Redevelopment

Apartments
01/20/12 11:59am

Next for the Corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy: A New Office Building?

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Demolitions, Mandell Place, Montrose, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
20 Comments

Is the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy the busiest intersection in Inner Loop real estate right now? Two months after the opening of the new H-E-B Montrose Market on the former site of the Wilshire Village Apartments on the southwest corner of that intersection, and just a week after developer Marvy Finger’s official announcement of his plans to replace the Fiesta Food Mart on the southeast corner with a 6-to-8-story “Mediterranean” apartment building, there is a report that the 2 apartment complexes on the northeast corner may be next to fall. It may be a bit more than a rumor: While taking these photos yesterday, Swamplot’s Candace Garcia came across workers who appeared to be surveying the site. For what?

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Buying and Selling
01/12/12 3:46pm

Changing Buildings on Mid Lane

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Highland Village, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail
8 Comments

A reader passes on the rumor that the retail buildings along the west side of Mid Lane north of Westheimer, from Capone’s Bar and Oven (above) up to but not including Crapitto’s Cucina, are under contract to a developer — with a closing scheduled for this month. Purported plans for the properties: demolition and the construction of a highrise, with new retail spaces at the bottom. No rush, though, apparently: “They can’t do anything for 16 months because of the leases.”

Photo: Swamplot inbox

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Apartments
11/30/11 9:58am

New Law Complex Would Replace Courts at West University

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Demolitions, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Sunset Terrace, West University
24 Comments

Houston’s Sunset Terrace subdivision could be getting a new neighbor. A five-story one. Trammell Crow Residential is floating plans for its proposed Alexan West University apartment project. The intended 2.5-acre site is bordered by Bissonnet, Law and Auden streets. Currently, that location is home to the Courts at West University, a 1973-vintage two-story garden style apartment complex at 3810 Law St., complete with its own bark park:

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Apartments
11/22/11 11:41am

West Ave-Style Apartments and Retail Planned for Dunlavy Fiesta Site?

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Buying and Selling, Lancaster Place, Land Sales, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail
62 Comments

Survey stakes have gone up around the Montrose Fiesta Market on the southeast corner of Dunlavy and West Alabama, directly across the street from the brand-new H-E-B Montrose Market.

What could that mean? A source who is not a party to the transaction claims that the survey is connected to a sale of the property, which is already under contract for “‘crazy money’ — something on the scale of $85-$90 SF”:

The reputed use will be for a 6 to 7 story multi-use development — something on the order of West Ave or the Read-King chimera promised for the SWC of Alabama and Shepherd. . . . Personally, I find the land purchase price to be pretty hard to believe . . . because market value of land in that area is $40 – $50 max or maybe $60 at a stretch. Fiesta’s lease expires in 2014 with no renewal and either they or the owner has an early out option. The other tenants in the center all have short lease terms with no renewal.

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Buying and Selling
11/18/11 3:31pm

Skanska Goes for a Houston Office Building Hat Trick

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Commercial Real Estate, Energy Corridor, Office Buildings, Redevelopment
3 Comments

If, as rumored, Skanska USA Commercial Development is the buyer of this sprawling former ARCO building at 15375 Memorial Dr. west of Eldridge, the Swedish construction giant will soon be the owner of a small one-of-each collection of Houston office types: The Houston Club building Downtown, the 20-story tower Kirksey designed for the company that just began construction on the Galleria side of the West Loop, and this 21-acre Energy Corridor campus. According to reports, the company is likely to tear down both the Memorial Dr. building and the one Downtown and build office buildings on each site from scratch.

Photo: Silberman Properties

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Discovery Green
11/03/11 5:00pm

City Playing Musical Blocks with Downtown Houses

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Downtown, Historic Preservation, Land Sales, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Tourism
11 Comments

Yesterday was moving day for 2 unusual Downtown buildings: The 1905 Cohn and 1904 Foley (above) houses cattycorner from the George R. Brown Convention Center. Leftover single-family homes from an area once known as Quality Hill and now strangers in the land of skyscrapers and stadiums, they’d be notable Downtown residents even if they weren’t designated historic structures. The city is moving them across the street and a block closer to Minute Maid Park, where they’re intended to become add-ons to a mysterious Regional Tourism Center proposed for the 600 block of Avenida de las Americas. According to plans flashed at the last public meeting for the Downtown/EaDo Livable Centers Study, this new building dedicated to Upper Texas Gulf Coast vacationers would face the westbound light-rail line along Capitol St. and sit at the bottom of an unidentified residential tower:

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Fifth Ward
10/07/11 1:49pm

Hello from the Fifth

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Quicklink, Redevelopment
41 Comments

HELLO FROM THE FIFTH Charles Kuffner spots demographic shifts in the Fifth Ward: “To interview the candidates in District B, I made several visits into the Fifth Ward, which is a neighborhood I can’t honestly say I’d been to before. One of these interviews took me past Fifth Ward Jam, which was cool to see. But what really struck me as I drove around was how close this all was to downtown. Gentrification and whirlwind change may not be a part of the Fifth Ward today, but I think it’s inevitable, and frankly is probably just around the corner. If you look at the neighborhoods surrounding downtown, it’s what’s left for redevelopment. The Heights, the Washington corridor, Neartown, the Museum District, Montrose, and Midtown are all pretty much built out — for sure there’s little if any cheap property available in any of them. EaDo and the Near Northside are getting there. But east of 59 and north of I-10, it’s as Gray describes it. If you’re a real estate developer, you’ve got to see the potential there.” [Off the Kuff] Photo: Robert Boyd

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Buying and Selling
06/24/11 12:12pm

Independent Arts Collaborative Buying Midtown Lot for New Main St. Arts Center

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Institutional Buildings, Midtown, Proposed Developments, Public Buildings, Redevelopment
27 Comments

Planned for the Midtown block surrounded by Main, Travis, Francis, and Holman streets: a new 90,000-sq.-ft. multi-tenant performing arts center that might look something like this. And after a city-hall vote this week, it seems more likely to be built: Council approved the sale of the property at 3400 Main St., currently a surface parking lot for the soon-to-be-former city permit office one block to the north, for $2.5 million.

The buyer and developer of the new building is the Independent Arts Collaborative, a consortium of local arts organizations — including Fotofest, Diverseworks, the Houston Arts Alliance, Musiqa, Suchu Dance, Opera Vista, Catastrophic Theater, Nameless Sound, the River Oaks Chamber Orchestra, and Main St. Theater. Also part of the deal: Another one of those 380 revenue-sharing agreements: This one will allow the developer to receive up to $6 million in reimbursements from increases in tax revenue resulting from the project.

Details of the building — as well as plans for several projects proposed nearby — were included in a study produced last year for the Houston-Galveston Area Council:

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Downtown
06/06/11 12:46pm

The Slipcover Is Coming Off: Strip Show Begins on Main St. Corner Downtown

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Hotels, Houston Landmarks, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Renovations
3 Comments

The streetclothes are already being shed from the recently vacated office building at the corner of Main St. and Rusk downtown where a Fort Worth development and hospitality company is planning its next hotel project. Pearl Real Estate announced plans to gut and renovate the 22-story building at 806 Main St. early last year. And now, a reader reports, permits are posted in the window and the paneling and windows in a single column have been removed.

Underneath the white-marble and brown-glass slipcover — installed about 30 years ago — is a stone, terra cotta, and brick building built about 100 years ago and expanded 10 stories skyward in the 1920s. The building is directly across the street from the brand-new BG Group Place.

Photos: Swamplot inbox

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Comments
05/31/11 6:34pm

Comment of the Day: Report From That Neighborhood South of the River Oaks Shopping Center That Nobody Knows What To Call

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Homes for Sale, Montrose, Park, Pecan Park, Quicklink, Redevelopment, Townhomes
6 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: REPORT FROM THAT NEIGHBORHOOD SOUTH OF THE RIVER OAKS SHOPPING CENTER THAT NOBODY KNOWS WHAT TO CALL “Who says this is going to be townhouses? This is my neighborhood. While there are certainly plenty of townhouses in the area, the overall trend has moved decidedly toward single family homes. As I type, there are at least a half dozen new single family homes under construction within a few blocks of this site. While this house appears to be quite nice, I’m guessing whatever replaces it will be much nicer. I know it’s standard operating procedure for Swamplotters to hate everything new, but the single family homes (and even the townhouses) being built in this neighborhood are typically quite nice. This demo is more the exception than the rule. Most of what gets torn down around here is garbage.” [Bernard, commenting on Tiny Done-Up Woodhead Cottage Is Townhome Fodder]

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Homes for Sale
05/31/11 12:03pm

Tiny Done-Up Woodhead Cottage Is Townhome Fodder

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Montrose, Park, Redevelopment, Townhomes
43 Comments

This cozy little white-picket-fenced 1,224-sq.-ft. cottage on Woodhead north of Fairview went on the market just as the holiday weekend began. But already “developers are swarming with offers and not even looking at the home and gardens,” a source tells Swamplot. Why bother, when the 1930 home sits on a 5,000-sq.-ft. corner lot along Welch St., just 4 blocks south of the River Oaks Shopping Center? New driveways away! But . . . okay, what would $369,500 would buy here?

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Galleria
05/20/11 12:37pm

Construction of New Galleria Whole Foods Market: This Fall

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Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers
25 Comments

A new “final” rendering is out for the second phase of Blvd Place, which includes a brand-new 48,500-sq.-ft. Whole Foods Market near the corner of Post Oak Blvd. and San Felipe just north of the Galleria (and yes, only a few feet east from the old Eatzi’s location), as well as two 4-story mixed-use buildings flanking it along Post Oak. Plus: a parking garage in back. The 4-story buildings (marked 1N and 2 on the recently updated site plan below) will have 2 office levels above 2 floors of retail, like the lone building in Blvd Place’s first phase, which opened last year a block south. Wulfe & Co.’s Elise Weatherall tells Swamplot the remaining portion of the old Pavilion on Post Oak on the site will be demolished this fall; construction on the new Whole Foods and the adjacent buildings is scheduled to begin about the same time, with everything opening in the first half of 2013.

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Demolitions
04/27/11 1:15pm

Flagship Collapse Kills

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Galveston, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Redevelopment
9 Comments

FLAGSHIP COLLAPSE KILLS The 65-year-old demolition worker from Utah who was trapped after a portion of the Flagship Hotel collapsed on him yesterday died from his injuries less than an hour after he was rescued. Landry’s, the owner of the hotel, is tearing it down in order to add amusement rides to the 25th St. pier it sits on. An investigation is currently underway, and Galveston’s fire chief tells reporter Laura Elder that there’s still danger of another collapse: “Ardent, the contractor of record, could have brought in subcontractors to handle the job, and the city was in the process of determining Tuesday what company employed the injured man, city of Galveston spokeswoman Alicia Cahill said. Crews demolished the hotel to the second floor slab. It rested, partially collapsed, at an angle with the westernmost edge appearing to touch the floor of the pier. The injured man was in a void of concrete, [Fire chief Jeff] Smith said. ‘Entrapment time was about 20 minutes, and he had about 1,000 pounds of weight on top of him,’ Smith said.” [Galveston County Daily News; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Click2Houston

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Galleria
04/18/11 8:06am

The Tallest Drive-Thru Bank on Post Oak

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Mixed Use, Office Buildings, Office Space, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
1 Comment

Moving into the site of the 7-story Compass Bank building demolished a year and a half ago at 2200 Post Oak Blvd., a block north of the Galleria: the bank’s new corporate parent, BBVA Compass. The subsidiary of Spanish banking giant BBVA will be leasing at least 6 floors of a new 20-story tower being developed on that location by the Redstone Companies and Stream Realty Partners. Not officially announced but still apparently planned for the northern portion of the same 6-and-a-half-acre parcel (the grassy area in the foreground of the rendering above, along Guilford Ct.): a second office building, hotel, and more structured parking. Redstone and Stream Realty had previously been marketing the mixed-use property as The Perennial.

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Comments
03/07/11 2:08pm

Comment of the Day: Follow the Mini Storage

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Development Stategies, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest, Quicklink, Redevelopment, Retail
7 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: FOLLOW THE MINI STORAGE “Mini Storage facilities are almost always limited partnerships designed to last 7-10 years and put on strategically poised land the developers/LLP’s have determined will increase in value. The facilities are generally inexpensive to build and maintain and are easy to demo once the property has gained enough value to where it is sold for development. The area all along 34th street is just not ready for redevelopment yet. It’s currently a dump. Additional years of creeping development from the Northern Heights will be required to eventually turn the 34th St. blight into the redevelopment gem many hope for.” [CK, commenting on What They’re Doing to Food Land on Ella]

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