Tag: Condos

Demolitions
03/13/09 11:45am

This Time with Fair Warning: Galleria Bank Collapse

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Galleria, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
5 Comments

This weekend’s Galleria-area bank implosion won’t be televised nationally, but you should be able to watch it happen live if you wake up early enough on Sunday. Preparations for the dynamite-fueled takedown of the Compass Bank building at 2200 Post Oak are just about complete.

A notice sent out last month to area businesses by Cherry Demolition says the implosion is scheduled for approximately 7:45 am on March 15th — which happens to be the 2,053rd anniversary, give or take a calendar adjustment, of the Julius Caesar demo. A few details:

Adjacent streets will be closed at approximately 6:00 am and re-open at 9:15 am. Streets to be closed are Guilford and Post Oak Boulevard between Westheimer and Ambassador Way.

So where’s the best vantage point for viewing this cathartic form of timely public theater gonna be?

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Cancellations and Delays
03/13/09 9:23am

The Land of Oz: Ready to Rise Again?

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Chinatown, Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Highrises, Hospitals, Medical Buildings, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Retail, Strip Centers
6 Comments

Here’s a surprise: a construction permit for a new 23-story Chinatown Asiatown condominium tower was issued yesterday for Park 8 Place. Remember Park8? That’s the freeway feeder megastrip project planned for just across Brays Bayou from Arthur Storey Park, along Beltway 8 south of Bellaire Blvd. The one that called itself “The Land of Oz.”

The entire development was supposed to include three 20-something-story residential towers, a hospital, two 2-story retail-and-office strips, and a couple of parking garages — all in a quaint freeway-and-park-side setting. A foundation was poured for the first condo building last year, but Park 8 CEO David Wu put the project on hold after he was unable to secure financing. So the construction crane came down.

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Apartments
03/04/09 3:35pm

Comment of the Day: What Happened to Carter’s Grove?

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Comments, Condos, Garden Oaks, Quicklink, Renovations
7 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: WHAT HAPPENED TO CARTER’S GROVE? “I still go back to Carter’s Grove Apartments as an example of restoration vs. teardown. They were the shame of Garden Oaks and a proven hazard to residents with over 240 municipal court violations resulting in a $100K fine for the owner. Take a drive around North Shepherd at 34th and see what restoration hath wrought with minimal disruption to the area and improvements on utility infrastructure as well as property values. If those ratholes can have a future life as pricey condos, anything is possible.” [Hellsing, commenting on Wilshire Village Fire Hazard Sale: Everyone and Everything Must Go!]

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Apartments
02/27/09 6:10pm

Ashby Highrise: Shifting Driveways and the Insanity Offense

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Boulevard Oaks, Condos, Development Regulations, Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton
26 Comments

The Chronicle’s Mike Snyder comments on the the Ashby Highrise’s latest failing grade:

Since March of last year, [Matthew] Morgan and [Kevin] Kirton have submitted various versions of their permit application eight times, and the city has rejected it eight times.

Since one definitition of insanity is taking the same action repeatedly and expecting a different result, some observers have speculated that the developers were building a record for a lawsuit. The language in their timeline shows they’re prepared to take this step, whether or not it’s been part of their strategy all along.

The developers are portraying this case as an example of heavy-handed and inequitable city regulation that all developers should worry about. How much support they’ll get from their industry colleagues if they choose to go to court remains to be seen.

But Jennifer Dawson, writing in the Houston Business Journal, notes that Buckhead Investment Partners has been fiddling with those plans they keep submitting:

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Buying and Selling
02/20/09 1:36pm

Allen Stanford’s Downtown Houston Loft Legacy: Tell it to the Arbitrator

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Condos, Construction Problems, East Downtown, Neighborhood Disputes
1 Comment

Allen Stanford’s international “banking” empire is falling apart. How’s his work as a Houston real estate developer holding up?

Stanford Development Corporation still owns a couple of units on the top floor of the Stanford Lofts, the 5-story East Downtown condo building topped with a starred tiara that the company completed in 2002, just a few blocks east of Minute Maid Park. But owning the condos didn’t prevent the condo owners association from filing a construction-defect lawsuit against the Stanford Lofts developers and builders in 2007, charging Stanford Development with “breach of contract, Deceptive Trade Practices, breach of warranty, fraud, and negligent design, construction, and supervision.”

The summary of problems with the building included in the original complaint is 9 pages long, and includes failure to meet building codes, wall cracks and leaks, structural movement, and a series of defects causing continuing problems with water infiltration. The repair estimate: more than $2 million.

The case has dragged on for some time. Attorneys for the Stanford Condo Owners Association complained that Stanford Development was dragging its feet, arguing last year in response to a stay request:

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Cancellations and Delays
01/26/09 12:46pm

End of the Parking Lot Sideshow: Mobile Home of the Titan Packs Up, Moves On

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Condos, Development Strategy, Galleria, Highrises, Real Estate Marketing
2 Comments

“Ronald McDonald will soon have all of his parking spaces back,” writes Swamplot tipster Michele, who also sends in these photos from yesterday. They show the sales office for Randall Davis’s canceled Titan highrise — which hung out in the McDonald’s parking lot on Post Oak for many months — boarded up and readied for its next location and rebranding assignment.

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Apartments
01/09/09 4:59pm

Mosaic Avoids Foreclosure, Files for Bankruptcy

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Condos, Condos for Sale, Financing, Foreclosures, Hermann Park, Highrises, New Construction: Residential
9 Comments

The developer of the Mosaic highrise overlooking Hermann Park — a limited partnership between Phillips Development & Realty and publicity-shy Florida Capital Real Estate Group — declared bankruptcy earlier this week to avoid foreclosure on a $71 million loan from Chicago lender Corus Bankshares. Florida Capital, originally the equity partner, will be taking over as the general partner.

The bankruptcy covers just the first Mosaic tower. The second tower, rebranded the Montage, has not yet defaulted on its separate $71 million Corus loan.

So how have sales been going at the Mosaic? It depends, the Houston Business Journal‘s Jennifer Dawson learns, who you ask:

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Condos
12/31/08 4:11pm

Crash of the Titan: The Goodbye Post

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Development Strategy, Galleria, Highrises, Real Estate Marketing
8 Comments

Swamplot mentioned the cancellation of Randall Davis’s Titan condo project in passing yesterday, announcing at the same time that the project had scored the first-place spot in the hotly contested Most Grandiose Development category of the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate. But really, if any 2008 event in Houston real estate deserves its own separate post on Swamplot, this is it.

Davis told the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff that slow sales convinced him to shut down the 25-story highrise project. There’ll be no rearranging of the deck chairs, no putting the project “on hold,” no “My Heart Will Go On.” It’s all over.

But the Titan will be sorely missed.

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Apartments
12/30/08 5:15pm

Phillips Development at the Mosaic: Short-Term Rentals, Short-Term Stay?

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Condos, Foreclosures, Hermann Park, Highrises, Leasing
13 Comments

Need a place to crash somewhere in Houston for a short visit — say, a week — but don’t want to stay in a hotel?

Phillips Development & Realty, developers of the Mosaic and freshly rebranded Montage towers across Almeda from Hermann Park, is handling rentals of Mosaic condos owned by investors — as well as rentals of the many units the developer has been unable to unload. Now a source passes on a new rumor to Swamplot: Some of those available rentals may be extremely short-term.

Not a bad idea for a property that’s close to the Med Center! With that rumor, though, come a couple more:

Phillips’s Corporate Leasing Director will be taking over management of the Mosaic’s homeowners association from the company that had been running it since the building opened last year. But Phillips’s new tenure at the HOA may be a short-term one too. Why?

Because Florida Capital Real Estate Partners, the Mosaic’s lender, might just be foreclosing on Phillips’s property soon — both the Mosaic and an apartment complex in Tampa called the Casa Bella. Swamplot’s source also suggests that Camelot Realty Group — the company that’s clearly been very busy handling the Mosaic’s many condo sales — may already have had discussions with Florida Capital about taking over onsite rental duties from Phillips once the foreclosure takes place.

Photo of Mosaic and Montage: Swamplot inbox

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Condos
12/17/08 11:47am

All Quiet in Melrose Park

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Condos for Sale, Houston Heights
27 Comments

A reader from the Heights writes in to ask what’s going on with the condos on the southwest corner of Heights Blvd. and 15th St.:

I am curious about a development project that seems to have fallen prey to the recent US mortgage debacle. The place looks abandoned and unfinished.

Two condos in the 20-unit Melrose Park Condominium development are listed for sale on HAR. All but one of the units appear to have the same owner. Can anyone fill our reader in on the latest?

Photo of 1447 and 1449 Heights Blvd.: HAR

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Buying and Selling
12/09/08 12:14pm

Reader Questions for Cosmo

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Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Real Estate Marketing
1 Comment

From the Swamplot mailbin, questions about the tower Randall Davis got up:

I would like an update on the Cosmopolitan. I drove by and it looks like barely anyone is living in the building. Roughly 20% of the units are either for sale or lease in the building. Given the problems the Titan is having in sales, can anyone provide insight into the viability of the Cosmopolitan. Does anyone live there? How is it?

The last time Swamplot posted a reader’s questions about the Cosmopolitan, the response was . . . underwhelming. Anybody home?

Photo of Cosmopolitan Tower: HAR

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Art
12/02/08 10:54am

A Real Mosaic Condo: The Secret Art of Westbury Gardens

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Condos, Condos for Sale, Home Decor, Interiors, Westbury
7 Comments

What delights await you in this Westbury Gardens condo? The video choreographs the entrance sequence beautifully.

Under the romantic entry arch, through the peaceful courtyard, past the double doors, up the stairs . . . what’s next?

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Apartments
11/21/08 1:14pm

Die, Sell, or On Hold: Big Houston Projects in Crisis

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Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Retail
16 Comments

What effects have difficulties with bank financing stemming from the global financial crisis had on some of those big new developments planned for Houston? The Houston Business Journal‘s Jennifer Dawson weighs in with a “Where Are They Now?” roundup:

  • Regent Square: That big design change meant a year’s delay; the first parts of the 24-acre Inner Loop development are now scheduled to start construction in the second quarter of 2009. A marketing center will open at 1203 Dunlavy next month, but have some more official kickoff in February.
  • Sonoma: “Called off — for now,” but you already knew that. According to Dawson, it wasn’t so much the banks but the developer that grew skittish: CONTINUE READING THIS STORY
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Commercial Real Estate
11/20/08 10:28am

Sonoma Developers: We Were So Close, Really!

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Condos, Financing, Mixed Use, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Retail, Rice Village, Streets
1 Comment

Sonoma’s would-be developers try to explain to West U Examiner reporter Michael Reed why the Rice Village retail-and-condo project was put “on hold” only a few weeks after the sales team sent out an email to prospective buyers claiming it had received financing:

Julie [Tysor], president of the Appelt Companies, said in an e-mail response to Examiner questions about the financing, “We had secured a substantial majority of the financing for the south building through the cooperation of some local lenders who have also supported this project since its inception.”

She said a number of factors contributed to the financing falling through, “not the least of which is historical world economic crisis that is unprecedented…”

So what’s going to happen to the site — which includes that block of Bolsover St. purchased from the city — now?

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Commercial Real Estate
11/14/08 11:04am

Sonoma in Translation: Not Gonna Happen

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Condos, Financing, Land Sales, Mixed Use, Openings and Closings, Proposed Developments, Rice Village, Streets
5 Comments

Rendering of Proposed Sonoma Development, Bolsover St., Rice Village, Houston

Last month, a Sonoma sales rep told the West U Examiner that the project had secured financing — which turned out to be condo-sales-speak for “Maybe if people think we’re definitely going ahead we can still sell units and somehow find a way out of this mess.” Now Nancy Sarnoff reports in the Chronicle that the developer of the condos-and-retail complex slated for what used to be Bolsover St. in the Rice Village has told her that the project “is being put on hold ‘for the short term.’” This appears to be developer-speak for “We’re toast.”

Was the problem just “economic uncertainties and tumultuous credit markets”? After developer Lamesa Corp. and partner Randall Davis pulled their switcheroo, deciding to start with the project’s second phase because they couldn’t get the more grandiose first phase financed,

they went back to the market and were negotiating for a $70 million loan with 40 percent equity to build the smaller second phase of 85 units.

At that point they had nearly 70 buyers who had put down deposits. More than half were interested in the second building.

Translation: Almost half their buyers bailed.

There’s good news for the trashed 2-block section of the Village Sonoma leaves behind, though:

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