Tag: 77056

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

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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 ~~paper~~screen!

77056, Apartments, BLVD Place, Condos, Financing, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Uptown

10/17/08 10:41am

Westgate Resorts Closes Its Houston Sales Office

Office Buildings, Openings and Closings, Real Estate Marketing

JPMorgan Chase Bank Building, 5177 Richmond Dr. at Sage, Houston The HBJ’s Allison Wollam reports that the Westgate Houston Preview Gallery, a large timeshare sales center in the JPMorgan Chase bank building on Richmond at Sage, has closed:

The gallery, located at 5177 Richmond Ave., offered a full-size model with a living room and kitchen styled after Central Florida Investmentsâ€™ timeshare properties.

The Houston location, which opened in 2004, was the first offsite sales center for Orlando-based Central Florida Investments. The company owns Westgate Resorts, which operated the preview gallery.

Almost 3 weeks ago, CFI founder and CEO David Siegel told the Orlando Sentinel that financial troubles had recently begun at the company — with the suddenness of “a heart attack.”

Until that time, Siegel apparently thought he was doing pretty well.

77056, Galleria, Office Buildings, Openings and Closings, Real Estate Marketing, Sales Centers, Timeshares, Uptown

Openings and Closings

10/01/08 12:05pm

Uptown Park Does Barbershop

Quicklink, Retail

2 Comments

UPTOWN PARK DOES BARBERSHOP Keith Scullin, owner of the recently opened Gentlemen’s Tonic in Uptown Park, talks to HBJ reporter Allison Wollam: “. . . the store was designed as a place where ‘men can be men’ in a discrete and relaxing environment. The barbershop offers traditional services such as a wet shave, beard trims, hair and scalp conditioning, haircuts and coloring and head, neck and shoulder massages. Grooming services include facials, back treatments, hair removal, eyelash tinting, eyebrow shaping and manicures and pedicures. Head and body massages and sports massages are also offered.” [Houston Business Journal]

77056, Openings and Closings, Retail, Uptown Park

07/09/08 2:38pm

Bob’s Chopped, Mo Coming

Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Restaurants

BOB’S CHOPPED, MO COMING Bob’s Steak & Chop House on Post Oak has officially closed, reports Cleverley Stone. Set to open in its place: another steakhouse called Mo’s . . . A Place for Steaks, from Milwaukee and Indianapolis. The Post Oak location is where Tony’s used to be. [Cleverley’s Blog]

77056, Galleria, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Uptown

Art

06/18/08 9:43pm

Head of the Titans: Cosmopolitan Pissoirs on Post Oak

Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Parking, Public Art, Real Estate Marketing

6 Comments

Giant Fountains on Parking Garage, Cosmopolitan Condominiums, Post Oak Blvd., Houston

A reader sends photos of some recent construction on the garage podium beneath the Cosmopolitan tower and asks:

What are those three giant urinals affixed to the east exterior wall of Randall Davis’ latest glass-clad erection, the one on Post Oak where James Coney Island used to be? . . .

Where is the Colossal Statue of Constantine when you need him? (Well, he’s in Rome, but that’s no help to Post Oak Boulevard!)

Sure, there’s the vaguely Roman theming going on with the marketing for Davis’s next tower across the street, the Titan. But these new constructions might be something much more contemporary . . . think Marcel Duchamp by way of Claes Oldenburg: The big fountains!

Below: the Colossal Head of Constantine . . . and the Colossal Heads of the Cosmopolitan, on display!

77056, Art, Condos, Cosmopolitan, Galleria, Highrises, Parking-Garages, Public Art, Randall Davis, Real Estate Marketing, Titan, Uptown

06/12/08 6:31pm

3100 Post Oak: Where the Loop, the Lake, the Train, and Richmond Collide

Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

2 Comments

Rendering of Proposed Office Tower at 3100 Post Oak Blvd., Uptown, Houston

A kind tipster sends us a link to this new ~~17-~~ 26-story (including the parking garage), 452,000-sq.-ft. office tower planned for 3100 Post Oak — near Richmond, just across the Lakes on Post Oak from Randall Davis’s Manhattan fantasy in the Galleria. And right next to the new rail line. The plans show room for a ground-floor restaurant, directly on one of the lakes.

A couple more images after the jump!

77056, Galleria, Metro Rail, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Uptown

Buying and Selling

06/12/08 1:56pm

The Cosmopolitan: Is It Flipping Time Yet?

Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Homes for Sale, Real Estate Marketing

The Cosmopolitan Condo Tower, Post Oak Blvd., Uptown, Houston

A reader has questions about the Cosmopolitan, Randall Davis’s tower-on-a-box on Post Oak:

What’s going on with this building? My wife and I looked at this last month as they were closing out and only had 2 units left, with the agent (surprise) saying they would be sold out shortly. Now there are 4 units on MLS. Are these from the builder or resales? There are only 80 units in the building–I wonder if some speculation is going on as I heard that Randall Davis offers sizable discounts to his employees, who bought several of the units at the Cosmo at a discount and are now trying to flip them. Is this Houston or Miami?

Hey, 4 units for sale out of 80 doesn’t sound too bad. On the other hand, it looks like one of the available units on MLS is, in fact, the Miami.

Cosmo buyers, readers . . . any comments?

The Cosmopolitan Houston [Randall Davis Company]
1600 Post Oak Blvd. Unit 1001 [HAR]

Photo: HAR

77056, Buying and Selling, Condos, Cosmopolitan, Galleria, Highrises, Randall Davis, Real Estate Marketing, Uptown

Demolitions

06/06/08 11:11am

Galleria Whole Foods Parking Puzzle Solved

Parking, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers

Proposed Whole Foods on Post Oak Blvd., Blvd. Place, Galleria, Houston

Yesterday’s brief Uptown Whole Foods parking mystery has been solved by one of our most helpful tipsters . . . who points to an older but more complete set of Boulevard Place plans. Shoppers, there is no need to worry. You will be able to park above, below, near, or yes — right in front of Whole Foods . . . and you won’t get stuck having to sneak your whole-grain-laden shopping cart past HermÃ¨s. Just imagine what awkward social situations that would have caused!

Below: 5 levels of out-of-date Blvd Place site plans explain it all!

77056, BLVD Place, Mixed Use, Parking, Parking-Garages, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Whole Foods

Apartments

06/04/08 3:08pm

The Sleek Strip, the Ritz Tower, and the Path to Whole Foods: A Closer Look at Boulevard Place

Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

7 Comments

Post Oak Blvd. Parking, Blvd Place, Uptown, Houston

Sure, the super-Mod architecture, elevated sidewalks, artistically moistened streets, and glistening rotunda in the new Boulevard Place renderings make the place look pretty swank, but what’s with the token strip of parking spots out front? Is this gonna be pay-to-display valet? Some kind of shopping-center twist on a velvet rope line? Or just a stab at maintaining Houston street cred: Sure, Post Oak Blvd. might be going urban upscale, but this is one development that won’t be forgetting its strip-center roots!

Updated views of Blvd Place, including the new Ritz-Carlton and Hanover towers — plus a site plan and a Whole Foods puzzle! It’s all below:

77056, Apartments, BLVD Place, Condos, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Uptown, Whole Foods

Condos

06/03/08 9:58am

The Turnberry: More Wiping, in More Places, than at Any Other Condo Tower

Galleria, Highrises, Home Design, Proposed Developments

4 Comments

Plaza Level Pools, Turnberry Tower Residences at the Galleria, Houston

There will be a grand total of 652-and-a-half private bathrooms in Houston’s Turnberry Tower. Apparently this is the kind of attention to detail that’s needed to attract buyers who are flush with assets:

When meeting with buyers, Turnberry’s sales staff emphasizes the high life they’ll enjoy, said [Turnberry Ltd. vice president Jim] Cohen, with the 40-year-old condo tower developer.

They’re told, for example, that when they hang out by the pool, a Turnberry staffer will offer a cool towel for their neck and wipe sunscreen from their sunglasses.

A lifestyle as well as a home [Houston Chronicle]
Tune In to the Turnberry Tower [Swamplot]
Nine and a Half Bathrooms: The Turnberry Tower Penthouse Evacuation Plan [Swamplot]

Image of Turnberry Tower plaza-level pools: Turnberry Ltd.

77056, Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Home Design, Luxury Highrises, Proposed Developments, Swimming Pools, Turnberry Tower, Uptown

Apartments

05/16/08 10:03am

Hanover Apartment Tower at Boulevard Place: 37 Stories

Galleria, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

1 Comment

Hanover Company 37-Story Apartment Tower at BLVD Place, designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz Today’s Chronicle has details on that apartment tower the Hanover Company has been planning for Boulevard Place, Ed Wulfe’s Post Oak redevelopment just north of the Galleria. Doing the math, your average 1,650-sq.-ft. apartment in the glass tower will rent for more than $4,000 a month.

That’s before it goes condo, of course.

At 37 stories, the 236-unit Hanover tower may end up even taller than the slender Ritz-Carlton planned directly to the south.

More info from Nancy Sarnoff:

Solomon Cordwell Buenz of Chicago is designing the building, which will have “boutique hotel style” amenities, including a concierge and bellman, as well as a lounge and catering kitchen.

A 19,000-square-foot rooftop pool terrace will be atop an attached parking garage.

The units will be similar to those in 7 Riverway, another Hanover project in the area. They will include stainless steel appliances, granite slab countertops, crown molding, hardwood floors and travertine tile, but will be larger and have additional features and amenities.

Hanover chose to design the building with larger units because it said there was considerable demand at 7 Riverway for oversized kitchens and living spaces.

After the jump: Where it’s going to land!

77056, BLVD Place, Condos, Development Strategy, Galleria, Highrises, Parks, Proposed Developments, Uptown

Afton Oaks

05/01/08 3:41pm

A Walk Down Cheezy Street: Richmond Avenue, Past Its Prime

Nightlife, Richmond Strip, Streets

3 Comments

Corner of Richmond and Fountainview, Houston

Pedestrian scribe John Lomax and Marfa City Council candidate David Beebe have, by this time, earned the right to make a few sweeping statements about various Houston neighborhoods. And Lomax exercises that right in his chronicle of the pair’s latest adventure on foot, along Richmond Avenue from Mission Bend to Midtown:

. . . the epicenter of H-Town cheese is the corner of Fountainview and Richmond. A four-story, day-glo, red, white, turquoise, and tan building looms over the southeastern corner there, and it houses a Sprint shop, a little downstairs bar with the godawful name Identity, a scalperâ€™s office, a massage therapist, and a huge Darque Tan outlet.

Sure, Westheimerâ€™s got some cheese, and is a little tattered around the edges in spots, but thereâ€™s a veneer of gentility as expressed by old-line businesses like Christieâ€™s Seafood. Richmond, by contrast, used to have that sub-Landryâ€™s fried seafood emporium King Fish Market, which despite the incessant awful commercials that polluted local airwaves circa 1999, is now out of business and practically in ruins. The whole lot of it is a great vat of rancid Velveeta.

As is much of the Richmond Strip. That giant sax outside of Billy Blues is looking more and more like the torch sticking out of the sand at the end of Planet of the Apes.

After the jump: how’s the nightlife?

77027, 77042, 77056, 77057, 77063, 77082, Afton Oaks, Nightlife, Pedestrians, Richmond Ave., Richmond Strip, Streets, Tours

04/02/08 8:17am

Rove Through Houston, Appreciating Europe

Hotels, Restaurants

Karl Rove(?) in the Lobby of the Hotel Granduca, Houston

So a lot of Houstonians don’t really get the Hotel Granduca. Who does? During a recent visit, the proprietor of Houston restaurant blog Tasty Bits came up with one answer:

I was always curious about the people who pay $1,300 a night for a hotel suite in Houston. Who are they? What do they eat? I got my answer as soon as I arrived and saw Karl Rove waiting to get picked up in the lobby (sulfur, smoke, instant drop in temperature, and all). For a split second I thought about inviting him to join us for lunch. Itâ€™s not often you are in the presence of one of the more diabolical political minds of our generation.

Tasty Bits has more juicy commentary on the hotel:

Entering Hotel Granduca is a little like following the rabbit hole – just beyond the iron gates and right past the horse mounted statue of Adalberto Malatesta Granduca of Monfallito (?) is a different world than one might find in otherwise sensible Houston.

After the jump: What’s down that rabbit hole! Plus: tasteful commentary on lunch at the hotel’s Ristorante Cavour.