is complted yet?

http://www.har.com/mediaHR/40/1155240-4.jpg

This 32-unit for-sale mid-rise condominium building consists of six levels of residential use over a single level steel structured parking podium. The two bedroom, two-bathroom units range from 1200 to1400 square feet on five floors with 4 larger penthouse units on the top floor. A lobby and mail room will be provided on the first floor of the building. The building is constructed in Type 2 construction with steel framing.

Waterway Lofts Website (http://www.waterwaylofts.com/#)


Two Waterway is the second loft condominium project for Threshold Interests which offers the urban dweller a simplified lifestyle amidst a robust pedestrian environment stimulated by the cultural and entertainment activities of the Woodlands' Town Center.

Like its sister project, Waterway Lofts, Two Waterway is also located on the waterway offering residents an active pedestrian environment in this upscale urban village with instant access to waterfront promenades, bike paths, parks, the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, and the Woodland’s growing retail and commercial community.

http://www.zieglercooper.com/live/graphics/waterway%20lofts/two%20waterway.jpg

http://www.facultyvoice.com/News/news2004/02)%20February%20/images/nursing.bldg.jpg


Health care professionals, political and academic officials broke ground for Prairie View A&M University's new multi-million dollar College of Nursing building in the world-renown Texas Medical Center. The twelve-floor structure will contain 118,000 square feet when it is completed in 2005 at a cost of $31.3 million. The increased space will allow the college to double its capacity to 500 students and is expected to help alleviate the nursing shortage that has been reaching a critical stage for many hospitals around the country.


Click here for construction update pic (http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=306367)

can this go in an existing thread?

what thread?

On one side of the mauve velvet ropes in the Galleria Tuesday night, the real world ogled and took photographs. On the other side, a fantasy dimension of high fashion and high spirits pulsated.

Galleria shoppers, intrigued by the glamour, stopped and stared as several hundred Party Boys and Party Girls made catwalk maneuvers past the velvet ropes and into the new Dior store for a dizzying opening celebration. ADVERTISEMENT


Christian Dior Couture director general Claus-Dietrich Lahrs came from Paris for the soiree. Christian Dior USA president and COO Marla Sabo was among the New York contingent. Headlining the invitation and dressed to kill in dazzling Dior was Becca Cason Thrash, honored on this night for her work with Best Buddies International.

"I'm the Dior poster child," she cooed.

She was one of a zillion fashion standouts -- Debra Grierson in shimmery silver strapless Dior gown, Vivian Wise in Louis Vuitton, Johanna Magnus-Lawson in Dior and Ericka Bagwell in Missoni. The dollars spent on fashion for this night alone could solve the city's financial crisis.

"Becca generates more sales at the Galleria than Christmas," George Lancaster wryly observed.

Among the drop-dead gorgeous contingent -- Maria and Neil Bush, Erin and Nick Florescu, Lisa Holthouse, Courtney and Bo Hopson, Melissa Mithoff, Anne Carl, and Kristi Schiller.

Welcome to Market Street, a 34 acre/490,000 sq. ft main street style mixed use(retail and office) development in the heart of the Woodlands Town Center, the commercial hub of the fast growing North Houston Trade Area. Market Street is a pedestrian friendly new downtown for the Woodlands in Texas and #6 in the U.S. Market Street is a place where shopping, dining, entertainment, programmed community events and celebrations come together to create a one of a kind urban enbvironment.

Pics of Construction
http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_63883.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_68432.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_68542.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_68602.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_68732.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_68782.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_68892.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_68992.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69172.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69352.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69392.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69492.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69602.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69722.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69791.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69951.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69981.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69991.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_70061.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_70101.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_70391.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_70401.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69561.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_70661.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_69572.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_70221.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC_71951.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC000603.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC000483.jpg http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_DSC001451.jpg


Area Plan
http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_Area1118021.jpg

Plan Views
http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/assets/images/db_images/db_aerial1.jpg




Market Street Video (http://www.marketstreet-thewoodlands.com/html/galleryvideo.html)

how large is that convention hotel center thing?

Don't feel like looking up specific info right now, so I will just show you what the Marriott website offered.

A meandering waterway within a wooded retreat and at the center of it all lies The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel and Convention Center, a unique state of the art facility offering a distinct setting for your next visit or meeting. Connected via Skybridge to The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion, you are just minutes away from the concert stage. Easily able to accommodate meetings of all sizes, the hotel features a convention center with over 70,000 square feet of function space. The hotel is located on the area's newest development, The Woodlands Waterway. This area features along with the hotel, entertainment venues, retail shops, upscale dining, and uptown living.


Pics

http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour01.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour02.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour03.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour04.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour05.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour06.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour07.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour08.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour09.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour10.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour11.jpg?Log=1 http://marriott.com/propertyimages/h/houmw/phototour/houmw_phototour12.jpg?Log=1

Enjoy a relaxing ride in air-conditioned comfort aboard Water Taxi. Whether you are shopping, dining, entertaining business clients or just taking a cruise along the 1.25-mile long The Woodlands Waterway, your Water Taxi Ambassadors will narrate points of interest along the way. Stops are at The Woodlands Mall, Landry’s, Anadarko Petroleum, Waterway Square West, The Waterway Marriott and Convention Center, Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion and Town Green. Fares are $6.00 all day for adults, and $3.00 all day for seniors, youth and disabled.

http://www.town-center.com/images/watertaxi1.jpg http://www.town-center.com/images/watertaxi2.jpg http://www.town-center.com/images/watertaxi3.jpg http://www.town-center.com/images/watertaxi5.jpg http://www.town-center.com/images/watertaxi4.jpg http://www.town-center.com/images/watertaxi6.jpg http://www.town-center.com/images/watertaxi7.jpg

http://www.urbanresorts.net/images/Rivaplace.jpg
http://www.keatingkhang.com/images/PostOak_Radler-elv-fin.jpg






New group rolls out lofty plan to revamp Pavilion on Post Oak
Nancy Sarnoff
Houston Business Journal
Yet another plan has surfaced to redevelop the enigmatic Pavilion on Post Oak.


And the latest scheme includes just about every concept ever proposed for the beleaguered shopping center on Post Oak Boulevard between San Felipe and Westheimer.

The newest proposition -- currently being shopped around to banks and mortgage brokers -- includes almost 2 million square feet of space.

The plan consists of two condominium towers, a five-star hotel, office space, retail space, a private leisure and dining club, an entertainment venue, a culinary arts center and meeting facilities.

The $353 million proposal is the work of a newly formed group called Urban Resorts Development LP.

The principals include Fenner Weller Jr. of local broker-dealer shop Weller, Anderson & Co.; Gene Duckworth; and Boston-based Robert Bryant, formerly of real estate consulting firm Economics Research Associates.

The Jerde Partnership International Inc.; Rosewood Hotels & Resorts; Boulder, Colo.-based CommArts Inc.; architecture giant Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum; Economic Research Associates; and general contractor E.E. Reed/Beers Skanska are also mentioned as members of the project team.

An investment package obtained by the Houston Business Journal outlines the lofty development, dubbed RivaPlace.

Some 220 residential units will be housed in two towers.

The residents would receive 24-hour access to the hotel facilities and services, including housekeeping, laundry and room services as well as multi-lingual concierges, doormen, security and valet parking.

The hotel could include 175 rooms, including 53 suites, and additional condominiums for sale.

The materials say that after the Houston development, the team will consider launching similar projects in such cities as Miami, Atlanta, Boston, San Diego, London and Berlin.

When asked to comment on the Houston deal, partner Weller shared few details, as his team is still on a fundraising mission.

"The concept is an urban resort," Weller says. "It will be very friendly to the individual -- a lot of greenery, not too concrete intensive."


One name was oddly absent from the package: Mishael Radom.

The head of Houston-based Radler Enterprises Inc. has owned the 13-acre Pavilion property for years.

In the past, Radom has been in talks with numerous developers and hotel operators, but the center has remained as a retail and restaurant hub.

The two-level enclosed mall, with an underground parking garage, contains more than 286,000 square feet of space.

Some of the tenants include Americas Restaurant, Esther Wolf, Hermes of Paris and Hunan Restaurant.

Radom could not be reached for comment.

Real estate roundup
Houston-based Igloo Products Corp. is consolidating distribution operations into one facility in the Katy/Brookshire area.

The ice chest and beverage cooler maker is building a 900,000 square foot addition to its current headquarters at 30603 Katy-Brookshire Road.

Igloo's corporate presence in the area dates back to the opening of the company's main distribution center in 1979.

When the new structure is completed in December, the entire property will comprise 1.4 million square feet.


More than 1,300 employees will work at the site.

Houston-based Core Real Estate is developing the project for Igloo.

The design construction team includes D.E. Harvey Builders Inc., Powers Brown Architecture, Haynes Whaley Associates, Walter P. Moore and Wylie & Associates Inc.

Igloo President Jim Morley says the move toward consolidation is aimed at creating a more "streamlined, leaner business unit."

Insurance and financial services company USAA is providing the capital for the transaction and will own the new building, leasing the facility to Igloo.

Jeff Everist of CB Richard Ellis in Houston represented Igloo in the transaction.

Igloo is owned by Westar Capital, a California-based venture capital firm which purchased the company from Brunswick Corp. in 2001.

Igloo was established in 1947 as a small metalworking shop producing metal water coolers for construction workers, oilfield employees and longshoremen on the docks.

In 1962 the company began selling the first all-plastic ice chest.

http://www.chron.com/content/news/photos/04/05/02/shamrocktowers.jpg

The sales office stands in the parking lot currently in downtown.
http://www.pbase.com/thadl/image/31264462.jpg

http://www.houstonx.com/6.jpg

With the turning of dirt the shovels at a ground breaking ceremony later this month, Memorial Hermann Healthcare Sysstem will begin construction on the city's largest commercial construction project - the $155 million Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza. When complete, the building will be the largest medical office in the Texas Medical Center area.

Designed in partnership with one of Houston's leading health care developers, Mischer Healthcare Services, the new facilty to be located at the corner of Fannin and McGregor Strees will encompass more than 500,000 rentable square feet. This includes office space for up to 200 physicians, and a 2,400-vehicle parking garage. Services offered include an onsite ambulatory care center with either surgical suites, four endoscopy suites, and a full-modality imaging center. The ambulatory care center will occupy 100,000 square feet on two of the project's 30 floors.

Another two floors on the lobby/concourse levels will be filled by retail shops, services, and restaurants and will conveniently connect, via the existing skybridge, to comprehensive resources at Memorial Hermann and Memorial Hermann Children's Hospitals. Also easily accessible via skybridge are The University of Texas Health Science Center Professional Building and UT-Houston Medical School.

"With its modern design, sophisticated construction, state-of-the-art services, and skybridge access to the TMC's founding hospital, this facility will be home to the best and brightest in Houston's medical community," said Dan Wolterman, Memorial Hermann Healthcare System president and CEO. "It represents, once again, our system's leadership commitment to innovation."

The Project will create 375 construction jos during the two-year construction period and 191 permanent jobs upon opening.

very nice projects. any more news on either of them?
Any news on all of them, or certain ones?

mainly shamrock. looks nice but with no information with it. ;)

Encompassing nearly a full city block, Shamrock Tower is designed to integrate retail, residential and parking functions within a single structure. Utilizing cast-in-place concrete construction or tunnelform for cost efficiency, clear span retail areas, efficient structured parking and a large variety of residential units are provided without the need for a traditional transfer deck between function uses. The result of this design innovation is a significant reduction in the cost of construction. Street level retail will feature jazz clubs, dining establishments and a fast food restaurant with drive-thru. Residences range in size from 695 square foot apartments to 2,526 square foot two-story penthouses. Resident amenities include a clubhouse, fitness center and plaza level pool terrace.

http://www.birem.com/sections/07_news/news_pr/news_pr_img/pr_10_img01.jpg

Finished Product
http://www.birem.com/sections/07_news/news_pr/news_pr_img/pr_10_img03.gif

Palisade Palms is a club-class, high-rise condominium development that will consist of two modern curvilinear towers designed to provide residents with panoramic views over the Gulf of Mexico. The two towers will be built atop a three level elevated parking structure, and will be connected by a podium lobby that opens up onto the club-class pool deck. The towers will have 278 residential units ranging in size from one-bedroom homes that are just under 1,000 square feet to penthouse homes of more than 3,000 square feet

Piedmont at River Oaks from the 170's to high 200's

http://www.innerloopcondos.com/piedmont/images/logo.jpg
http://www.innerloopcondos.com/piedmont/popup/images/rosineperspective.jpg

The Advantages of a River Oaks Location

Located in the area of Houston’s most prestigious neighborhood, The Piedmont boasts great views and is located just a block from the River Oaks Shopping Center, retail boutiques, restaurants and nightlife.



Main Highlights:

One to three bedrooms with unique interior design
10 foot ceilings
High-quality construction
Large windows
Crown molding and recessed lighting
Ceramic and hardwood floors
Granite countertops
Electric wine cooler
Super-efficient soundproofing system
Secure, covered parking
Common terrace with pool, BBQ area, and dramatic downtown view
Great views from the residences
Friendly environment. The development contains two buildings with a maximum of 40 homes each
Controlled-access entry and gate
Short corridors leading to your residence

Interior renderings
http://www.innerloopcondos.com/piedmont/popup/images/features01.jpg http://www.innerloopcondos.com/piedmont/popup/images/features02.jpg http://www.innerloopcondos.com/piedmont/popup/images/features03.jpg http://www.innerloopcondos.com/piedmont/popup/images/features04.jpg

Piedmont Site
http://www.innerloopcondos.com/piedmont/images/views/rosine.jpg

Update on the Harris County Civil Justice Center

http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/79/hr1256279-10.jpg
http://harpictures.marketlinx.com/MediaDisplay/56/hr1256256-10.jpg

It looks as though Houston is trying to go more and more coastal with its designs. You know like designs seen in Beach cities.

Thanks guys, I really appreciate the comments.

http://www.merriman-maa.com/projects/getimage.asp?project_id=55
Abandoned railyard north of the Houston C.B.D. along I-10. The site is over 40 acres with 6 existing structures that were once used as railyard maintenance facilities and offices.

The goal is to clean & restore several structure turning them into housing (loft), retail, and office facilities. Introduction of a new street grid that connects the existing residential neighborhood. The spaces in between the buildings offer opportunities for parks, plazas, and urban street environments.





In June, Jim Hill, AIA made a presentation to our Houston AIA/Urban Design Committee about Hardy Place, a redevelopment proposal for the 43 acre Hardy railyards just north of downtown. As one of the largest contiguous parcels with close proximity to both downtown and the planned extension of the Main Street light rail line, Hardy Place presents a major opportunity to introduce a dense, mixed-use, pedestrian friendly and transit-oriented development in an area of town in need of revitalization. The project will serve as the anchor development of a newly formed 230-acre TIRZ. In order to ensure the quality of development envisioned by the master plan, Hardy Place must adopt an innovative set of restrictive covenants that will, in effect, serve as a form-based zoning regulation

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Located by the sea, this one of a kind 15 story high rise condominium offers remarkable surroundings at a variety of exceptional and reasonable prices. We have all the amenities you and the whole family would ever want to fit your lifestyle. Take advantage of breathtaking views from our infinity pool deck with its four distinct pools, catch a show in our movie theatre, stroll along the adjacent beach, and dine at fine restaurants at our doorstep. The Crown Jewel of Galveston has finally arrived.






Amenities:
Very low, yes very low, sensible maintenance fees
Dramatic views of the gulf, beach and harbor
1 Exclusive Penthouse Floor
24 hour concierge service
Pools for everyone in the family:
166’ long infinity
Swim-in Spa
Volleyball Pool
Children’s Pool

Swim-in Pool Bar
Lobby Bar
Movie Theatre
State of the Art Fitness Centre
Children’s Playland
Teenage Game Room
Guest Suites
Individual Storage Units for Sale
Pre-wired for cable or satellite television/high speed internet


Penthouse Amenities:
Whilrpool Spas available on select terraces

12 to 13 foot ceilings heights

Wine Coolers

Complementary Storage Units

Exceptional Cabinets, Light Fixtures, and Carpet

Marble Slabs in Both Kitchens and Bathrooms

Upgraded Jenn-Aire appliance package

Flat Screen TV

Exterior Feautures:
The Emerald is to be built according to plans and specifications by Spencer Partnership Architects, with modifications by the developer during the construction process.

Exterior is composed of glass, mosaic tile, and plaster with integral color fastness. Little or no painting required.

Detailed and varied balcony railings compliment the building.
Double thermal paned windows will vary in number and size due to the variety of floor plans. The amount of total glass area will vary depending on the floor plan selected.

Spacious swimming pools on the seventh level. Four distinct and separate pool areas including a 166’ long infinity pool, volleyball pool, children’s pool, and swim-in pool spa. There will be extensive landscaping surrounding the deck and cabanas.

Building Features:
Private Movie Theatre on the 7th level.
Concierge station in the lobby.
Storage units available for purchase

First class, state of the art Fitness Centre

Guest parking on ground floor

Access to the private residential parking by transmitter.
Visitor access is through the lobby via a phone entry system that will also enable the homeowner to have video capability through their television.

Building is equipped with Smoke Alarm & Sprinkler Systems.

texasboy, do you have a camera? if not, you need one!

Of course I have a camera. The real question is, do I have a scanner?

Oct. 19, 2004, 3:55PM

City begins acquiring land for new urban park
By MIKE SNYDER
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle
The city has begun acquiring property for a 13-acre urban park that is likely to trigger substantial new development on the east side of downtown, Mayor Bill White said today.

White said the city signed a contract today with Crescent Real Estate Equities Inc. to purchase 5.29 acres just west of the George R. Brown Convention Center. The city will acquire the remaining, adjacent property by the end of the year, design the park next year and start construction in 2006, White said. ADVERTISEMENT


The park should be open by 2007, he said.

"You will see an explosion of growth around the periphery of this park," White told the annual meeting of Central Houston Inc., adding that the new development would strengthen the city's tax base and enhance the continuing revitalization of downtown.

White said private contributions would pay for at least 80 percent of the park's estimated $80 million cost. The city's contributions would come from hotel and entertainment tax revenues rather than property taxes, White said.

The new park, which would be the largest downtown and one of the largest in the central part of Houston, would attract convention visitors as well as local families, White said.

The park would complement the vision for downtown development over the next 20 years unveiled this week by Central Houston and other downtown organizations. The "framework for downtown development" calls for increasing downtown's residential population from 3,000 to 20,000, and downtown leaders said parks were an important amenity to attract families to live downtown.

White said all great cities have preserved land in their centers for major parks. He said this may have been Houston's last opportunity to acquire park property downtown before rising real estate values made it impossible.

"This will be a unique urban green space that will last for centuries in this community," White said.

on the Hardy Rail Yard:

i think the way it crosses the street there is about the coolest thing i have ever seen. very cool design for it.

I know this may sound stupid, but what exactly are you talking about?

in that photo. the way they chose to put something over the street [that is a street?].

Are you talking about the glass canopy? If so, I believe that is a light rail station. You can see the train approaching it. I cannot tell if it is a freeway or just an elevated road.

I believe this new development will create competition with midtown, which is south of downtown. I think that will be a good thing because both areas will be improving. This development is north of downtown.

GALVESTON — Sunhill International Corp. said it would start building its multimillion dollar island project, which includes a 102-unit luxury residential tower above 65,000 square feet of retail space, by summer’s end.

The project, dubbed Piazza Blanca, is directly across from Stewart Beach Park at University and Broadway boulevards on a five-acre tract where the old Jack Tar hotel once stood. The condominium project is one of several residential developments planned for the island’s East End. (Hopefully that yellow sign says Banana on the other side of it.)
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Central Plaza

Aimed at commuters, full-time residents and buyers of second homes, the project will significantly alter the area’s scenery and is of a different caliber than other multi-family projects here, say developers. Houston-based Sunhill said it’s planning a 12-story Mediterranean-style residential tower above retail and restaurants. Prices will start at about $250,000 for the units that range from 800 square feet to 1,800 square feet. The company also will market penthouses and custom build-outs for anyone seeking more square footage.
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Residential Tower and Retail

With retail, the development should appeal to Stewart Beach goers, said Mayor Roger “Bo” Quiroga. And all the residential development bodes well for the island’s East End, Quiroga said. (Finally, the Houston area gets some real sidewalk upscale reatil. As shown in the rendering J.Crew will be part of it.)
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Retail

Already, two restaurant chains have signed leases with Sunhill International, including Austin-based Texadelphia, a sports bar known for its cheesesteaks. Houston-based Berryhill Hot Tamales Corp. plans a new concept, called Berryhill Beach Club, which will serve up baja-style cuisine with cocktails. Berryhill traces its roots to 1928, when Walter Berryhill sold his homemade tamales from a pushcart along the street corners of Houston’s posh River Oaks area. Other retail names floating around are donut purveyor Krispy Kreme and hot dog hawker James Coney Island.
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Retail

Piazza Blanca’s design is defined by domed spires, white stucco and mosaic tile work. The structure’s private sixth-floor residents’ lobby will open onto a landscaped pool deck with a 100-foot infinity pool that spills over the building’s façade. Increasingly popular in style among luxury lovers, the pool is meant to create the illusion that it’s edgeless, and water blends with the sky. Also, the sixth floor will include a concierge desk, fitness center and suites with caterer’s kitchen for private events.
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The Flagship Hotel will be turned into a hotel styled after the Hotel del Coronado in San Diego. I will try to get more info on the project.

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Oct. 20, 2004, 7:12AM

Downtown's new color: green
City's plans for a 13-acre park will spur development, White predicts
By MIKE SNYDER
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

An expanse of asphalt and vacant land will soon be transformed into a major urban park that will help east downtown blossom into a residential and retail center, Mayor Bill White said Tuesday.


Within three years, White said, Houstonians, tourists and conventioneers will be picnicking, running or relaxing in the 13-acre park. The location is a quick walk from the George R. Brown Convention Center, the Toyota Center and Minute Maid Park.

The city signed a contract Tuesday morning with Crescent Real Estate Equities to buy 5.29 acres on the site. The city owns part of the remaining property and is negotiating to acquire the rest, White and his aides said.

The park, not yet named or designed, would be by far the largest in downtown Houston. It would strengthen the city's tax base by promoting new development in the surrounding area, White said.

"You will see an explosion of growth around the periphery of this park," White told the annual meeting of Central Houston Inc., a downtown business organization that wants to increase downtown's residential population from 3,000 to 20,000 by 2025.

White said private donors would provide 80 percent of the estimated $80 million cost of the park, a figure that includes the value of land the city already owns on the site. The city's contribution would come from hotel and entertainment tax revenues rather than property taxes, White said.

The city has reached "general agreements in principle" with donors who will contribute $35 million to the project, said White spokesman Patrick Trahan. The city and its private partners will continue to raise money during development of the park, White said.

The project is on a fast track, with the city expected to complete land acquisition this year. The park will be designed in 2005, built mostly in 2006 and opened in 2007, White said.

Park advocates and urban-development experts said the project fills a long-neglected need for a major park downtown.

"That's so exciting; I can't believe it," said Glenda Barrett, the executive director of Park People, a nonprofit group that promotes park development in Houston. "We just don't have very much open space downtown."

The park site, just west of the convention center, now contains surface parking lots and privately owned green space with landscaping and trees. City acquisition of the property will ensure that it is preserved for a park rather than being sold for other development, said Bob Eury, Central Houston Inc.'s president.

White's prediction that the park would prompt new development is well-founded, said Tom Bacon, a partner in the Lionstone Group, a real estate investment firm that invests in land within urban cores.

"Parks create value and build a tax base, and they do it in an incredibly positive way," Bacon said.

Downtown Chicago's Millennium Park, a $400 million, 25-acre lakefront project that opened officially in July, is expected to generate development valued at $2.5 billion by 2020, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The location chosen for the Houston park is excellent, Bacon said. The site's proximity to the convention center and the sports venues is an advantage, he said, and east downtown has abundant land for development.

White said Houston's chances to develop a major park downtown were diminishing because of rising land prices.

"This is the last opportunity that Houston has to acquire a large tract of land" downtown, White said.

For legal reasons, White said, he could not immediately disclose the price of the land the city is buying from Crescent. He said the city was getting a "very good deal."

Tuesday's announcement followed several years of discussion among city officials and downtown leaders about the need for a major downtown park. White said he began working on the idea three to four years ago, before he was a public official, on behalf of a philanthropist who wanted to help with the park.

The discussions intensified after he took office in January, White said. Downtown organizations, meanwhile, were working on a 20-year development vision that emphasized parks and other public amenities.

Barrett, of Park People, said the park will be important in the effort to attract more people to live downtown, where dense, multifamily housing precludes residential back yards.

"It's so important to have green space in that kind of situation," Barrett said. "There are a lot of vibrant cities around the country that are designed that way."

what major buildings [skyscrapers] are currently around it?


Skyscrapers that surround the park are Hilton Americas, Four Seasons Hotel, and Houston Center( Houston Center is several skyscrapers.)

Minute Maid Park and Toyota Center are also nearby.

I don't think this is a park like Central Park. If anything I think it will be more like Chicago's Millenium Park. Even though Chicago's park was 400 million dollars compared to Houston's at 80 million dollars. What made Chicago's price tag so high was probably the concert venue, the big jelly bean, and the price of land in Chicago is much higher. I do not know yet what will all be in Houston's downtown park.

any idea on how this park will look?

Right now, I do not have any idea.

http://www.houstonx.com/MidtownMedicalPlaza2.jpg


Inner city gets medical infusion
Physician syndicate provides funds for Midtown hospitals
Jennifer Dawson
Houston Business Journal
The head of a Houston-based specialized medical firm has syndicated a group of 50 physicians who are putting up $174 million to finance construction of two hospitals in the Midtown area.


Jim Rutherford, president of Quality Infusion Care Inc., is directing efforts by the physicians to build two acute care hospitals, both roughly 225,000 square feet in size.

Both locations will operate under the same name -- Main Street Midtown Medical Hospital.

One location will be on property bounded by Austin, LaBranch, Gray and Webster. The other will sit about five miles away, bounded by Main, Travis, Alabama and Truxillo.

Physicians practicing in The Methodist Hospital, Christus St. Joseph Hospital and Twelve Oaks Hospital have joined the group, says Rutherford, as have some doctors from Katy and The Woodlands.

The doctors will move their practices into the buildings, where Quality Infusion Care will establish a laboratory, pharmacy, radiology services and infusion therapy, such as intravenous treatments.

Quality Infusion Care has all the necessary licenses to provide the specialty services, which the company has been doing at its 9555 W. Sam Houston Parkway location since 1995.

Rutherford says most physicians in the syndicate will own a stake in both locations. The ownership of 165,000 square feet of space in each facility has been arranged, and developers expect both facilities to be sold out by the end of the month.

Rutherford says Main Street Midtown Medical Hospital will be different from recently announced surgery centers because the participating physicians are the ones who control the patient base. They specialize in internal medicine, family practice, infectious diseases and cardiology, he says.

Each physician has executed a purchase agreement and will sign on the loan from Texas State Bank.

The physicians group hired developers Douglas Brown and Tim Delgado to construct the hospitals. Each will have 24 beds, four to six operating rooms, a 24-hour emergency room and an 800-car parking garage.


The land for both hospitals is under contract. The transactions are scheduled to close in October and November.

The development team is purchasing a total of four city blocks at two locations. Two blocks will be used for the hospitals, and two will be held for future development.

Later construction could include restaurants and retail, or at this rate of interest from doctors, a second medical tower could be constructed at each site, Delgado says.

Developers are purchasing two city blocks in Midtown from David Greenberg. The 2.9-acre tract that fronts the Pierce Elevated is bounded by Austin, LaBranch, Gray and Webster.

Delgado is representing the buyer and Greenberg is representing himself on the transaction.

Delgado and Brown are also buying two blocks for the Main Street hospital from attorney Robert Brackman. That 2.7-acre tract is bounded by Main, Travis, Alabama and Truxillo.

Weitzman Group Inc. is representing the seller and Guy Hunt is representing the buyers.

Mort Mehdi of ArchiTECH Design and Development Inc. designed both medical centers. D.E. Harvey Builders has been selected to handle the construction.

Developers expect to break ground in early 2005 and finish in early 2006.

I can't wait to see the long stretch of new condos going up in Galveston.

long stretch?

Around Broadway in Galveston there is a lot of development planned for that area. Most of the condos from Galveston you see in this thread are in that area.

Oct. 21, 2004, 12:07AM

At forum, Metro weighs whether it's on the right track
11 alternative transit systems presented at event
By LUCAS WALL
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Imagine zipping to Bush Intercontinental Airport from downtown in less than 10 minutes.

Sound like fantasy? It isn't fantasy for travelers in Shanghai, China, who since April have been able to take a high-speed magnetic levitation train that carries them 19 miles to the airport there in eight minutes at up to 270 mph.

"We are now a mature, safe and reliable technology," said Larry Blow of Transrapid International-USA. "Our costs are competitive with any high-speed rail system."

The Metropolitan Transit Authority is holding this week's Advanced Transportation Technology Forum at the behest of U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Sugar Land, a longtime rail opponent who has expressed skepticism at plans to construct another 65 miles of light rail in the next two decades.

Houston-area voters approved the Metro Solutions transit-expansion plan last year. It includes a provision for light rail service to Bush Intercontinental by 2025. Such an extension of the existing Main Street line would offer travelers a trip that could take up to 50 minutes with a maximum potential speed of 66 mph. The trip by bus today takes an hour.

With criticism from DeLay and many others that light rail alone won't be enough to efficiently move people outside automobiles, Metro invited speakers to present 11 modes of rapid transit.

A panel of 11 experts from around the country is here evaluating each presentation and will present its findings at Friday's concluding roundtable.

"We want to go boldly forward like others have when faced and confronted with mobility problems," said Frank Wilson, Metro president and CEO, who noted that traffic congestion consistently ranks as Harris County voters' top concern. "Our mission clearly is to make this problem go away. The solution, I think, is in creative ideas. This forum will help us set them in motion."

'An oudated vision'

DeLay, the keynote speaker at Wednesday's session, said transportation projects need to be designed to meet the needs of the public, not the desires of planners.

"Unfortunately our transportation policy, and spending in particular, is still governed by an outdated vision," DeLay told the audience of about 100. "This past year, the city of Houston — after a long, hard struggle — installed the same old mass-transit system that was installed in Calgary, Canada, the year I was born: 1947.

"It seems to me Houston can do better."

The majority leader suggested Metro "needs an infusion of vision and innovation" and commended its leaders for putting together the technology forum.

"I'm hoping this summit, and the information that comes out of it, will keep the minds open at Metro," he said. "This is important work you are doing, and I look forward to helping you do it in the future."

Awaiting review

At a news conference later, DeLay said he hasn't examined the application Metro submitted in August for federal funding for its next two light rail lines, to the north and southeast sides. The transit authority is awaiting a rating of its proposals from Washington.

"It's more important for me to wait and see what the Federal Transit Administration says in the evaluation of the application rather than for me to influence it one way or the other," said DeLay, standing with eight Metro officials.

Metro Chairman David Wolff said it was important to get in the federal funding pipeline this year by submitting the light rail extension request, but the modes for those two corridors are subject to change.

"If we come up with a superior technology at the same cost," Wolff said, "we have no fear in going to them and saying we are amending our application.

"I hope the congressman will help us in dealing with the Federal Transit Administration. ... We want him to go to bat for us."

By Sandy Buckalew
Without a doubt everyone who lives or works on the Island, commuters to and from, even the returning beachgoers and vacationers have all witnessed the incredible and rapid growth in Galveston’s development, economic and cultural scenes. I think we all watch with excitement and anticipation and yes, even a little underlying nervousness as our piece of paradise in the Gulf seems to be in full bloom this year, like no other. The increasing number of new homes and businesses seem to be squeezing onto every last inch of sand that hasn’t washed back out to sea.
However, Galveston Island is no stranger to intense progress and many times over the course of her history the Island has bloomed at a mind-boggling pace. Nicknames like; “The Empire State of the Southwest”, "The New York of the Gulf,” and the “Wall Street of the South” were echoed in her younger day. Many years ago this Island was nothing more than a bleak and uninviting sand bar (Barrier Island) in a string of barrier islands running along the Texas coast. It was a timely mix of luck and diligence of a peculiar type of people who possessed an unyielding desire to convert Mother Nature’s work that Galveston has become the rare jewel in the Gulf that we know today. Galveston has had its name in lights over and over again. Rich in history with many famous people and events, from heroes of Texas wars, pirates, profiteers, and socialites, and of course the infamous “Great Storm” it seems that Galveston has always been an extraordinary place destined for greatness.
In the book “Galveston, a History of the Island”, Author Gary Cartwright writes “Coming down the coastal prairie from Houston on Interstate 45, you can smell the ghosts before you see or hear them.” I have always believed that to be true. Today as I cross the causeway back onto the Island I find myself taking in the new sites, the new buildings, homes, high-rises all the signs and sounds that indicate Galveston Island is surrendering yet again to major growth. And I think to myself you can almost smell the money before you see the island. Yes, for us, today’s Galvestonians, BOI’s (Born On the Island), wanna-be’s and transplants change is defiantly in the salty air.
The events and attractions are numerous for sure, old and new (& coming), and even though they might not be the “first” in Texas, some of Galveston’s tourist attractions are defiantly one of a kind and as unique as the island herself. Moody Gardens, boasts 165-acres, including Aquarium Pyramid, Rainforest Pyramid, Discovery Pyramid, IMAX Theater/Visitor Center, Palm Beach, and a Convention Center! Mardi Gras can lure more than half a million people to gather in the streets of Galveston Island and participate in the largest Mardi Gras celebration in Texas. For 12 days and 11 nights the island is electrified by the sounds of live music, spectacular parades, elaborate masked balls, and flamboyant costumes.
During December each year Galveston celebrates with Dickens on the Strand. Centered in a 10-block area of Galveston’s The Strand Historic District, this family festival includes parades and free, non-stop entertainment on the festival’s six stages, plus strolling carolers and roving street musicians, bagpipers and entertainers. Additionally, a vast array of year-round restaurants and shops are joined by over 150 costumed vendors peddling their wares from street stalls and rolling carts laden with tasty culinary delights and Victorian-inspired crafts, clothing, jewelry, holiday decorations and gift items.
Very soon Galveston will become an even a wetter destination because plans are now officially in place to bring a $30 million indoor and outdoor water park to the island! Schlitterbahn, which already operates water parks at two locations in Texas, promises their third to be one of the “most state-of-the-art in the country”. Do I smell another Texas “first”? The indoor portion of the water park will be housed in a former aviation hanger, making possible an annual operating schedule of up to 200 days. May of 2005 is the anticipated opening date for the new water park.
Galveston also has a new Convention Center at The San Luis Resort. The grand opening was held this summer and “The Galveston Island Convention Center” is as grand as you would expect for such an exalted Island, providing a column-free 43,100 square-foot exhibition hall, a 15,500 square-foot grand ballroom, 12,000 square feet of breakout meeting space and 29,000 square feet of pre-function, exhibit and reception space. Two-story floor-to-ceiling windows offer unparalleled views of the Gulf as guests enter and exit the first floor exhibition space and second level ballroom. It is the official convention center for Galveston Island.
The island’s beaches are open to the public year round and there are numerous parks as well. Galveston Island State Park, on the west end of the Island, is a 2,013.1-acre site that was acquired in 1969 from private owners under the State Parks Bond Program and was opened in 1975. The park splits into two segments – the beach side and the bay side -- stretching from the Gulf of Mexico to West Galveston Bay. The growing beach communities of Jamaica Beach and Pirate’s Cove abut the park on both sides. The island is renowned for its exquisite Victorian architecture and historic homes, museums and attractions, many within walking distance of one another, and many are open for tours through out the year.
The Historic Strand District, once a major finance and banking locale, with its own 1900 architectural charm, high curbs and overhanging canopies is today Galveston’s most famous shopping area. With blocks and blocks of specialty and gift shops, outlet stores, chain stores, art galleries, bars, café’s and restaurants, the area is bustling on any given day and a stroll is worth the effort for some fun “people watching” too. The Strand is (or should be) on every visitors “to do” list.
Many times I have heard the words “Deja vu” whispered by passers-bye and friends. Many times since moving to the island in 1993, I have had that peculiar feeling of a place, person, or conversation being familiar or having already been experienced. “All that is old is new again” or so they say, and although some things are not proven certain, others are part of Galveston undisputable and historic past. One thing that is very clear to me is that Mother Nature holds Galveston as near and dear to her heart as so many of us do (& have). So I look forward to the new and wonderful experiences that Galveston Island is about to offer up, and I look forward to new and interesting friendships and acquaintances as the population expands. But, I will undeniably be holding my breath (along with many others) as we face another hurricane season and I’ll try keeping those inevitable thoughts under my hat… lets just hope that Mother Nature will do the same.
Sandy Buckalew is a published freelance writer and poet with many published articles available on the Internet, and a recently published romance novel; “In A Pumpkin Shell”. She is also the owner/editor of www.TravelTexas-Online.com, a monthly ezine dedicated to travel destinations in the state of Texas in its fourth year of publication. A native Texan, living on the island of Galveston she is married with an 8 -year-old son, three dogs, and one bird. Her family enjoys every aspect of island life from fishing and boating to and surfing or beach combing. Her love is writing about the island and other Texas areas and attractions. She has found it to be a subject of endless topics with undoubtedly something for everyone. Her future writing plans are focused on a second novel involving Texas.

Downtown Houston Park video(Better Video) (http://www.click2houston.com/family/3833917/detail.html#)

Downtown Houston Park video II (http://www.khou.com/perl/common/video/wmPlayer.pl?title=www.khou.com/downtown_1019.wmv)

Does anybody have pics of the actual area surrounding the buildings?


The Monaco Website (http://www.monacocondo.com)
http://www.zieglercooper.com/live/graphics/monaco/monaco_hi%20rise%20city%20view.jpg
The Monaco is located on a wooded site along Buffalo Bayou within an upscale residential neighborhood inside Loop 610. The site, adjacent to Memorial Park, affords spectacular views of the park, downtown, and uptown. The sleek tower is finely crafted of pre-cast concrete and large expanses of glass. An illuminated top feature will be recognizable from miles away. Ten foot ceilings provide a unique, spacious feel for all units. Features such as large kitchens, a spacious foyer, flowing living/dining, large balconies and comprehensive finish-out packages are standard.

Amenities include state-of-the-art fitness adjacent to a roof-top pool terrace and jacuzzi, a great room, banquet/party room, and 24-hour security.

An impressive lobby with water features and landscaping will treat residents and visitors alike to a great view of the preserved wooded site sloping down to the bayou.


The Redstone Website (http://www.redstonecompanies.com/theredstone/index.html)
http://www.zieglercooper.com/live/graphics/redstone/final_redstone.jpg
On the grounds of
The Houstonian Hotel, Conference Center and Spa, this new 29-story luxury high-rise condominium project will feature 65 units. With a maximum of 3 units per floor, the building will provide underground parking for both residents and guests. The elegant common areas will include a great room, bar area and catering kitchen. The grounds will have a lush English garden with water feature; veranda overlooking the gardens, and an outdoor grill and party area. The second floor will offer individual, air conditioned storage units. There will be a 24-hour staffed guard house and 24-hour valet service, in addition to the 24-hour concierge service.

Within each unit, the major areas will feature 11 foot ceilings and hardwood floors. Gourmet kitchens will have stainless steel appliances, slab granite countertops, a wet bar, and butlers pantry. Baths will feature marble countertops, limestone flooring, frameless glass shower enclosures, and large “his” and “hers” closets. Each unit will also have a large terrace.

With its location on The Houstonian grounds, residents will be able to take advantage of all of the amenities offered by The Houstonian Hotel, including food delivery service from the Hotel’s restaurants and housekeeping services. All of this in addition to a complementary membership to The Houstonian Club.

Kirby Condos
http://www.zieglercooper.com/live/graphics/kirby/kirby-condo.jpg
This proposed 24-story high rise condominium project, located in the prestigious Upper Kirby District, is in the concept design stage. As currently planned, it will have 90 units, ranging in size from 1,200 square feet to 2,400 square feet. The exterior will be a modern profile, with skin of glass, curtainwall, and precast. Resident and guest parking will be in a 5 level garage, atop which there will be a garden terrace, with infinity edge pool, fitness facility, and wine-party room with an “urban” window overlooking Kirby and beyond.

Oct. 24, 2004, 1:06AM

Chinatown's core shifts westward
Immigrants' vision has put lots of bustle into Beltway 8 area
By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

On Sunday mornings at the Ocean Palace restaurant in Hong Kong City Mall, crowds fill the noisy, ballroom-size dining room for the variety of dim sum.

As diners socialize and sample small plates of curried squid, shrimp dumplings and chicken feet in bean sauce, shoppers begin to fill up the parking lot outside of the Bellaire Boulevard retail center, leaving latecomers hard-pressed to find spots.

They pack the stores of the Asian mall, anchored on one end by Ocean Place and at the other end, an ethnic food market similar to what might be found in Beijing or Bangkok.

For Hai Du Duong, the mall's owner, the scene is a vision fulfilled.

When he developed Hong Kong City Mall five years ago, there was a smattering of Asian businesses west of Beltway 8.

The core of this Chinatown district was once at the intersection of Bellaire and Corporate Drive. With the arrival of Hong Kong City Mall, the center has shifted.

Today, thanks in large part to Duong's vision, Asian-owned nail salons, fabric stores, sandwich shops, herbalists and acupuncture clinics line the mile-long stretch of Bellaire between Beltway 8 and Boone.

A fast-growing group
A fast-growing Asian population is fueling a major building boom in the area, including retail, housing and office projects.

Developers are scrambling to buy land around Chinatown, where values have jumped to $20 a square foot — up fourfold from a decade ago.

Since moving here from Vietnam in 1979 with virtually nothing, Duong has built an impressive portfolio of real estate, which includes four Hong Kong retail developments around Houston.

Now he's getting ready to build one more.

Known in this Chinatown community as Mr. Hai, Duong owns a large piece of land at the southeast corner of Bellaire and Boone, across from this buzzing mall, where he plans to build an even larger development.

The new project, which is expected to span half a million square feet, will include a ballroom, hotel, department store and additional retail space. The plan is to connect the two centers with a sky bridge across Boone.

Recognizing Duong's success, other Asian developers are rushing in. At least three large-scale retail projects are planned for the Chinatown area, just outside Beltway 8 in southwest Houston.

Tri La, the owner of the Kim Son restaurant chain, said Duong's Hong Kong City Mall helped pioneer this vibrant area.

"He's the one who started it," said La, who is planning a new location in Chinatown.

Duong a busy man
Duong, who declined to be interviewed for this article, doesn't like the spotlight, according to those who know him.

Even his son, who runs much of his family's retail operations, has a tough time pinning him down.

"Dad's usually hard to find," said James Duong, 25. "He's running around, doing details, taking care of the new projects."

When asked why he thinks his father has been so successful, James Duong answers quickly.

"Timing," he said. "He knows when to start and build projects."

Starting off small
After coming to Houston, Duong began a career in retail with a small medicine store he built by borrowing money from relatives.

In the 1980s, he owned the Hoa Binh shopping center, which is part of a Vietnamese enclave in the close-in neighborhood now referred to as Midtown.

He remodeled the center, leased it to Asian businesses and later sold it.

A few years later Duong built his first Hong Kong Market at Gessner and Harwin.

That led to more of these ethnic markets on Scarsdale in southeast Houston and on Veterans Memorial Drive in northwest Houston.

The Hong Kong City Mall on Bellaire, the largest of Duong's projects, opened in 1999.

It wasn't the first Asian mall, but with around 400,000 square feet, it was certainly the largest, and was a sign of things to come on what was then the western edge of Houston.

Before it was built up, the area had been mostly agricultural, said Donnie Chang, president of ABC Advisors, a realty firm.

But once the West Belt was completed in the late 1980s, the rural neighborhood began to rapidly change.

"The real turning point to the whole area was the completion of Beltway 8," said Chang. "But the completion of Hong Kong Market took the growing process a step further."

The immigrant from Vietnam has clearly attained the American dream.

Duong lives with his family in a large home in Sugar Land and travels around in a Rolls-Royce, according to those who know him.

He has owned at least one yacht and he collects cars, including BMWs, Mercedes and Jaguars.

Some fear overbuilding
With several retail projects proposed for the Bellaire corridor, some fear a situation where supply outstrips demand.

Along with the Hong Kong addition, at least three Asian developers have projects on the drawing board that would add more than 800,000 square feet of space to the market.

With a hotel planned for the area, it won't all be retail. But it's still the largest building boom this area has seen.

"I'm scared we're going to be overbuilt if all this new retail comes online," Chang said.

But the Duong family doesn't seem concerned.

"We're not worried because our center is unique," James Duong said.

If population projections prove true, there should be plenty of business to go around.

Between 1990 and 2003, the Asian population in the 77036 ZIP code, which includes parts of Sharpstown and other neighborhoods, has more than doubled to 12,534, according to Gonzales Group, a Houston-based consulting firm. Residents of Chinese and Vietnamese origin made up 80 percent of the Asian population for this ZIP code in 2003.

"Sometimes people underestimate the Asian market," La said.

Power of one group
The Asian population is the fastest-growing ethnic group in Houston. Between 1990 and 2000, it grew by 76 percent, said Stephen Klineberg, a sociology professor at Rice University who studies demographic shifts.

Put in perspective, Asians make up about 6 percent of Houston's population.

Attracted by Houston's relatively affordable homes and warm weather, Vietnamese have been migrating here by the thousands since the fall of Saigon in 1975, a trend expected to continue, according to Klineberg.

Many moved to Sharpstown, Sugar Land and Alief, areas surrounding the Chinatown district.

Nine out of every 10 Asian adults in Houston are first-generation immigrants who "want to create their own piece of what they left behind," Klineberg said.

And there's no sign of a slowdown.

That's good news for KB Home, a residential builder active in the Chinatown area.

Crescent Park, a new housing community nearby, has been the developer's fastest-selling project in the past couple years.

A month after it opened in 2002, more than 200 people reserved homes in the community, which is now sold out.

KB is now adding more homes.

"It's a great success story in that part of town," said Rick Stroud, marketing director for KB.

Combining cultures
Kim Son's La also sees a bigger opportunity.

The restaurant he is planning is just part of a much larger project. Along with Al Kashani of Horizon Group International, La is developing Saigon Houston Plaza. The center will contain 140,000 square feet of space for retail shops, offices, restaurants and a ballroom.

It will be designed with a boat theme for the huge numbers of Vietnamese refugees who fled their homeland by sea.

About 70 percent of the space has already been leased by Vietnamese businesses, including Radio Saigon Houston — KREH 900 AM — a law firm and a title company.

The developers are also trying to get Starbucks to join the mix. But it hasn't been easy, La said.

"A lot of Asians drink it," he said. "Even my daughter and my wife have to drink it every morning."

Plans for the nearly 15-acre project include medical facilities and a retirement community.

"We're not going to be just a shopping center, but we're going to be the Galleria of Bellaire," he said.

With the rising number of rooftops and residents, the grocery business in the Chinatown area is spreading outside of the Beltway. Most new stores are concentrated along the Beltway between Bellaire and West Bellfort.

H-E-B, Viet Hoa and Food Town have opened huge grocery stores — and Wal-Mart will soon enter the market.

The nation's biggest retailer is planning a supercenter for the vacant corner of Elmsworth and Beltway 8.

The new store will sell general merchandise, as well as groceries and garden supplies.

Holly Montalbano, a spokeswoman for H-E-B, said customers of the company's Chinatown store are more ethnically diverse than any of its other supermarkets.

And H-E-B's Chinatown location has the largest seafood market in the Texas-based chain.

Fresh seafood, a staple of the Asian diet, is a key point of competition for the area's grocery stores.

At Viet Hoa International Market, the seafood market is more than double the size of its meat or produce sections.

"We bring in live seafood from the East and West coasts," Vican Tan of Viet Hoa said. "Our strongest sales are on seafood."

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ABC13 Eyewitness News
(10/18/04 - HOUSTON) — There is no denying the two new sports facilities have given downtown Houston a big boost, not to mention light rail and the Main Street district. But downtown leaders are planning much more for the future of downtown.
Fifteen months in the making, downtown development leaders are calling these plans the framework for the future of downtown. They are long-term and even include the possibility of moving I-45.

Downtown Houston has come a long way in the last 20 years, but it still has a long way to go.
"I think they need to work on more mass transit," suggested one resident.

"Probably more retail," another felt.

Another Houstonian added, "A casino would be nice!"

While there are no plans for a casino, downtown development leaders do have a grand vision for Houston for the next 20 years -- a framework to help make the city more vibrant.

Guy Hagstette of the Downtown District said, "We think residential is a key issue for downtown."

Hagstette unveiled the vision Monday. It makes residential neighborhood development a top priority. Currently only 3,000 people live in downtown, the planners want that to be 20,000 by 2025. Building up will be essential.

There is a focus on sidewalks, more family-friendly community venues and green space. For instance, the concrete around the George R. Brown Convention Center could be transformed into a vast central park -- a contrast to its surroundings.

"We would want very dense, dense development around it, but then you'd have a very green, somewhat natural feeling oasis around it," explained Bob Eury of Central Houston, Inc.

Luring new retail to downtown is also part of this plan. Foleys would be the center point of a retail district. Planners hope to have an incentive package to offer retailers as early as next year.

The most ambitious part of the plan revolves around I-45 to the west of downtown. The proposal is to move less than a mile of freeway to the west about 500 feet. Buffalo Bayou and the Theater District would be unobscured and planners promise downtown would be easier to get to.

This vision for downtown is just a concept right now, but backers believe it's all attainable.

Eury said, "I think when we look back to our experience over the last 10 years, we say, 'Wow! I can't believe we did that.' And I think for this it's going to be hard, but we can do it."

Planners admit implementing this vision won't be easy and there will likely be many changes. As for the plans for I-45, the move would happen only when TxDOT was ready to refurbish that section of freeway. That could be as far off as the year 2025.

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Allen Parkway
Houston, Texas
430 Units

ZOM Allen Parkway is planned as a 430-unit luxury development located in the vibrant Montrose / Museum District of Houston. Envisioned to reshape the Allen Parkway buildingscape with a distinctive residential landmark, the architecture is inspired by the grand resort hotels of the early 1900s, with Mediterranean influences. This architecture and era evoke an image of "casual elegance" that blends well with the Southern influences of a coastal city such as Houston.

The 7.3-acre site is located on Allen Parkway, one of the primary routes into Downtown. Many of the units will feature views of the Downtown skyline, as well as the "Buffalo Bayou". ZOM Allen Parkway will offer excellent access to the Houston Central Business District, the world-renowned Texas Medical Center, the Galleria area, as well as a variety of retail, cultural, recreational and municipal services.

The four-story structure, constructed upon a podium-parking deck surrounds six heavily landscaped courtyards with each courtyard emanating a different theme. The parking deck will offer elevator access to air conditioned, highly finished interior corridors. An expansive, linear resort style pool will serve as a focal point. The architectural and floor plan design elements will combine to create a unique and desirable urban residential address.



Features
ZOM Allen Parkway will offer a superior level of quality and features when compared to the existing multifamily alternatives within the market. Distinguishing features include:


Distinct Architectural Identity
Spacious, Functional Living Units in a Variety of 1, 2, and 3 Bedroom Floor Plans
Flexible Space Within Units Space Not Identified By Fixture or Floor Finish
Granite Countertops in Kitchens of Select Units
Upgraded Appliances
Tile Flooring in Both the Kitchens and Bathrooms
Washer and Dryer in Each Unit
Luxurious Master Suites with Separate Shower and Tub
State-of-the-Art Fitness Center with Cardio Theatre
Resort Style Swimming Pool on an Expansive Palm Fringed Deck Area
Numerous, Heavily-Landscaped Courtyards with Individual Theme and Character
Below-Grade Parking Providing Ease of Access from Units

Downtown can learn a thing or two from these midrises going up in midtown. All of them seem like mixed used developments with retail on the bottom floors. Is this midrise finished. Has it even started?

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Jennifer Dawson
Houston Business Journal
Atlanta-based Choice Condominiums has purchased 2400 McCue, a multifamily complex in the Galleria area, and is converting its 200 rentable units into for-sale condominiums.


Ron Lozoff, a member/manager of Choice Condominiums, says he has another apartment property under contract in the Texas Medical Center area, but will not identify which site. Those units will also be converted to condos when the deal closes, which is expected by early December.

The high-end 2400 McCue property was acquired Sept. 30 for more than $30 million, Lozoff says. The total deal is worth $46.6 million, which is the retail value of the condos once they're sold, he says. Individual condo prices have yet to be announced.

The complex was bought by a partnership called 2400 McCue Residential LP, of which Choice Condominiums is the managing partner. Lozoff represented the buyer on the transaction through the firm's in-house brokerage company, Eli Lee Equities Inc.

The complex was bought from Brownstones at McCue, a partnership formed by Dallas-based developer HSA&D. G. Craig LaFollette, J. Todd Stewart and Todd Marix of CB Richard Ellis represented the seller.

The midrise property, which is 90 percent leased, is located across the street from the Galleria. The complex has 23 different floor plans for one-, two- and three-bedroom units, which have an average size of 1,170 square feet.

A resort-style swimming pool and fitness center are surrounded by the building, which provides privacy in one of Houston's busiest shopping districts.

The developer will update the three-year-old complex by adding granite countertops and hardwood floors inside the units. The building will also get a new paint job, and the hallways will be redecorated.

Choice Condominiums also owns City Plaza at 1330 Old Spanish Trail, The Oaks at West University at 4041 Law St. and Reata at River Oaks at 3231 Allen Parkway.

Houston is about to secure a front-row seat in the national sports arena.


Fox Sports Grill is planning to enter the Texas market early next month with the opening of an upscale sports bar in Houston's Galleria mall. The venue will be only the fifth of its kind in the country.

Fox Sports Grill was founded in 2001 by Fox Sports and B&B Restaurant Ventures. The first Fox Sports Grill opened in Scottsdale, Ariz., in November 2002. Other locations include Irvine, Calif.; Seattle; and Nyack, N.Y. An Atlanta location is scheduled to open this fall.

The local Fox Sports Grill will open one year after rumors surfaced that competitor ESPN Zone was looking for space to launch a similar concept in Houston.

Last fall, retail sources said ESPN Zone was considering touching down in Houston. But the sports-themed restaurant has yet to make an appearance in the Bayou City. (See "ESPN Zone kicks around plan to enter Houston retail scene," Oct. 24, 2003.)

ESPN Zone spokesman John Pierce said this week that the company does not currently have plans to establish a Houston presence.

"Houston is a great sports town, but we're not growing our concept right now," Pierce says.

Fox Sports does, however, see scoring potential in the Bayou City.

The company's 15,000-square-foot restaurant and bar will be located next to Saks Fifth Avenue and will feature an outdoor deck with fire pit, atrium patio seating inside the Galleria, a cigar humidor, multiple plasma screens and sports packages for all major sporting events.

"We are elevating the traditional sports bar to a new level," says Bill Freeman, president and CEO of Fox Sports Grill.

He says the concept is unique because it places an emphasis on food and entertainment and is able to hold live entertainment productions, thanks to the deep pockets Fox Sports.

For example, the Fox Sports Grill in Seattle presents a live television show hosted by former Houston Oilers quarterback Warren Moon.

Freeman says Fox Sports chose to locate a grill in Houston because the area is not fully served when it comes to offering a combination of destination dining and high-energy entertainment venues.

The fact that the Galleria hosts a large number of business travelers and pedestrian traffic gives Fox Sports Grill an opportunity to win over a wide range of new customers, says Freeman, who counts Champps Americana, P.F. Changs and The Cheesecake Factory among the grill's head-to-head competitors.


"We're actually competing against any entertainment event or any restaurant for the same discretionary dollars," he says.

Another competitor, Shucker's Sports Bar, will be located in hitting distance of Fox Sports Grill's new facility in the Galleria.

Officials with Shucker's, which also operates in the Galleria, declined to comment on Fox Sports Grill's impending arrival.

Scoring points
Freeman says Fox Sports Grill targets the "socially active" crowd who dine out regularly.

He says 25- to 35-year-olds typically make up the eatery's late-night crowd, while 35- to 50-year-olds are the mainstream customer base.

Chris Tripoli, president of A La Carte Foodservice Consulting, says Houston has yet to experience the "reinvention" of sports bars that take food more seriously and offer an overall elevated experience.

"The sports bars in Houston have slowly all gotten too similar with televisions, snack food and beer," he says. "The new wave of sports bars keep the sports feel but also offer a good restaurant with more enhanced decor."

Indeed, Freeman says Fox Sports Grill will have its own executive chef, and the menu will feature items such as Maryland lump crab cakes, steaks, ribs and bite-size burgers.

Tripoli believes Fox Sports Grill has a good chance of making it in the competitive Houston restaurant industry because of its "celebrity" name connection and prime location within the Galleria.

For almost 90 years, the Port of Houston has been your neighbor. As we conduct our day-to-day business, we are always mindful of the community that we all share.

Today, the port looks forward to expanding our business capabilities all the while maintaining high standards for being a good neighbor.

In 2003, the Barbours Cut terminal posted yet another record year by handling more than one million containers. Barbours Cut serves the Port of Houston well, but rapid market growth puts intense pressure on the facility, stretching it beyond its storage capacity. Barbours Cut is at the brink of gridlock, and the port needs more space to meet project growth and to further contribute to our economy.

To relieve this growth pressure and meet the demands of our customers, the Port Authority is building the Bayport Container and Cruise Terminal. This $1.2 billion project will develop in a market-driven timeline and is an engineering marvel.

As we move forward with the Bayport Terminal expansion project, we continue to work to address all community concerns regarding this proposed facility, all the while setting a new standard in the maritime industry for environmental stewardship and community responsiveness.

The Bayport facility represents good business for the Houston-Galveston region. Bayport will generate almost 12,000 jobs in the first 10 years. Added economic impact to our region means more than $1 billion in new business revenues and more than $40 million in new tax revenues — each year.

Bayport has been designed with the highest environmental standards and procedures. Our plans go well beyond the letter of the law, and we push to exceed standards and requirements for protecting the environment as well as responding to considerable community input.

The goal of the Bayport environmental plan is to meet and exceed all applicable local, state and federal requirements. The Port of Houston has an industry-leading environmental program that we are very proud of, and we are designing Bayport with state-of-the-art features.

Addressing function, Bayport will operate under a four-part stormwater discharge system that is designed beyond any local, state or federal requirements. During the construction phases, the port will use best management practices to control erosion and minimize the level of solid particulates in stormwater runoff.

Once Bayport is in operation, the four-part system will collect all rainwater runoff to reduce potential material from the terminal grounds before it ever reaches the bay. The Galveston Bay system will be protected by capturing the first inch of rainfall from the facility and diverting it into a holding pond. The first flush pond will trap suspended solids, thus decreasing the discharge of sediments into the channel and bay.

To illustrate the point, Barbours Cut and other terminals across the country do not currently have this specially designed four-part system. When it rains, water runs through the terminal's trench system and is directed to the bay. We sample stormwater at Barbours Cut and have never — never — exceeded any regulatory limits. And those successful returns are collected from a source that does not have the high level of protection that Bayport will have.

To further decrease the rate of stormwater discharge associated with concrete pavement at the new terminals, the port is constructing the South Terminal Retention Pond. This basin will protect Pine Gully by capturing and holding stormwater in excess of one inch then releasing it slowly. Additionally, the retention pond will have a created wetland, further filtering water before discharging it into Pine Gully.

Again, with environmental protection in mind, terminal areas that could potentially impact stormwater — such as the equipment and crane maintenance and equipment parking areas — will have isolated drainage basins. After removing any suspended solids and oil and grease, the stormwater will be released into the first flush pond.

Addressing value, the Port of Houston and the Army Corps of Engineers are creating 4,200 acres of marshland as part of the Houston Ship Channel project, the Bayport project also will include marshland as part of its mitigation plan. The Port Authority will create up to another 200 acres of marshlands in Galveston Bay from dredge material. These marshlands act as a nursery for marine life and provide excellent bird watching and fishing opportunities, thus increasing the recreational value of Galveston Bay.

The Port Authority has purchased 173 acres near the Armand Bayou Nature Center. This site will be protected as a conservation easement, creating nearly 70 acres of emergent freshwater wetlands, enhancing 12 acres of existing wetlands, preserving 23.7 acres of forested upland and restoring 71 acres of upland coastal prairie.

At this site, the Port Authority will replace the nearly 20 acres of jurisdictional wetlands at a rate of nearly 3.5 to 1. The Army Corps of Engineers determines the total mitigation acreage, and the Port is ready to comply with the Corps' replacement requirements, whatever they may be.

This improvement and dedication of an environmental easement will benefit the community and the nearby Armand Bayou Nature Center and help to preserve a natural area for generations to enjoy.

The Port of Houston is not planning and has not requested deepening the channel to 50 feet. For that matter, the Army Corps of Engineers has no such plans, either.

If the Army Corps of Engineers ever decided to deepen the Houston Ship Channel and the Bayport Channel to 50 feet, they would need to complete a separate environmental impact statement. For example, the Houston Ship Channel is currently being deepened to 45 feet from 40 feet. This action required Congressional approval in the Water Resources Development Act, a bond election approval by the voters of Harris County, completion of an EIS by the Corps and annual appropriations by Congress.

The Port of Houston is committed to maintaining established International Standards. In 2002, the Port of Houston became the first U.S. port to achieve compliance with ISO 14001. We received that designation based on voluntary environmental management systems implemented at Barbours Cut and the Central Maintenance Facility.

On opening day, Bayport will be ISO 14001 compliant. This new facility, a jewel to our economy, our environment and our community, will meet ISO 14001 standards because we are planning and will construct this terminal to be a stellar example of environmental stewardship now and in the future.

The port believes that the water quality plans for Bayport exceed all current governmental standards and help to raise the bar for all future environmental protection — protecting our bay, our community and all of Texas.

Bayport's economics

After 10 years (2015)
Jobs
Container 12,245
Cruise 2,908
Total 15,153

Business Revenue
Container $720 million
Cruise $76 million
Total $796 million

Construction Jobs 16,467

Full build out (2030)
Jobs
Container 29,255
Cruise 2,908
Total 32,163

Business Revenue
Container $1.73 billion
Cruise $0.70 billion
Total $2.43 billion

Construction Jobs

Condo tower on downtown horizon
ING Clarion maps plan for residential high-rise, parking garage, historic redevelopment projectBy Jennifer Dawson
Houston Business Journal
Updated: 8:00 p.m. ET June 06, 2004The next skyscraper to be built in downtown Houston may have more to do with bedrooms than boardrooms.


ING Clarion has drafted a master plan for development of a two-block area downtown.

According to a source involved in the project, the plan includes construction of a 30-story condominium tower and a 475-space parking garage with an underground tunnel, along with the renovation of a historic building.

The proposed development covers the 1111 Bagby block occupied by ChevronTexaco Heritage Plaza, plus a surface parking lot catty-corner to the office building and across the street from the Doubletree Hotel.

The parking lot would become residential high-rise condos designed to overlook Sam Houston Park. ING Clarion bought the parking lot in December 2002 from the oil-rich Blaffer family.

The market may be suited for a another downtown high-rise residential project, if preliminary interest in the nearby Shamrock Tower condominium is any indication.

The project being developed at 617 Main by Tracy Suttles, president of NBC Holdings, is named after the old Shamrock Hotel, the Houston landmark near the Texas Medical Center that was demolished in the late 1980s.

Tomas Bruncke of Keller Williams Realty says 51 percent of Shamrock Tower's 280 units already have been reserved by prospective buyers who put down a $1,000 deposit.

Bruncke says that once certain approvals are in place, reservations can be converted into earnest money contracts by the end of June, with construction slated to start in August.

Minnette Boesel, who has been involved in redeveloping and marketing some of downtown's most notable properties, says the intersection of Allen Parkway and Bagby would be a "very good" location for the proposed ING Clarion project.

"It's on the edge of the core of the business district," says the principal of Minnette Boesel Properties Inc.

Unlike other luxury high-rises, the project would not be able to use downtown views as a prime selling point. But Boesel notes that the views north into the park and west along Allen Parkway would be unobstructed.

"Nothing could ever be built in front of it," she says. "That's an interesting location."

Bill Franks, president of Spire Realty Group, says more residential deals like this are needed if Houston's Central Business District is going to grow into a 24-hour downtown.

"If we are truly to eventually end up with a residential component in downtown that we need to support the 'new downtown,' projects like this are going to need to take place," Franks says.

"That area of the CBD is a very desirous area," he adds. "It's got great visibility."

Wow. Where was this thread hidden? I have seen some awesome stuff on this thread that will be going on in this city.

Beachtown finally breaks ground

By Laura Elder
The Daily News

Published November 01, 2004

Beachtown breakthrough: It’s more than a decade in the making, but construction finally has begun on Beachtown Galveston, a $120 million project on 125 acres of East Beach, east of The Galvestonian condomin-iums.

Earlier this month, Beachtown Galveston Corp. headed by Tofigh Shirazi, had a groundbreaking ceremony. Shirazi purchased the East Beach land 11 years ago. “It took a long time,” he said.

The first phase of Beachtown, which will be modeled after traditional neighborhoods with town centers and plenty of walkways, will include 150 single-family units and some townhomes. Also, crews will begin work on the town center, which will include commercial space. Work on the first phase should be complete by March, Shirazi said.


Downtown Center
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The Village
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The Waterfront
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http://www.beachtowngalveston.com/pages/1/index.htm

Originally posted by ReggieZ

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GALVESTON

Located at 9420 Seawall Boulevard, in Galveston, Ocean Grove condominiums will certainly set a new standard on island living.

Whether you just want to admire breathtaking views of the Gulf of Mexico from your terrace facing the lushly landscaped courtyard, or wish to take a dip in our never-ending 100-foot-long swimming pool, Ocean Grove Condominiums is certainly the place our island has been waiting for.

54 elegantly crafted units with nine foot ceilings as a standard height (soaring eleven foot ceilings for penthouses), each unit comes with two designated, parking spaces. Our poured-in-place reinforced concrete structure and masonry exterior walls are designed to keep maintenance and maintenance costs at a minimum.

High-speed Internet capability and state of the art cable connectivity come standard on each unit. Electronically controlled access has been appointed to assure owner's peace of mind.

Another high quality development by Prida Construction Ltd. which will assure buyer's peace of mind knowing that their units have been crafted to the most rigorous construction standards and codes.

Hope this works for you Texasboy...:)

Hope this works for you Texasboy...:)

This is fine, even though the Projects and Construction subforum is kind of slow. I apreciate it though.

Nov. 2, 2004, 10:11PM

Flooding disrupts MetroRail
9 inches of rain inundates tracks in the Medical Center

By LUCAS WALL
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Flooding shut down MetroRail service early Tuesday between the Texas Medical Center and downtown, delaying commutes for thousands of workers.
ADVERTISEMENT

Heavy rain overnight left 9 inches of water atop the tracks on Fannin where it passes under Holcombe, according to the Metropolitan Transit Authority. Maggi Stewart, Metro spokeswoman, said it was apparent by 4:20 a.m., shortly before rail service was scheduled to begin, that trains would not be able to travel past the Texas Medical Center Transit Center.

"People were able to get to the transit center, but then the trains couldn't go in the underpass," Stewart said. "When it's more than 4 inches, it's difficult to maintain service."

This is the first time the Holcombe underpass, the lowest point along the line, has flooded since MetroRail began carrying passengers Jan. 1. Flooding also interrupted train service one evening in June after heavy rains inundated Midtown.

Stewart said Metro provided an emergency shuttle bus Tuesday along the rail line between downtown and the Medical Center until the floodwaters receded about 7 a.m. Notice of the shuttle bus should have been on the signs at affected rail stops, she said.

In response to confusion during other incidents this year, the transit authority began distributing a brochure onboard trains last week explaining to riders what to do if light rail service is disrupted. That information is not available at stations, however.

From The Medical Center News


Memorial Hermann to Construct Area's Largest Medical Office Building

Jamie O' Roark
memorial Hermann Healthcare System

With the turning of dirt the shovels at a ground breaking ceremony later this month, Memorial Hermann Healthcare Sysstem will begin construction on the city's largest commercial construction project - the $155 million Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza. When complete, the building will be the largest medical office in the Texas Medical Center area.

Designed in partnership with one of Houston's leading health care developers, Mischer Healthcare Services, the new facilty to be located at the corner of Fannin and McGregor Strees will encompass more than 500,000 rentable square feet. This includes office space for up to 200 physicians, and a 2,400-vehicle parking garage. Services offered include an onsite ambulatory care center with either surgical suites, four endoscopy suites, and a full-modality imaging center. The ambulatory care center will occupy 100,000 square feet on two of the project's 30 floors.

Another two floors on the lobby/concourse levels will be filled by retail shops, services, and restaurants and will conveniently connect, via the existing skybridge, to comprehensive resources at Memorial Hermann and Memorial Hermann Children's Hospitals. Also easily accessible via skybridge are The University of Texas Health Science Center Professional Building and UT-Houston Medical School.

"With its modern design, sophisticated construction, state-of-the-art services, and skybridge access to the TMC's founding hospital, this facility will be home to the best and brightest in Houston's medical community," said Dan Wolterman, Memorial Hermann Healthcare System president and CEO. "It represents, once again, our system's leadership commitment to innovation."

The Project will create 375 construction jobs during the two-year construction period and 191 permanent jobs upon opening.

http://www.memorialhermannmedicalplaza.com/common/images/hdr_location.gif


Texas Medical Center's future tallest, Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza, now has a website.

http://www.memorialhermannmedicalplaza.com/location/index.html

Memorial Hermann Medical Plaza Video

http://www.memorialhermannmedicalplaza.com/video/index.html

it al seems very luxury to me:D

No new talls in Houston? Approve, proposed? Something?

1401 Louisiana. The black building in the rendering is the property.

http://www.wedgeproperties.com/images/1401_louis_sm.jpg

1401 LOUISIANA

An exceptional opportunity has emerged for a lead tenant to make a significant impression on Houston's Central Business District. An opportunity to "fine tune" both the interior and exterior to specific requirements. An opportunity to claim the building's name identification. 1401 Louisiana, a proposed 400,000 square foot Class A office tower -- offering unique lead tenant options -- adjacent to WEDGE International Tower, in Houston's Central Business District.

Nice job Texasboy :okay:

1401 Louisiana. The black building in the rendering is the property.

http://www.wedgeproperties.com/images/1401_louis_sm.jpg

1401 LOUISIANA

An exceptional opportunity has emerged for a lead tenant to make a significant impression on Houston's Central Business District. An opportunity to "fine tune" both the interior and exterior to specific requirements. An opportunity to claim the building's name identification. 1401 Louisiana, a proposed 400,000 square foot Class A office tower -- offering unique lead tenant options -- adjacent to WEDGE International Tower, in Houston's Central Business District.


this is some good stuff texasboy keep up the good work...how tall will this building be and it will be for business right??

this is some good stuff texasboy keep up the good work...how tall will this building be and it will be for business right??

It is an office tower and I do not know the exact height. I do know it will have 30 floors. To get an idea, the Wedge building, which is the brown building next to it, is 550 feet.

http://img123.exs.cx/img123/3181/DCP03013.jpg

http://img107.exs.cx/img107/9696/DCP03014.jpg

http://img115.exs.cx/img115/368/DCP03037.jpg

http://img125.exs.cx/img125/2717/DCP03038.jpg

http://img109.exs.cx/img109/9682/DCP03039.jpg

http://img109.exs.cx/img109/1160/DCP03040.jpg

http://img109.exs.cx/img109/249/DCP03041.jpg

Cool pics, texasboy. Did you take those?

Cool pics, texasboy. Did you take those?

They are from the Houston Architecture site.

Nice updates texasboy. I hope city developers know there is nothing wrong with putting midrises in downtown.

Nice updates texasboy. I hope city developers know there is nothing wrong with putting midrises in downtown.

I agree. It can easily fill up some of the parking lots and bring much more life into downtown.

Construction Webcam

http://www.lakewood.cc/assets/images/wc-352x240.jpg


Finished product
http://www.lakewood.cc/img/header_lwintcenter.jpg

http://img91.exs.cx/img91/5954/galvestoncriminaljusticecenter.jpg
Rendering of Galveston County Criminal Justice Center

This is going up on Broadway

Galveston's new criminal justice center includes a 1,200-bed jail facility, courtrooms that house the county and district courts and a law enforcement facility.

Scope of service(s): Pure Construction Management
Start/Completion: January 2003/January 2005
Cost Range: $75 million
Region: Southwest
http://www.gilbaneco.com/regions/projects_southwest.aspx

Thanks for the post ReggieZ. BTW, where do you find your updates?

www.galvestondailynews.com

www.guidrynews.com

www.westbeachislander.com

www.galveston.com

New resort for the island

ESCAPES!
To date, Escapes! has developed or acquired and rebuilt resorts in Arkansas, Missouri, Texas, Alabama and Florida and plans to open several additional resorts in the coming years. Its timeshare resorts currently participating in the Interval exchange program include: Escapes! to Bella Vista Village, Escapes! to Hot Springs Village, and Escapes! to Cherokee Village in Arkansas, and Escapes! to the Gulf at Orange Beach, Alabama. Escapes! to the Gulf at Panama City Beach (Florida) will be available for exchange later this year...
http://www.tug2.net/news/ii/040818_Escapes.html

http://img100.exs.cx/img100/8191/full.jpg

http://img100.exs.cx/img100/4895/escapes.jpg

Pointe West Galveston
Five miles of coast calls you to explore. In between, a community comes together, at the Beach Club, General Store, at the proposed Marina, on the piers, at the shore. Here, life slows to island time and in between beach and bay you find a coastal home and community like no other.
http://www.centexdestinationproperties.com/pointewest.html

http://img100.exs.cx/img100/2973/beachhouse.jpg

http://img100.exs.cx/img100/3733/beachhouse1.jpg

http://img100.exs.cx/img100/8839/zm-villa_rendering.jpg

http://img100.exs.cx/img100/6300/zm-villa_rendering2.jpg

http://img100.exs.cx/img100/4268/zm-cottage_rendering2.jpg
VIEW
http://img100.exs.cx/img100/2190/zm-gallery5.jpg

That project is just beautiful. Is that by any chance part of the Beachtown Galveston project?

Nah, these projects are on the west end of the island, Beachtown is on the east end.

The twin towers of Orion will start construction this December. Each building will be 37 floors.

This is the news story from the Houston Business Journal:

Asbury Place Development, the developer of a proposed pair of high-rise condominium towers, has secured a financial partner that will manage construction of the luxury units.

Orion Tarragon, a new development partnership between Asbury and Tarragon Corp., is scheduled to break ground on the first building of the Orion condominiums near Memorial Park in December for completion in the second quarter of 2007.

The 50-50 Orion Tarragon partnership went into effect Nov. 1.

Tarragon, a publicly traded development firm, will finance, develop and manage construction of Orion. The Asbury Place group is handling sales, marketing and design of the project, which is located on Asbury Place between Westcott and Shepherd near Memorial Drive.

"We originally had not intended to bring a partner on, but we thought with the size and complexity of this, we needed a firm that had a lot of experience in the financing and construction," says developer Robert Day, who started the Asbury group. "It's kind of grown into a massive, complex project."

The buildings will cost close to $250 million to construct, and the units' total sales value will reach $425 million, Day says.

Designs call for units in the two 37-story towers to span an average of 3,500 square feet and carry a $1.1 million median price. The first building, slated to have 180 units, has already sold 99 units for a total of $80 million, Day says.

"The sales had outpaced what we thought they were going to be," says Day, who has a development firm based in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "I think it will be an overwhelming success. Houston is ripe for this project."

Day says a partner was not needed to move forward with the project, but by bringing in Tarragon, they will be able to construct both towers within a year of each other.

The second tower will likely break ground this time next year, which will allow the exterior of the second building to be finished by the time residents begin moving into the first tower.

http://www.groovehouse.org/images/newconstruction.jpg

http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/04/11/10/empirelofts.jpg

Project takes second bite at Galleria housing apple
Manhattan units did so well, new condos keep theme
By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Houston loft developer Randall Davis plans to build a new crop of condominiums in the Galleria area after quickly selling out one project there.

The new development, called Empire, will be built next to the recently completed Manhattan, Davis' first residential building near Houston's best-known shopping mall.

The project is at the corner of Post Oak Boulevard and Hidalgo, next to the Williams Tower high-rise and Water Wall. The 64-foot-high water feature and several nearby lakes have become a tourist attraction.

"The idea is to build a community around the lakes," Davis of Randall Davis Co. said. "The lakes represent our Central Park, if you will."

This is also the second partnership between Davis' company and Hines, the nearly 50-year-old real estate firm.

Hines, which developed the Galleria, Williams Tower and many of Houston's prime high-rise office buildings, owns much of the land in the area, including the dirt under Manhattan and Empire.

Davis said there's enough vacant land nearby for two more buildings.

But so far there haven't been talks between the two companies for future collaborations.

Empire's design will continue on the theme of Manhattan, with a New York-inspired art deco look.

Houston-based Ziegler Cooper, which designed the high-rise residential towers Villa d'Este and Montebello in Uptown Park and the Waterway Lofts in The Woodlands, is the project's architect.

The one-bedroom to three-bedroom units will range from the $300,000s to $1 million.

In selling Manhattan, Davis discovered a stronger demand for one-story units, so even the most expensive units, the penthouses, will be one-story.

That's because empty nesters, a large chunk of inner-city condominium buyers, prefer flats, said Edith Personette of Personette & Associates.

Half of Empire's 70 units, which will all have views of either the lakes or the Water Wall, will be one-story flats.

Most units will have high ceilings, wood floors, wine storage and recessed, or undermount, sinks in the kitchens and bathrooms.

And along with a pool and spa area, the building will have a private movie theater for residents.

Davis said he typically sells about 20 percent of his buildings to investors, who lease the units or turn them over for a profit.

"A lot of people look at the condos I do as a stock-market alternative," he said.

Construction on Empire will begin after 40 percent of the units have been sold.

Davis has spent the past decade developing loft buildings with spacious studios in the inner city. His firm has transformed old downtown structures into rental units with exposed pipes and brick walls, as well as constructing new properties tailored for higher-end buyers.

A new Renaissance Hotel will be going up in downtown Houston. Visit the website below for pictures and information. Once you get to the website. click skip intro. Click on the portfolio tab and click on Hospitality. The hotel is the box with the number 6 at the top of the page.

www.kirksey.com

If you are familiar with the seawall, its the massive red brick building on 21st...

Looks like two buildings are going to take its place
http://img57.exs.cx/img57/5586/central1.jpg
http://www.eubanks-architects.com/special_3.html

Landry's buys Beach Central

By Laura Elder
The Daily News
Published August 21, 2004

GALVESTON — Landry’s Restaurants said it plans to demolish the long-empty Beach Central Convention Center and replace it with about 45,000 square feet of retail space on what the company considers a prime Seawall parcel.

The company, which owns multiple island restaurants and tourist spots and operates the city’s new convention center, said it paid $850,000 for the nearly two-acre site at 2100 Seawall Blvd., formerly known as Moody Civic Center.

Landry’s purchased the building from MBP Corp., a company owned by island developer and oil tycoon George Mitchell.

Under the terms of the agreement, Mitchell plans to keep the parking lot, which is next to Hotel Galvez at 2024 Seawall Blvd.

Landry’s CEO Tilman Fertitta said demolition of the property will begin in six to nine months.

“That thing looks deplorable,” Fertitta said. “The East End of the island is enjoying revitalization, and I enjoy being a part of it.”

In its prime, the 50-year-old center was used by the city for meeting space.

Last year, MBP, which in 1997 won a five-way race to buy the city-owned center with a $550,000 bid, had begun soliciting bids for its demolition.

When MBP purchased the center, Mitchell got a potential conference center for his neighboring hotel. But nothing came of his plans to spend $1 million renovating the center.

The convention and civic center was conceived and planned by W.L. Moody Jr. a banker, hotelier and all-around empire builder.

In 1964, the Moody Foundation gave the center to the city. Since, the center has been replaced by new facilities, including the one on 57th Street and Seawall Boulevard, built by a venture between Landry’s and the city.

Landry’s is responsible for redevelopment from 52nd to 57th streets, including Rainforest Café and Lost River Ride near the San Luis Resort Complex. .

What would this city be without Tilman Fertita? I do think he has done a lot for Galveston, and he needs to start heading west back into Houston with some of his development.

I know, right. But its only right, its his hometown. I wish Landry's would have headquartered in Galveston, it may have had another scraper.

Nov. 13, 2004, 10:31PM

Theater District lights up the night
Electronic signs that sparked fight have been set up
By RON NISSIMOV
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

City officials recently put up three electronic billboards in the downtown Theater District, four years after City Council approved the installations.

Two of the signs are outside Wortham Center, and the third is above the front doors of Jones Hall. The signs will not have video or moving text, and will display new images every eight seconds, said Dawn Ullrich, spokeswoman for the city's Convention and Entertainment Facilities Department.

The signs replace previous marquees of the same size that used manually placed letters.

"The signs allow us to use colors and photographs and put more information on the billboards," Ullrich said.

City Council approved the installation in 2000.

The signs then became entangled in controversy in 2001 when several organizations, including the Houston Texans and the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo, proposed amending the city's billboard ordinance to allow convention centers, performing arts facilities or sports and entertainment complexes to erect as many as six electronic billboards, each with a size limit of 1,925 square feet.

Several groups that had fought to reduce the number of billboards in Houston, including, Scenic Texas Inc., opposed the proposal.

At the time, Jordy Tollett, director of the Convention and Entertainment Facilities Department, proposed allowing large signs with video in the Theater District.

In May 2002, City Council approved a compromise that allowed smaller electronic signs in three areas: The Theater District, the Harris County complex at Reliant Park, and the East Side Sports and the Convention Complex District, which includes Minute Maid Park, the Toyota Center, the George R. Brown Convention Center and the adjacent convention center hotel.

As part of the compromise, council created a downtown scenic district ordinance that would phase out some existing billboards and signs and prevent the installation of new ones.

The city has no immediate plans to put up electronic billboards at the convention center or the hotel, Ullrich said. The other facilities have installed billboards, she said.

She said City Council in June agreed to pay Daktronics, Inc., $677,176 to install the three signs.

http://www.innerloopcondos.com/vistas/images/views/views_08.jpg
http://www.innerloopcondos.com/vistas/popup/images/vistasperspective.jpg

$140's to the high $200's
Midtown European Style Living. Offering dramatic Downtown views, The Vistas is situated in the heart of this chic, up-and-coming area of the city and is only a few short blocks away from urban entertainment and work centers, great restaurants, shops and galleries.

http://www.innerloopcondos.com/vistas/

Thanks Texas boy, interesting stuff.

This was posted from KinkaidAlum of the Houston Architecture website:

I am surprised nobody has mentioned this news... Lyme Properties of Cambridge, MA has announced that it has closed on property located at 1911 Holcombe between the Spires Condo and the Ronald McDonald House. Plans call for a building that will house 25,000 square feet of retail/restaurant space, 125,000 square feet of research and lab space, and 350,000 square feet of medical office space.

The best news is that Lyme Properties erects FIRST CLASS projects. Here's a look at a similar sized building rising in Boston's Longwood Medical Center right now. The Blackfan Research Center will have underground parking and rise 300 feet above ground (18 floors).

http://www.bankerandtradesman.com/newspics/blackfan.jpg

It's also another sign that the Texas Medical Center is really taking off. I cant wait to see what the Houston project will look like. To see more examples of Lyme's work, check out www.lymeproperties.com

Lyme launches large life sciences project
National developer acquires site for office/lab complex near Medical CenterBy Jennifer Dawson
Houston Business Journal
Updated: 7:00 p.m. ET Nov. 14, 2004A national developer of life sciences properties plans to construct a 500,000-square-foot building near the expanding Texas Medical Center.


This will be the first Houston project for Lyme Properties, which is based in Hanover, N.H., and calls itself the third-largest life sciences property developer in the country.

Lyme has acquired two acres for the project at 1911 Holcombe Blvd., between the Ronald McDonald House and The Spires high-rise condominiums.

Preliminary plans call for 350,000 square feet of medical office space, with the remaining 125,000 square feet earmarked for research and lab operations. The building will also include parking, and have roughly 25,000 square feet for a restaurant.

The Lyme building is currently in the design phase, so the final concept may be tweaked a bit over the next six to nine months. The firm has been interviewing architects and contractors for the local development.

The seemingly large size of the project is small in comparison to some of the developments Lyme has in the works. The company has built more than 3 million square feet of research space, and prefers to create 10-acre or larger complexes with multiple structures.

David Clem launched Lyme in 1993 with a goal of developing life science and mixed-use properties near educational, research and medical centers. Lyme works with designers and urban planners on properties clustered in Cambridge, Mass.; New Haven, Conn., and Lebanon, N.H.

One Lyme development under construction and drawing attention is Kendall Square in Cambridge. The 1.1 million-square-foot project includes wet life science labs, offices, a hotel, retail space, housing and parking for 2,000 cars.

While the Houston project is mentioned on Lyme's Web site (www.lymeproperties.com), Clem did not return phone calls to discuss his local venture.

Space squeeze
Newcomer Lyme has landed near the hottest growth area in town -- the Texas Medical Center.

Shortage of space has long been an issue for the hospitals, doctors, researchers, vendors and medical supply companies that want to be near the world's largest medical complex, where 65,000 people go to work each day.

Andy Icken, executive vice president with the Texas Medical Center, says the area has added an annual average of 1.25 million square feet of space over the past 10 years. And the demand seems endless.

"Most of the institutions here have continued to underestimate what their requirements have been," Icken says. "There's rarely been empty space in the Texas Medical Center."

Mark Preston, a senior vice president at Moody Rambin Interests, says the growing medical center submarket continues to outpace the rest of the city's development.

"I don't see any kind of slow-down in demand in that market," Preston says. "It's one of the shining stars of the marketplace."

While he's not familiar with Lyme's development plans, Preston says the area should be able to absorb that amount of space.

"It can handle this extra inventory in stride," he says. "It should do fine. That will be a good location."

David Bale, a broker with The Staubach Co., says that while the space supply is tight in the Med Center area, some square footage remains available.

Cambridge Properties recently built a medical office building at 7501 Fannin that is not fully leased because Baylor College of Medicine did not follow through on plans to lease in the facility. Trey Miller of Cambridge says 73,000 square feet of the building's 191,000 square feet have now been committed to tenants.

Bale has some questions about the pre-leasing of Lyme's project.

"I'd be curious to see if they had a lead tenant," says Bale. "I think to build a building of that size without having it substantially pre-leased would be a bit risky."

Pockets of science
The Lyme development may advance a little differently than typical medical office space, since it will focus partially on life science and research.

Jacqueline Northcut Waugh, president of BioHouston, says the Houston region spawns about 20 new life science start-up companies a year. The biotech firms that survive usually start off in small laboratory spaces, but need more lab options when it's time to grow.

"We've got lab space around town in various pockets, but as the volume of companies increases, we're going to have to have more commercial lab space," Waugh says.

Lyme may become a source for such space. And roadway changes in the area will make the project site more easily accessible.

The city is planning to expand parts of Cambridge Street and extend it north to Braes Bayou. A bridge is expected to be constructed over Braes Bayou to connect Cambridge to North MacGregor.

Once those projects are completed, Lyme's building will be located at the northeast corner of Holcombe and Cambridge.

And Lyme's first Houston venture may not be the last. The company is said to be looking to acquire more land in the area.

This is very good news for the TMC. Also, I red(Chronicle, a few weeks back) that they will move the military reserves on OST to Ellington, and they would be able to use the land there for TMC expansion. This is really great news, and at this rate of growth, the TMC skyline could rival Uptown's in about 10 years!

It shouldn't take 10 years. And yes, the TMC needs as much room as possible to build. It is the fastest growing area for highrises in the city. It seems like now days, you hear of another major project being built evry other month. Medical Institutions from all around the country want to be located here because of the world status the center has claimed. As much as people do not want to admit it, Houston is really becoming a leader in the southeast. Fuck oil, this might be Houston's new growing economy.

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.

Nov. 24, 2004, 4:10AM
Creative juices flow with Brays Bayou design
Group planning to beautify banks with park, bridges
By HEATHER SAUCIER
Chronicle Correspondent

RESOURCES
Preliminary sketches for the proposed project show: •Weirs or low damns to raise water levels and hide the bayou's concrete sides
•Continuous biking trails "under bridges" that allow bikers to avoid crossing busy streets
• Shady overlooks
• Bridges enhanced with glowing lights
• Total estimated cost of project is $200 million.
Imagine the banks of Brays Bayou looking like New York City's lush Riverside Park or the bustling Oberhausen promenade in Germany.

Hard to envision? It's not for a small group of people who belong to an entity called Vision Brays.

Wanting to take advantage of land yielded by the Brays Bayou Flood Damage Reduction Project, which will widen the bayou roughly 60 feet during the next decade, the Vision Brays team has shared innovative, adventurous ideas with the community with one consistent message: Anything is possible.

"We want this to be an incredible example of national excellence of infrastructure," said Kevin Shanley, a principal at SWA Group and a member of Vision Brays.

Shanley spoke at a meeting of the Willow Waterhole Greenspace Conservancy, a nonprofit organization that has helped turn the Brays Bayou tributary into a thriving community park.

An 'emotional richness'
Showing slides that featured Chicago's recreational lakeshore and the avant-garde Seville Bridge, Shanley enticed the audience with ideas such as building dams that make Brays Bayou resemble a river, constructing quaint parks and shops along its banks, planting thickets of trees, flowers and other vegetation, adding bridges that showcase talented architects, and adding attractive signage like the arabesque street plaques in Paris.

"Wouldn't it be nice if people came from Austin to look at our wildflowers?" Shanley asked. "Let's add to this to make it a kind of emotional richness for our children and grandchildren."

2014 completion date
Although the Harris County Flood Control District will not complete Project Brays until 2014, the Vision Brays team wants to propose a parallel project — just as the Willow Waterhole group has worked simultaneously with the district to bring park amenities to the tributary's detention basins.

Project Brays is the district's most extensive flood damage reduction initiative and consists of 21 miles of channel enlargement, 32 bridge replacements and four regional detention basins.

Its goal is to move the 100-year flood plain inside the bayou's banks and provide flood relief to approximately 10,000 structures.

"Vision Brays is a natural extension of Project Brays," said Merrie Talley-Pope, a landscape architect who is a member of the Vision Brays team.

"Vision Brays is a blank canvas that the community will help paint."

Funding required
As exciting as the vision may seem, Talley-Pope reminded the audience that it will remain only a vision without proper leadership, sanctioning and funding.

The Vision Brays team, which formed a year ago to discuss possibilities for the 80,000-acre watershed, is visiting community groups to share its ideas and ask for input.

The group plans to appoint a task force, form public and private partnerships, meet with elected officials and raise funds.

Of the $200 million total estimated cost, Talley-Pope said that the federal government could pay for a portion with a local match.

"Part of what's been talked about is a setting where all kinds of diverse people get together around tree-lined bayous, trails that connect parks, workplaces and neighborhoods, plazas connected by riverside walks and balconies, even water taxis and gondolas," she said.

Beyond recreation
Shanley advised citizens to contact their elected officials.

"Let's go beyond the recreational project. Are we willing to up the ante and spend a little bit more?" he asked. "If we can spend a billion dollars on a stadium, then why not this?"

so basically. this is in connection with the 2025 plan right for downtown that was on that video right?.

so basically. this is in connection with the 2025 plan right for downtown that was on that video right?.

You're thinking of Buffalo Bayou

http://www.buffalobayou.org/thumbimages/1-WATE%7E1.jpg

They want to do the BB plan in conjunction with the DT plan, I think...

Dec. 4, 2004, 10:42PM

Pitching a downtown dream
Developers see loft-style offices, condos tied into flashy retailing, entertainment
By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

Picture this: A luxury hotel, residential condominiums and loft-style offices, all connected by flashy urban retail, entertainment and culture.

Now picture it in downtown Houston.

An ambitious pair of developers wants to build the city's biggest mixed-use project yet on what is now three parking lots just off Main Street.

Bill Denton, a developer from California, and Geoff Jones, a local developer, are behind this concept that seems almost too good to be true.

Denton and Jones have signed a sales contract to buy the three blocks of downtown land bordered by Main, Polk, Dallas and Caroline.

They're out there pitching their project to potential retailers and investors.

But they won't talk to the media about it until they're further along in their plans.

That's probably not a bad strategy.

Houston has seen countless developers announce huge real estate projects that never seem to make it out of the ground.

So are these guys for real?

Denton's company, Entertainment Development Group, is based in Agoura Hills, Calif.

It's certainly worth noting that he was behind a large retail project in Denver that many folks believed would never happen.

Built in 1998, Denver Pavilions is now a hugely successful entertainment and retail complex with dozens of retail stores and restaurants, a nightclub and a 15-screen movie theater.

The project is made up of four three-story buildings, linked by walkways and escalators, that cover two blocks on Denver's famous 16th Street Mall.

Tenants include Virgin Megastore, Hard Rock Cafe, NikeTown, Barnes & Noble Superstore, Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe, Maggiano's Little Italy and Lucky Strike Lanes, a hip bowling alley concept.

According to the project's Web site, the $108 million development was financed in part by Rosche Finanz of Freiberg, Germany, and Hensel Phelps Construction Co.

The closest things downtown Houston has to cutting-edge mixed-use real estate projects are Bayou Place in the Theater District and Houston Center near the George R. Brown Convention Center.

But half of Bayou Place has sat vacant since it opened years ago.

Just last week, owner Cordish Co. said it wants to build residential units there.

And Houston Center is still facing identity issues despite recent repositioning efforts by the owner, Crescent.

It's still way too early to predict the future of these three city blocks.

Time and interest in downtown Houston will be the ultimate judge.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printst...usiness/2931451

Criminal Justice Center
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Piazza Blanca
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http://img66.exs.cx/img66/849/h2mdf2.jpg

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The Panama
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Businessman has eye on building new condos

By Laura Elder
The Daily News


Published December 6, 2004

Downtown development: The island’s downtown shows no signs of cooling off as developers continue transforming old buildings into luxury residential projects. The 80,000-square-foot Medical Arts Building, 301 21st St., is under contract to Houston businessman Robert Spiegel, who plans to build high-end condominiums in the long-vacant structure. Spiegel is buying the building from a company called Galveston Lofts Acquisition Partners, who bought it from the Galveston Historical Foundation. Dating back to the 1920s, the building was first used by American National Insurance Co., which moved to the downtown building it still occupies today. Later, it housed medical offices. The building’s architecture is art deco, a popular style born between the two world wars and characterized by bold outlines, streamlined and rectilinear forms and the use of such “new” materials as plastic.

Initially, Galveston Lofts Acquisition planned to develop 50 or 60 units in the 11-story building. Spiegel plans to build about 17 units, ranging in price from $337,500 to more than $1 million. Unit range in size from 2,250 square feet to 4,500 square feet. The project will include a pool.

Listing the property is Clifford Johnson, of real estate firm Karen Derr & Associates. Among other island properties, Johnson is the listing agent for the luxury loft development at the Panama Hotel, on the southeast corner of The Strand and 25th Street, which will be the first to bring a swimming pool to a downtown development.

Spiegel is expected to close on the contract in February. Stay tuned for construction dates.

I heard that ground was broken on the new 37 story Orion Luxury Condo Towers. Anyone hear this, or have any information?

Hey V, whassssup. Hey look on the Houston construction and news on this same forum but it's under new. This is the article.

ORION Emerges: New Luxury Vertical Residences to Change the Face of Houston Skyline
Wednesday December 8, 4:49 pm ET


HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 8, 2004--Groundbreaking ceremonies, scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 8 at 12:30 p.m., will usher in the advent of a significant addition to the Houston skyline. Appropriately named ORION, the first of two 37-story residences will be located on Memorial along the Buffalo Bayou at Asbury Place.
Each tower, with stunning views of River Oaks and Houston's vibrant downtown, will include 180 luxury residences priced to over $5 million. The foundation for the $425 million project will be poured during the first quarter of 2005, with vertical construction beginning in the spring. The first tower is slated for completion in the late spring of 2007 with the second tower breaking ground next winter. ORION will be developed by ORION Towers Tarragon LLC, a New York-based real estate company, a partnership between Asbury Place Development and Tarragon Corporation (Nasdaq:TARR - News), which has an investment portfolio valued at more than $1.2 billion.

"As a native Texan, I am thrilled to be working here again and to be affiliated with such a magnificent project," said Jim Cauley, president of Tarragon South Development Corp. "Tarragon specializes in this type of development and we are pleased to bring ORION to Houstonians."

ORION's 10-acre setting will be made even more desirable by way of gardens, flowers, lush foliage and parks within parks. Its close proximity to the many pleasures the city has to offer -- theatres, museums, world-class golf courses, major sports arenas, shopping and fine dining -- offer ORION's residents a highly desirable location.

"ORION is the legacy of River Oaks -- it's the River Oaks for the next generation of those seeking Houston's finest living," said David Spiers, co-developer of ORION.

Backed by a team of some of the nation's most accomplished designers, engineers and builders, ORION is destined to be an iconic landmark for Houston. A number of prestigious firms have been assembled to give ORION its distinctive look: Architectural Services International; Manhattan Construction Company; CBM Engineers; and Keiji Asakura, ASLA Landscaping. These widely respected firms share a client list that includes the IBM Tower in Singapore, Bush Presidential Library, Reliant Stadium, Washington National Airport, United States Capitol Visitors Center, The Pacific Design Center, Toyota Center and Botanic Garden.

ORION has been designed by world-renowned architect Ede I. Nemeti, president and chief operations officer of Architectural Services International Inc. The building's facade will feature a magnificent soaring Pegasus between art deco spheres, while its finishes, services and common areas have the look and feel of a world class five-star hotel. Generous balconies are complete with Viking Gas equipped summer kitchens and views to the park, River Oaks, downtown, the Medical Center and the Galleria area. Many residences have views in two directions and some with 180 degree sweeps.

"Ede Nemeti has designed and built internationally recognized projects in 24 countries. ORION unites his signature touch with leading developers and designers to create the highest standards of living," said Robert Day, co-developer of ORION. "These residences will draw buyers seeking the finest construction available and the exciting lifestyle that comes with living in the heart of the River Oaks area."

Two gleaming structures will feature elegantly proportioned residences complete with innovative design features and the latest in Smart House technology, representing a benchmark in luxury vertical palaces through unparalleled space, design, innovation and sumptuous amenities. Owners may choose from six floor plans encompassing 1,687 to 8,200 square feet and ranging from two to five bedrooms. Each residence is filled with daylight and is complimented by well thought out appointments -- glass railings, generous balconies, European-style loggias, French doors, gorgeous baths clad in travertine marble, captivating cityscapes, private and semiprivate elevator foyers, 11-inch ceilings couffered and vaulted with recessed lighting, Delacassa cabinetry, Viking appliances, custom-cut granite counters and an outdoor summer kitchen with a Viking gas grill.

Within ORION's pampered environs, owners will find a number of sophisticated building amenities and personal services, including an around-the-clock manned front desk, common area monitoring systems, five-star concierge services, 24-hour valet parking, luxury hotel-style property management services, a residents-only ORION Clubhouse offering the features and service of a grand private social club, a business center, library, Olympic-size pool, landscaped terraces, a state-of-the-art fitness center and an aerobics studio.

ORION's sales center was recognized by The National Sales and Marketing Council Awards and placed in the following categories: Best Brochure over $500,000, Best Color Ads, Best Sales Office, Best Signage, Best Attached Community Urban and Best Logo Design.

The award-winning sales center is located at Eight Asbury Place, Houston, Texas, and is open daily from 10 a.m. - 6 p.m. Private appointments to tour the center can be made at 713-880-1616.

Rendering and interior photos available upon request.

About Tarragon Corporation

Tarragon Corporation is a leading homebuilder specializing in the development and marketing of residential communities in high-density, urban in-fill locations in Florida, the Northeast, Texas and Tennessee. Tarragon also owns and operates an investment portfolio of approximately 14,000 apartments and 1.4 million square feet of commercial space, valued at more than $1 billion. To learn more about Tarragon Corporation, visit www.tarragoncorp.com.



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact:
Stevens/FKM, Houston
Angie Knust, 713-867-3224
aknust@fkmagency.com
or
Jessica Chapman, 713-867-3180
jchapman@fkmagency.com
Nights: 713-974-9133

http://www.pbase.com/mancusoj/image/37479791.jpg

I love the Orion.

It's all brash and 'Texas-y'.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/jpmunger/renderingPanoramaDay.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/jpmunger/renderingPanoramaNight.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/jpmunger/renderingfront-020504.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v628/jpmunger/renderingback-020504.jpg

Schlitterbahn to unveil redesigned water park

By Marty Schladen
The Daily News

Published December 6, 2004

GALVESTON — Developers say they will soon unveil a completely redesigned Schlitterbahn water park that will be built on airport land near Moody Gardens.

They were sent back to the drawing board on Sept. 20, when a building in which they had planned to build an indoor component to the park burned to the ground.

“We’re moving like crazy,” Schlitterbahn owner Jeff Henry said this week. “We completely redesigned the entire project.”

The blaze that incinerated the 1943 hangar, formerly the home of Farmer’s Marine Copper Works, was ruled to have been an accident.

“That was going to house an indoor component of the park and that really set us back,” Sherrie Brammall, communications director for Schlitterbahn Water Parks, said of the 50,000 square-foot building.

After the fire, Henry was left wondering whether to include an indoor component in the facility at all. Having part of the park indoor would allow it to operate year-round.

This week, Brammell confirmed that the new design would include an indoor facility, but she was not yet ready to describe it or other parts of the plan.

“We’re still evaluating the schedule and the revised plan,” she said.

Henry said he hoped to unveil the new design sometime before the end of the year.

Also this week, the Galveston City Council granted Schlitterbahn two zoning variances to allow it to build parking lots on the property it has leased from the city.

Henry and his family operate another Schlitterbahn water park in New Braunfels.

For the Galveston project, they formed a partnership with American National Insurance Company under which the Henrys will manage the park while they and ANICO will finance it. The cost of the project was originally estimated at $30 million, but that figure might change when the new design is unveiled.

Can somebody gives us pictures of the Orion as the construction goes on.

Renderings of the Hermann Medical Plaza look great. I'll be in Houston this summer, any tips on places to go?

Looking for lots
Turnberry, a Florida-based developer, is sniffing around Houston for a site to build a swanky high-rise residential tower.

A spokeswoman from the company said there is talk about a Houston project, but there was "no information to give out."

A look at the company's most recent brochure, however, reveals a lot more.

It says Turnberry is planning a 42-story tower for the Uptown/Galleria area.

Sources said the company may be looking at a site owned by Walton Street Capital near the Williams Tower.

Founded by Donald Soffer, the company has such developments as the Aventura Mall in southern Florida and the Residences condominium hotel at MGM Grand Las Vegas.

Finally Coming to life! Riva Place
http://www.urbanresorts.net/images/Rivaplace.jpg
http://www.keatingkhang.com/images/PostOak_Radler-elv-fin.jpg
Feb. 4, 2005, 12:36AM

Pavilion bowing out
Mall will come down, with plans for new outdoor shopping center, hotel and residential high-rise
By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Ed Wulfe, the Houston developer known for reviving such failing retail centers as Meyerland Plaza and Gulfgate Mall, has purchased the Pavilion on Post Oak with another grand plan in mind.

The mall that once housed a Saks Fifth Avenue department store, along with an adjacent retail center, will be demolished to clear 21 acres of land just north of the Galleria for what could include a new outdoor shopping center, a residential high-rise and a hotel.

"This will change the landscape of the Post Oak/Uptown area," Wulfe said.

Wulfe, president of realty firm Wulfe & Co., purchased the Pavilion from the Radler Limited Partnership. The sales price was not disclosed, but real estate sources figure the property is worth more than $50 per square foot, or more than $28 million.

He and his partner, Bob Sellingsloh, who also bought an adjacent strip center last year that's home to Cafe Annie and Eatzi's, are still working out the details.

The redeveloped property near the corner of San Felipe and Post Oak Boulevard could include up to 400,000 square feet of shops and restaurants developed by Wulfe. The company will likely sell remaining parcels to developers to build several hundred high-rise residential units, a hotel, four-story apartments and brownstones.

As the developer, Wulfe will have architectural control over the project, which is expected to start next year. He hopes the current tenants will relocate to the new development.

Wulfe plans to coordinate the construction schedule so tenants won't suffer while the pro-ject is being built.

Lonnie Schiller, of Schiller Del Grande Restaurant Group, which owns Cafe Annie, said he expects to remain.

"We're pretty excited about the redo of the center," he said.

"It's certainly one of the best corners in the city, if not the best," he added.
Growth in Uptown
Wulfe knows the Pavilion property inside and out.

Several years ago, his real estate brokerage firm was enlisted to sell the long-struggling retail center for its owner.

Wulfe said it never sold because market conditions were much weaker then. Things have changed in the past few years, with a startling growth spurt of new condominiums, luxury apartments and high-end retail shops in Uptown.

"None of that was in place in 2000," Wulfe said.
Not Rodeo Drive
Built in 1972 for a Saks Fifth Avenue department store, the Pavilion never lived up to its potential as the kind of place that could fit in on Rodeo Drive.

In an effort to revamp the property, it was renovated and expanded in 1988 to include more designer retailers.

But the project suffered during the savings and loan debacle. In 1995, lenders foreclosed on the property and Radler purchased it.

The property endured another blow when Saks Fifth Avenue relocated to the Galleria in 1997.
Handful of shops
Now, the 286,000-square-foot Pavilion has but a handful of tenants.

"It never seemed to recover," said John Breeding, president of the Uptown Houston District.

Hermès, the Paris fashion house that sells high-priced ties and scarves, has been a tenant in the Pavilion for almost 20 years.

"As we watched everybody around us move out, we decided to stay put," said Bob Chavez, president and CEO of Hermès.

Because of its loyal following of customers, Hermès wasable to stay in the moribund center because of its prime location.

But the prospect of being part of a larger project has certain appeal.

"We'll only have tremendous upside," Chavez said.

Chronicle Link (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3023592)
http://www.radlertx.com/images/pavilion_data6.gif
http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/05/02/04/bz-pavili.jpg

^
That is great news. I'm really excited about the fact that Ed Wulfe purchased it. He appears to have a understanding of the importance of more urban type developments for Houston. Now if he could only somehow purchase the long strip center on the northeast corner of Westheimer at Post Oak. Talk about a high profile location that could use some storefronts and wide sidewalks.

Very exciting news here.

That is excellent news, though it only makes me wish Houstom had zoning laws. Do you know how many parking los this would fill up in downtown near the Hilton Americas? lol.

i live 2 streets up from that place and would love to watch that project go up. awesome news indeed.

Can someone tell me the exact location of the Orion Towers? I Know there in or near RiverOaks, but where?
http://www.orionhouston.com/images/pictures/development.jpg

^ i would like to know as well

If I am not mistaken they will be right off of Memorial Drive near Shepard in River Oaks. Basically between Memorial Drive and Allen Parkway but close to Shepard. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.

Was there anything on that lot before?

If I am not mistaken they will be right off of Memorial Drive near Shepard in River Oaks. Basically between Memorial Drive and Allen Parkway but close to Shepard. Someone correct me if I'm wrong.


Wow. I never knew that. I use to walk the Eleanor Tinsley Park Trail all the time.

What about The Museum they planned to build in Ellington Field? I saw it on a broadcast on FOX (KRIV) a while back, it was suppose to be 5 stories, in the shape of a giant star, "revitalizing" Ellington Field, back to its original Military History...

http://www.ersagrae.com/condominium-apartment/plaza_verde/index.asp
^Look on the top right* corner, and see what pops up when the mouse goes over it

And what is this?
http://amiaga.com/models/PhilipJohnson-Houston.shtml

Was there anything on that lot before?

Just some trees. They will sit along the banks of Buffalo Bayou, so there is nothing along there but mostly trees. I do think they are going to conserve as much as possible however.

Ground has already been broken but nothing can be seen that has been erected at this point.

i should drive down to that area by buffalo bayou (with my camera) to get a better idea where the orion is going up

What about The Museum they planned to build in Ellington Field? I saw it on a broadcast on FOX (KRIV) a while back, it was suppose to be 5 stories, in the shape of a giant star, "revitalizing" Ellington Field, back to its original Military History...

http://www.ersagrae.com/condominium-apartment/plaza_verde/index.asp
^Look on the top right* corner, and see what pops up when the mouse goes over it

And what is this?
http://amiaga.com/models/PhilipJohnson-Houston.shtml


They are moving the army reserve bases near OST to Ellington. The TMC will then develop the land.

And yes, what is this?

http://amiaga.com/images/Model003.jpg

Don't know, any ides where it is suppose to be located?

Is there a sign up at the Orion sight?

They are moving the army reserve bases near OST to Ellington. The TMC will then develop the land.

And yes, what is this?

http://amiaga.com/images/Model003.jpg
But what about the Museum that was planned for Elington Field??

I don't know, I found it on that website. Maybe we should as "that guy" because it looks like he sends pictures of renderings to people, you just have to ask...

But will it even get built? now that Phillip is dead?

Maybe Burgee will pick it up.

^ phillip johnson broke it off with burgee long ago.

From the HBJ

Wulfe expands Post Oak holdings with Pavilion center

Last week's purchase of the Pavilion on Post Oak clears the way for Wulfe & Co. to demolish a total of 21 acres in the heart of Houston's prestigious Galleria area to construct a luxury, mixed-use development.

The new project is designed to include an upscale hotel, high-rise residential property, several restaurants and upscale retail stores including a major bookstore. The open-air, pedestrian-friendly project has been in development for more than a year.

Boulevard Partners, a partnership led by Wulfe & Co.'s Ed Wulfe and Bob Sellingsloh, acquired the Pavilion retail center on Post Oak Boulevard between San Felipe and Westheimer last week from Radler Limited Partnership. The sales price was not disclosed.

The 13.24-acre property consist of 286,000 square feet of retail, including Hermes, Americas and Esther Wolf.

Wulfe and Sellingsloh are also general partners in the entity that owns the 8.1-acre Fashion Square retail center, located at the southwest corner of Post Oak and San Felipe. That property, which includes Cafe Annie and Eatzi's Market & Bakery, is adjacent to the Pavilion.

The 8.1 acres actually stretch west of Fashion Square to Skylark Lane, and include wooded land with single-family homes.

Wulfe says the existing buildings on the Pavilion and Fashion Square sites will be demolished, probably beginning in early 2006.

"We have to do it in stages, so everybody can operate while we do it," says Wulfe, who would like to retain all of the existing tenants.

Wulfe, who also redeveloped Meyerland Plaza and Gulfgate Center, wants to lease space to retailers like those in Highland Village. That center includes mid- to upper-end stores, but not ones that have a single exclusive location.

Wulfe plans to talk to a number of hotel operators for the site, confirming that he has already met with Ritz-Carlton.

He seems confident about finding a developer to execute the residential piece of the deal -- whether it encompasses condominiums or apartments.

"The high-rise residential will happen easily," he says. "We've just got to get the right one, designed the right way."

The Pavilion was originally built in 1972 with a Saks Fifth Avenue anchor store, and was expanded in 1988 to include other high-end retailers. The Radler group acquired the center after lenders foreclosed on the property in 1995.

While the retail center has been maintained cosmetically, it has struggled with vacancy issues.

"It didn't have the critical mass of enough traffic generators," explains Wulfe. "Market conditions are different now. Luxury goods this past Christmas were the hot items."

^Did you here that, The Ritz-Catlton!

It's so cool to hear actual dates and to hear actual plans that coincide with those dates. I hope Wulfe moves ahead with some of their planned Midtown projects. Hell, I hope Camden gets moving on its project on Main Street.

WHOOO!
Now..on to Midtown!

Don't know, any ides where it is suppose to be located?
I think you can see Greenway Plaza in the background...

That could be any building.

That could be any building.
I think its either Greenway Plaza, or Louisiana Place.

Well I have never heard of Louisiana Place, but how can you tell from that small silhouette of a building that has no type of unique shape to it?

Well I have never heard of Louisiana Place, but how can you tell from that small silhouette of a building that has no type of unique shape to it?
Well it has a blue glass facade, and a white rectangular box on top, so, only 3 buildings in Houston have that.

those twins in Greenway Plaza, and Louisiana Place (Next to the old sherton hotel)

Louisiana Place:
http://tinypic.com/1rqgzs

Greenway Plaza:
http://tinypic.com/1rqh3s

http://tinypic.com/1rqh4j

http://piazzablanca.com/progresspics/large/pic10.jpg

http://piazzablanca.com/progresspics/large/pic11.jpg

http://piazzablanca.com/progresspics/large/pic12.jpg

http://piazzablanca.com/progresspics/large/pic13.jpg

http://piazzablanca.com/progresspics/large/pic14.jpg

Park 8 Grand Westchase District
http://www.globest.com/newspics/hou_park8grand.jpg
HOUSTON-A mixed-use, multimillion dollar, high-rise complex will change the skyline along the city's thriving Westchase District when construction begins later this year on Park 8 Grand.

"It is probably one of the largest projects coming out of the ground this year," Kevin Sims, with NAI's Houston office, tells GlobeSt.com. The project, set to include retail space, medical offices and luxury condominiums, is being developed by locally based Park 8 Place LP.

Stephen Schorr, also with NAI 's Houston office, says groundbreaking on the 11.5-acre site at Beltway 8 between Bellaire Boulevard and Beechnut Street is expected to occur within the next few months. The project will include high-rise residential towers featuring luxury condominiums along with 130,000 sf of retail space and about 20,000 sf of medical offices. The retail phase of the project should be completed by fall 2006, Sims says. Both Sims and Schorr say it's unclear how many condos would be included in the large-scale project or the market price of those high-end units, but concur that all will feature scenic views of the surrounding area.

The retail phase is expected to deliver a tenant roster of several national chains although none have yet signed on to be included in the plans, Sims says. "We're still working on a few different options as far as site planning so we're not sure how it's going to lay out. But in that particular market, we anticipate lease up to occur within a year or a year and a half," he says, adding even the rental rate has yet to be established.

Sims says the project will be completed in phases, beginning with the retail space. Marketing of that space should begin next month.

The Westchase District has become one of the hottest office markets in recent years because of its proximity to area freeways and other amenities. "Westchase has done a lot of marketing and put a lot of upgrades into the district to make it a destination, " Sims says, stressing the addition of Park 8 Grand will make that hotspot even hotter.

Nice, but more sprawl.

check out the picture I just added.

Cool.

Now, it would be about a billion times cooler if Uptown, Downtoen, and Westchase were really close.

that's not really even in westchase. westchase is further north.

I wish it were inbetween Uptown + Downtown, like on the edge of Memorial park.

March 23, 2005, 11:14PM

At Memorial City, a lifestyle in development
Project will surround mall with residences, offices
By DAVID KAPLAN and NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Metro-National plans to spend up to $700 million on new development along either side of its Memorial City Mall.

When it's completed, what will the firm have?

"A city," said Wayne Hays, Metro-National's president and chief operating officer.

Complementing the existing mall and health care complex will be midrise residential units, a luxury hotel, an office building, townhomes, an amphitheater, movie theater, restaurants, 350,000 square feet of retail space and pocket parks.

The project will feature multiple skywalks, connecting major buildings, stretching about a mile across the site.

Construction is expected to begin within 30 days and continue for seven years.

After spending $60 million within the last 90 days on multiple acquisitions in the vicinity, MetroNational now owns 200 contiguous acres of Memorial City in west Houston.

The proposed development will be on two tracts of land, one west of Memorial City Mall, called the "gateway tract," and the other on the east side, called the "lifestyle tract." In addition to the acquired tracts, the original land will undergo improvements.

The first project will be a six-story professional office building on the gateway tract. Then, in six months, construction will begin on the lifestyle tract for a high-end five-story to eight-story residential building with retail at street level. It will be modeled after the Aramore complex in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.

Because of the road work slated for Interstate 10, MetroNational will do its initial construction on the rear side of the two tracts. Some retail experts fear that MetroNational's new project, coupled with another large development proposed for a site nearby, could create an oversupply of retail space in the market.

Town & Country Mall, at the southeast corner of the Katy Freeway and Beltway 8, is being demolished to make way for an open-air development that will feature many of the same elements MetroNational is planning, including retail space. Houston-based Midway Cos., the developer, said it will begin site work on the 37-acre project this fall.

'Full potential'
And Memorial City Mall still has some vacancies to fill. There's also a likelihood that Lord & Taylor will close its Memorial City location, as its parent shutters stores around the country.

"What's already built out there has not reached its full potential yet," said Blake Tartt III, president of realty firm New Regional Planning. "I think they have to be very careful that they don't overbuild the market."

Others say there's lots of room for more shops and restaurants in this heavily dense area surrounded by affluent Memorial neighborhoods.

"There's plenty of room in the area for specialty retail, lifestyle retail and things like theaters and restaurants," said Edward Page of Page Partners, a real estate brokerage firm that will be leasing MetroNational's "non-mall" retail space.

Hays is bullish on Memorial City. He noted that before his company spent $200 million to renovate Memorial City Mall, the mall was getting less than $200 per square foot, and after the remodeling, it's gone north of $400.

Many local developers would shy away from creating office and hotel space because of the sluggish market.

"While others are waiting for things to turn, it gives us an opportunity to act," Hays said.

MetroNational decided to build a hotel, because there is a community need for it, partly because of the medical complex, Hays said. The company is in discussions with several major flagship hotels.

John Keeling, a hotel analyst with PKF Consulting, said upscale hotels are attracted to outdoor lifestyle centers because guests can walk outside and be surrounded by shops and restaurants.

Several restaurants are planned for the development: Denis' Seafood House and Ciro's Italian Grill, already under construction, and a Perry's Steakhouse & Grill.

'Private club feeling'
In 30 days, MetroNational will begin construction on an upscale steakhouse with "a private club feeling" on the lifestyle tract, Hays said.

MetroNational developed the concept. The company created and ran the Saltgrass Steakhouse chain until it was soldto Landry's Restaurants 2002.

A "unique grocery component," possibly multilevel with structured parking, will eventually be added, Hays said.

The 700-seat amphitheater will pose several architectural challenges, Hays said, including how to make the surrounding area most functional during the day.

Another challenge will be providing good acoustics with the amphitheater positioned near Interstate 10.

"It's smart of them to try to create a sense of place" with amenities like the amphitheater and pocket parks, said Richard Hodos, president of Madison HGCD, a New York-basedretail real estate and brokerage firm.

A sort of 'zoning'
Over the past several decades, planners have become more sensitive to what people want in a setting that combines living, shopping and entertaining, he said.

Cooper Carry, the architect for the project, is reputable and known to be sensitive to creating pleasing, human-scale pro-jects, Hodos said.

"Hopefully, by the time the project is over, the bean counters won't have chopped off too much of the original idea,"Hodos said. Drastic cost-cutting happens a lot with big projects.

MetroNational won't cut corners, Hays said, because the company is not about buying and flipping property. Rather, it aims to create "a premier lasting community," he said.

Tartt said it's important to note the amount of land Metro-National now controls in the area.

"There's no one else in Houston, Texas, that controls 200-plus acres of contiguous commercial land," he said.

This is going to be an awesome project, indeed.

Yes it is. I went to buy the Chronicle today and there is a picture. It looks even better than I imagined.

Here is what some of it will look like.
http://winphotos2.listingware.com/3/6/3034526_0.jpg

Oh wow! The Memorial City Mall area always looked so cluttered, and this good type of Urban Development will make it a nice area. Sounds like a super huge project, any renderings yet?

Yes it is. I went to buy the Chronicle today and there is a picture. It looks even better than I imagined.

try to get that picture and post it in here??

Hmm..maybe I'll bother my brother later, so I can use his scanner.

http://www.ediarchitecture.com/Images/catagory%20images/Projectsboards/EndeavorCondos.jpg
Newly proposed for Pasadena.

For Pasadena? Wow. That would become Pasadena's new tallest.

That development will be so weird for Pasadena. I would like to see how it fits in with the area.

It does. To me, it looks more of a Galveston/Woodlands project.

http://www.ediarchitecture.com/Images/catagory%20images/Projectsboards/EndeavorCondos.jpg
Newly proposed for Pasadena.
Thats a beautiful building.

I hope new trends will follow it, to give pasadena a true "Skyline".

Where would it be? closer to town?

:http://tinypic.com/2k0t91

Whats going on (or up) downtown. Are there any current skyscraper projects going. up. Houston needs 3-4 more huge skyscrapers like the Two Prudential Plaza in Chicago dotted around the skyline to add depth and variation (from the boxes). I also wish that most of those resedential towers were downtown to make downtown more dense. The skyline would be amazing by now.

Whats going on (or up) downtown. Are there any current skyscraper projects going. up. Houston needs 3-4 more huge skyscrapers like the Two Prudential Plaza in NY dotted around the skyline to add depth and variation (from the boxes). I also wish that most of those resedential towers were downtown to make downtown more dense. The skyline would be amazing by now.

Who knows what Shamrock Tower's fate will be, but that is another story.

Here is the latest development

Houston Pavilions.
http://img225.exs.cx/img225/373/newpavilions5ln.jpg


I will add more information, once it comes out.

Here is the new website for a few renderings.

Houston Pavilions (http://www.houstonpavilions.com)

This is the current surface lot where the development will sit.


http://www.skyscrapersunset.com/skyscrapercity/hou/041215-01/32.jpg

Thats it?? I saw a lot of cranes in recent photos of downtown. Nice project btw

Thats it?? I saw a lot of cranes in recent photos of downtown. Nice project btw

you must be speaking of the new courthouse, which is almost complete. it is the building with the gold dome.

http://img223.exs.cx/img223/9220/aa62vu.jpg

The New Memorial city plan is nice, but check out whats going up in Town And Country.
http://www.midwaycompanies.com/Projects/_/town_country.asp

Who knows what Shamrock Tower's fate will be, but that is another story.

Here is the latest development

Houston Pavilions.
http://img225.exs.cx/img225/373/newpavilions5ln.jpg


I will add more information, once it comes out.

Here is the new website for a few renderings.

Houston Pavilions (http://www.houstonpavilions.com)

This is the current surface lot where the development will sit.


http://www.skyscrapersunset.com/skyscrapercity/hou/041215-01/32.jpg
They picked a perfect spot, right next to foley's, and infront of that condo building. Atleast there building on a urface lot, and not tearing down another building! :) But I wish they would build over that surface lot behind 1 Shell Plaza, $16.00 parking is hell on earth...

Isn't that close to the dead in the wateer SHamrock Tower?

Isn't that close to the dead in the wateer SHamrock Tower?
No, The SCAMrock Tower is like 2 blocks from the JP Morgan Chase Tower. This photo is SoDo.

Ah. Scamrock, "The Sham", whatever.

Ah. Scamrock, "The Sham", whatever.
No, its Shamrock, its just a scam ;)

Uptown/Galleria area plans pedestrian friendly streets. Info in 002 magazine.

^ I read about that. I also read in the same magazine that the former Sakowitz department store downtown is currently "being redeveloped to its original retail use". Does anybody have any information on that? It's news to me.

Yes there was an article in the Houston Chronicle the other day about it. The first retailer to go in there is American Apparel.

April 21, 2005, 12:18AM

Old Sakowitz site may get new shops
Now a parking garage, the former icon looks for street-level retailers
By DAVID KAPLAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

I have some old pics of Houston from the 2000's.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3182054
May 14, 2005, 6:57PM

Tattered complex to bite the dust
Residential tower to take place of apartments in Montrose area
By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

A run-down apartment complex in the heart of a trendy inner-city neighborhood is set to be demolished by developers who want to replace it with an upscale residential project.
Developer Matt Dilick said he is working on a master plan for the Montrose-area property at the southwest corner of Dunlavy and West Alabama, including a residential tower that could go as high as 16 stories.

Hmm..looks like the "Kirby Condos" has a new rendering...

http://www.zieglercooper.com/live/graphics/kirby/kirby-condo.jpg

Looking for lots
Turnberry, a Florida-based developer, is sniffing around Houston for a site to build a swanky high-rise residential tower.

A spokeswoman from the company said there is talk about a Houston project, but there was "no information to give out."

A look at the company's most recent brochure, however, reveals a lot more.

It says Turnberry is planning a 42-story tower for the Uptown/Galleria area.

Sources said the company may be looking at a site owned by Walton Street Capital near the Williams Tower.

Founded by Donald Soffer, the company has such developments as the Aventura Mall in southern Florida and the Residences condominium hotel at MGM Grand Las Vegas.
http://www.turnberry.com/imgdir/Turnberry.pdf
http://img176.exs.cx/img176/7282/turn0016hx.jpg

Any new news on this building?

Pasadena approves condo project
'Endeavour' will be first high-rise for Clear Lake
By CAROL CHRISTIAN
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

As expected, the Pasadena City Council on Tuesday gave final approval to a proposed 29-story condominium tower on the Clear Lake shoreline.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/thisweek/politics/3206247

June 8, 2005, 10:12PM
Engineer proposes I-45 tunnel
Heights resident says expansion alternative less harmful to area
By TOM MANNING
Chronicle Correspondent


Houston Chronicle Article

I-45 CONCEPT

To view a Power Point presentation on Gonzalo Camacho's I-45 tunnel concept, visit the Web site at www.camachoassociates.com and click on "Alternative design" under case studies.

June 8, 2005, 6:15AM

INNOVATION

Developer gambles on residential hotel

Granduca designed for high-end guests on extended visits

By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle

Giorgio Borlenghi, the real estate developer that created an upscale housing and shopping community just off the West Loop, is taking his chances on a new project for the city: a luxury extended-stay hotel.
map

The new hotel, called Granduca, is being built on the grounds of Uptown Park where Borlenghi has developed two condominium towers and an outdoor retail center that he sold last week for $69 million.

With six stories and 132 rooms, the hotel will be small compared to other properties in the area. And there won't be a restaurant or any huge ballrooms there. Borlenghi said that's to give the guests more privacy.

Italian-born Borlenghi, head of Houston-based Interfin Cos., said the model for Granduca is based on a common European concept called a "residential hotel" where guests typically stay a week or longer.

.................


Chron Article

new!

New Innerloop Condos Development (http://www.innerloopcondos.com/marshall/)

The above link is to a survey for a proposed new condo project by the Westmoreland District.

The website has pictures of the site. They are looking for input from perspective buyers to design their project.

Have fun.

June 14, 2005, 9:42AM

New transit plan is leaning more toward buses

Check out the article...
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/front/3224120

http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/05/06/14/a-metro.jpg

Here is an upgraded image of the development formally to be called Riva Place, but now changed to Boulevard Place. The development is located in Uptown Houston.

This is the old rendering of the development:
http://www.urbanresorts.net/images/Rivaplace.jpg

And here is the updated rendering of the development:
http://www.wulfe.com/images/PagePhotos/BoulevardPlace_Lg.jpg

Here are links for more info:

http://www.wulfe.com/BoulevardPlace.asp
http://www.urbanresorts.net/

June 14, 2005, 9:42AM

New transit plan is leaning more toward buses



I hate Tom Delay.

M. D. Anderson to build new office tower
The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center announced Thursday it has received approval to build a new $145 million, 730,000-square-foot office building.

The University of Texas System Board of Regents approved funding and plans for the facility, which will be located behind the M. D. Anderson Faculty Center at 1800 Holcombe Blvd. facing Pressler St. It will be called the Faculty Center Tower.

Construction of the 21-story facility is scheduled to begin in November. It is set to open in the spring of 2008.

Faculty and academic departmental offices as well as the Research Medical Library will move into the new space.

A portion of the incoming tenants will be administrative departments that are currently leasing space in office buildings beyond the immediate M. D. Anderson campus, according to Executive Vice President Leon Leach.

"The new building will help us centralize the many departments vital to M. D. Anderson's mission which are scattered in multiple office buildings...," Leach notes. "...The new building will give us the flexibility to accommodate...growth now and for what we project for the years to come."

M. D. Anderson revenue will cover $65 million of the project cost while $80 million will come from revenue bonds for the project.

M. D. Anderson's physical campus has grown to about eight million gross square feet with three major buildings opening in the last year.

Kings Habor

http://www.kings-harbor.com/
Currently in the planning and leasing phase, Kings Harbor Place will be developed as a retail / mixed-use development, which will provide the Kingwood / Atascocita market with an upscale development that has a real sense of place. Unlike other markets with similar upscale demographic profiles, the Kingwood / Atascocita market has no true functional “Town Center”.

Kings Harbor Place will include a number of uses, including Retail, Restaurants, Office, Residential, and Fitness, planned into one cohesive development. Multiple uses combine to create an environment that attracts people all day long, from early in the morning to late at night. The sense of place will be created by a variety of individual buildings and uses arranged along a pedestrian “mainstreet” and a lakefront plaza. Kings Harbor Place has the unique amenity of being the only commercial development within the market located directly on Lake Houston. All these factors, along with planned community events and celebrations, combine to create a unique urban environment.

The physical design of the buildings will be centered around upscale brick and cast stone facades with each tenant having its own unique storefront design. Additionally, signage and colored awnings will combine to provide the color of the vibrant environment. The pedestrian friendly mainstreet and lakefront plaza will be accented with wide sidewalks, seating, lighting, hardscape, and landscaping. All the design elements combine to provide an upscale environment with a strong sense of place.

CityCentre

Website Coming Soon

Midway recently purchased the existing Town and Country Mall, which is located on a 34.67 acre site in west Houston. The vision is to demolish the existing improvements and re-develop the property into one of Houston’s premier mixed-use, lifestyle developments.

Midway’s vision follows a recent Urban Land Institute study indicating a resurgence in higher-density urban living provided certain amenities are addressed for the consumer. These include:

Growing popularity of an urban lifestyle for both the empty nester AND the young professional.

A saturation of no-personality, homogenous retail in the suburbs.

The growing appeal of pedestrian-friendly, street-front retail among consumers.

A decline in city crime.

A desire to have varied amenities clustered in a tight, architecturally controlled project that answer consumers’ psychographic as well as demographic profiles.
Midway’s strategy is to answer these desires by developing the site as a mixed-use development complete with retail, office, hospitality, and residential uses grouped in such a way as to be sensitive to and complementary of certain core adjacencies. The retail aspects of the project will continue some of the successful aspects of Town and Country Village; exclusive but beckoning and accessible, and an address within the Memorial area that is highly desirable.

The Property is located in the heart of one of Houston’s strongest demographic bases. With a five-mile population of 333,063 and a forecasted growth rate to the year 2008 of 7.68 percent, the Property is well positioned to maintain its value squarely in the middle of one of Houston’s most desirable areas. Current households in this same area total 137,458 and this number is projected to increase by 6.5 percent by the year 2008. These current households have an Average Household Income over a 1, 3 and 5 mile radius of $94,799, $90,842 and $79,242 respectively.

At Memorial City, a lifestyle in development
Project will surround mall with residences, offices


Metro-National plans to spend up to $700 million on new development along either side of its Memorial City Mall.

When it's completed, what will the firm have?

"A city," said Wayne Hays, Metro-National's president and chief operating officer.

Complementing the existing mall and health care complex will be midrise residential units, a luxury hotel, an office building, townhomes, an amphitheater, movie theater, restaurants, 350,000 square feet of retail space and pocket parks.

The project will feature multiple skywalks, connecting major buildings, stretching about a mile across the site.

Construction is expected to begin within 30 days and continue for seven years.

After spending $60 million within the last 90 days on multiple acquisitions in the vicinity, MetroNational now owns 200 contiguous acres of Memorial City in west Houston.

The proposed development will be on two tracts of land, one west of Memorial City Mall, called the "gateway tract," and the other on the east side, called the "lifestyle tract." In addition to the acquired tracts, the original land will undergo improvements.

The first project will be a six-story professional office building on the gateway tract. Then, in six months, construction will begin on the lifestyle tract for a high-end five-story to eight-story residential building with retail at street level. It will be modeled after the Aramore complex in the Buckhead area of Atlanta.

Because of the road work slated for Interstate 10, MetroNational will do its initial construction on the rear side of the two tracts. Some retail experts fear that MetroNational's new project, coupled with another large development proposed for a site nearby, could create an oversupply of retail space in the market.

Town & Country Mall, at the southeast corner of the Katy Freeway and Beltway 8, is being demolished to make way for an open-air development that will feature many of the same elements MetroNational is planning, including retail space. Houston-based Midway Cos., the developer, said it will begin site work on the 37-acre project this fall.

'Full potential'

And Memorial City Mall still has some vacancies to fill. There's also a likelihood that Lord & Taylor will close its Memorial City location, as its parent shutters stores around the country.

"What's already built out there has not reached its full potential yet," said Blake Tartt III, president of realty firm New Regional Planning. "I think they have to be very careful that they don't overbuild the market."

Others say there's lots of room for more shops and restaurants in this heavily dense area surrounded by affluent Memorial neighborhoods.

"There's plenty of room in the area for specialty retail, lifestyle retail and things like theaters and restaurants," said Edward Page of Page Partners, a real estate brokerage firm that will be leasing MetroNational's "non-mall" retail space.

Hays is bullish on Memorial City. He noted that before his company spent $200 million to renovate Memorial City Mall, the mall was getting less than $200 per square foot, and after the remodeling, it's gone north of $400.

Many local developers would shy away from creating office and hotel space because of the sluggish market.

"While others are waiting for things to turn, it gives us an opportunity to act," Hays said.

MetroNational decided to build a hotel, because there is a community need for it, partly because of the medical complex, Hays said. The company is in discussions with several major flagship hotels.

John Keeling, a hotel analyst with PKF Consulting, said upscale hotels are attracted to outdoor lifestyle centers because guests can walk outside and be surrounded by shops and restaurants.

Several restaurants are planned for the development: Denis' Seafood House and Ciro's Italian Grill, already under construction, and a Perry's Steakhouse & Grill.
'Private club feeling'

In 30 days, MetroNational will begin construction on an upscale steakhouse with "a private club feeling" on the lifestyle tract, Hays said.

MetroNational developed the concept. The company created and ran the Saltgrass Steakhouse chain until it was soldto Landry's Restaurants 2002.

A "unique grocery component," possibly multilevel with structured parking, will eventually be added, Hays said.

The 700-seat amphitheater will pose several architectural challenges, Hays said, including how to make the surrounding area most functional during the day.

Another challenge will be providing good acoustics with the amphitheater positioned near Interstate 10.

"It's smart of them to try to create a sense of place" with amenities like the amphitheater and pocket parks, said Richard Hodos, president of Madison HGCD, a New York-basedretail real estate and brokerage firm.
A sort of 'zoning'

Over the past several decades, planners have become more sensitive to what people want in a setting that combines living, shopping and entertaining, he said.

Cooper Carry, the architect for the project, is reputable and known to be sensitive to creating pleasing, human-scale pro-jects, Hodos said.

"Hopefully, by the time the project is over, the bean counters won't have chopped off too much of the original idea,"Hodos said. Drastic cost-cutting happens a lot with big projects.

MetroNational won't cut corners, Hays said, because the company is not about buying and flipping property. Rather, it aims to create "a premier lasting community," he said.

Tartt said it's important to note the amount of land Metro-National now controls in the area.

"There's no one else in Houston, Texas, that controls 200-plus acres of contiguous commercial land," he said.

New Cinemark theater to open in Memorial City Mall

Cinemark USA Inc. and MetroNational Corp. have announced plans to build a 20-screen, all-stadium-seating movie theater at Memorial City Mall, which is expected to open by late 2006.

Construction is scheduled to begin late this year.

The Cinemark 20 in Memorial City Mall will feature online ticketing, digital sound, wall-to-wall screens and innovative concession stands.

The theater's design will be reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood with an architectural flair that ties into the recent $150 million renovation at Memorial City Mall.

Alan Stock, president of Plano-based Cinemark USA, says by the time the Memorial City theater opens, Cinemark will have 14 theaters in the Houston area.

Recently opened Cinemark theaters in the Houston area include locations in The Woodlands and Pearland. Two other theaters in Cypress and Rosenberg are under construction.

Houston-based MetroNational is the owner of Memorial City Mall.

650,000-SQUARE-FOOT TELECOM CENTER TO BE DEMOLISHED

The 650,000-square-foot MetroNexus Technology Center, at 2525 Minimax Dr., will be demolished within three months. Fleming Loop Partners bought the 34 acres to construct a multifamily and single-family development. Ten acres will be used for the $30 million apartment complex, and Fleming will sell the remaining 24 acres to homebuilders.
At the earliest, groundbreaking could take place in late 2006 on the 300-unit multifamily development, to be situated inside Loop 610 near the U.S. Hwy. 290 junction.

Fleming Loop Partners purchased the land for an undisclosed amount. It was listed for $16 to $18 million. In 2000, New York City-based MetroNexus and Macfarian Real Estate Investment Management of Dallas bought the property for $21 million and retooled it for telecom use.

BAY AREA HOUSTON BUSTLING

BAY AREA HOUSTON (bayareahouston.com) – Lots of new development is coming to the area near Highways 146, 96 and 646. Plans have been announced for Grand Bay at Kemah, a mixed-use project with residential, entertainment, hotel and restaurants.

Grason sold 450 of 535 acres to another home builder and kept the rest of the land for retail. Taylor Woodrow will build 1,300 homes on the 450 acres, beginning in mid-2006.

At Hwy. 96 and FM 1266, the ALORE Center is finding office, residential and retail tenants, such as Alamo Drafthouse and Sam’s Boat. Kroger will anchor a retail center with a 74,000-square-foot store at Hwy. 96 and South Shore Blvd.

Tuscan Lakes, an 870-acre community is being built on both sides of Hwy. 96 with plans for 1,850 houses. For a full report on these and other developments, see Bay Area Houston Economic Partnership’s

NEW URBANISM’ LIFESTYLE MOVING INTO HOUSTON

HOUSTON (Trammel Crow Company, houstonchronicle.com) – Urban multifamily developer The Morgan Group Inc. and Trammell Crow Company are paving the way for the inner loop's "new urbanism" lifestyle center concept.

The project will offer Houstonians the ability to live, shop and dine in a walkable urban environment. The yet-to-be-named mixed-use development will feature as many as 600 residential units and about 400,000 square feet of retail space on a 24-acre infill property at Richmond Avenue at Weslayan.

The site is the current home of the Houston Independent School District’s (HISD) administration building; however, the building will be leveled and replaced by the $180 million real estate project. Expected tenants include restaurants, fashion retailers, entertainment destinations and a health club.

Trammel Crow and the Morgan Group are buying the property for $38.1 million. The development is being designed by architecture firm Gensler. The project should be completed in 2008.

HISD’s administration building and the adjacent Will Rogers Elementary School will move to a new facility next year.

Houston Developers, LLC Break Ground on Jackson Place Condominiums

http://www.jacksonplacecondos.com/images/index_25.jpg

--The principals of Houston Developers, LLC, Allan Bittker and Scott Breimeister, announce the ground-breaking of their new affordably priced inner loop mid-rise, Jackson Place Condominiums located at 505 Jackson Hill near Rice Military.

Houston, TX -- The principals of Houston Developers, LLC, Allan Bittker and Scott Breimeister, announce the ground-breaking of their new affordably priced inner loop mid-rise, Jackson Place Condominiums located at 505 Jackson Hill near Rice Military.

“Jackson Place is designed with the owner's lifestyle in mind,” says Allan Bittker. “We offer the home owner the opportunity to purchase an exceptionally designed space, filled with the most desirable amenities.”

Jackson Place condominiums have nine innovative floor plans of one and two bedroom homes priced from the $180's to the low $300's. Each unit features dramatic foyers, oversized closets, nine foot ceilings, solid maple hardwood floors and engineered soundproofing systems among its many amenities.

“We want to offer the home owner the comfort and convenience of the condominium lifestyle with the excitement of inner-loop living at an affordable price, without sacrificing quality,” says Scott Breimeister. With its close proximity to I-10, Memorial Drive and Loop 610, Jackson Place Condominiums offers the home owner convenient access to world class dining, shopping and entertainment at accessible prices.

The Steinberg Design Collaborative, the leader in multi-family design, is the architect of the inner-loop project. Founded in 1957 by Arthur Steinberg, and currently under the leadership of award-winning architect Sanford Steinberg, the firm has helped developers produce trend-setting and profitable projects across the country.

Houston Developers, LLC have over 20 years of combined real estate investment and development expertise. They have successfully purchased and developed retail, industrial and residential properties throughout the United States.

The Sales Center for Jackson Place Condominiums is located at 810 Waugh Drive, Suite 217. Office hours are Tuesday – Friday, 11-6 pm and Saturday and Sunday, 12-5 pm. To receive more information on Jackson Place Condominiums, visit www.jacksonplacecondos.com or call 713 528 2661.

Excellent news!

EXCLUSIVE REPORTS
From the August 12, 2005 print edition
Car dealership gives way to urban infill
Jennifer Dawson
Houston Business Journal

A high-end development mixing retail, residential and possibly office space will soon be parked on an inner-city tract that has been occupied by auto dealerships for the past three decades.

Trademark Property Co. is negotiating a long-term ground lease on six acres on Westheimer just west of Mid Lane, which is currently home to a Central Ford dealership.

Trademark is the Fort Worth-based developer behind the $100 million Market Street project in The Woodlands. That successful 34-acre development includes 400,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space and 100,000 square feet of office space.

Read More... (http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/08/15/story2.html?t=printable)

EXCLUSIVE REPORTS
From the August 12, 2005 print edition
Cosmopolitan condos to replace coney islands
Jennifer Dawson Jennifer Dawson
Houston Business Journal

Developer Randall Davis is cooking up plans for a high-rise residential development on the site of the James Coney Island restaurant near the Galleria.

After serving up hot dogs and chili at the Post Oak Boulevard location for more than 30 years, the restaurant owners are branching out from cuisine to condos by entering into a joint venture with Davis on the project.

Initial plans call for the frankfurter fixture to be demolished and replaced by a 20-story tower with 90 residential units. The building would be located on the half-acre tract nestled between a 24-Hour Fitness and the Dessert Gallery on Post Oak near the intersection of San Felipe.

Sources say the high-rise will be named "Cosmopolitan," and details could be released as early as September.

Read More... (http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2005/08/15/story4.html?t=printable)

Renderings from Shasta
http://www.broaddusassociates.com/uploads/img_large_1_project_28.jpg

http://www.broaddusassociates.com/uploads/img_large_2_project_28.jpg

http://www.broaddusassociates.com/uploads/img_large_3_project_28.jpg

Aug. 18, 2005, 12:25AM

REAL ESTATE
Towering ambitions
Plans for area east of Hermann Park rely on Houstonians' desire to live closer in
By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle
Developers hope to transform an area near the Medical Center with residential, hotel and office projects built on long-neglected parcels of land just east of Hermann Park.

Developers are proposing two new projects less than a mile apart that will add luxury residential and hotel towers to the area.
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/b...sarnoff/3315322 (http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/sarnoff/3315322)
http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/05/08/18/bz-hirise.jpg
http://www.pdrllc.com/images/devel_almeda.jpg
Location: 5925 Almeda Road, Houston, TX

Use: Residential Condominiums

Size: 30-story, twin tower high-rise totaling 800 units above a structured parking deck and 22,000 sq ft retail space.

Project: Developed with Wood Partners and designed by The Preston Partnership. Amenities include health club, indoor pool, and courtyard as well as concierge and valet services

Site: 4.74 acres off Hwy 251 adjacent to Hermann Park Public Golf Course. Located one mile from downtown Houston, Texas Medical Center and Rice University.

Status: Under Construction

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/m...politan/3322833

At one time, there were plans to put a mall in SE downtown. I don't think that went anywhere, but the proliferation of structures around SE downtown should help it rejuvenate. The GRB, Toyota, Hilton, Pavilions and St. Joe's surround this area, making it close to a lot of activity. In time, it will morph into something new.

I think it is close enough to the periphery to become a little village of townhomes or midrises. With the new park going in a few blocks to the north, it would have a nice feel to it, but still be away from the concrete jungle. Once there are some neighbors, some bars and restaurants will add to the mix, giving residents and Toyota visitors a place to rest before the game (those that don't want to go to the Pavillions).

The slow pace of rejuvenation in this area, as well as Chinatown, Minute Maid, Midtown and the rest of downtown can generally be attributed to the land owners. Look at the price per sq. foot of land in these areas. Some of it is $150 psf. I understand the free market, but many of these owners have held the land so long that they are waiting for the next skyscraper boom to run up the price. This boom may never come. So, the land sits, with the parking lots on them paying taxes. Hopefully, some will sell at a more affordable price to spur construction.

Abc13 has this on their site now with video:
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/news/082305_local_downtown.html
http://a.abclocal.go.com/images/ktrk_082305_downtownstory.jpg

Take a look at this from 002 Magazine:
http://www.002mag.com/mag/current/images/p-(62).jpg

Perhaps, proposed residential tower. Victory D Block?

http://www.cgarchitect.com/user_artwork/dcamg800p.jpg

http://www.cgarchitect.com/user_artwork/dcamd800p_1.jpg

^Thats in Dallas, not Houston.

I can't believe no one have mentioned yet. Its been approved!


Officials Approve Special Zone for $200M Houston Pavilions Plan
http://www.globest.com/newspics/houston.jpg
By Amy Wolff Sorter
Last updated: September 14, 2005 05:13pm
HOUSTON-A $200-million proposal for a mixed-used development has moved a step closer to reality with city officials' approval of a downtown tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ). The Market Square TIRZ, as it has been named, will be used to float $14.3 million in bonds, of which $8.5 million will come from Harris County and the balance from the City of Houston.

More: http://www.globest.com/news/371_371/houston/138254-1.html

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b200/largetexas/Pavilions22.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b200/largetexas/Pavilions12.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b200/largetexas/HoustonPavilions2.jpg
http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b200/largetexas/HoustonPavilions1.jpg
All ready annonced tenats:
BCBG
Virgin Megastore
Lucky Brand
bebe
bebe Sport
Forever 21
House of Blues
Laundry
Mexx
Lucy

^That is nice. I can't wait for it.

Since there hasn't been much activity on this thread lately, I thought I should share some recent stuff from HAIF. I am hoping maybe this will jumpstart the thread again, and this isn't the best compilation ever, I am not good at that.

Just doing what I could find renderings for.

1. Margaret M. Alkek Building for Biomedical Research
Research Tower Facts:

8 stories
5 lab floors
170,000 sq. ft.
60 new faculty

Approved: May 18, 2005
Ground Breaking: Sept. 15, 2005
Occupancy: June 2007

On May 18, 2005, the Baylor College of Medicine Board of Trustees approved the design of a new research building to be constructed on the south side of the main campus between the Jewish Building and Garage 6.
The new building is named the Margaret M. Alkek Building for Biomedical Research in honor of generous support recently received from the Alkek Foundation in support of the Research Enterprise.
The eight story building will contain five floors of flexible laboratory and office space designed to foster collaboration and interdisciplinary research.

Exterior Design Includes features of both the Alkek and Cullen Buildings

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/design.jpg

Glass and metal exterior that will resemble the curved side of the Alkek Building, tying together the two sides of the Campus
Strong vertical elements that reflect the art deco style of the Cullen Building
Glass vertical triangular elements and horizontal sun shades that lower sun glare
High glass (13 feet) at window wall in lab to permit light penetration into interior spaces
Lab/Office Design

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/sideview.jpg

The Lab Floors will be at the top of building and will have a good view of the Medical Center
Offices located on Jewish side
Connecting stairwell on lab floors open to floor and glass enclosed

Courtyard:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/courtyard.jpg

Models:

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/aerial.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/model1.jpg

2. Seven Riverway
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/SevenRiverway.png

3. Kirby Condos
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/kirby-condo.jpg

4. The Metropole
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/535_Elevation2_copy.jpg

5. Milam and Gray
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/10015161we.jpg

6. Hotel Indigo
Houston to get Hotel Indigo

InterContinental Hotels Group’s newest brand expands into Texas

InterContinental Hotels Group, the world’s largest and most global hotel company will open its third Hotel Indigo in mid-October in the heart of prestigious uptown Houston. The hotel will be owned and managed by Driftwood Hospitality, under a license agreement with a company in the InterContinental Hotels Group.

A brand developed primarily for conversions, Hotel Indigo is designed to rejuvenate properties that aren’t reaching their full potential, but are poised for success post conversion. Hotel Indigo Houston will mark the brands first non-lodging commercial property conversion.

“We’re thrilled to announce that work has begun to convert this property into our first Hotel Indigo hotel in Texas,” said Jim Anhut, senior vice president, brand development for the Americas, InterContinental Hotels Group. “Our ‘lifestyle’ boutique hotel’s unique design in combination with its great location and ‘guest-centric’ service will create a superior hospitality experience for business and leisure travelers in Houston,” said Anhut.

As a lifestyle boutique hotel, Hotel Indigo is designed to deliver superb service in a unique and intimate atmosphere. The staff is trained to provide personalized service and anticipate guests' needs rather than simply responding.

Hotel Indigo also addresses the desires of style-conscious guests who are seeking experience and quality over pure mundane functionality when traveling for business or pleasure. The soul of the retail-inspired hotel concept is renewal -- thoughtful changes that are made throughout the year to keep the hotel fresh, similar to the way retailers change their window displays. Hotel Indigo Houston’s 140 guestrooms will feature renewable elements such as vivid murals, area rugs, plush duvets and slip covers that will change periodically, while public spaces will be transformed seasonally through changing artwork, foliage, murals and directional signage.

The Hotel Indigo Houston will feature signature design elements such as: oversized lobby chairs, which create a personal work or dining space within the public areas of the hotel; cozy, airy and inviting guestrooms with plush bedding, whitewashed wood furniture, hardwood flooring and spa-style showers; a “phi”tness studio with cardio equipment and free weights. The hotel will also offer complimentary wireless access in all guestrooms and public spaces.

The hotel’s bistro-style restaurant, The Golden Bean, will offer seasonal, health-conscious fare and Starbucks coffee. The evening menu includes fresh salads, pizzettas, Panini sandwiches, and other entrees. Food is prepared quickly for the time-conscious traveler who wishes to eat in his room or to relax in one of the hotel’s signature oversized lobby chairs.

With Hotel Indigo’s phenomenal reception, it is primed for continued expansion in the United States. The first Hotel Indigo opened in Atlanta in October 2004, and a second location recently opened in Chicago’s historic Gold Coast neighborhood in May. Future sites of Hotel Indigo hotels include Sarasota, Fla. and Chicago-Palatine.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/04_08_05_IndigoRende_Ltr_Size_lrg.jpg

7. Smith and Drew
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/rendering.jpg

8. Richmond and Weslayan
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/photo.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/gg5ql.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/gg43cd.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/gg37eu.jpg
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/gg28ui.jpg

^Thank you for setting that up Talbot.

No problem.

Most of Houston's development news is concentrated at SSP. Click Signature.

Ahh, cool. I used to have an account there but now that they don't allow free emails, I don't have one anymore.

You guys are going to flip over this new development in Rice Village.

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b200/largetexas/RiceVillageLofts.jpg

Yeah, I think that development looks awesome. I can't wait to see more on it.

There's a mistake with the picture for Westheimer and Kirby?

Can you show us what your talking about?

picture #9 from talbot's post in november 20.

Yes, there is a mistake with that. Thank you for pointing it out, I can;t believe I didn't notice it.

I think that was supposed to be:
http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c130/Talbot_/WesteimerKirbyElevation.jpg

Just what are we talking about here? I think when he pointed it out you must have gotten rid of the info you probably previously posted. Sorry for making you go back. But it looks so intriguing.

The most impressive thing that I saw on that list was definately the Rice Village development. More impressive than the project itself is how well it will blend with the Rice Village shopping core that I grew to be familliar with.

Why aren't all those condos being built downtown :mad:!!! Houston could have an awesome skyline with all of the individual buildings that are going up.

New update: Grand Central Station for Houston being planned. Or more of an intermodal center that will connect the light rail, railways, and busways (Greyhound, Amtrak, etc).

It'll be just right north of downtown.

Let's not forget the rise of Houston's Chinatown, lite
rally speaking. Chinese skyscraper comes to Houston.
http://www.park8.com

Park 8
http://www.park8.com/images/hc01.jpg

At Park8, you can find the home of your dreams conveniently located within a mile from China town. This life style living consists of three beautiful 26th floor high-rise condominiums with commercial retail center and recreational facilities. Using the high-rise condominium concept, 1.2 million of square feet are created over 17 acres of land. Among that, 250 thousand square feet are allocated for commercial retail usage.
The Park8 is carefully designed over and over again, improving to its perfect design today. More important, it nicely put urban life and nature together with equal force. With it’s high quality exterior finish, and it’s splendidly designed floor plans, the Land of Oz emphasis on unrestrained openness and convenience. Every penny is well worth for its consideration on security and safety issues, recreational areas, leisure activity clubhouses and beautiful landscaping design.

However, the most intriguing aspect of The Land of Oz’s environment is the inspiring 300 acres of wooded tranquility. Park 8 has emerged in the midst of this remarkable environment. Residents can enjoy immediacy to Chinatown and finish their shopping from the commercial retail center downstairs while enjoying their lunch at the refreshing sight from the park.
As the new landmark of the Houston Chinatown, the high-rise concept will bring Houstonian to a whole new exciting perception. State-of-art design in Park 8 is a residential masterpiece that perfectly complements its diverse surroundings has brought the area into it’s own as a premier example of the ultimate urban living environment. There will be a meeting and mixing of the best elements of urban life; parks, fitness center, retail stores, recreational facilities, groceries stores, restaurants and cafes. All easily access through the especially design with highly security covered parking garaged. Each interior design is the masterpiece of our top designer collaborating with “Fung Sui” concept. 15 different floor plans ranging from 900 sq ft to 3160 sq ft for resident to choose from. Convenience and accessibility are the hallmark of Park 8’s location.

The Park 8 will be the new landmark of the Houston Chinatown skyline. It will be the only master planned community with direct access to all you need. Vision of the high-rise will bring elegancy to the Chinese community. It also brings higher living standard with lower noise pollution form the acoustically engineered sound proofing insulation throughout the entire building. The Park8 sure will bring us all into the newer high-rise generation.
The Park8 will be provided with the newest invention for better community inter-activities. Each high-rise condo unit will be equipped with a multi-functional entertainment system of “3CmyBox”, providing countless hours of entertainments such as home theatre, Karaoke, cable TV, media album, internet on-line games, MP3 music, and Intranet services, etc.

Sorry----very gay. If it was less retarded it would be neat, indeed. BUT...

Why aren't all those condos being built downtown :mad:!!! Houston could have an awesome skyline with all of the individual buildings that are going up.

UMMN... because Houston is blessed with good neighborhoods west and north of downtown too. :sleepy:

FYI: Houston DOES have an awesome skyline.

is this thread dead, or wuuuut?

Not too many people update it anymore. Click my signature for some updates.

There are 5 projects that i am really intrested in and would like to know their progress. I would like to know the status of Shamrock, Hardy Rail Yard Project, Ballpark Place, the new transit sation, and the restoration of Buffalo Bayou. Can someone let me know whats going on with these projects as of today (4/12). Ive been hearing so many people talk about Shamrock and Hardy Rail, but I cant find any web sites or any information to find out if they are really going to happen. So someone please update me on ALL 5 of these projects.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?showforum=7

Can someone tell me about the new construction taking place at the 290/610 interchange (inside the loop)...I can't find any news about this development? So far, the parking garage is complete, but I'm not sure what's to come.

Click here for a good list of Houston projects (not updated in a few months though):

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=114123

:nuts: :) :banana:
Mainplace
http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?act=attach&type=post&id=461

Houston Pavilions
http://www.houstonpavilions.com/render050107/view2_lg.jpg

Embassy Suites
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/Embsuites.jpg

Mosaic Towers
http://http://www.wulfe.com/realister/manager/property/Mosaic%20Towers/Pictures/almeda@binzrendering.jpg

Cosmopolitan
http://www.uptown-houston.com/images/Cosmopolitan-hotel.jpg

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

One Park Place
http://i73.photobucket.com/albums/i222/issaaa/Park4.png

Memorial Hermann Memorial City Hospital Tower
http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/1397/aa2ve2.jpg

Westheimer Tower
http://houstonx.com/blocktower.jpg

Discovery Tower
http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DiscoveryRendering.jpg

2727 Kirby Tower
http://torreoncapital.com/imgs-investments/houston_tx_3_lg.jpg

Feigin Center Expansion
http://www.tchvision2010.org/web/2010/Images/FeiginCenter.jpg

Methodist Outpatient Center
http://www.whrarchitects.com/proimages/TMH-Outpatient-full.jpg

When you fly into Houston, it looks like 7 or 8 cities. With all these new projects, you can add another city.

thats what makes houstons skyline so unique compared to others..

Some more projects:

Downtown Houston

http://www.houstonx.com/houstonprojects.gif
_________

OneParkPlace

http://www.webover.com/junk/parktower.gif

A new photo:

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/OPP10108.jpg

Discovery Green Park
http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_3613_42_112226.jpg (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=416)

And some others...
http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_3613_42_254566.jpg (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=419)

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_3613_42_81554.jpg (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=418)

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_3613_42_71746.jpg (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=417)

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_3613_42_41027.jpg (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=415)

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_3613_42_279051.jpg (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=414)

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_3613_42_279328.jpg (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=413)

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_3613_42_130839.jpg (http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/index.php?autocom=gallery&req=si&img=412)

Regent Square
http://valine.org/docs/regent.jpg

Houston sees room for another big hotel
Plan could put downtown on the conventions map

By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/5473167.html

The city is considering plans to bring a second convention center hotel to downtown, in an effort to take Houston one step closer to becoming a top convention destination.

Officials involved said Houston gets scratched off the lists of a lot of convention planners because it has a limited number of downtown hotel rooms.

"The current convention center hotel is filling up, and Houston can attract more conventions if it had more hotel rooms in the Central Business District, and specifically, close to the George R. Brown Convention Center," Mayor Bill White said Monday.

The plan is in its early stages, with input being collected from groups that include the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, the city's Convention & Entertainment Facilities Department and the Houston Convention Center Hotel Corp.

"We're trying to figure out what it would cost and how it would get financed," said Richard Campo, board chairman of the hotel corporation.

The nonprofit group developed the city-owned $316 million, 1,200-room Hilton Americas-Houston convention hotel.

A possible site for a hotel would be a parcel just north of the new Discovery Green park, bordered by Rusk, Crawford, Walker and Avenida De Las Americas. The hotel would essentially mirror the Hilton Americas.

White said other sites in the area would be considered, including city-owned property.

The project, White said, would be "one of the larger hotels in Houston," with a "first-class national flag."

Houston Endowment, which owns about 60 percent of the parcel adjacent to Discovery Green, said it would consider selling its land for a convention hotel. "We don't have an interest in holding this forever," president Larry Faulkner said. "We would like to see it used in a way that furthers the well-being of this city."

Such a hotel could have an economic impact of $250 million annually, said Campo, explaining that another big hotel would attract larger conventions attended by more people who would dine in restaurants and rent cars. Other hotels would benefit from spillover.

"This would be a great thing," said Nick Massad, president of American Liberty Hospitality, which is planning to build a 250-room Embassy Suites near Discovery Green, at the corner of Dallas and La Branch. "We've been a proponent for additional rooms, especially near the George R. Brown, for a long time."

Hotel consultant John Keeling said five new 200-room hotels wouldn't have the same impact as one 1,000-room property because conventioneers like to put their delegates in as few properties as possible. Full convention hotels help other hostelries raise their rates.

Downtown hotel occupancy was 66.1 percent through November of last year. It was down slightly because 2007 was not a strong convention year, said Keeling of PKF Consulting.

The Hilton Americas has been performing well, Campo said. But for a new hotel, the ideal scenario would be for a private developer to build it.

The mayor said there are "significant pools" of private capital available that did not exist when the Hilton Americas was financed.

Greg Ortale, president and CEO of the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau, told the Chronicle on Monday that some type of public support would be needed.

Owners prefer to build 200-room hotels that typically return a profit of 15 percent to 20 percent a year, he said. Large hotels earn closer to 10 percent to 12 percent a year, he said.

Uptown Houston

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_1628_46_18390.jpg
__________________

BLVD Place
Includes a 66-story Ritz Carlton, 55-story condo/apartment tower, and a 40-story condo tower:

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Large/Aerial-NE.jpg

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Large/Valet-Area.jpg

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Large/Down-BLVD-Place.jpg

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Large/Aerial-SE.jpg

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Large/BLDG-6-SE.jpg

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Large/Uptown-Aerial.jpg

The rumored Ritz Carlton rendering:
http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/ritz-tower-view-up.jpg

http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/ritz-tower-view-down.jpg

River Oaks District
OliverMcMillan (http://www.olivermcmillan.com/deve/houston/index.htm)

Updated Oaks District PDF (http://www.olivermcmillan.com/pdf/Houston.pdf)

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/ROp2_1109finlA%20small.jpg

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

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

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v172/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30237347_7029.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30237348&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v172/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30237346_6472.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30237348&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v172/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30237344_4261.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30237348&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v172/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30237345_4799.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30237348&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v172/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30237342_3200.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30237348&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v172/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30237343_3771.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30237348&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sctm/v172/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30237341_2645.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30237348&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

I'll get more later...

Thats a great looking project.

I was wondering whats the latest on Houston Pavilions. Is it close to opening or already open? Are there any recent pics available somewhere?

I wish One Park Place had a more decorative top. It would give the building more of a classy feel.

Thats a great looking project.

I was wondering whats the latest on Houston Pavilions. Is it close to opening or already open? Are there any recent pics available somewhere?

I don't have any pics, but I was there yesterday. I guess it'll be ready in a couple more months. They're going real fast.

New renderings on BLVD Place with the Ritz:

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Lg_07.jpg

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Lg_03.jpg

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Lg_01.jpg

More (there is a Ritz logo in the design plans):

http://www.wulfe.com/BoulevardPlace.asp#

And Regent Square

New renderings are up at the site
http://www.regentsq.com/index.swf

http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298798_3814.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)


http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298800_4411.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30298805&id=159900085&op=1&view=all&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)


http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298801_4748.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298799_4138.jpg


(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298802_5070.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298803_1334.jpg
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298806_2453.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298804_1668.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298807_2789.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30298805&id=159900085&op=1&view=all&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298808_3221.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30298805&id=159900085&op=1&view=all&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

New renderings on BLVD Place with the Ritz:

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Lg_07.jpg

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Lg_03.jpg

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Lg_01.jpg

More (there is a Ritz logo in the design plans):

http://www.wulfe.com/BoulevardPlace.asp#

And Regent Square

New renderings are up at the site
http://www.regentsq.com/index.swf

http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298798_3814.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)


http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298800_4411.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30298805&id=159900085&op=1&view=all&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)


http://photos-b.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298801_4748.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298799_4138.jpg


(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)http://photos-c.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298802_5070.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)http://photos-d.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298803_1334.jpg
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)
(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)
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(http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)http://photos-g.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298806_2453.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-e.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298804_1668.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30296839&id=159900085&op=1&view=user&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-h.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298807_2789.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30298805&id=159900085&op=1&view=all&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v286/201/63/159900085/n159900085_30298808_3221.jpg (http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=30298805&id=159900085&op=1&view=all&subj=2224053172&aid=-1&oid=2224053172)

I wanna know Houston! I dream with this travel. But I haven't money :( Some day...

What part of Houston is the Ritz going?

What part of Houston is the Ritz going?

Uptown Houston

http://www.shoppingcenterbusiness.com/articles/AUG08/story6.shtml
Houston

hello everybody, im new to this area of SSC
i just wanted to see if houston was anywhere in the forums! ^_^

Um why does your location say Houston, but your new to Houston, or did you change location's?

^^
lol, im native to houston, but i just never followed any houston threads

Time for an update in this thread

http://img337.imageshack.us/img337/1508/600xpopupgalleryey0.jpg
Main Place..u/c, 630 ft (Downtown)

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/DiscoveryRendering.jpg
Discovery Tower..u/c, 482 ft (Downtown)

http://www.kobikarp.com/images/houston1.jpg
City Place, 920 ft (Downtown)

http://www.6houstoncenter.com/6hc/brochure/images/pg1.jpg
6 Houston Center, 410 ft (Downtown)

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b200/largetexas/HoustonPavilions1.jpg
Houston Pavilions..almost finished, mixed-use (Downtown)

http://images.chron.com/photos/2007/01/22/4898814/311xInlineGallery.jpg
Regent Square, mixed-use (Montrose)

http://www.wulfe.com/Images/BPPhotos/Lg_07.jpg
http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/haif/gallery/1192674551/gallery_1628_46_18390.jpg
Boulevard Place (bonus rendering to show how it fits into the Galleria), large mixed-use development w/ 2 towers (Galleria)

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/HouConstruction/Embsuites.jpg
New Embassy Suites (Downtown)

http://torreoncapital.com/imgs-investments/houston_tx_3_lg.jpg
2727 Kirby (Upper-Kirby)

http://houstonx.com/blocktower.jpg
Westheimer Tower (Galleria)

http://img462.imageshack.us/img462/1397/aa2ve2.jpg
Memorial Hermann hospital tower..just finished (Memorial City)

http://www.webover.com/junk/parktower.gif
OnePark Place..topping out, 400 ft (Downtown)

http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.luxist.com/media/2007/08/turnberrytowerhouston.jpg
Turnberry Tower (Galleria)

http://www.uptown-houston.com/images/Cosmopolitan-hotel.jpg
Cosmopolitan (Galleria)

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3156/2693648621_759a137584_b.jpg
River Oaks District, mixed-use (River Oaks)

http://i19.photobucket.com/albums/b200/largetexas/RiceVillageLofts.jpg
Rice Village Lofts (Rice Village)

http://www.pdrllc.com/images/devel_almeda.jpg
The Mosaic..topping out (Texas Medical Center)

http://www.studioredarchitects.com/images/stories/easygallery/125/1216150132_Birdseyeview.JPG
America's Plaza..Midtownish (like across 59 from Downtown)

http://i177.photobucket.com/albums/w208/houtosme/5AllenCenter.jpg
5 Allen Center (Downtown)

http://cll.bizjournals.com/story_image/201158-400-0-1.jpg
Houston Ballet (Downtown)

http://cll.bizjournals.com/story_image/96174-400-0-2.jpg
Highland Tower (Galleria)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v234/xeelee/midtown.jpg
Ritz Carlton..Houston's 3rd, (Downtown)

http://www.fkp.com/upload/tchmaternity_75644.jpg
Texas Children's Hospital Maternity Ward (Texas Medical Center)

http://www.fkp.com/upload/feiginexpansion_52610.jpg
Feigin Research Center (Texas Medical Center)

http://www.whrarchitects.com/_filelib/ImageGallery/Photos/healthcare/methodist/methodist_002.jpg
Methodist Hospital Outpatient Care Center (TMC)

http://www.whrarchitects.com/_filelib/ImageGallery/Photos/sciencetech/mhri/mhri001.jpg
Methodist Research Institute (TMC)

http://www.texaschildrens.org/Web/2010/Images/NRI_1107.jpg
Jan & Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (TMC)

http://www.midwaycompanies.com/images/featuredprojects/hotelsorella/1.jpg
Hotel Sorella by Valencia (Memorial City)

http://www.hicksventures.com/images/rendering_f6.jpg
3100 Post Oak (Galleria)

http://images.chron.com/photos/2008/05/15/11287554/311xInlineGallery.jpg
Hanover Condos (Galleria)



There are many more. In all, the rest of the country that harshly judges Houston for its sprawl out in its suburbs would probably be shocked to see how incredibly urban Houston really is. The inner city here is really expansive. Houston is no New York, but Houston has become more urban than LA and almost as urban as Chicago. Here's an existing pano of Downtown Houston (doesn't include any of Galleria, Montrose, TMC, or any of the other inner city skylines).

http://www.mainplacehouston.com/enlarge_images/Panorama-from-Sky-Garden.jpg

And here's an outdated diagram of a few new Houston's highrises

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8010/houstondiagramjg6.jpg

nice post indeed!