Development Strategy

77055, Development Strategy, Home Design, Homes for Sale, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Real Estate Marketing, Spring-Branch, Theming, Townhomes

Development Strategy

12/06/07 2:35pm

Fifth Ward: New Urbanists Meet Old Toxic Waste

Environmental, Fifth Ward, Hazards, Land Development, Master-Planned Communities, Proposed Developments, Toxic Sites

Residences at Seventh at 5th, by DPZ

A reader who lives in the neighborhood points us to drawings and information from New Urbanist planners Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. about the firm’s designs for the former MDI Superfund site in the Fifth Ward. DPZ, of course, is most famous for the enormous small-town-sized stage-set the company designed for the 1998 Jim Carrey movie The Truman Show, which became so popular that it was kept on and is now used as a Florida Panhandle resort named Seaside.

InTown Homes and Lovett Homes owner Frank Liu bought the MDI site — a former metal foundry and spent-catalyst “recycling” facility famously polluted with lead and several thousand chemistry sets’ worth of other toxic substances — from the EPA late last year, with promises that he’ll spend a couple of years and $6.7 million remediating the property before letting Houstonians live there. Still, 36+ acres of inner-loop land at $5 a square foot doesn’t sound like too bad a deal.

After the jump: a look at DPZ’s MDI plans, plus large grains of salt.

77020, Development Strategy, Environmental, Fifth Ward, Hazards, Land Development, Master-Planned Communities, New-Urbanism, Proposed Developments, Superfund-Sites, Toxic Sites

12/05/07 12:23pm

The Fairmont on San Felipe: Close Enough for Comfort

Briargrove, Commercial Real Estate, Development Strategy, Mixed Use, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Retail, Strip Centers

Site Plan of The Fairmont on San Felipe, Houston

Sure, there’s Post Properties, the Sonoma in the Rice Village and all those tired old buildings downtown, but most Houston developers won’t put apartments on top of retail unless they’re dragged kicking and screaming. And really, the idea of living next to a strip center evokes a much warmer, more folksy feeling. Isn’t that what Houston is all about?

The latest: The Fairmont on San Felipe, on the southeast corner of San Felipe and Winrock. A couple of apartment courtyards, connected by a central garage, behind two strips ready for 41,500 square feet of retail. It’s now under construction, on the site of the old Regency Arms apartments, which burned last year after it had already been vacated for demolition.

Update, 2/14/08: Looks like they have been dragged!

The Fairmont on San Felipe (PDF) [Hunington Properties]
Regency Arms Apartments, @San Felipe and Winrock [HAIF]

77057, Apartments, Briargrove, Commercial Real Estate, Mixed Use, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Retail, Strip Centers

Buying and Selling

11/19/07 11:52am

Metro Chief Very Excited About Sprawl

Commercial Real Estate, Development Strategy, Freeways and Toll Roads, Katy, Land Development, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Investing, Sprawl, Transportation

Aerial View of Wolff Companies Projects Along I-10

Sure, Metro talks a lot about transportation in this city’s central districts. But a Houston Business Journal profile shows us Harris County Metropolitan Transit Authority Chairman David Wolff is also enthusiastic about Houston’s westward spread:

Many developers are building various types of commercial properties west of Houston and beyond.

The city of Katy, with an estimated population of 205,000, sits square in the path of Houston’s westward growth pattern.

“The whole city is going that way,” Wolff says. “I think Katy is going to be the next Sugar Land.”

He recalls the creation of Park 10, and how much the area has grown over the last three decades.

Says Wolff: “It was just rice fields. That was really the edge of the world then.”

After the jump, the METRO Board Chairman’s exciting projects way out west, plus how to get folks in the “next Sugar Land” to build freeway on- and off-ramps for your developments!

Buying and Selling, Commercial Real Estate, Development Strategy, Freeways, Katy, Land Development, Metro, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Investing, Sprawl, Transportation

Commercial Real Estate

11/15/07 11:36am

Stuck in Traffic? Pull Over for a Philly Cheesesteak by the Wayside

Development Strategy, East End, New Construction, Restaurants, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

New Shopping Center at the Northeast Corner of I-45 South and Wayside, Houston

The Lenny’s Sub Shops continue their Houston conquest. The franchise is now up to seventeen stores, with eleven opening soon, including one in this new shopping center about to begin construction on the Gulf Freeway feeder just north of Wayside. That’s almost a third of the way to the company’s goal!

The I-45 (northbound) and Wayside property developer is Bobby Orr, who complained to the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff about the glut of suburban strip centers back in June: “We’re going urban,” he said. And really, the Orr Commercial properties are all over the map. But don’t be fooled by the side-of-the-freeway location and strip-center layout on this one: Luring hungry drivers out of inner-loop freeway traffic jams is an important part of Houston’s urban spirit.

NEC I-45 at S. Wayside [Orr Commercial]
Franchise Sub Leases To Blanket Houston [Swamplot]
Shopping Center Update: Franchises, Anchors, and All Those Nail Salons [Swamplot]

77023, Commercial Real Estate, Development Strategy, East End, Fast Food, Franchises, New Construction, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers, Traffic

11/14/07 10:15am

The Secret Plan To Redevelop the Astrodome

Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Reliant Park

Paczki, A Polish Jelly Donut

By now everybody knows the full story about the latest proposal to turn the Reliant Astrodome into a wacky, gondola-and-balloon-filled convention-hotel donut, right? Sure, it took the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation four years to work out the plan — and okay, the would-be redevelopers might be a little stingy about actually showing anybody what the thing is supposed to look like. But the proposal’s clear enough that when the Rodeo and the Texans say they don’t like the project we know enough about the plan to understand what they’re objecting to. Right?

Well, maybe not.

In the latest installment of the Chronicle‘s “Oh, by the way, we failed to mention” series on the latest Dome redo efforts, reporter Bill Murphy drops this little nugget about twenty-three paragraphs in:

The rodeo’s [Chief Operating Officer Leroy] Shafer said he understands that officials in his organization might be viewed as “obstructionists” because of their opposition to the plan. But the public, he said, would understand the rodeo’s stance if officials of the group could speak freely about what they see as the project’s problems. Rodeo officials had to sign confidentiality agreements before they were allowed to review details of the plan.

Hey, Harris County residents should feel lucky: we got to see a drawing of the project without all of us having to sign non-disclosure agreements! If we all promise to sign and keep our mouths shut, can we find out about the project secrets too?

But there’s more:

77054, Astrodome, Attractions, Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Reliant Park

Condos

11/09/07 1:27pm

Forty-Two New Condos in the Old First Ward

Development Strategy, First Ward, Homebuilders, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Parking, Proposed Developments

Site Plan for Sawyer Brownstones by Terramark Homes at 2110 Shearn St., Houston

How do you pack so many condos into an old warehouse building in Houston’s First Ward? Easy! You knock the warehouse down, build a gate around the block, and pack â€™em in!

Permit in hand, Terramark Homes begins construction on the Sawyer Brownstones at 2110 Shearn St. The forty-two units will take up the block surrounded by Shearn, Hemphill, Spring, and Henderson Streets, just south of I-10.

No images of the outside yet, so it’s hard to say if these brownstones will indeed have brown stone or just be brownstone-like. But continue after the jump and we’ll show you the secret to shoehorning so many townhome-style condos into a single block!

77007, Construction Materials, Demolitions, Development Strategy, First Ward, Garages, Homebuilders, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Parking, Proposed Developments, Townhomes

11/07/07 8:02am

Dome Redo: Doomed from the Opening Pitch

Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Reliant Park, Tourism

Astros Vs. Expos at the Astrodome, 1992

More high comedy surrounding the Astrodome: Just what is Texans owner Bob McNair’s problem with the proposal to redevelop the Astrodome into a hotel? It’s . . . the hotel!

“A hotel would be in direct conflict with our games and when the rodeo is going on. You can’t tell guests they can’t come to the hotel on Sundays. That wouldn’t be fair to them. It wouldn’t be fair to our fans.

“We’re trying to be open-minded about this. We’re willing to look at anything that doesn’t conflict with our events.”

Now, you’re probably asking yourself: Haven’t the Texans known that the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation was wanting to turn the Dome into a hotel now for about . . . what, three years? Wouldn’t the two groups maybe have wanted to chat with each other at some point during that period?

Silly you! You’re presuming that the Texans and the Rodeo and the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation — Reliant Park’s landlords — actually have some intention or incentive to come up with a workable plan to redevelop the Astrodome. And you’re forgetting that turning the Dome into a hotel was an idea pushed early on by . . . the HCSCC’s chairman, Mike Surface! Remember that space-theme amusement-park concept that was so brilliant that the group that proposed it won the “competition” the HCSCC set up four years ago — even over other developer groups that had more experience and deeper pockets? That group was the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation.

A year later the ARC scrapped its own space-park concept in favor of the convention-hotel complex pushed by the HCSCC. With the Sports and Convention Corporation’s backing, the company worked in secret for three more years to refine the proposal.

Good thing the HCSCC didn’t solicit any alternate proposals during that time. Just think of the confusion that would have caused!

Texans owner weighs in on Astrodome plans [Houston Chronicle]
New space park eyed for Dome [Houston Chronicle]
Houston Astrodome May Get $400 million Transformation to a 1,000-room Convention Hotel [Hotel Online]
Dome and Dumber [Swamplot]
Astrodome Redevelopmentâ€™s Last, Desperate Gambit: Release Images [Swamplot]

Photo of Astrodome from August 28, 1992: Flickr user j4e0f0f

77054, Astrodome, Attractions, Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Houston-Texans, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Reliant Park, Rodeo, Tourism

Brazoria County

11/06/07 10:48am

What Those Inspired Masters Are Planning near Alvin

Development Strategy, Land Development, Master-Planned Communities, Proposed Developments, Sprawl

Map of Proposed Aperion Communities Developments

Why do we need the Grand Parkway? To connect all those new green-living communities spreading way out into the Texas prairie!

An Arizona development company is master-planning a master-planned community for a tiny 4,000-plus-acre plot in Alvin, linking the Grand Parkway, FM 1462, and highway 288. Yes, that’s bigger than Shadow Creek Ranch.

It’s called Inspiration at Alvin, if you believe the mayor, or Inspiration @ Chocolate Bayou if you believe the Aperion Communities website.

Alvin mayor Gary Appelt announced that the expected population when the project is built out — in 30 years — is 25,000 people. That’s just over six people per acre. No wonder they’re calling it green!

Inspiration is the first lifestyle enhanced sustainable community model ever created. Itâ€™s where Aperionâ€™s programs for energy, health, business and transportation are connected directly to your home.

The company website lists the development at a just-slightly larger 5,500 acres, which means residents will have even more room to spread their windmills. Aperion is also threatening a 6,000-acre development called Inspiration @ Lake Houston. All in all, there are five Inspiration communities proposed for Texas and two for New Mexico. That’s more than 36,434 acres of currently wasted farms and ranchland transformed into sustainable, productive living spaces. Go green!

Alvin to get new housing development [The Facts]
Aperion Communities

77511, 77583, Alvin, Brazoria County, Grand Parkway, Green Communities, Master-Planned Communities, Sprawl

11/01/07 10:22am

Astrodome Redevelopment’s Last, Desperate Gambit: Release Images

Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Reliant Park, Tourism

Overhead View of Proposed Astrodome Hotel

You know things must be getting desperate for the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation, which earlier this week suffered the indignity of having two rather important stakeholders come out against the latest incarnation of the company’s tightly guarded, four-years-in-the-making, Frankenstein-inspired proposal for bringing the Dome back to life. When they finally got to see the proposal, “recently,” the Texans and the Livestock Show & Rodeo decided the Astrodome’s new incarnation would be incompatible with their own operations.

But the greatest indication of the redevelopment group’s desperation was revealed just yesterday in local ABC-TV reporter Miya Shay’s blog. That’s right, the Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation is going for broke: The company finally decided to release to the public actual images of its proposal for the county-owned facility!

Yes, it’s a daring strategy to use on a property paid for by local taxpayers, but it just might work.

After the jump: the newly released images of the Astrodome hotel-under-glass!

77054, Astrodome, Attractions, Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Houston-Texans, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Reliant Park, Rodeo, Tourism

10/31/07 11:46am

Dome and Dumber

Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Reliant Park, Tourism

Reliant Astrodome

A funny thing happened on the Astrodome Redevelopment Corp.‘s way to, uh . . . redevelop the Astrodome: They forgot to get buy-in on their kitchen-sink proposal from a few important parties:

The $450 million plan to reinvent the Reliant Astrodome as an upscale convention hotel may have hit a wall Tuesday when the Texans and Houston rodeo officials came out against it.

The Texans and the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s contracts may give them veto power over new development at Reliant Park. Also, a letter of intent signed by the county and Astrodome Redevelopment Corp. requires the company to get the Texans and the rodeo to sign off on the project.

Oops! Hey, it might have been a good idea to ask these folks what they would approve of—before spending four years scheming in their secret design bunker. Just a suggestion . . .

“Not until we saw their plans recently did we realize that this project has the ability to cannibalize our operations,” said Leroy Shafer, the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo’s chief operating officer. “Every dollar spent that is spent there is one that might not be spent at the rodeo.”

Jamey Rootes, president of the Houston Texans, said the team was worried that the hotel would hamper the flow of fans in and out of Reliant Park on the team’s 10 game days.

The nerve! The response from Scott Hanson, president of the Astrodome Redevelopment Corp.:

Frankly, we are quite shocked by the Rodeoâ€™s position. We have been working with the Rodeo organization for quite some time and were hopeful that our proposed redevelopment would only enhance their month-long event.

Apparently, “working with” does not include “sharing details of the proposal before it is complete.”

At last, the beauty of the Sports and Convention Corporation’s original plot from a few years ago is revealed: give exclusive rights to flail about in secret in search of a new use for the Dome to a company that, um . . . is really good at being secretive and flailing.

Coming next from those brilliant Dome masters: If these jokers can’t figure out what to do with that thing, maybe no jokers can!

Astrodome plan could be doomed [Houston Chronicle, via Off the Kuff]
Late Astrodome Redevelopment Corporation statement [Houston Political Blog]
Astrodome Redevelopers: This Time We Really Know What Weâ€™re Doing [Swamplot]

Astrodome photo: Flickr user here_we_are

77054, Astrodome, Attractions, Development Strategy, Historic Preservation, Hotels, Houston-Texans, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Reliant Park, Rodeo, Tourism

Commercial Real Estate

10/17/07 9:41am

The Luxury Highrise and the Drive-Thru: They’re Lovin’ It!

Condos, Development Strategy, Galleria, Highrises, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Proposed Developments, Restaurants

Future Site of the Titan on Post Oak Blvd., with the Cosmopolitan Tower in the Background

Future residents of the Titan, the latest cartoon-themed condo to be announced by Randall Davis, will be pleased to learn that the two-story McDonald’s currently sitting on the tower’s proposed site on Post Oak Blvd. is not going away. It’ll just scoot over slightly—so that the 26-story, 80-unit luxury highrise can share the 50,000-square-foot site.

And just how prominent will those golden arches be at the Titan’s entrance?

Sure, it’s easy to poke fun of the luxury highrise next to the Mickey D’s, but think about it: If McDonald’s hadn’t been willing to risk its reputation by redeveloping next to a Randall Davis project, the Titan would never have had a chance:

The prime real estate, located across Garrettson from Willie G’s Seafood & Steak House, has been sought-after by developers for more than a year.

“We’re approached every day of the week,” says Kathy Burns, McDonald’s regional real estate manager in Houston. “We have brokers calling us all the time.”

Davis — who is replacing the former James Coney Island restaurant a block away with the Cosmopolitan high-rise — was able to strike a deal with McDonald’s because he was not set on a super-sized development.

“I was like everybody else. I wanted to buy the whole site,” Davis says. “But they didn’t want to give up the store.

“I figured out how to divide the site,” he adds. “I managed to fit my building on there, and leave them enough room for their prototype new store.”

Davis has once again demonstrated a remarkable talent for negotiating with fast-food restaurants. Only a few years ago, he was able to convince the owners of the lot across the street that his 20-story hot-dog Cosmopolitan tower (now under construction) would be a worthy successor to the James Coney Island that stood there. Of course, turning over a big bite of the development to the James Coney Island folks didn’t hurt his prospects either.

Expect the cars to be lining up in front of the newly recycled Titan sales trailer already on the McDonald’s lot. Okay, so maybe they’ll just be battling to get to the drive-thru, but there’ll be traffic!

Developer drives through with condo deal on McDonald’s land [Houston Business Journal]
Cosmopolitan condos to replace coney islands [Houston Business Journal]
The Cosmopolitan Houston [Randall Davis Company]

77056, Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Development Strategy, Fast Food, Galleria, Highrises, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Proposed Developments, Randall Davis, Restaurants, Titan

09/26/07 9:52am

From New Orleans, with Love: Le Maison on Revere

Development Strategy, Flooding, Hazards, Lofts, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Upper Kirby

Le Maison on Revere Apartments

Worried that there still aren’t going to be enough places to live near the corner of Westheimer and Kirby after all the construction is done? Relax. The Texas division of Orlando, Florida’s ZOM Development just got a slew of construction permits approved yesterday for their next fancy apartment complex just a few blocks to the east of that busy intersection, at the corner of Revere and Cameron, at 2701 Revere St. (Cleverly, the address on the permits is listed as 2727 Revere. Why would they give it that number?)

Going up: Le Maison on Revere, 431 rental units on a just-under-six-acre site, a five-story mix of “flats and high-end loft units.”

But it looks like there’s more to it. Not satisfied with the Beaux-Arts-meets-the-Alamo stylings of the Bel Air Apartments they recently developed and filled up not too far away on Allen Parkway, the sleek modern look of the 2727 Kirby tower now going up across the street from their new development, or the apparent Superman-in-Gotham City theme of West Ave on the other side of Kirby, ZOM has apparently decided that their new complex will, at last, point out the absurdities of the area’s stylistic hodgepodge.

How? By theming the building with a higher, more symbolic purpose in mind.

That’s right: The Le Maison on Revere apartments will be marketed and dressed up to look like “New Orleans garden style apartments,” and thereby perform the public service of reminding residents of the former glory of their neighboring city and the dangers of living at low elevations in a high-water town.

Expect the top floors to fill up first.

Le Maison on Revere (see “projects under development”) [ZOM Living]
The Bel Air [ZOM Living]
2727 Kirby [MDA Holdings]
West Ave: Shiny, Happy People Holding Shopping Bags [Swamplot]

77098, Apartments, Development Strategy, Flooding, Hazards, Lofts, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, New-Orleans, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Style, Theming, Upper Kirby

09/21/07 10:23am

Supermod Boulevard Place: Replacements First

Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Demolitions, Development Strategy, Galleria, Highrises, Hotels, Leasing, Mixed Use, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Retail, Shopping Centers

Aerial View of Blvd Place

Having trouble leasing upscale retail space in your giant mixed-use redevelopment project? No prob. Just build sleek new quarters for your existing tenants first. When they move, demolish their old building and build your new project in its place. Somebody else has gotta sign up by then, right?

The Houston Business Journal gives some details of Wulfe & Co.’s plans at the Galleria-area Boulevard Place:

The first building will rise at the project’s southern boundary, at the northwest corner of Post Oak Boulevard and Ambassador Way. The 70,000-square-foot building will house seven tenants currently in the Pavilion on Post Oak and Fashion Place retail centers that are relocating to Blvd Place — including Cafe Annie, Americas and Hermes. Once the tenants move, the older retail centers will be demolished and the remainder of Blvd Place will go under construction.

Retail, of course, is just part of the picture. There’s a hotel, condos, and an apartment building in the project . . .

Wulfe would not disclose the hotel name because the hospitality company wants to make the announcement, probably in about a month. However, he did reveal that the 225-room luxury hotel will include 175 to 200 high-end condominiums on the upper floors.

Wulfe also said it is “pretty definite” that the apartment building will be developed by Houston-based Hanover Co. An industry source says Hanover plans to buy Wulfe’s land for a 55-story apartment tower, making it the second-tallest building in the Galleria area behind the Williams Tower.

But what about the rest of that retail?

Whole Foods Market Inc. announced last year that it will build a 78,000-square-foot flagship store at the southwest corner of Post Oak and San Felipe. There are currently no other new tenants signed.

No other new tenants signed? That leaves just over 350,000 square feet of planned retail space in the development still available. No word in the article either about the 120,000 square feet of boutique office space, mostly on two stories above the retail. And construction is scheduled to start next month.

Wulfe joked at last week’s Commercial Real Estate Women luncheon that come Oct. 1, “somebody’s going to be shoveling something” at the site . . .

After the jump: renderings of that superbig, supermod Whole Foods that ate Eatzi’s, plus more Boulevard Place images.

77056, Apartments, BLVD Place, Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Demolitions, Development Strategy, Galleria, Highrises, Hotels, Leasing, Mixed Use, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Office Space, Proposed Developments, Retail, Shopping Centers, Whole Foods

09/20/07 8:16am

Can’t Stop This: Southampton Pop-Up Tower

Boulevard Oaks, Condos, Development Strategy, Green Design and Development, Highrises, Mixed Use, Neighborhood Disputes, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Proposed Developments, Retail, Southampton, Trees