Highrises

Discovery Tower, Downtown Houston

New drawings and details appear of Discovery Tower, the 30-story office building now under construction at the northwest corner of Discovery Green Downtown.

The wind turbines at the top of the building are still there. The brochure also mentions solar panels on the south face of the building, a green roof on top of the entrance pavilion, 2 stories of retail, as well as some old Houston favorites: 2 floors of underground parking (151 cars), and a 10-story, 1,350-space parking garage one block north, connected by . . . . an air-conditioned (phew!) skybridge!

After the jump, more green-hot Downtown tower architectural rendering porn!

77010, Commercial Real Estate, Discovery Tower, Downtown, Green Design, Highrises, New Construction, Office Buildings, Office Space, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing

Art

06/18/08 9:43pm

Head of the Titans: Cosmopolitan Pissoirs on Post Oak

Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Parking, Public Art, Real Estate Marketing

6 Comments

Giant Fountains on Parking Garage, Cosmopolitan Condominiums, Post Oak Blvd., Houston

A reader sends photos of some recent construction on the garage podium beneath the Cosmopolitan tower and asks:

What are those three giant urinals affixed to the east exterior wall of Randall Davis’ latest glass-clad erection, the one on Post Oak where James Coney Island used to be? . . .

Where is the Colossal Statue of Constantine when you need him? (Well, he’s in Rome, but that’s no help to Post Oak Boulevard!)

Sure, there’s the vaguely Roman theming going on with the marketing for Davis’s next tower across the street, the Titan. But these new constructions might be something much more contemporary . . . think Marcel Duchamp by way of Claes Oldenburg: The big fountains!

Below: the Colossal Head of Constantine . . . and the Colossal Heads of the Cosmopolitan, on display!

77056, Art, Condos, Cosmopolitan, Galleria, Highrises, Parking-Garages, Public Art, Randall Davis, Real Estate Marketing, Titan, Uptown

06/18/08 8:14am

Highland Tower: Go Ahead

Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments

2 Comments

Proposed Highland Tower, Houston

Is it going to happen? A construction permit for Pelican Builders’ Highland Tower was approved by the city last week.

A couple purty drawings of a unit, after the jump.

77027, High-Rise-Condos, Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Westheimer

Buying and Selling

06/12/08 1:56pm

The Cosmopolitan: Is It Flipping Time Yet?

Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Homes for Sale, Real Estate Marketing

The Cosmopolitan Condo Tower, Post Oak Blvd., Uptown, Houston

A reader has questions about the Cosmopolitan, Randall Davis’s tower-on-a-box on Post Oak:

What’s going on with this building? My wife and I looked at this last month as they were closing out and only had 2 units left, with the agent (surprise) saying they would be sold out shortly. Now there are 4 units on MLS. Are these from the builder or resales? There are only 80 units in the building–I wonder if some speculation is going on as I heard that Randall Davis offers sizable discounts to his employees, who bought several of the units at the Cosmo at a discount and are now trying to flip them. Is this Houston or Miami?

Hey, 4 units for sale out of 80 doesn’t sound too bad. On the other hand, it looks like one of the available units on MLS is, in fact, the Miami.

Cosmo buyers, readers . . . any comments?

The Cosmopolitan Houston [Randall Davis Company]
1600 Post Oak Blvd. Unit 1001 [HAR]

Photo: HAR

77056, Buying and Selling, Condos, Cosmopolitan, Galleria, Highrises, Randall Davis, Real Estate Marketing, Uptown

06/03/08 9:58am

The Turnberry: More Wiping, in More Places, than at Any Other Condo Tower

Galleria, Highrises, Home Design, Proposed Developments

4 Comments

Plaza Level Pools, Turnberry Tower Residences at the Galleria, Houston

There will be a grand total of 652-and-a-half private bathrooms in Houston’s Turnberry Tower. Apparently this is the kind of attention to detail that’s needed to attract buyers who are flush with assets:

When meeting with buyers, Turnberry’s sales staff emphasizes the high life they’ll enjoy, said [Turnberry Ltd. vice president Jim] Cohen, with the 40-year-old condo tower developer.

They’re told, for example, that when they hang out by the pool, a Turnberry staffer will offer a cool towel for their neck and wipe sunscreen from their sunglasses.

A lifestyle as well as a home [Houston Chronicle]
Tune In to the Turnberry Tower [Swamplot]
Nine and a Half Bathrooms: The Turnberry Tower Penthouse Evacuation Plan [Swamplot]

Image of Turnberry Tower plaza-level pools: Turnberry Ltd.

77056, Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Home Design, Luxury Highrises, Proposed Developments, Swimming Pools, Turnberry Tower, Uptown

05/29/08 10:03am

Tremont Tower: How Bad Could It Be, Really?

Foreclosures, Highrises, Homes for Lease, Leasing, Mold, Montrose

42 Comments

Tremont Tower, Montrose, Houston

We get mail . . . from a reader who’s considering renting one of the many available condos in Montrose’s famed Tremont Tower:

I am moving to Houston in June and when I was looking around for housing I found an ad for a rental at Tremont Towers. I went to look at the place and liked it but something seemed odd to me. If this place is as nice as it looks, it is in Montrose (apparently a desirable area to live) why is is so silent and why does one man own at least 5 separate units and even more odd, why are they so cheap when last year they were valued at >300K (odd even in this real estate market). So, I plugged them into Google and started following a trail. I read about Jordan Fogle and Heather Mickelson.

I talked to my possible future landlord and he told me a story that Jordan Fogle confused the builder of Tremont with the ones who built her home. In addition he offered a story that the Heather Mickelson had purchased the property and then not long after moving in decided to move out with her boyfriend. Since they would not purchase the property back from her she sabotaged the apartment by opening her windows through all weather which then lead to some horrible development of mold.

My issue is that since the coverage in 2005-2006 I haven’t been able to find much information and I cannot verify either side of this tale. I was wondering if any readers had passed on more information about the Towers or if anything had been done in this building that had nearly 100% foreclosure. I am concerned because I would prefer to avoid paying nearly a thousand a month just so I can get sick and not be able to work.

A little more below, plus: your chance to help!

77006, Condos, Foreclosures, Highrises, Homes for Lease, Leasing, Mold, Montrose, Tremont Tower

Buying and Selling

05/19/08 7:56am

Secret Hines Tower: Land in Hand

Commercial Real Estate, Downtown, Highrises, Land Sales, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

Rendering of Proposed North Tower at Main and Texas Downtown Houston

Hines has “finalized the acquisition” of the Main Street block between Texas and Capitol Downtown, Nancy Sarnoff reports. That’s the site of the secret new 742,000-sq.-ft. office tower reported here a week and a half ago.

Apartment abundance could signal trouble [Houston Chronicle]
The Secret New Downtown Tower Hidden on the Web [Swamplot]

77002, Buying and Selling, Commercial Real Estate, Downtown, Highrises, Land Sales, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

Apartments

05/16/08 10:03am

Hanover Apartment Tower at Boulevard Place: 37 Stories

Galleria, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

1 Comment

Hanover Company 37-Story Apartment Tower at BLVD Place, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz Today’s Chronicle has details on that apartment tower the Hanover Company has been planning for Boulevard Place, Ed Wulfe’s Post Oak redevelopment just north of the Galleria. Doing the math, your average 1,650-sq.-ft. apartment in the glass tower will rent for more than $4,000 a month.

That’s before it goes condo, of course.

At 37 stories, the 236-unit Hanover tower may end up even taller than the slender Ritz-Carlton planned directly to the south.

More info from Nancy Sarnoff:

Solomon Cordwell Buenz of Chicago is designing the building, which will have “boutique hotel style” amenities, including a concierge and bellman, as well as a lounge and catering kitchen.

A 19,000-square-foot rooftop pool terrace will be atop an attached parking garage.

The units will be similar to those in 7 Riverway, another Hanover project in the area. They will include stainless steel appliances, granite slab countertops, crown molding, hardwood floors and travertine tile, but will be larger and have additional features and amenities.

Hanover chose to design the building with larger units because it said there was considerable demand at 7 Riverway for oversized kitchens and living spaces.

After the jump: Where it’s going to land!

77056, BLVD Place, Condos, Development Strategy, Galleria, Highrises, Parks, Proposed Developments, Uptown

Commercial Real Estate

05/08/08 9:30am

The Secret New Downtown Tower Hidden on the Web

Downtown, Highrises, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

3 Comments

Rendering of New Hines North Tower, Downtown Houston

The L-shaped glass building at the center of this drawing is apparently a new 742,000-square-foot office tower planned by Hines for the northeast corner of Main and Capitol Downtown. But Hines hasn’t officially announced it yet. Houston Architecture Info Forum user ChannelTwoNews found the drawing earlier this week — only a few days after it had been posted on the website of an engineering firm working on the project. Fellow forum user lockmat later spotted it again . . . in a Hines presentation from February posted on the Texas A&M Real Estate Center website. By the end of the day yesterday, the engineering firm’s site had been scrubbed of all information about the building.

The tower is planned for a corner most recently occupied by a languishing sales trailer for the appropriately named Shamrock Tower, and a full-size McDonald’s before that. At the far end of the block is the vacant Texas Tower, which the new Hines building appears to wrap around.

The drawing shows a view looking northwest. The tower looks like 28 or so office stories perched atop a parking garage of . . . maybe 10 levels? After the jump, a closeup . . . and an even closer-up, so you can count the floors for yourself.

77002, Commercial Real Estate, Downtown, Highrises, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

Commercial Real Estate

05/01/08 10:56am

That Nineties Retro Tower Coming to the West Loop

Development Strategy, Galleria, Green Design and Development, Highrises, Houston Architects, New Construction, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

1 Comment

Proposed Office Tower at 1600 West Loop South, Uptown, Houston

From Ziegler Cooper Architects’ website: Renderings of a 20-story office tower the firm designed back in the early 1990s.

As we reported in February, the Novati Group plans to build the 500,000-square-foot spec tower, along with an 8-level parking garage, at 1600 West Loop South — next to Post Oak Motor Cars, on land purchased from Landry’s. The only changes from the original design will be adjustments so the building can qualify for LEED Silver certification.

So what if the design is old? Worrying that your brand new building already looks dated is so . . . last decade!

After the jump: the marble in the lobby will be old, too!

77027, Development Strategy, Galleria, Green Design, Highrises, Houston Architects, New Construction, Office Buildings, Office Space, Proposed Developments, Uptown

04/21/08 8:22pm

Mosaic: More Condos Available!

Hermann Park, Highrises, Real Estate Marketing

Ad for Mosaic Houston

Expect to see a lot more, uh . . . interesting advertising for the Mosaic towers on Almeda. Nancy Sarnoff reported in the Chronicle this past weekend that “about 65 units have closed” out of a total 790 in the two towers. The second glass tower is currently under construction at the eastern edge of Hermann Park.

That’s a long way to go, but the path sounds a whole lot steeper when you compare Sarnoff’s report to what Jennifer Dawson reported in the Houston Business Journal last August:

As of last week, 218 condos had sold in the first tower. Units in the second phase won’t go on sale until early next year. Ken Manfredi of Miami-based Developer Sales Group is handling Mosaic’s condo sales.

After the jump: More evocative ad imagery! Plus: the view from above.

77004, Condos, Hermann Park, Highrises, Mosaic and Montage, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Real Estate Marketing

03/21/08 9:11am

San Felipe Condominiums: Two New Towers in Memorial

Construction Materials, Demolitions, Green Design and Development, Highrises, Houston Architects, Landscape, Memorial, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Shopping Centers

4 Comments

Landscape Plan, San Felipe Condominiums Towers, Houston

This landscape plan from the Boymelgreen website is our first glimpse of the two condo towers the company is planning for 5.5 acres on the southwest corner of the intersection of San Felipe and a short segment of Woodway — just west of Voss, on the Right Bank of Buffalo Bayou. And this morning the Houston Business Journal has more to report:

New York City-based Boymelgreen Developers is developing the project for landowner Azorim, a publicly traded company in Israel of which Boymelgreen owns 64 percent. . . . The unnamed project will consist of two buildings with 28 residential floors each and an 18,000-square-foot fitness center and spa. The project will have a total of 237 condos starting at $1 million each. Units will be an average size of 2,500 square feet.

The architect is Ziegler Cooper. Boymelgreen’s website refers to the project as the San Felipe Condominiums. (And it reports a building that’s 14 condos smaller.)

Jennifer Dawson’s report in the HBJ says that sales won’t start until the fall, after a sales center — which will later “be converted into a spa, restaurant or office building” — is built on the site of the former Dolce & Freddo next door.

Below the fold: That 1960s office-and-shopping center on the site won’t go quietly!

77063, Condos, Construction Materials, Demolitions, Green Development, Highrises, Houston Architects, Landscape, Luxury Highrises, Memorial, Piney-Point-Village, Proposed Developments, Recycling, Shopping Centers

Apartments

03/18/08 9:11am

Ashby Highrise Developers: Moving Ahead

Boulevard Oaks, Condos, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Retail, Southampton, Townhomes

5 Comments

Bissonnet St. Elevation of Proposed Ashby Highrise, 1717 Bissonnet, Southampton, Houston

Today comes news that the developers of the Ashby Highrise won’t wait any longer to strike a deal with the city — and are proceeding with permit applications for their original 23-story apartment and condo tower next to Southampton. Writing in the Chronicle, Mike Snyder reports that Buckhead Investment Partners had submitted a proposal for a slightly smaller tower to the city three weeks ago but had received no response.

The proposed smaller 22-story tower, which didn’t get much support from neighborhood groups, would have featured a narrower tower with 130 condo units and four detached townhouses along Ashby, two floors of underground parking and two more above grade, plus a small park on one corner. Buckhead principals Matthew Morgan and Kevin Kirton told Snyder the reduced number of units would “eliminate any possibility the project would cause unacceptable traffic congestion.”

A document outlining the proposal, however, shows the offer is contingent on significant financial concessions by the city: An immediate refund of about $500,000 for new sewer lines the developers installed to serve the project, along with a payment to the developers of up to $2.15 million, over as long as 10 years, from revenue generated by increased tax values on the site.

Meanwhile, Buckhead’s fancy new website now features a far more complete collection of presentation drawings of what appears to be the original 23-story tower. There doesn’t seem to be any mention on the site of the 22-story all-condo tower proposal.

After the jump, lots of tower drawings from the new website — including . . . kids hugging puppies!

77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Condos, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Retail, Southampton, Townhomes

Commercial Real Estate

03/17/08 9:54am

New Memorial Hermann Tower: Great Location for a Head Office

Highrises, Medical Buildings, Memorial City, New Construction, Real Estate Marketing

6 Comments

Memorial Hermann Tower at I-10 and Gessner Under Construction Newspaper and radio technology answer guy Jay Lee snaps this photo of the new 30-story Memorial Hermann tower going up along I-10 next to the Memorial City Mall . . . then posts it to the “Look Like a Robot” photo pool on Flickr.

Does he realize offices in that robot-head are available for rent? From a January report in the Houston Business Journal:

Marshall Heins, Memorial Hermann’s real estate guru, says he gets asked about the cone at least four or five times a day by inquiring citizens.

The top three floors of the cylinder will house mechanical systems, but the bottom three floors will house small offices. . . .

The cone’s footprint is 2,500 to 3,000 square feet, while the office floors below in the main building have a 25,000-square-foot floor plate.

Building developer MetroNational Corp. will lease the three small floors to tenants, but Memorial Hermann will not be one of them. No word yet from MetroNational on who might occupy the special space.

After the jump: what the whole thing’s supposed to look like when it’s finished!

77024, Commercial Real Estate, Highrises, Medical Buildings, Memorial City, New Construction, Office Buildings, Office Space, Real Estate Marketing

Apartments

03/14/08 10:10am

Med Center Houstonian: No Condo

Highrises, Hotels, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southgate, Texas Medical Center

Screen Shot from Planning Commission Meeting Showing Proposed Houstonian Hotel in Texas Medical Center from Main St.

Nope, no condos in the planned Houstonian Medical Center hotel — but there will be 100 apartments. Medistar consultant Doug Williams gave a few more details about the planned 40-story Main St. tower at the edge of Southgate in yesterday’s Planning Commission hearing:

Parking-structure base will be 12 stories, with a green space on top, and contain 14,000 sq. ft. of meeting and ballroom space.
Building will have 303 guest rooms, plus 100 apartments for longer-term stays, 70 of them furnished.
This is a Redstone project.
The developers are also buying the Baylor Clinic building next door, which Baylor rents from St. Luke’s.
The plans include a new skybridge that will connect the new tower to the Baylor Clinic next door, so hotel guests can use the existing Baylor Clinic skybridge to cross Main St. Representatives of Rice have expressed interest in connecting the university’s new Collaborative Research Center one block to the north to the new building by skybridge as well.

The commission approved a revised version of the variance request but attached several conditions having to do with landscaping and parking spaces.

After the jump, the view from Southgate!