Proposed Developments

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
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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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Freeways and Toll Roads
11/12/08 11:57am

Developers “Not Likely” To Build Homes in Proposed Path of Grand Parkway

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Hazards, Homebuilders, Homes for Sale, Lakes of Avalon Village, New Construction: Residential, Proposed Developments, Spring, Transportation, Willow Trace
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Lakes of Avalon Village Subdivision, Spring, Texas

The attorney for Lakes of Avalon Village developer Robert A. Hudson is now saying that economic conditions make it “unlikely” that Lennar Homes and J. Patrick Homes will build on homesites in the path of a new proposed route for Segment F2 of the Grand Parkway in Spring.

But there’s no need to give up hope entirely: Lennar and J. Patrick apparently encountered few difficulties building and selling 60 homes sitting on the new highway’s earlier proposed route, in a different portion of the same subdivision. The developer’s stated reluctance to repeat the trick means the homebuilding market must be pretty tough now.

The new route would swing around the homes that have already been built and into not-yet-developed areas of Lakes of Avalon Village and neighboring Willow Trace.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Houston Heights
11/10/08 1:45pm

Making Room for a Strip Center on Heights Blvd.

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Parking, Proposed Developments, Renovations, Retail, Strip Centers
20 Comments

1101 Heights Blvd., Houston Heights

A Heights-area reader alarmed by the “Notice of Public Hearing” sign that appeared in front of the 100-plus-year-old converted home at the northeast northwest corner of Heights Blvd. and 11th St. has done some sleuthing and sends Swamplot a report:

No, the 1903 Victorian at 1101 Heights Blvd. won’t be torn down . . . the owner has received approval from the historic commission to move the building one lot to the north. And then to jack it up a few more feet, so cars can be parked underneath. Why hadn’t the Victorians thought of that?

Why the need for parking? To accommodate the brand-new strip center the developer wants to slide in between the new location for the home and the corner, facing 11th St. On the corner itself: Parking.

One observer who’s seen the plans says the house will end up “awfully close” to the back of the strip center. The developer apparently has promised to “restore” the home, though it may be leased out as office space. The project is scheduled to go before the planning commission a week from this Thursday: November 20th.

More photos from the scene:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Downtown
11/06/08 12:20pm

Alamo or Modern: Which Way for the San Jose?

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Institutional Buildings, Medical Buildings, Midtown, Proposed Developments
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Rendering of Proposed Family Health Center, 2615 Fannin St. at McGowen St., Houston

The Christus Foundation for HealthCare appears to be hawking two distinct visions for the family health center it hopes to build at the corner of Fannin and McGowen in Midtown. That’s the same location where the complex that contained the Fu Kim Grand Palace Restaurant was torn down last year. On fundraising materials for the San José Clinic — a charity clinic that currently operates across the street from Minute Maid Park Downtown, and which will move into the new center in Midtown when it’s completed in 2010 — there’s a rendering of what looks like a 3-story stucco Alamo-meets-UT mini-resort building set behind a parking lot.

But the Christus Foundation’s website features something entirely different on its Living the Legacy fundraising page:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Demolitions
11/05/08 2:51pm

Just When You Thought It Was Already Long Gone: A Second Demolition for the Shamrock Hotel

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Historic Preservation, Houston History, Proposed Developments, Texas Medical Center
2 Comments

Interior of Edwin Hornberger Conference Center, Former Shamrock Hotel, Houston

The last remaining building associated with Houston’s 1950s-era glam-magnet Shamrock Hotel is slated to be torn down, reports Cynthia Lescalleet in the West U. Examiner. The Shamrock’s former ballroom facility at 2151 W. Holcombe became the Edwin Hornberger Conference Center in 1996, nine years after the Shamrock itself was famously axed.

The Texas Medical Center has more building plans for the site:

TMC will build 250,000 square feet of office space in three floors to be added atop the Bell building, which also houses the existing parking garage, said TMC’s John Kajander. The added space is to support TMC institutions, he said.

The building housing the Hornberger’s foyer and ballroom “is nearing the end of its useful life,” he said, and will be taken down.

A little Hornberger history:

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Leasing
10/29/08 3:31pm

Replacing the West Gray Duplexes

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Montrose, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments
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Rendering of Proposed Office Building at 1335 W. Gray St., Houston

A reader wants to know about the 4-story office building Stream Realty is claiming it can fit on a couple of recently demo’ed lots on W. Gray near Waugh:

Hadn’t driven by this part of town in a while. Is this the sort of thing that went out the window when all the credit froze up, or did this sign just go up?

A listing on the Stream Realty website indicates that 1335 West Gray is supposed to contain 22,392 sq. ft. of space, with a third of it (on the top floor) apparently already spoken for. The first floor looks open for parking.

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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Greenspoint
10/28/08 12:49pm

New Park for Greenspoint

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Parks, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
5 Comments

NEW PARK FOR GREENSPOINT

Redemption Community Development Corp. has raised $10,000 out of $75,000 it needs to turn a 16-acre site at 822 West Greens Road from a gang hangout to a park: “The corporation selected the site just [west] of Interstate 45 because it is surrounding by low- to moderate-income apartment and mobile home communities that do not have easy access to recreational facilities, said [RCDC executive director Evelyn] Ogletree. To take a property utilized for less-than-positive purposes and transform it into a park has been a long-standing dream. The ‘phase one’ park plan includes a covered basketball pavilion, playground, nature gardens, walking/jogging trail, benches and picnic tables.” The remainder of the funds will likely come from grants. [Houston Chronicle]

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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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Apartments
10/24/08 3:49pm

Hanover Uptown Apartment Tower: Officially on Hold

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Financing, Galleria, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
1 Comment

Proposed 37-Story Hanover Apartment Tower at Boulevard Place, Uptown, HoustonFrom Jennifer Dawson in today’s Houston Business Journal comes confirmation of part of Swamplot’s report earlier this week on the two highrises planned for Boulevard Place. The Hanover Company’s planned 37-story apartment tower isn’t moving forward anytime soon:

Construction was supposed to start this month, but that’s not going to happen because it’s too difficult to get a construction loan right now, says Hanover President John Nash.

He says it would be impossible to predict when the credit market would allow the project to move forward, but it could be delayed as much as a year.

Tower rendering: Solomon Cordwell Buenz, via the Houston Chronicle

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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
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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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Apartments
10/21/08 11:22am

Putting Off the Ritz: Boulevard Place Towers Stalled

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Financing, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
1 Comment

Aerial View of BLVD Place, Showing Proposed Ritz Carlton and Hanover Apartment Towers

Remember the two 30-plus-story towers planned for Boulevard Place on Post Oak — the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the Hanover apartment tower? How have they been surviving the rumbling credit crunch?

A HAIF user last week

got slight confirmation that both the hanover tower and the ritz are going to be delayed at least slightly… they still expected both to happen, but they will be phased in.

Then yesterday came another comment:

i can confirm this in regards to hanover.

dont expect their tower to be built anytime soon.. i would consider it postponed indefinitely rather than slightly.

Followed by this:

As a sub on this project I will also confirm this. We have been told at least 6 months of delays.

But they still look great on paperscreen!

CONTINUE READING THIS STORY

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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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