One of Swamplot’s best tipsters forwards a link to a website featuring lovely renderings of a family of glassy office buildings and blocky parking garages squatting on the former AstroWorld site — along with a rather direct question: “Is this real???”
Well, the Crosswell Torian website is a real website, where the development company proudly presents its AstroWorld tower roundup under the name SouthPointe: “a hundred+ acre, transit-oriented mixed use development.” But a brand-new 13.5-million-sq.-ft. project doesn’t exactly seem tailor-made for today’s cautious real-estate market.
If the SouthPointe design isn’t real, though, it’s a brilliant parody — down to the ultra-generic name and its not-so-silent extra vowel. It expertly answers this question: How might a bunch of suburban developers — some of them from, say, Conroe — make a complete mockery of Houston’s highest profile and best connected redevelopment site?
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To be fair, the former AstroWorld site brings with it a number of problems: It has far-too-easy access to Houston’s major employment and activity centers by freeway, light-rail line, and even pedestrian bridge. In less deft hands, the development might make it too easy for people to transfer from one transportation method to another. Fortunately, the designers of SouthPointe have avoided that sort of nonsense with their clever plan, clearly modeled after several better-known suburban office parks.
Except this office park appears to be built out of several smaller office parks, each of which is labeled with a separate theme: “institutional/medical,” “office/corporate,” residential, or “mixed use/urban.” A collection of separately themed office parks — on the site of a former theme park. Get it?
Just like it says on the Crosswell Torian home page: “Piece of dirt? Piece of cake!”
- SouthPointe [Crosswell Torian]
12 Comments
This project is an actual project. The likelihood of it happening right now isn’t too go though.
The Astroworld/Waterworld land was purchased by a developer/land flipper. With it’s adjacent rail station and freeway. This plan you see above was detailing the potential for the site. At the time of the planning, office space in Houston was going fast and plans left and right were being made for more office construction.
I actually like the layout and concept. If the demand was there, it would be a nice project.
Interesting how one of the top architect firms in the world designed the project around transportation and conectivity but Swamplot writers could not pick up on it.
Gerlad Hines was born in a town of 30,000 people in a suburb and he seems to have done just fine with his vision.
This is one of the most unbelievable tracts of land, i am hoping the shallow thought process of the development/medical community does not let it fall into a hands of some lesser use.
@Gerald H: You’re right: This is an amazing tract of land. Do you have additional information about the transportation and connectivity features of the project? It would be helpful to hear about them.
Doesn’t having the current LRT line terminus at the tract plus that same terminus being a potential southwest commuter line terminus add to the connectivity? On top of that, having a major freeway front the property with major thoroughfares on all sides?
@kjb434: Those are all current features of the site. I think a lot of people would be interested in seeing how any potential development would take advantage of — and connect — those features.
THIS SITE CAN TRANSFORM THE CITY OF HOUSTON
WHAT IT COULD BECOME HAS NO LIMIT. GREAT LOCATION COULD BE THE NEXT CITY CENTER,VICTORY-PARK OR EVEN BETTER.
Maybe Tillman could have a little corner to throw up a rollercoaster, in homage to Astroworld.
MiZ Brook:
I hope Tillman falls off the planet. He has done nothing but ruin everything he touches. He should have been banished after he put up a ferris wheel in downtown. What a worthless form of life.
Anyone who thinks that this development is a great idea probably also thinks Dallas is awesome. One of the inherent characteristics of Houston is that it is eclectic and unpredictable. Two words to describe this proposal?- Boring and sterile.
I think this would be a great location for an amusement park of some sort.
Wow RWB. What an insightful and brilliant idea. I can’t believe no one has thought of that. In the hopes that you are being sarcastic, I do agree that this site should be aimed more towards entertainment (meaning more than just retail). Otherwise, this amazing location would become a ghost town from 6 pm to 6 am. What a waste.
I’m thinking a really low-rent Disneyland knock-off. Perhaps with an artificial river/pond network in which the water is dyed an hyper-artificial bright blue. Anyone else think something like that could work in this location? Just a thought.