September 16, 2009 – 4:15 pm
Sure, we all want to know how well the condos at the newly completed 30-story 2727 Kirby tower have been selling. But a couple of dedicated readers decided to investigate on their own:
[We] have been musing that 2727 Kirby looks awfully dark for a building for which the Chronicle proffers “all but 18 units have been sold”
Well, we put on our trench coats and went parking garage climbing to find out exactly how many souls live in that wraithlike monument to a bygone era.
These scary night pictures were taken on a Tuesday evening at around 8 pm. This was a prime time for at least a sampling of residents to be at home among their new Imported Stone Flooring and European Cabinetry. The night photos were taken from atop the parking garage on West Alabama that is the home of Fleming’s and from the Parking lot on Westheimer that serves Taco Milagro/Downing Street.
And they show . . . ?
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Read more about: 2727 Kirby, 77098, Condos, Condos for Sale, Highrises, New Construction: Residential, Real Estate Marketing, Staging, Upper Kirby
August 21, 2009 – 5:32 pm
Note: Story updated below.
The 11th time’s the charm! According to Abc13 reporter Miya Shay, the city today gave the developers of the Ashby Highrise the final approval they needed to begin construction of the 23-story residential tower at the corner of Ashby and Bissonnet, next to Southampton.
Okay now everybody, show us your cards!
Update, 5:49 p.m.: Some details about why the most recent plans were approved, from a city news release via the River Oaks Examiner:
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Read more about: 77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Condos, Development Regulations, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton, Traffic
When Canadian home-design expert John Brown featured an oddly designed 2800-sq.-ft. 3-bedroom Houston highrise apartment on the “What’s Wrong with This House” video feature of his online Slow Home Design School last week, Swamplot readers naturally wanted to know where the place was. A new west-facing 17th-floor apartment . . . somewhere “Downtown.” Hmmm . . .
You came up with a lot of good guesses: One Park Place, the Turnberry Tower, the Cosmopolitan, the Legacy at Memorial, Mosaic, Orion, 2727 Kirby, Commerce Towers, the Shamrock Tower, the Four Seasons, Titan, the Regent Square tower, Park 8 Place, the Royalton, and Four Leaf Towers.
So what’s the answer?
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Read more about: Apartments, Development Strategies, Highrises, Home Design, Real Estate Marketing
Wondering what’s been going on with the Ashby Highrise? Developer Matthew Morgan tells the River Oaks Examiner that Buckhead Development intends to respond to “the city’s attempts to reach an agreement” with a new submission for the proposed 23-story residential tower on Bissonnet, next to Southampton.
But the city rejected the highrise’s plans again yesterday . . . for the 10th time. The city said its own analysis showed the project as currently proposed would result in an “F” level of traffic at the corner of Shepherd and Bissonnet:
However, “A significant reduction in peak-hour trips, including appropriate trip offsets, could have a potential to address heightened concerns,” a city engineer, Mark L. Loethen, wrote in his comments.
Computing traffic level involves a formula that rates intersection flow from “A” (no traffic) to “F” (very slow).
The rejected plans were submitted April 7, making the three months until they were returned to the developers unusually long.
Rendering of proposed Ashby Highrise, 1717 Bissonnet: Buckhead Investment Partners
Read more about: 77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Condos, Development Regulations, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton, Traffic
It seems Swamplot readers have had a little trouble identifying the highrise building discussed in yesterday’s Slow Home Design School video exercise. It’s new, it’s “Downtown,” and this west-facing apartment is on the 17th floor, says instructor and architect John Brown.
But is it even in Houston? Really?
What does Brown have to say about the floor plan?
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Read more about: Apartments, Highrises, Home Design
“Do you know which building this is?” a reader asks. The video is today’s presentation in Canadian architect/real-estate agent/developer/plan doctor/entrepreneur John Brown’s Slow Home Design School. The topic: a 2800-sq.-ft. highrise apartment . . . in Houston.
Where, exactly? “It’s on the 17th floor of a new building that’s been built in Downtown Houston.” Hmmm. . . .
You have until tomorrow to present your findings! The floor plan under discussion:
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Read more about: Apartments, Highrises, Home Design
Here’s a view of the 28-story condo tower New York’s Handel Architects is designing for Regent Square, the 15-acre mixed-use project GID Urban Development Group is planning for North Montrose. The 450,000-sq.-ft. tower is meant for Regent Square’s westernmost reaches: the corner of West Dallas and Greenwich Place, just east of the College Memorial Park Cemetery.
Each of the 150 condos in the building has a balcony. All the units on the western face, shown above, have indented double-height outdoor spaces. The sleek eastern face, looking toward Downtown, is very different: It has a floor-to-ceiling curtainwall. Handel expects the building to be LEED-certified.
More images:
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Read more about: 77019, Condos, Highrises, Mixed Use, Montrose, North Montrose, Proposed Developments, Regent Square
The River Oaks Examiner’s Cynthia Lescalleet tours the brand-new 340-unit One Park Place, across from Discovery Green Downtown:
Units are bright and spacious, with several oversized features, such as 10-foot ceilings that, unlike loft properties, are finished, meaning no dust or gloomy black paint. Each unit has a balcony. Views vary. Overall, the apartments toured felt solid and private and very much like city living in other major cities, which was the point. In One Park Place, Finger Companies wanted to build a landmark residence reminiscent of the historic parkside properties in New York, Chicago and San Francisco. Meanwhile, the project’s rose-colored masonry with stone accents connotes other noted Houston architecture. . . .
Okay, how much?
. . . the property’s floorplans have verdant names like Cedar and Azalea. The smallest units have about 800 square feet and lease for $1,800-$2,550 if located on the lower floors of the tower. The six penthouses lease for $6,400 to $11,880 for units of 2,000 to 3,500 square feet.
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Read more about: 77010, Apartments, Downtown, Highrises, Leasing, One Park Place
Plans for the Ashby Highrise were rejected by the city for the 9th time last week. But . . . this rejection appears to be a bit kinder than the others have been.
How much kinder? The West U Examiner’s Michael Reed explains:
. . . the tone of the city engineer’s remarks seemed less perfunctory than in the project’s recent permit denials.
In his comments dated March 16, Mark Loethen said “conflicts in drawings sets have been addressed and revised” since the previous rejection Feb. 13.
Saying the city is still concerned about the distance between a proposed entrance on Bissonnet Street and the Dunlavy Street intersection and the volume of left-turns during peak traffic hours, Loethen offered a potential solution.
“Increasing distance between (the) entrance driveway and Dunlavy along with other mitigation measures may be considered,” his comments read.
That sure makes it sound like a building permit for the 23-story highrise — which developer Buckhead Investment Partners still insists on calling 1717 Bissonnet — isn’t that far away from actual city approval. Can’t these tiny remaining details just be worked out in a friendly little get-together?
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Read more about: 77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Boulevard-Oaks, Condos, Development Regulations, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton
Comment of the Day: Where the Skyscrapers Will Be Built
“. . . in a century or two, Houston will be very densely populated. . . . I think Houston is relatively lucky to have street grids across most parts of the city, as opposed to the suburban lollipops in, say, Pearland’s newer subdivisions. When the skyscrapers come — and they will — then Houston’s grids will handle the load better than the lollipops would; and if worse comes to worse, old blocks can be razed for new streets, or our existing streets can be turned into one-way, so that for example you might have Bellaire and Westheimer only go westbound, and Richmond and San Felipe only eastbound (or vice versa).” [J.V., commenting on City to Ashby Highrise: Yes You Can!]