Houston Development News

[desertpunk]

Houston Chronicle

Jul 06, 2012

Report: Duncan family to buy Shell HQ

The family of late billionaire Dan Duncan is buying Shell Oil’s downtown headquarters for about $550 million, according to a report from commercial real estate publication Real Estate Alert.

If the deal closes as reported, the transaction would shatter Houston’s price record for office properties. That purchase price amounts to $307 per square foot for the two-building, 1.8 million-square-foot complex. The current record is downtown’s Hess Tower which recently was sold to Canadian real estate investment trust $442.5 million.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, who is listing the properties for owner Hines, would not comment. The Duncan family could not be reached late Friday.

After considering a move to the suburbs, Shell recently renewed its downtown lease for another 15 years. The company occupies 804,491 square feet at One Shell Plaza at 910 Louisiana and 471,934 square feet at Two Shell Plaza at 777 Walker.

[diablo234]

M.D. Anderson’s New Little Corner Building

Originally Posted by Swamplot
UT’S M.D. ANDERSON Cancer Center plans to build this 8-ish story pavilion, called The Pavilion, in front of the Alkek hospital at the corner of Bertner and Bates streets in the Med Center — replacing the pavilion-like rotunda that stands there now. The new building will house the center’s interventional radiology department (on its third floor) as well as 11 new operating rooms. The 185,000-sq.-ft. structure, designed by Dallas’s HKS, includes 2 partial-height floors for maintenance above the operating rooms plus a mechanical floor at the top. Construction is expected to cost $102 million, and be complete by the end of 2015. An accompanying $96 million renovation of the adjacent Alkek hospital will extend into 2019.

Link

[diablo234]

A lowdown of West Houston office projects:

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/...ergy-corridor/

Mason Creek Office Center
Developer: Myers Crow & Saviers
Location: Northeast corner of I-10 and Mason Road
Size: 2 stories, 135,000 square feet
Architect: Powers Brown Architects
Status: Proposed

Greenhouse Office Park
Developer: Stream Realty Partners/Wile Interests
Location: Southeast corner of I-10 and Greenhouse Road
Size: 5½ stories, 220,000 square feet
Architect: Powers Brown Architecture
Status: Proposed

Energy Crossing II
Developer: Lincoln Property Co.
Location: Southwest corner of I-10 and Texas 6
Size: 6 stories, 240,000 square feet
Status: Groundbreaking scheduled for August; 80,000 square feet pre-leased to Atwood Oceanics

Future building site, not named
Developer: Skanska USA
Location: 15375 Memorial Drive
Status: Proposed

Eldridge Oaks II
Developer: Transwestern
Location: 1080 Eldridge Parkway at Enclave Parkway
Size: 14 stories, 350,000 square feet
Architect: Kirksey
Status: Proposed

Energy Center Three
Developer: Trammell Crow Co./Principal Real Estate Investors
Address: 935 N. Eldridge Parkway
Size: 20 stories, 546,000 square feet
Project cost: More than $150 million
Architect: Kirksey
Status: Proposed

Woodbranch Development
Developer: PM Realty Group for Stena Realty
Location: North of I-10 between Dairy Ashford and Kirkwood on Wickchester
Size: Planned for two buildings; each between 175,000 and 200,000 square feet
Architect: Kirksey
Project cost: $45 million for first building
Status: Proposed

Energy Tower III
Developer: Mac Haik Realty
Location: Northwest corner of Interstate 10 and Kirkwood in Energy Plaza
Size: 17 stories, 450,532 square feet
Architect: Morris Architects
Status: Proposed

CityCentre Three and Four*
Developer: Midway Cos.
Address: Southeast corner of the West Belt and the Sam Houston Parkway
Size: About 120,000 square feet each
Status: CityCentre Three is under construction; Four is proposed


Murphy building
Developer: MetroNational
Address: 9805 Interstate 10
Size: 14 stories, 320,000 square feet
Status: Groundbreaking scheduled for this month; Murphy Exploration & Production Co. has pre-leased 173,000 square feet

Beltway 8 Corporate Centre
Developer: Panattoni Development Co.
Address: Westway Park Boulevard at Corporate Centre Drive
Size: 2 stories, 100,000 square feet
Architect: TBD
Status: Proposed



Clay Beltway Office Complex
Developer: Transwestern
Location: Northwest corner of W. Sam Houston Parkway and Clay Road
Size: Two buildings: 14 stories with 350,000 square feet and 12 stories with 300,000 square feet
Architect: Odell
Status: Proposed



8 West Centre
Developer: Core Real Estate
Address: 3505 W. Sam Houston Parkway North
Size: 4 stories, 228,000 square feet
Architect: Powers Brown Architecture
Status: Proposed


CityWestPlace 5 through 8
Developer: Thomas Properties Group
Size: Four buildings from 307,000 square feet to 640,000 square feet
Location: Near the northwest corner of Westheimer and the Sam Houston Parkway
Status: Proposed


Granite Briarpark Green
Developer: Granite Properties
Location: 3141 Briarpark Drive
Size: 12 stories, 300,000 square feet
Architect: PGAL
Project cost: $75 million
Status: Under construction; no tenants yet

Westchase Park* Developer: Simmons Vedder
Address: 3600 W. Sam Houston Parkway South
Size: 270,000 square feet
Status: Proposed


Two Oak Park
Developer: Means Knaus Partners
Location: 6006 Rogerdale Road
Size: 6 stories, 150,000 square feet
Architect: Gensler
Project cost: About $35 million
Status: Proposed; will not start without pre-leasing

[diablo234]

Houston apartment magnate Marvy Finger has purchased the old Art Institute of Houston office building in the Galleria area for a new apartment project.



http://houston.culturemap.com/newsde...ce=sf_facebook

[diablo234]

Some updates of various projects around the city taken from Skyscraperpage.

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BBVA Compass Bank in the Galleria area

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The Skanska Building, right across the street from the Transco Tower.

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Hanover at Rice Village

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New midtown development in old Freedmans Town on Cleveland St.

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This is the huge urban themed Fingers development next to the Whole Foods in Montrose. It will be massive and about 5 stories tall once completed.

Photos courtesy of photoLith.

[diablo234]

Inner-loop tract slated for huge mixed-use project

A Texas real estate investment firm has assembled a 12-acre tract inside the West Loop where it hopes to create a mixed-use development with a hotel, offices, shops and apartments.

The property is at the northeast corner of Westheimer and Mid Lane and was assembled in three separate transactions by an affiliate of Stonelake Capital Partners LLC. A portion of the property had been subject to a ground lease that has been dissolved, the company said.

Stonelake has hired the Gensler architecture firm to plan the development.

“This site represents one of the best redevelopment opportunities in Texas based on its location inside the 610 Loop, its frontage along Westheimer and proximity to Highland Village Shopping Center and River Oaks,” Tom Fish, executive managing director of Jones Lang LaSalle, said in a statement.

Stonelake was founded in 2007 by Kenneth Aboussie and John Kiltz and has offices in Austin, Dallas and Houston. The company manages institutional capital for some of the country’s largest college endowments, foundations, family office and pension funds.

...

[diablo234]

I thought some of you might find this article to be interesting. Basically it is talking about the gentrification of Upper Kirby, along with efforts to make the street more pedestrian friendly.

Houston Chronicle: Upper Kirby's going upscale with 'cool' factor

[diablo234]

The expansion plan for Hobby Airport if anyone here is interested.

[diablo234]

New mixed use building being built in the Museum District.

Monday, July 16, 2012

The Museum District’s New 4-Story Skin Building

It turns out the construction work Swamplot readers noted last week on the vacant lot at 1401 Binz St., catty-corner from the Children’s Museum, is for a 4-story structure combining ground-floor shops, 2 floors of medical office space, and a top-floor residence — all in less than 30,000 sq. ft. A small courtyard will separate the building from a linked multilevel 160-car parking garage. Half the office space, reports the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff, will be taken up by medical clinics operated by UT dermatologist Stephen Tyring; he also owns the property and is an owner of the development firm, Dermedica Property Group. Bailey Architects notes on its website that the building “will reflect the architectural fabric of Houston’s premier museum district buildings.” Sarnoff’s translation: It’ll look Modern. Contractor Arch-Con expects construction to be complete early next year.

http://swamplot.com/the-museum-distr...ng/2012-07-16/

[diablo234]

Wilson Building (built 1931) @ 500 Fannin

Prior to renovation
Photo courtesy of Houstonian in Iraq on HAIF


Rendering and Info


And a photo of the almost finished project courtesy of Jax on HAIF
image hosted on flickr

[diablo234]

Carter Building (built 1910) @ 806 Main across from BG Main Place

The city of Houston is considering loaning the owner of a downtown building $7.35 million to help redevelop the property into a luxury hotel.

The building at 806 Main is known as the Carter Building and some call it Houston’s first skyscraper. The 16-story building was developed in 1910 by Samuel Fain Carter...

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/...oric-building/

[diablo234]

New Rendering of Astoria, up from 24 floors to 25.



Website

[diablo234]

Midway Cos. breaks ground on new CityCentre building

by Shaina Zucker, Reporter
Date: Friday, July 27, 2012, 5:00am

Houston-based real estate and development firm Midway Cos. has just broken ground on a new six-story, mixed-use building in the CityCentre complex.

CityCentre Four, at Beltway 8 and Interstate 10, will be nestled next to CityCentre Three, also under construction. The first floor of the 132,500-square-foot building will be reserved for retail, and the upper stories will accommodate Class A offices.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/p...nd-on-new.html

[diablo234]

Sarnoff: Close-in tract attracts luxury apartment builder

Adding to the flurry of multifamily construction inside the Loop, a 7-acre site north of Washington Avenue is being redeveloped into a high-end apartment complex.

Houston-based Kaplan Cos. recently purchased the tract that sits along T.C. Jester between Allen and Schuler streets. The property's northern border is a railroad.

"The Washington Avenue corridor has kind of come alive in the last decade," said Geoffrey Simpson, Kaplan partner and CFO.

Areawide, apartment occupancy has been steadily rising this year, with upscale properties inside the 610 Loop seeing particularly strong gains. More than half of the 9,500 units under construction are in the Inner Loop or near the Galleria.

The new Kaplan project will be called the District at Washington and is expected to open next summer. The four- and five-story complex will have 396 units with around a 60/40 split between one- and two-bedroom apartments.

The developer is piling on the amenities, it says, in part because of the large site.

"Because it's 7 acres, we're able to do some courtyards that are a third of an acre," Simpson said, noting additional features including an 11,000-square-foot clubhouse, fitness center with a yoga and spin bike area, a lap and lounging pool, and dog parks.

Rents will range from $1,209 to $1,959 on units between 708 and 1,250 square feet.
.....

http://www.chron.com/business/sarnof...nt-3742397.php

[desertpunk]

Originally Posted by diablo234

Wilson Building (built 1931) @ 500 Fannin

And a photo of the almost finished project courtesy of Jax on HAIF
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Very cool!

[diablo234]

Some updates on various projects courtesy of photoLith on SSP.

Galleria area developments, I missed a few, actually a lot but these are a lot of the major ones from today.

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High St.

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Gables at Post Oak

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Astoria, setting up their leasing office on the lot where they are tearing down that two story McDonalds.

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BBVA Compass Bank

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The Mellinium Apartments/Condos with the BBVA building in the background.

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Gables Tanglewood

http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/show...14123&page=200

[diablo234]

Some updates on the new Marriott hotel downtown courtesy of photoLith over at SSP.

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So, work is for sure underway on this historic building which will become a Marriott supposedly. They have gutted the entire lower floor and have started to take off the crap paneling which covered up the beautiful brickwork below.

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And here is a rendering of what the building will look like in the future along with a photo of what it used to look like.

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http://www.cardcow.com/290703/carter...houston-texas/
http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&s...t:429,r:51,s:0

[diablo234]

Repost from Skyscraperpage. Photos and info courtesy of photoLith.

Some random updates from today with my 50mm lens after I destroyed my 14-24 lens.

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Post Midtown Lofts new phase.

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A different section of almost complete Post Midtown Lofts. It even looks like there will be ground floor retail and such. Dont know about that doofy ass looking crown they have going on, I dont know why but for the past 6 years or so it seems that developers love putting these weird crown like things on top of their buildings. This is really evident in Austin, and it seems to have spread from there to other cities. Dont know where it first started though. Im sure in the future architectural historians will call this strange style something and look back and think, what the hell were they thinking?

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5 story urban development on West Grey and Gillette St.

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This is the huge urban themed Fingers development next to the Whole Foods in Montrose. It will be massive and about 5 stories tall once completed. They completed part of the ugly parking garage for it so far. Hopefully they cover it up in something nice and its not just bare concrete.

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It looks like they have started construction on that 21 Story building, which is pretty effing sweet. Its right across from the New Whole Foods. This will be nice to watch go up. It will be the only high rise that I know of going up at the moment inside the 610 Loop.



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Then another mid rise on the corner of W Gray and Waugh Dr. Its built where The Tavern and crap tons of parking used to be, and a few old bungalows unfortunately. This is the backside of the development thus far. I havent seen any renders of it, but Id surmise like most other projects going up on W Gray St., it will be around 6 stories tall probably. Hopefully there will be some ground retail, but it doesnt look like there will be at this point judging from the construction, but I could be wrong.

[desertpunk]

Really nice pictures. Kudos to the photographer!

[diablo234]

Houston Chronicle: High-rise kicks off major urban development

A long-delayed residential project near downtown, primarily targeting well-paid professionals with upscale apartments and condos and a cluster of retail, entertainment and offices, is finally under way.

More than five years after announcing plans for the 24-acre Regent Square project off Allen Parkway, GID Development Group has begun construction on the first building, a 21-story apartment tower called The Sovereign.

It represents an important milestone for GID, which had planned to break ground before the national economy went into a tailspin.

"We went through a tough cycle in the real estate market and the overall economy," said James Linsley, president of Boston-based GID.

The project was one of several that were shelved or canceled as demand for space dried up and lenders stopped financing major commercial real estate projects.

GID said it remains committed to Regent Square, which is to go up in multiple phases on land abutting Allen Parkway near Dunlavy and Dallas, on the site of the old Allen House Apartments. The development could take 10 years to complete.

Plans include about 400,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space; more than 1,500 residential units; and 250,000 square feet of office space in what the developer refers to as an "urban district" where residents can walk to everything. The walkable nature of the project extends beyond its borders, Linsley said, with a pedestrian trail around Buffalo Bayou and high-end shops and a new Whole Foods a short distance away.

click here to read more..............