Condos

Apartments
12/30/08 5:15pm

Phillips Development at the Mosaic: Short-Term Rentals, Short-Term Stay?

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Condos, Foreclosures, Hermann Park, Highrises, Leasing
13 Comments

Need a place to crash somewhere in Houston for a short visit — say, a week — but don’t want to stay in a hotel?

Phillips Development & Realty, developers of the Mosaic and freshly rebranded Montage towers across Almeda from Hermann Park, is handling rentals of Mosaic condos owned by investors — as well as rentals of the many units the developer has been unable to unload. Now a source passes on a new rumor to Swamplot: Some of those available rentals may be extremely short-term.

Not a bad idea for a property that’s close to the Med Center! With that rumor, though, come a couple more:

Phillips’s Corporate Leasing Director will be taking over management of the Mosaic’s homeowners association from the company that had been running it since the building opened last year. But Phillips’s new tenure at the HOA may be a short-term one too. Why?

Because Florida Capital Real Estate Partners, the Mosaic’s lender, might just be foreclosing on Phillips’s property soon — both the Mosaic and an apartment complex in Tampa called the Casa Bella. Swamplot’s source also suggests that Camelot Realty Group — the company that’s clearly been very busy handling the Mosaic’s many condo sales — may already have had discussions with Florida Capital about taking over onsite rental duties from Phillips once the foreclosure takes place.

Photo of Mosaic and Montage: Swamplot inbox

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Condos
12/17/08 11:47am

All Quiet in Melrose Park

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Condos for Sale, Houston Heights
27 Comments

A reader from the Heights writes in to ask what’s going on with the condos on the southwest corner of Heights Blvd. and 15th St.:

I am curious about a development project that seems to have fallen prey to the recent US mortgage debacle. The place looks abandoned and unfinished.

Two condos in the 20-unit Melrose Park Condominium development are listed for sale on HAR. All but one of the units appear to have the same owner. Can anyone fill our reader in on the latest?

Photo of 1447 and 1449 Heights Blvd.: HAR

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Buying and Selling
12/09/08 12:14pm

Reader Questions for Cosmo

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Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Real Estate Marketing
1 Comment

From the Swamplot mailbin, questions about the tower Randall Davis got up:

I would like an update on the Cosmopolitan. I drove by and it looks like barely anyone is living in the building. Roughly 20% of the units are either for sale or lease in the building. Given the problems the Titan is having in sales, can anyone provide insight into the viability of the Cosmopolitan. Does anyone live there? How is it?

The last time Swamplot posted a reader’s questions about the Cosmopolitan, the response was . . . underwhelming. Anybody home?

Photo of Cosmopolitan Tower: HAR

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Art
12/02/08 10:54am

A Real Mosaic Condo: The Secret Art of Westbury Gardens

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Condos, Condos for Sale, Home Decor, Interiors, Westbury
7 Comments

What delights await you in this Westbury Gardens condo? The video choreographs the entrance sequence beautifully.

Under the romantic entry arch, through the peaceful courtyard, past the double doors, up the stairs . . . what’s next?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Apartments
11/21/08 1:14pm

Die, Sell, or On Hold: Big Houston Projects in Crisis

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Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Retail
16 Comments

What effects have difficulties with bank financing stemming from the global financial crisis had on some of those big new developments planned for Houston? The Houston Business Journal‘s Jennifer Dawson weighs in with a “Where Are They Now?” roundup:

  • Regent Square: That big design change meant a year’s delay; the first parts of the 24-acre Inner Loop development are now scheduled to start construction in the second quarter of 2009. A marketing center will open at 1203 Dunlavy next month, but have some more official kickoff in February.
  • Sonoma: “Called off — for now,” but you already knew that. According to Dawson, it wasn’t so much the banks but the developer that grew skittish: CONTINUE READING THIS STORY
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Commercial Real Estate
11/20/08 10:28am

Sonoma Developers: We Were So Close, Really!

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Condos, Financing, Mixed Use, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Retail, Rice Village, Streets
1 Comment

Sonoma’s would-be developers try to explain to West U Examiner reporter Michael Reed why the Rice Village retail-and-condo project was put “on hold” only a few weeks after the sales team sent out an email to prospective buyers claiming it had received financing:

Julie [Tysor], president of the Appelt Companies, said in an e-mail response to Examiner questions about the financing, “We had secured a substantial majority of the financing for the south building through the cooperation of some local lenders who have also supported this project since its inception.”

She said a number of factors contributed to the financing falling through, “not the least of which is historical world economic crisis that is unprecedented…”

So what’s going to happen to the site — which includes that block of Bolsover St. purchased from the city — now?

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Commercial Real Estate
11/14/08 11:04am

Sonoma in Translation: Not Gonna Happen

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Condos, Financing, Land Sales, Mixed Use, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Rice Village, Streets
5 Comments

Rendering of Proposed Sonoma Development, Bolsover St., Rice Village, Houston

Last month, a Sonoma sales rep told the West U Examiner that the project had secured financing — which turned out to be condo-sales-speak for “Maybe if people think we’re definitely going ahead we can still sell units and somehow find a way out of this mess.” Now Nancy Sarnoff reports in the Chronicle that the developer of the condos-and-retail complex slated for what used to be Bolsover St. in the Rice Village has told her that the project “is being put on hold ‘for the short term.’” This appears to be developer-speak for “We’re toast.”

Was the problem just “economic uncertainties and tumultuous credit markets”? After developer Lamesa Corp. and partner Randall Davis pulled their switcheroo, deciding to start with the project’s second phase because they couldn’t get the more grandiose first phase financed,

they went back to the market and were negotiating for a $70 million loan with 40 percent equity to build the smaller second phase of 85 units.

At that point they had nearly 70 buyers who had put down deposits. More than half were interested in the second building.

Translation: Almost half their buyers bailed.

There’s good news for the trashed 2-block section of the Village Sonoma leaves behind, though:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Apartments
11/10/08 12:12pm

Mosaic Splits in Two

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Condos, Hermann Park, Highrises, New Construction: Residential
No Comments

Aerial View of Mosaic Tower with Montage Tower Under Construction, Houston

The soon-to-be-complete second Mosaic tower on Almeda across from Hermann Park will have a different name, reports Nancy Sarnoff in the Chronicle. It’ll be called the Montage, and all 394 units will be rentals, as predicted.

“The market is not supporting sales in two towers,” said Thomas Cervone of Camelot Realty Group, which was hired over the summer to sell units in the building.

Leasing on the second building will start in January, with the units renting for an average of $2.25 per square foot.

The new name will help distinguish the southern tower from the first one, which apparently also features a large number of rentals, even though it remains officially a condo building.

Photo: Aerial photo of Mosaic from July: Aero Photo

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Condos
10/27/08 1:41pm

Turnberry Tower: Not Going To Happen

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Galleria, Highrises, Proposed Developments
4 Comments

Proposed Turnberry Tower, Uptown, Houston

The rumor Swamplot reported late last week has now been confirmed from multiple sources: The 34-story Turnberry Tower luxury condo palace planned for the Galleria area — yeah, the one with the tombstone-shaped silhouette — is officially dead.

Rendering of Turnberry Tower Galleria: Robert M. Swedroe Architects and Planners

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Condos
10/24/08 3:04pm

Turnberry Tower: Turning Away?

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Galleria, Highrises, Proposed Developments
3 Comments

Proposed Turnberry Tower, Uptown, Houston

From the Swamplot rumor mill comes an unconfirmed and second-hand report: that the team behind proposed Houston Turnberry Tower — the 34-story luxury highrise planned to rest just behind the Williams Tower — “officially pulled the plug on their galleria deal yesterday.”

Could this be true? A lot of hard work — and a lot of plumbing design — has been poured into that project. It would be sad to see it all go down the toilet.

Late Update: The rumor has been confirmed.

Rendering of Turnberry Tower Galleria: Robert M. Swedroe Architects and Planners

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Commercial Real Estate
10/24/08 10:10am

Go-Aheads for Sonoma

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Condos, Financing, Land Sales, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Rice Village, Streets
No Comments

GO-AHEADS FOR SONOMA Randall Davis’s Sonoma development couldn’t get financing for its first phase, but the condos-and-retail project’s sales team is now saying it has financing for its second phase, planned for the south side of Bolsover St. And requirements for taking over the block of Bolsover between the two projects have been fulfilled: “In an e-mail sent Saturday, sales team member Keith Kaposta said groundbreaking at the Rice Village site was still expected in February following the expiration of Walgreens’ lease on the property at 5313 Kelvin St. In another development, the city of Houston said Tuesday that developer Randall Davis property owner La Mesa Corp. had successfully completed all work that was required by the extended deadline of Oct. 27. . . . [Public Works Department spokesman Alvin] Wright said even if the work covered under the letters of credit was not completed by the deadlines, the city would not get the property back. [West University Examiner; previously]

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Candlelight Trails
10/15/08 4:36pm

Lights Out for Candlelight Trails?

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Condos, Crime, Demolitions, Inwood Forest, Neighborhood Disputes
7 Comments

Candlelight Trails Condominiums, 5500 DeSoto St., Inwood Forest, Houston

City building officials closed down the Candlelight Trails condo complex in northwest Houston 14 months ago, citing substandard living conditions. But neighbors have still been complaining about squatters and crime. Now the Chronicle‘s Matt Stiles reports that city attorneys have filed a lawsuit asking a judge to allow them to demolish it:

the complex technically is a condominium property, so the city has to sue 150 owners to get authority to tear the property down. The City Council is set to vote this week to hire a law firm for those cases.

Candlelight Trails sits on 11 acres in the 5500 and 5600 blocks of DeSoto, off Antoine north of Tidwell.

Photo of Candlelight Trails: Matt Stiles

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Audubon Place
10/13/08 1:12pm

Styling the Bistro Vino Condo Tower: Low Voter Turnout

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Condos, Montrose, Neartown, Proposed Developments
9 Comments

Style Possibilities for Proposed InnerLoopCondos.com Condo Development on West Alabama St., Houston

Remember back in July, when the folks from InnerLoopCondos.com sent out a survey about a new development proposed for 819 W. Alabama — the former site of Bistro Vino — and wanted you to help them choose which of six funny costumes the new condo building should wear? The company is now saying it’ll likely build 6 to 8 stories on top of at least 3 parking-garage levels, producing 80 condos priced from $190,000 to $400,000.

Best of all, InnerLoopCondos.com — a subsidiary of Montreal’s Group LSR — plans to break ground . . . in maybe only 18 short months!

What the thing will look like, though . . . is still up to you! “We’re very sensitive to what people are saying on the survey,” InnerLoopCondos.com’s Andre Julien tells the Chronicle‘s Betty Martin. So how are the votes tallying?

The company won’t start planning until the survey had received about 50 responses, the minimum needed to gauge what prospective condo buyers want, Julien said.

What? Fewer than 50 votes!???

Readers, the ballot box is still open. You have six colorful theming choices. Do you need to hear that lecture again about how important your vote is?

Images: InnerLoopCondos.com

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Commercial Real Estate
10/09/08 9:42am

Will the Village Get Its Bolsover Back?

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Condos, Financing, Land Sales, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Rice Village, Streets
2 Comments

The West U Examiner‘s Michael Reed points out that Randall Davis has a looming deadline to complete some work on the block of Bolsover St. in Rice Village that was purchased from the city:

A condition, passed by the Houston City Council at the time of the sale, specified that some changes to the site of the high-end condo over retail project must be completed within one year.

The block was sold in August of last year so that Davis could use it as part of his Sonoma mixed-use development. Since then, Davis has run into problems finding financing, and the project has changed considerably. He now wants to build the smaller second phase — on the south side of the street — first. But the Walgreens currently on that site has a lease that won’t be up until January.

What needs to get done by the end of October?

The plugging and abandonment of the 8-inch water line within the street, and the relocation of the existing storm sewer inlets to Bolsover and Morningside.

The developer is “required to eliminate the appearance of the public street” at the intersections of Bolsover and both Kelvin and Morningside.

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Apartments
10/08/08 12:11pm

Ashby Highrise: Strike Seven!

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Boulevard Oaks, Condos, Development Regulations, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Southampton
8 Comments

ASHBY HIGHRISE: STRIKE SEVEN! “The developers of the Ashby high-rise sent their plans back to the city of Houston just days before Hurricane Ike hit, and not long after the Public Works Department resumed operations, Buckhead Investment Partners were rejected for a seventh time. Records show the plans were filed again Sept. 11, seven days after being returned. They were denied a remaining permit again Sept. 29. In his comments, city engineer Mark Loethen said plans for a driveway permit contained no revisions and there was ‘no current justification’ for restriping plans on Bissonnet Boulevard at Ashby Drive.” [West University Examiner; previously]

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