Swamplot Archives by Tag: Houston Pavilions

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Houston Pavilions Goes Office

July 1, 2009 – 8:48 am

And suddenly, Houston Pavilions gets some action:

NRG Texas and Reliant, NRG’s retail electric company, have agreed to lease 240,000 square feet of the 11-story Pavilions Tower, which comprises most of the building at 1201 Fannin.

NRG/Reliant will take 10 floors. The law firm Sheehy, Serpe & Ware has the top floor.

The bottom three floors of Pavilions Tower have always been designated as “swing space,” which could have been used for retail or office space, Houston Pavilions co-developer Geoff Jones said. NRG/Reliant will take all of the swing space, as well as some additional space on the second floor that initially had been designated for retail, Jones said.

How much of that lonely and vacant retail “additional space” on the second floor is being turned into office space?

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8:48 am | 5 Comments | Read more about Leasing, Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: Downtown, Office Space, Retail
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Wednesday, March 11, 2009

On and Off Cite: What’s the Matter with Houston Pavilions?

March 11, 2009 – 3:23 pm

Houston’s Downtown office district, writes Christof Spieler in the RDA’s OffCite blog, “wraps around Pavilions on two sides. It ought to be delivering swarms of office workers to restaurants and the book store. But at lunchtime on weekdays, Pavilions seems empty compared to the streets a few blocks away. What’s wrong?”

In Cite, the blog’s paper-bound cousin, Max Page wishes all the stores in Houston Pavilions had simply faced the street, and that the apartments and condos hadn’t been cut from the project:

Like the residential component, the decision about whether to orient the project to the existing street grid, or turn away, was made in the wrong direction. [Architect Roger] Soto laments the choice. “We had some compelling ideas about activating the street,” he told me. “But in the end, the developer chose to attach retail stores to a ‘central spine,’” perhaps because that approach created a scheme that more closely resembled the traditional covered malls [Developer William] Denton had spent years developing.

How about the action along that central spine?

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3:23 pm | 6 Comments | Read more about Malls, Neighborhoods: Downtown, Retail, Shopping Centers
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Friday, February 13, 2009

Houston Pavilions: Lucky Strike Out, Hats Off, Shoes Back in Boxes

February 13, 2009 – 4:20 pm

Last week Lucky Strike Lanes announced that the stalled buildout of the company’s new upscale bowling alley and lounge in Houston Pavilions would be “put on hold” — indefinitely. This time the company isn’t complaining about delayed equipment deliveries, though. It’s delayed money deliveries:

“At the moment we are seeking financing to complete the project and are having meaningful conversations with potential Houston-based partners as well as investors from elsewhere in the country,” Lucky Strike President Dolf Berle said. “We are still dedicated and committed to opening in Houston.”

Meanwhile, this past Wednesday night HAIF poster houstonartstudent reported the quiet withdrawal of two minor — and seemingly out-of-place — retail tenants:

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4:20 pm | 4 Comments | Read more about Malls, Neighborhoods: Downtown, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Retail, Shopping Centers
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Tuesday, January 13, 2009

Pavilions Office Tower: First!

January 13, 2009 – 1:01 pm

That see-through office tower above the new Houston Pavilions development Downtown won’t be empty much longer. Globe St.’s Amy Wolff Sorter reports that law firm Sheehy, Serpe & Ware has leased the top floor and a half.

Only 7 1/2 floors left!

Photo of Pavilions Tower: Houston Pavilions

1:01 pm | 2 Comments | Read more about Leasing, Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: Downtown, New Construction, Office Space
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Monday, November 24, 2008

Upscale Bowling Update: 300 Beats Lucky Strike

November 24, 2008 – 2:12 pm

Problems with equipment deliveries are being blamed for the delayed opening of the Lucky Strike Lanes in the Houston Pavilions project Downtown. The party and pool venue, 16-lane bowling alley, and restaurant was originally supposed to debut this Wednesday, but now may not open for business until the beginning of next year. There are 20 other Lucky Strikes open or planned; the Pavilions location will be the first in Texas.

Meanwhile, all is swell at the new 300 Houston, the reimagined and rebranded former AMF Bunker Hill Lanes bowling alley that opened earlier this month near the Memorial City Mall:

. . . instead of an apathetic teen in a ill-fitting polo attending bowlers’ needs, each lane is outfitted with its own personal lane captain who is outfitted in a tuxedo vest.

“[The captain will] get them their drinks, get them any food and beverage that they want, take care of any issues on the lane - if they have a scoring issue, they miss a frame, one of the pins gets stuck - the lane captain takes care of all of that and they close out with the lane captain,” [Sales Manager Jill Maxwell] says. Before that you head to an equipment specialist who sizes you for a ball, gets your shoes and escorts you to your lane.

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2:12 pm | 6 Comments | Read more about Neighborhoods: Memorial City, Neighborhoods: Memorial Woods, Nightlife, Openings and Closings
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Friday, October 17, 2008

A Soft Opening for Houston Pavilions

October 17, 2008 – 9:20 am

House of Blues at Houston Pavilions, Downtown Houston

Walkways at Houston Pavilions, Downtown Houston

At the new House of Blues last night: Jay-Z. And three blocks away, Books-A-Million and a roman-numeral flagship version of Forever 21 are now open! But between them in Downtown’s brand-new mixed-use street-hovering mall? Not much going on . . . yet:

The developers of the three block long Houston Pavilions said the pavilions will be the place to go, but for now it’s mainly a lot of space.

“It’s different because you don’t have a lot of nightlife down here. But with the restaurant, the Foundations Room, and the music hall at the House of Blues, we are going to bring people to the Pavilions,” [said] Deb Eybers, President of the House of Blues.

They won’t just bring people. Tenants will also be coming to the area. But for now there are just a handful of businesses.

More are slated to come on line in December and even more in the spring. Then the complex will be at 60 percent capacity.

The complex extends from Main St. to Caroline between Dallas and Polk — only a few surface-parking-lot blocks from the Toyota Center and Discovery Green.

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9:20 am | 6 Comments | Read more about Malls, Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: Downtown, New Construction, Nightlife, Office Space, Openings and Closings, Retail, Shopping Centers
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Monday, August 27, 2007

Houston Pavilions: Woulda Coulda Shoulda

August 27, 2007 – 8:34 am

Houston Pavilions Aerial View, Downtown Houston

If you’re curious why the developers of Houston Pavilions, the $70 million mixed-use development under construction downtown, decided not to mix anything other than office space with their 360,000 square feet of retail and “entertainment” space, you’ll be interested to read the comments L.A. developer Bill Denton made to the CoStar Group:

[Entertainment Development Group] put the site under contract in January 2004, then three surface parking lots and a multi-level parking garage sitting on just over 4 acres, and the project has evolved ever since. “We originally planned for a hotel/condo component, but at the time, the city was just finishing off convention center hotels and hotel occupancy was only 52%; now its difficult to find a hotel room in Downtown Houston. So, we changed the plan into two residential towers, which stuck until 12 months ago. Demand on the residential was tremendous, but because of the mixed-use and density, we would have had to do subterranean parking, which blew the economics of the residences out of the water. So now its 200,000 square feet of office space, and based on demand for that so far, I wish we could do 400,000 square feet.”

8:34 am | Read more about Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Development Strategy, Mixed Use, Neighborhoods: Downtown, New Construction, Nightlife, Office Buildings, Parking, Proposed Developments, Retail, Shopping Centers
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