Another win for Komatsu: This vacant 30,000-sq.-ft. office building in the shadow of the Houston House apartments was reduced to rubble this week on the Downtown lot bound by Fannin, Main, Leeland, and Pease, where construction on the 24-story, 336-unit residential tower SkyHouse is just beginning. (The parking lot in the foreground of the photo at the top is now a hole in the ground.) The project at 1625 Main was announced in March by Atlanta developer Novare Group, which has put up a similar tower in Austin.
- Opening Spring 2014 [Simpson Property Group]
- Previously on Swamplot: Where Downtown’s New Residential Tower Will Go
Photos: Swamplot inbox (demolition), Allyn West (building)
I just realized that rendering of the SkyHouse condo project looks almost identical to the Mosaic dondos on 288 at the Med Center.
I am sure the Houston House folks will not miss the old junky building next door.
Nice to see some progress downtown, especially residential. If they can get one more draw within a block or two, whether it’s residential, commercial or retail, the microarea might start gaining momentum.
It definitely has a lot of parking lots around it that could turn into downtown’s residential core with the right developments. Hopefully a couple more developers using the new downtown living initiative can stake out a spot in the area.
The renderings are all of the building in Atlanta. They even depict the crappy Atlanta skyline.
I think we really need this project, even if it turns out more mediocre than we’d like. It’s kinda amazing how much money has been/is being invested in highrise residential in downtown Austin. Especially when one considers how many more people actually work in downtown Houston.
Damn Niche, pretty harsh on Atlanta huh? lol
Anyway, the rendering depicted is for the Atlanta building but supposedly they are all going to be more or less the same building (Atlanta, Austin, Orlando, Houston).
More money is being invested in downtown condos in Austin because more people want to live in downtown Austin to take advantage of the restaurants/bars/music/lake amenities. A city of Houston’s size and demographics should have a much more vibrant downtown. Maybe someday.