Downtown

07/09/10 7:43pm

Will the City’s New Jitney Rules Cut Out the Little Electric Guys?

Midtown, Transportation, Washington Corridor

Electric-shuttle entrepreneur Erik Ibarra is worried about a new draft ordinance— due to be discussed by a city transportation committee on Tuesday and voted on by city council later this month — that he says raises the required minimum capacity for jitneys from 4 to 9 passengers. (The new provision appears to have been included at the request of taxi companies.) The founder of Rev Eco-Shuttle tells Swamplot officers of the city’s Administration and Regulatory Affairs department have told him the two 6-seater emissions-free carts his company currently uses to shuttle passengers around Washington Ave and the Downtown and Midtown areas at $5 a pop would be grandfathered under the new ordinance, but that any additional vehicles of the same design would be ineligible.

The department’s plan appears to be to regulate any new shuttles (along with pedicabs) under a separate set of rules for low-speed vehicles, but Ibarra says a draft of those rules is nowhere in sight, and he’d like to be able to expand his current business.

Ibarra had been encouraging the city to revise the jitney ordinance because of the hassles he experienced trying first to identify and then to comply with the existing rules. The entrepreneur famously spent 2 1/2 years trying to get the city of Houston to give him some kind of permit for his 2 all-electric vehicles, collecting plenty of citations from city officers along the way. His 2 carts finally received permits in December. Ibarra tells Swamplot both were actually revoked by the city in May, but he expects to receive new jitney permits within a few days.

Previously on Swamplot: The Little Downtown Electric Shuttle Service Earns a Badge, REV Houston Downtown Shuttle: No Fare, No Emissions, Just Tips and Tickets, REV Houston: Street Illegal, Tips Only: Downtown-to-Midtown Zero-Emission Shuttle

Photo: Rev Eco-Shuttle

77002, 77007, City Council, Downtown, Midtown, Transportation, Washington Corridor

Discovery Green

07/06/10 6:40pm

Swamplot Street Sleuths: Downtown Discoveries

Downtown, Openings and Closings, Restaurants

Got an answer to these reader questions? Or just want to be a sleuth for Swamplot? Hereâ€™s your chance! Add your report in a comment, or send a note to our tipline.

Discovery Green: Two questions this week, coming from within a block of each other: First, a reader wants to know what happened to the “awesome” silver-and-blue Skyline Bar & Grill that used to be on the 24th floor of the Hilton Americas hotel Downtown. Separately, and across the park, another reader submits what may turn out to be an existential question about the top of the new Hess Tower:

We just returned from the Dock Dog competition at Discovery Green and noticed that the 30+ story building adjacent to the Northwest corner of the park has what appears to be 5 or 6 wind turbine-like devices rotating at the top of the building. My daughter and I were wondering if they are actually functional electric-producing turbines or are they just ornamental? Thanks for any info you and your loyal readers can send our way.

Photo of Hess Tower from Discovery Green: Stanford Moore

77010, Discovery Green, Discovery Tower, Downtown, Openings and Closings, Restaurants

07/02/10 2:01pm

The GSA’s Curious Houston U.S. Attorney Office Leasing Deal: Higher Costs, Double Rent

Leasing, Office Space

1 Comment

A Swamplot reader who has some familiarity with the terms of the deal has expressed surprise at the 10-year lease the federal government’s General Services Administration recently signed for 132,539 sq. ft. of office space Downtown. The arrangement appears to leave the GSA paying rent on 2 separate Houston office locations for the U.S. Attorney — for 2 years. The U.S. Attorney’s office, located in the office building at 919 Milam since 1994, will move early next year to offices on the 23rd through 27th floors of Wells Fargo Plaza at 1000 Louisiana St. — space formerly occupied by Dynegy, according to a report in Globe St.:

The GSA . . . considered more than 40 potential locations before touring seven buildings and then narrowing it down to four final buildings. Wells Fargo Plaza stood out because of its location, which is two blocks from the federal court building, along with its access to the downtown tunnel system and its 25,000-square-foot floorplates.

The GSA was represented in lease negotiations by the Houston office of Jones Lang LaSalle. Bruce Rutherford is a managing director in the office:

â€œThe building is a short walk to the federal courts, and when itâ€™s really hot or raining, the lawyers can use the tunnel to get there,â€ Rutherford says, adding that Wells Fargo Plaza is also a â€œstraight shotâ€ by cab if necessary.

But the reasons for the move cited in the article — which include an impending lease expiration, proximity to the federal courthouse, desire for a more efficient use of space as well as enhanced technology and security, and tunnel access — “just donâ€™t add up” for our source, who notes that the Wells Fargo Plaza location is only one block closer to the federal court building at 515 Rusk than the Attorney’s current offices, which also have access to the underground tunnels.

77002, Downtown, Government Agencies, Leasing, Office Space

06/03/10 12:09pm

Streamline Appeal: Knapp Chevrolet Is Not Going Away

Old Sixth Ward, Openings and Closings, Retail, Washington Corridor

11 Comments

It looked like the end of the line for the Chevy dealership in the streamline building at the corner of Houston and Washington Ave just west of Downtown: GM notified Knapp Chevrolet last May that it would not be renewing its franchise agreement with the 62-year-old Houston company. But a law passed by congress and signed by President Obama in December set up a neutral arbitration process for jilted dealerships, and late last month Knapp learned that its appeal had been successful. Unable to obtain new cars from GM for about a year, Knapp has survived by buying inventory from other local Chevrolet dealers. Expect to see a few more cars on the lot soon, now that Knapp has been reinstated.

Houston GM dealer avoids shutdown by winning appeal [11 News]
Chevy Dealership Will Stay Open [Click2Houston]
Obama’s signature kicks off arbitration process for rejected GM, Chrysler dealers [Automotive News]
Previously on Swamplot: GM Wants To Take Away Knapp

Photo: Chris Adams

77007, Auto Dealerships, Downtown, Old-Sixth-Ward, Openings and Closings, Retail, Washington Corridor

05/27/10 12:55pm

Houston House Ready for Rehab, Tenants Prepare To Play Musical Apartments

Downtown, Leasing, Renovations

6 Comments

Renovations are scheduled to begin in the next few weeks on Downtown’s Houston House Apartments at 1617 Fannin, according to a notice distributed to residents yesterday:

These renovations will include, but are not limited to ALL APARTMENT UNIT INTERIORS, plumbing, HVAC system, domestic hot water, sprinkler systems, the lobby, 9th and 10th floors and the building’s exterior. There will be significant additions to our amenities as well.

Here’s the fun part: Everybody gets to relocate!

77002, Apartments, Downtown, Financing, Leasing, Renovations

05/19/10 4:51pm

Early Exit: The Fire at the Downtown Y

Demolitions, Downtown, Institutional Buildings, Land Sales

14 Comments

A reader sends us this view from the scene of the YMCA on Louisiana and Pease Downtown. A fire broke out in a resident’s room on the 9th floor of the 67-year-old building early this afternoon after someone left a lit candle unattended, according to news reports. YMCA officials tell Channel 2 News that 16 residents will need to be relocated as a result of the damages.

Of course, all 135 residents of the YMCA will need to be relocated after the new YMCA down the street at 808 Pease St. (at Milam) opens this October. The YMCA plans to demolish the Louisiana St. building, then sell the vacant 85,000-sq.-ft. property to Chevron, which owns the shiny former Enron building next door. The new Tellepsen Family Downtown YMCA now under construction contains no residences.

Late Update: Our correspondent sends in a later photo from the scene:

77002, Apartments, Demolitions, Downtown, Fires, Institutional Buildings, Land Sales

05/19/10 12:53pm

Fraud Arrests for Sham Condo Sales at the Kirby Lofts

Buying and Selling, Condos, Crime, Downtown, Fraud, Lofts

5 Comments

Converted from an office building to apartments in 2004 by NBC Holdings’ Tracy Suttles and The Randall Davis Company, the Kirby Lofts at 917 Main Downtown went condo a little later. How did that ball get rolling? The federal government’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force suggests one answer: a few “sham sales” from January to October 2006. Indictments charging Veronica Frazier, Robert Veazie, and Felton Greer with several counts of conspiracy and wire fraud were unsealed Friday.

Frazier, 42, of Pearland, allegedly recruited buyers with good credit in 2006 to act as straw borrowers and use false information to apply for home loans, according to the U.S. attorneyâ€™s office. She and other unnamed co-conspirators then allegedly used the loan proceeds for themselves and to pay kickbacks to the fake borrowers.

77002, Apartments, Condos, Crime, Downtown, Fraud, Kirby Lofts, Lofts

Bankruptcies

05/17/10 9:37am

At Risk on Rusk

Buying and Selling, Downtown, Foreclosures, Quicklink

No Comments

AT RISK ON RUSK Earlier this month Cameron Management lost the 2000 St. James Place office building to foreclosure; now CEO Dougal Cameron is trying hard not to lose the Houston Club Building Downtown. So the Cameron-controlled limited partnership that owns the 18-story 62-year-old office building at 811 Rusk is declaring bankruptcy. Cameron had visions of converting the building into a hotel or high-end apartments when his investment group bought it from JPMorgan Chase in 2007; more recently the company hired PageSoutherlandPage to plan an “educational facility” to take over several floors. The building has 5 levels of parking. The Houston Club, which counts George Bush as one of its members (and as the name of one of its rooms), has a low-cost lease on four floors that expires in five years. [Houston Chronicle] Photo: Silberman Properties

77002, Bankruptcies, Buying and Selling, Downtown, Foreclosures, Office Buildings

Discovery Green

05/05/10 12:11pm

Swamplot Award Winners Converge as Phoenicia Moves in Next to Discovery Green

Downtown, Openings and Closings, Retail

30 Comments

The owners of the international foods emporium voted best grocery store in the city by Swamplot readers last year have announced they’ll be opening a second location Downtown, across the street from Discovery Green — whose opening day was voted the Best Moment in Houston Real Estate in the Swamplot Awards the previous year. What Swamplot Award-winner mashup will they think of next?

The new 28,000-sq.-ft Phoenicia Specialty Foods — smaller than the 55,000-sq.-ft. store on Westheimer near Kirkwood — is expected to open at the end of this year across McKinney St. from the Downtown park, in the ground floor of the One Park Place apartment tower. But park visitors will likely have to walk around the building to get their freekeh on: The store’s entrance will face Austin St.

We know what you’re wondering — will the pita be floating down from the ceiling on a conveyor belt Downtown too?

77010, Discovery Green, Downtown, Grocery Stores, Openings and Closings, Retail

03/22/10 5:31pm

The Little Downtown Electric Shuttle Service Earns a Badge

Midtown, Transportation, Washington Corridor

1 Comment

“So the Eco-Shuttle looks a little funny with the new #Jitney decals,” tweet the folks behind the REV Houston service. Why are those little white electric vehicles that drive passengers around Downtown, parts of Midtown, and the Washington Corridor for tips only now wearing Jitney decals?

Because the REV shuttles, long a favorite citation target of city permitting officials, are now street legal. And here’s the technicolor medallion to prove it:

77002, 77007, Downtown, Midtown, Transportation, Washington Corridor

03/12/10 12:32pm

The Hilton Americas-Houston Hotel, Where Everybody Knows Your Face

Hotels, Security

No Comments

From a hotel press release:

Hilton Americas-Houston is the first hotel to utilize 3VR [Security, Inc.]’s facial recognition, license plate recognition and advanced motion analytics to provide the ultimate in guest security. In the hotel security business since 1990, John Alan Moore, director of security and life safety for Hilton Americas-Houston says “I’ve never seen anything that is able to do the things this technology does; it’s light-years ahead of the system we previously used.” . . .

Another use for the system that Hilton Americas-Houston has found useful is recognizing repeat customers. According to Moore, “We will be able to tie in with front office systems to flag our Gold Card members in order to be able to blow them away with service. This is another tool to be used to keep Hilton as the leader in the industry.” With 90% accuracy, the system registers few false positives, even picking up good facial info on cameras not specifically designated as facial-recognition. On a humorous note, the system is so sensitive that it has recognized faces that were not actually guests; they were photos of the t-shirts of guests. Moore said “President Obama made an appearance on our skywalk, on a guest’s clothing. That’s how bad the system wants to recognize a face.”

Hilton In Houston Installs Intelligent Surveillance System [Hotels, via Hair Balls]

Photo: Urban Jungle Survivalist

77010, Downtown, Hotels, Security

Attractions

02/19/10 9:38am

Second HPD HQ Drive-By: There’s a Cruiser in There Now

Downtown, Houston Architects, Museums

2 Comments

Previously on Swamplot: Drive-By: The Cop Copter Inside Headquarters

Video: Christian Sheridan, Brave/Architecture

77002, Attractions, Downtown, Houston Architects, Museums, Videos

02/18/10 12:16pm

The Numbers on Commerce Towers

Condos, Condos for Sale, Downtown, Highrises, Lofts

How has that condo conversion of the former Commerce Building at the corner of Main St. and Walker Downtown been working out?

The building has 122 finished units and a two-story-tall penthouse that has not been built out yet.

A total of 69 units have been sold, and another 25 have been leased. [Commerce Towers sales and leasing agent Susan] Speck said some of the renters are interested in buying.

Prominent Houstonian Jesse Jones built the first part of the structure in 1928, and added onto it in the 1930s, Speck said.

An entity named Premier Towers bought the building in 1999. It was redeveloped by New York-based Whitney Jordan Group with Tarantino Properties Inc. of Houston.

The first condo units were finished and people starting moving in during 2002.

Commerce Towers goes back to sales push [Houston Business Journal]
Previously on Swamplot: Eye-Opening Parking Garage Design

Photo of Commerce Towers, 914 Main St.: Sandra Gunn Properties

77002, Apartments, Commerce Towers, Condo Conversions, Condos, Condos for Sale, Downtown, Highrises, Lofts

02/08/10 2:21pm

Slipping a Hotel Under the Slipcover: Plans from the New Owner of 806 Main

Hotels, Houston Landmarks, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

The Houston Business Journal‘s Jennifer Dawson is reporting that a hotel developer out of Fort Worth is purchasing the 22-story office building at 806 Main St. Downtown with plans to gut it, renovate it, and reopen it as a hotel. The building is approximately 100 years old, but its top 10 floors were added in the 1920s. The stone, terra cotta, and brick structure was dressed in a marble-and-glass slipcover about 60 years later. Directly across the street from the tower is the construction site of Hines’s MainPlace development.

The city has designated 806 Main as a landmark. It’s connected to the Downtown tunnel system, but has remained mostly empty in recent years. The last of 40 recent tenants is scheduled to move out this week. Building manager Betty Brown tells Dawson that only the Christian Science Reading Room and Domino’s Pizza on the ground floor will be left — their leases run out in 9 to 12 months.

With the exception of the Embassy Suites in downtown Fort Worth featured prominently on its website, Pearl Real Estate has built or redeveloped mostly suburban-style hotels. The 10-year-old company typically operates its own properties and serves as its own general contractor.

What kind of hotel is Pearl planning underneath this slipcover?