Highrises

Downtown, Highrises, Proposed Developments

7 Comments

1311 Polk St., Downtown Houston

Sign at 1201 Caroline St., Downtown Houston In announcing earlier today the new condominium tower he and Astoria partner Roberto Contreras are planning to build downtown, Randall Davis wasn’t so specific about the location he has in mind for the highrise building. But sources tell Swamplot it’s planned for a portion of the block bounded by Polk, Caroline, Austin, and Dallas pictured above. That would put it on what’s now a surface parking lotÂ adjacent to the Dirt Bar (tag line: “We Play Rock n’ Roll”)Â and across the street from the House of Blues, at the eastern end of GreenStreet (formerly Houston Pavilions). Noodle fans will remember the Dirt Bar spot at 1209 Caroline St. as the former home of Josephine’s Italian Restaurant. The Reserve 101 bar is on the corner at 1201 Caroline St., next door.

Where’s Marlowe?

77002, Condos, Downtown, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Randall Davis

Condos

10/17/14 3:00pm

Former Westcreek Apartments Site Sprouting Another Condo Tower; Hotel Coming Next?

Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

27 Comments

Proposed Pelican Builders Highrise Condo, Westcreek Ln., Highland Village, Houston

SkyHouse River Oaks Under Construction, Westcreek Ln. at San Felipe, Highland Village, Houston Pictured above on a grassy field standing in for its potential newer neighbors is the 17-story, Kirksey-designed highrise condo buildingÂ Pelican Builders is planning for a 1.5-acre lot it bought from the site of the former Westcreek Apartments. It’ll go up near the taller SkyHouse River Oaks now under construction on another section of Westcreek Ln. just south of San Felipe (viewed at left from the adjacent Target parking lot). Nancy Sarnoff reports that financing for Pelican’s project hasn’t been finalized, but the company says it plans to begin constructing the project next summer, whether or not it pre-sells any units. It’ll take 2 years to build.

Pelican Builders

77027, Condos, Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

Demolitions

10/15/14 11:30am

Hulking Remains of Houston Club Building Downtown Will Get Dynamited Early Sunday Morning

Downtown, Highrises, Office Buildings

7 Comments

Partially Demolished Houston Club Building, 811 Rusk St., Downtown Houston The denuded 18-story frame of the former Houston Club Building at 811 Rusk St. (pictured above before storms blew away much of its blue clothing early last week) will vibrate and then collapse after 520 lbs. of explosives detonate in and around the structure shortly after 7 am this Sunday, October 19th. If you’re a controlled-demolition gawker hunting for a spot to watch it all go down — and maybe take in all the dusty aftermath, you might want to note that streets will be shut down more than 2 blocks away in every direction before the blast. Although many nearby office buildings will close up late Saturday evening, they may not kick out all workers who have arrived earlier. “Project managers discourage anyone from coming down to see the implosion in person for safety reasons,” notes Click2Houston’s Syan Rhodes. Her station is promising to broadcast a livestream of the implosion on its website that morning.

Former Houston Club building to be demolishedÂ [Click2Houston];
Previously on Swamplot: The Clubbing of the Houston Club Building Begins;Â Skanskaâ€™s New Downtown Office Tower;Â Houston Club Tunnel Tenants Making Their Escape;Â Houston Club Building To Be Demolished, Say Auctioneers;Â Downtown Houston Club Building Will Stay Put;Â Skanska Goes for a Houston Office Building Hat Trick;Â Skanska Helping Houston Club to Early Exit;Â Will Skanska Knock Down the Houston Club?;Â At Risk on Rusk

Photo: Marc Longoria

Ka-Blooey

77002, Demolitions, Highrises, Implosions, Office Buildings, Redevelopment

Condos for Sale

10/02/14 5:00pm

How Bill Stern Turned Space at the Top of the Four Seasons Hotel into a Sleek Downtown Penthouse

by CALwords

Downtown, Highrises, Houston Architects, Interiors

6 Comments

1111-Caroline-PH-3007-02

1111-Caroline-PH-3007-19

Four Seasons Hotel, 1111 Caroline St., Downtown Houston By day and by night, a swish penthouse in the 1982 Four Seasons tower downtown ensures a panoramic view from rooms throughout the open floor plan. Understated, light-filled, and seamlessly sleek in its 2006 design by notable Houston architect Bill Stern, who died last year, the luxury condo maxes out minimalism. In mid-September, after its owners left town, theÂ highrise home’s asking price dropped to $3.85 million;Â its initial ask in April was $4.6 million.

The Lookout

77002, Condos for Sale, Four Seasons, Home Design, Houston Architects, Interiors, Luxury Highrises, Penthouses

Condos

09/29/14 4:45pm

A Lifeboat for the Royalton’s Corroding Crown?

Construction Problems, Highrises, Lawsuits, North Montrose, Quicklink

18 Comments

A LIFEBOAT FOR THE ROYALTON’S CORRODING CROWN? Top of Royalton at River Oaks Condominiums, 3333 Allen Pkwy., Houston Judging from court filings, there appears to have been some sort of resolution to the lawsuit filed more than 2 years ago by the condominium association of the 253-unit Royalton at River Oaks highrise over the design of the steel grid at the top of the building at 3333 Allen Pkwy. The lawsuit claimed the structure was corroding and was designed in such away that made maintaining it or recoating it impossible — and sought damages from the building’s contractor, architect, and other parties. The condo association dropped its claims against many of those parties late last month. And a reader wonders if the attachment seen hanging below the structure in the recent photo at left, which “almost looks like a hot tub,” is part of some newly devised cleaning solution. [Prime Property] Photo:Â Swamplot inbox

77019, Construction Problems, Highrises, Homeowners' Associations, Lawsuits, Maintenance, North Montrose

Buying and Selling

09/29/14 3:15pm

A Randall Davis-Flavored Highrise for the East Side of the West Loop

Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Redevelopment

5 Comments

A RANDALL DAVIS-FLAVORED HIGHRISE FOR THE EAST SIDE OF THE WEST LOOP Aerial View of Parcels at Former Westcreek Apartments, 2021 Westcreek Ln., Houston Themed-residence developer Randall Davis is planning another Galleria-area condo project, and it looks like this one won’t have to share space with any fast-food drive-thrus — unless, of course, he wants it to. The HBJ‘s Paul Takahashi is reporting that Davis plans to construct an 85-to-100-unit highrise on a 1.8-acre site at 2021 Westcreek Ln., until recently occupied by a portion of the Westcreek Apartments. (It’s labeled Parcel D in the view at left.) Davis’s block is immediately north of the SkyHouse River Oaks, which is already under construction. It fronts San Felipe, across from Ashley Furniture, and its eastern flank abuts the Target parking lot. If Davis still wantsÂ some sort of fast-food spot to land next to his so-far-unnamed project, though, he could certainly make it happen: Takahashi reports he’ll be building on a little less than half of the site, and selling off 45,000 sq. ft. of it to developers. [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot] Image: CBRE

77027, Buying and Selling, Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

09/22/14 10:30am

Second Downtown SkyHouse Highrise Will Go Up on Main St. Just South of the First

Downtown, Highrises, Proposed Developments

31 Comments

Proposed SkyHouse Main Apartment Tower, Main St. at Pease St., Downtown Houston

Atlanta’s Novare Group, known for planting glassy crowned apartment towers in Sunbelt cities, is about to build its third in Houston. If the SkyHouse Main the company is planning for the block surrounded by Main, Fannin, Pease and Jefferson (across the light-rail line from the Beaconsfield) looks familiar, that’s because the new 24-story, 335-unit project appearsÂ identicalÂ to the SkyHouse Houston building it just completed a block to the north. That means a multi-level parking garage on the east side of the block, and retail space on the ground floor, fronting the rail line.

SkyHouse Main would be the company’s third SkyHouse in Houston: SkyHouse River Oaks is currently under construction southwest of River Oaks, on the site of one of the former Westcreek Apartments just east of the West Loop.

Novare Starting Another High-Rise Residential Tower in Downtown Houston [Realty News Report]
SkyHouse #3 (SkyHouse Main) Planned for Block 368 [HAIF]
Current Projects [Novare Group]
Previously on Swamplot:Â What the SkyHouse River Oaks, Not Far from River Oaks, Will Actually Look Like;Â New â€˜River Oaksâ€™ SkyHouse Apartment Tower Wants To Snuggle Up Between Target and the West Loop off San Felipe;Â The Street Shops in Store for SkyHouse Houston, Now Under Construction Downtown;Â Downtown SkyHouse Clearing the Ground First;Â Where Downtownâ€™s New Residential Tower Will Go

Rendering:Â Smallwood, Reynolds, Stewart, Stewart

SkyHouse Main

Apartments, Downtown, Highrises, Proposed Developments

09/12/14 12:45pm

A Few Months After Completing Demolition of 3400 Montrose, Construction Crews Begin Building 3400 Montrose

Highrises, Montrose, New Construction

19 Comments

3400-montrose-const-fence

3400-montrose-digging Construction appears to have begun on the site at 3400 Montrose Blvd., where a 30-story apartment towerÂ by Hanover named 3400 Montrose will replace the 10-story 1953 office building formerly on the site. That building was named 3400 Montrose as well, but was also also referred to as “That building with the Skybar on the top floor,” or (later in its life) “Don’t walk along that sidewalk or you might get hit on the head by a limestone panel.” Demolition was completed this past spring. A reader sends Swamplot these views of the corner of Montrose and Hawthorne, where a wooden construction fence has recently gone up.

Previously on Swamplot:Â The Art of Disappearance at 3400 Montrose;Â Demolition of 3400 Montrose Building Reaches the Skybar Removal Phase;Â A Deck Pool, but No â€˜Skybar,â€™ for the new 3400 Montrose;Â New 30-Story 3400 Montrose Tower Will Face Kroger, Show Montrose Blvd. Its Garage and Drive-Thru;Â Apartment Developer Buying Montrose Blvd. â€˜Skybarâ€™ Building;Â What 3400 Montrose Looks Like Inside;Â Redo Plans for the Office Building at 3400 Montrose Blvd.;Â Will 3400 Montrose Rise from the Dead?;Â Stone Panel Leaps to Montrose Blvd. Sidewalk from Former Skybar Balcony;Â Everybody Out: The Ghost Town at 3400 Montrose;Â Comment of the Day: A 3400 Montrose Blvd. Inspection Report;Â Why Scott Gertnerâ€™s Skybar Is Leaving the Montrose Sky;Â Scott Gertnerâ€™s Skybar Closing, May Take the Whole Building with It

Photos:Â Swamplot inbox

3400 Montrose

77006, Apartments, Highrises, Montrose, New Construction

09/05/14 1:30pm

The Triple-Winged 21-Story Millennium Med Center Apartment Tower Moving in Next To the Spires

Highrises, Proposed Developments, Texas Medical Center

28 Comments

Proposed Millennium Apartment Tower, Cambridge St. at Holcombe Blvd., Texas Medical Center, Houston

Here’s a rendering of the apartment tower that the Dinerstein Companies, with investment from a few companies including AmREIT, plans to put on the intersection of Holcombe Blvd. and Cambridge St., just south of the bayou that forms the southern border of the official Texas Medical Center campus. The intersection, created with the construction of the Cambridge St. bridge over Brays Bayou, is less than 5 years old. It’ll be filled out with a 21-story building in a 3-wing arrangement typical of Las Vegas hotels and a suburban hospital or 2, here perched atop a 7-or-so-level parking garage more than sufficient to keep all 375 units well above any future Med Center-area floodwaters.

All the Angles

77030, Apartments, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Texas Medical Center

Downtown

09/03/14 11:30am

What’s Getting Thrown Out the Window at the Abandoned Days Inn Downtown?

Highrises, Hotels

24 Comments

Former Heaven on Earth Plaza Inn, 801 St. Joseph Pkwy., Downtown Houston

Will all the gawkable dark mystery disappear from Downtown once the last few long-abandoned towers standing get cleaned up or knocked down? Maybe, but in the meantime we have these latest events to consider, around and about the former Heaven on Earth Plaza Inn at 801 St. Joseph Pkwy. (at Travis), which was operated by an organization affiliatedÂ with the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi for most of the nineties (before the city shut it down, in 1998).

A couple of readers have reported seeing some recent activity in and around the 31-story building, which was built as a Holiday Inn in 1971 and later converted to a Days Inn — before taking a different spiritual path:

Falling to Earth from Heaven on Earth

77002, Abandoned Properties, Downtown, Highrises, Hotels

Downtown

08/22/14 4:30pm

1400 Truckloads of Concrete Are Going into This Downtown Hole Over the Weekend

Highrises, New Construction, Office Buildings

13 Comments

Construction Site at 609 Main St., Downtown Houston

Rendering of Pickard Chilton Design for 609 Main St., Downtown Houston Update, 8/26: The headline has been corrected.

If you’re wondering what the late-night traffic holdup is in and around Main St. and Texas Ave. over the weekend, here’s your explainer: 180 mixing trucks are going to be lining up to pour a continuous stream of concrete onto this site surrounded by Main, Texas, Fannin, and Capitol streets downtown, where D.E. Harvey builders is putting together a little office building — now slated to rise 48 stories —Â for the Hines CalPERS Green development fund. The action starts at 7 pm on Saturday and should finish up around 3 in the afternoon the next day.

In all, about 14,000 cubic yards of concrete will go into the mat foundation of the 609 Main St. building during those 17 hours. The Texas Tower, formerly known as the Sterling Building, was dismantled on a portion of the site earlier this year.

Previously on Swamplot: The Crane for the Crane for the Texas Building Demo Is Here;Â How the End Is Coming for Downtownâ€™s Texas Tower;Â Bigger? Taller? Hines To Redesign Proposed 609 Main St. Office Tower;Â Does New Hines Highrise Mean Old Texas Towerâ€™s a Goner?

Photo: Hines. Rendering: Pickard Chilton

609 Main

77002, Construction Materials, Downtown, Highrises, New Construction, Office Buildings, Traffic

08/18/14 2:15pm

The Southmore Houses and Apartments Going Down Where the Southmore Is Going Up

Demolitions, Highrises, Museum District, Museum Park, Proposed Developments

13 Comments

This was the scene of almost-complete destruction on the Museum District block surrounded by Caroline, Southmore, Oakdale, and San JacintoÂ late last week, as crews from Cherry Demolition finished tearing down the gaggle of structures in the way of Hines’s 25-story apartment project, which it’s calling the Southmore. All the homes on that block are being torn down — save the one shown in the background of this photo,Â at the corner of Caroline and Southmore, where the owner did not sell to the developer:

Hines 25 Stories

77004, Apartments, Demolitions, Highrises, Museum District, Museum Park, Proposed Developments

Discovery Green

08/13/14 12:30pm

Houston First Showing Off Pics of Downtown Hop-on-Top Hotel for Greater Houston Partnership Building

Downtown, Highrises, Hotels, Mixed Use, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

5 Comments

Proposed Office Building and Parking Garage for Greater Houston Partnership, Avenida de las Americas at Capitol St., Downtown Houston

Proposed Office Building, Hotel, and Parking Garage for Greater Houston Partnership, Avenida de las Americas at Capitol St., Downtown Houston

Earlier this month, Houston First showed off renderings of the office building it’s planning to build for itself and 3 other Houston-boosting organizations (top), headlined by the Greater Houston Partnership, one block north of and linking to the George R. Brown Convention Center. (A massive attached 1,900-car parking garage would share the skybridge to the George R. Brown and fit between the building and the Hwy. 59 overpass.) Yesterday, the operator of the city’s performing arts and convention facilities pulled out an additional pic (above), highlighting another aspect of its plan, and showing how the same building would look with a 15-story add-on perched on top of it. The rendering of the tower portion by WHR Architects, the same firm that’s designing the office building and parking garage, is meant to be “conceptual”; Houston First announced it will begin taking proposals for the hotel from developers, who might choose a different design team.

Launch Pad

77002, Discovery Green, Downtown, Highrises, Hotels, Houston First, Mixed-Use, Office Buildings, Parking-Garages, Proposed Developments

A Guided Tour Through 8 Renderings of Hanover’s New Kirby Dr. Highrise and Drive-Thru Restaurant Plaza

Highrises, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Upper Kirby

23 Comments

hanover-river-oaks-render-se

Renderings of the 30-something-story highrise apartment tower Hanover plans to build on the site of a portion of the Kirby Court Apartments (and a couple of nearby retail buildings) across from the Whole Foods Market show the building hanging back from Kirby Dr. That’ll leave room for a bit of a restaurant complex facing the busy north-south street (at right in the above rendering): One of them will be the existing Becks Prime drive-thru at the corner of Kirby and Kipling, which is not a part of the project. But a new (and likely more upscale) standaloneÂ restaurant structure next to it at the corner of Kirby and Steel St. will replace the structure currently housing Ashly Fine Rugs: