Proposed Developments

07/10/13 4:30pm

A Second Midrise Alexan Planned Right Beside the First One on Yale

Houston Heights, Land Sales, Proposed Developments, Quicklink

67 Comments

A SECOND MIDRISE ALEXAN PLANNED RIGHT BESIDE THE FIRST ONE ON YALE The Leader reports that notices have gone out to Heights neighborhood groups indicating that Trammell Crow is planning a second Alexan-brand apartment complex on Yale. This one, writes Cynthia Lescalleet, would also be 4 stories set atop 2 levels of parking. It would sit on a 4.9-acre lot on Yale between 5th and 6th, immediately south of the 3.5-acre lot targeted for the proposed Alexan Heights — the rendering for which is shown here — bound by 6th, Allston, Yale, and the Heights hike and bike trail. Lescalleet quotes from the notice sent around by city council member Ellen Cohen: “TCR has the site under contract and is currently performing preliminary due diligence, and they expect to close the purchase of the property by the end of the year. Once TCR establishes a site plan and unit count, they will perform a new traffic study that will include roadways and intersections included in their previous TIA, while also including new intersections on Yale St., Heights Boulevard, and I-10, as well as pedestrian counts.â€ [The Leader; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Trammell Crow Residential

77007, Apartments, Houston Heights, Land Sales, Proposed Developments

07/10/13 10:00am

How One Buyer Would Use HISD’s Law Enforcement HS Property

Magnolia Grove, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Schools

17 Comments

HOW ONE BUYER WOULD USE HISD’S LAW ENFORCEMENT HS PROPERTY If theÂ High School for Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice is sold to St. Thomas High School competitor AV Dickson Street, the investment company has said it plans to link the 11-acre Magnolia Grove property with the adjacent and recently purchased Bayou Park apartments at 4400 Memorial to create a mixed-use district: Alison Malkhassian of AV Dickson Street tells The Leader‘s Charlotte Aguilar that “the long-term goal . . . could be to create a 26-acre mixed-use luxury retail-office-residential development on the combined properties — a process that would take about a decade.” Yesterday, HISD received the 2nd round of bids: St. Thomas is offering $42 million, about $800,000 more than AV Dickson Street — but Aguilar suggests that the sale might come down to rent: St. Thomas said it would charge the school $225,000 a month to lease the space for the next 5 years, compared with $100,000 a month from AV Dickson Street, a difference of $7.5 million over that time. [The Leader; previously on Swamplot] Photo: HISD

77007, Apartments, Buying and Selling, HISD, Magnolia Grove, Proposed Developments, Schools

Hotels

07/09/13 4:00pm

Where Hilton Will Be Putting Another Hotel on the Katy Fwy.

Katy, Proposed Developments

6 Comments

The sign in the dirt tells you all you need to know: Hilton plans to build one of its newish line of Home2 Suites here on the eastbound Katy Fwy. feeder betweenÂ S. Mason and Westgreen Blvd. AÂ reader sends in this photo and a few specs, writing that the proposed 60,000 sq.-ft. hotel will have 92 rooms and will link up with the exercise trails that run back behind the car dealerships along Mason Creek into George Bush Park.

About Our Hip Extended Stay Hotels & Suites [Home2Suites]

Photo: Swamplot inbox

77450, Hotels, Katy, Proposed Developments

Hunters Creek Village

07/09/13 3:00pm

Cul-de-Sacking an Uncut Corner in Hunters Creek Village

Land Development, Proposed Developments

11 Comments

This solid swath of property neighbored by tightly packed cul-de-sacs in Hunters Creek Village appears to be swinging that way: County records show that just one 7,549-sq.-ft. home now stands on these 4.4 acres at the corner of Memorial and Voss, and a Hunters Creek Village employee tells Swamplot that the property is being subdivided and 7 new homes will be arranged inside theÂ gated community called Reynolds Court Addition.

Photos: Swamplot inbox

77024, Hunters Creek Village, Land Development, Proposed Developments, Subdivisions

Downtown

07/09/13 11:30am

Bigger? Taller? Hines To Redesign Proposed 609 Main St. Office Tower

Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Skyscrapers

49 Comments

Hines says that it isn’t quite ready to say that the office tower planned for 609 Main will be taller than the previously described 41 stories and 815,000 sq. ft. Still, a rep from Hines says that increasing demand for office space Downtown is driving a redesign from Pickard Chilton, and it’s likely that the tower will end up comprising more square footage — if not more stories. The proposed block, bound by Main, Texas, Fannin, and Capitol, is shared now with the vacant Texas Tower — though it’s still unclear whether that building would be torn down to make room. At any rate, it seems that we’ll soon know: The second round of designs should be completed by the end of the year, says the rep, andÂ construction could begin asÂ early as January.

Houston’s next great skyscraper? Hines to Texas size new Main Street office tower, speed up development [Culturemap]
Previously on Swamplot: Does New Hines Highrise Mean Old Texas Towerâ€™s a Goner?

Rendering: Hines

77002, Downtown, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Skyscrapers

Attractions

07/08/13 3:00pm

Grand Texas Theme Park Gets Its Texas Land

Land Sales, Montgomery County, Proposed Developments, Quicklink

16 Comments

GRAND TEXAS THEME PARK GETS ITS TEXAS LAND Developer Monty Galland has teamed with investors that include a former AstroWorld manager to close, at last, on 600 acres in Montgomery County for the proposed Texas-themed Grand Texas Theme Park. In April, Galland told Click2HoustonÂ that he would close on the property in May. But the 3-month delay seems to have allowed time for the development to develop thematically beyondÂ tractor rides and simulated shootouts: Prime Property’s Erin Mulvaney reports that there will be the previously unmentioned Big Rivers Water Park here too. The parks will be carved out of the heavily wooded acreage between U.S. 59 and Hwy. 242, near the proposed EarthQuest dino-resort. But the proximity doesn’t seem to present a conflict in the mind of East Montgomery County improvement prez Frank McCrady, reports Mulvaney: “He compared the two parks to Knottâ€™s Berry Farm and Disney Land in California. In this scenario, Earth Quest would be Disney Land, and Grand Texas is Knottâ€™s Berry.” [Prime Property; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Grand Texas

77357, Attractions, East Montgomery County, Land Sales, New Caney, Proposed Developments, Theme-Parks

Downtown

07/08/13 10:00am

Where Downtown Has Developed, Is Developing, and Might Develop Some More

Houston Data, Maps, Proposed Developments

24 Comments

Last week’s announcement by Chevron of the 50-story tower it plans to add to its blue-glass twins is just the latest development in the 77002. This map from the Downtown Management District shows projects that are recently completed, under construction, or in various states of planning and speculation. Those projects, denoted by purple and yellow on the map, include Skanska’s 34-story office tower that’s replacing the old Houston Club Building, Hines’s highrise on Main, the residential renovation of the Texaco Building, and the 5-story apartment complex near the under-construction SkyHouse apartment tower, among others.Â You can scroll through a complete legend for the map after the jump:

77002, Downtown, Houston Data, Maps, New Construction, Proposed Developments

Downtown

07/03/13 4:00pm

Chevronâ€™s New 50-Story Tower on Site of Downtown Y: Bigger, Boxier, Just as Blue

Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Skyscrapers

43 Comments

To form a power trio with the 2 curvaceous Enron hand-me-downs it has occupied since 2004, Chevron will be building a moreÂ boxy 50-story tower on the urban meadow left behind when Kenneth Franzheim’s Downtown YMCA came down in 2011. Chevron announced today that the HOK-designed building at 1600 Louisiana and Pease will provide 1.7 million sq. ft. of space, including training and conference rooms, more parking, and a cafeteria. This rendering suggests there will also beÂ plinth-top common areas and — as though a subtle homage to what preceded it on this 85,000-sq.-ft. lot — a gym.

77002, Downtown, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Skyscrapers

Houston Landmarks

06/28/13 11:00am

Super Bowl Fever Speeding Up Astrodome Deciders

Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Quicklink, Reliant Park, Stadiums

16 Comments

SUPER BOWL FEVER SPEEDING UP ASTRODOME DECIDERS If it seems kinda arbitrary and sorta abrupt, that June 10 now-or-never deadline for Astrodome ideas that the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation set, it might be because another deadline is looming larger: February 2017, when Reliant Stadium will play host to the Super Bowl. Kiah Collier reports that once the Commissioners Court hears back from the various county agencies asked to study the $194 million plan to convert the Dome into a convention center, a public vote could happen as early as November. Still, that would give the county only 39 months before the big game to execute the conversion that’s estimated to take at least 30. Judge Ed Emmett tells Collier: â€œIf we donâ€™t have it this year [the New Dome Experience] wonâ€™t be ready in time for the Final Four and the Super Bowl and I hate to miss those opportunities.” [Houston Politics; previously on Swamplot] Rendering: HCSCC

77054, Astrodome, Harris County Government, Houston Landmarks, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Reliant Park, Reliant Stadium

Magnolia Grove

06/28/13 10:00am

A 25-Story Office Tower Aimed for Washington and Waugh

Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, West End

22 Comments

No tenants? Worry about that later: PageSoutherlandPage is designing a 25-story spec office tower for the West End. Dubbed 22 Waugh, the proposed 220,000-sq.-ft. building would sit just south of Washington Ave. A rep from PageSoutherlandPage, which is partnering with Stream Realty on the project, says that the building would be located on the corner of Waugh and Barnes. It appears that it would be directly behind that Bank of America branch. The Houston Business Journal reports that the building could begin going up as soon as November.

77007, Highrises, Magnolia Grove, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, West End

06/27/13 11:30am

Trammell Crow Removing Wilchester Retail Ruins To Build Another Alexan

Demolitions, Proposed Developments, Wilchester

27 Comments

Trammell Crow seems to be planning another of its Alexan-brand apartments here — at the southwest corner of the Katy Fwy. and Wilcrest Rd. This would be about 9 miles west of Trammell Crow’s so-called Alexan Silber at 7777 Katy Fwy. This photo from a reader shows what remains of the Phillips 66 station, one of the structures on the site bound on the south by Lasso Ln. that the reader says the Wilchester Homeowners Association has learned will be demolished; the station’s underground tanks are already being torn up.

77079, Apartments, Demolitions, Proposed Developments, Wilchester

Proposed Developments

06/27/13 10:00am

Hines Interested in Building Residential Tower on Downtown Block Near Market Square Park

Quicklink

27 Comments

HINES INTERESTED IN BUILDING RESIDENTIAL TOWER ON DOWNTOWN BLOCK NEAR MARKET SQUARE PARK Culturemap reports that Hines is under contract to buy up a Downtown block and is planning a residential tower. How big a residential tower?Â Ralph Bivins doesn’t say. The block is bound by Prairie, Preston, Travis, and Main, catty-corner from Market Square Park; it’s directly across Preston from street artist Gonzo247’s Treebeards mural. It’s unclear from Bivins’s report whether Hines would build on the entire block and tear down the existing buildings — which include Frank’s Pizza and the recently closed Pepper Jack’s (and closed Cabo before that). If it seems as though Hines has been busy of late, it’s because Hines has been busy of late: The developer has also said it’s considering building a 20- or 22-story residential tower next to the Asia Society Texas Center, aÂ 17-story office building off San Felipe, an apartment complex at the old Westheimer Cafe Adobe site, and a 41-story office tower at 609 Main. Update, 2:15 p.m.: A rep from Hines says that, though it’s too early to comment on the details of the proposed “multifamily development,” it would replace only the surface parking lot on the block in question. [Culturemap; Houstonia Magazine; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Market Square Park: Swamplot inbox

77002, Apartments, Downtown, Land Sales, Market Square Park, Proposed Developments

06/26/13 4:35pm

From No Such Heights: Downtown’s Next Apartment Building To Rise Just 5 Stories

Commercial Real Estate, Downtown, Proposed Developments, Quicklink

16 Comments

FROM NO SUCH HEIGHTS: DOWNTOWN’S NEXT APARTMENT BUILDING TO RISE JUST 5 STORIES Developer Alliance Residential has shared with the Houston Chronicle this rendering of the comparatively punyÂ 5-story apartment complex it says it plans to build on the Downtown block bound by Bell, Leeland, Main, and Fannin. That block now is a surface parking lot. The 207 units planned for this complex, if built, might be ratherÂ overshadowed by the 30-story Houston House Apartments catty-corner from here and the 24-story SkyHouse that’s under construction just one block to the south. Alliance rep Bart Barrett tells Nancy Sarnoff that construction could begin as early as this fall, once the sale of the property is complete. [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Alliance Residential Company

77002, Apartments, Downtown, Proposed Developments

Houston Landmarks

06/25/13 4:45pm

Harris County Commissioners Decide Astrodome Convention Center Plan Needs To Be Studied Before Decisions Are Made