Tag: Highrises

Rice Viillage

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17-STORY ROBINHOOD CONDO TOWER TO GET 17-STORY SENIOR NEXTDOOR NEIGHBOR 2520 Robinhood at Kirby Condominiums, 2520 Robinhood, Rice Village, Houston The condo tower at 2520 Robinood St. — not so long agoÂ bookended to theÂ east and westÂ by bars it was suing and being sued by — may soon be bar-free in both directions.Â Katherine FeserÂ reports in the Chronicle this week that the propertyÂ formerly occupied by Hudson Lounge (and occupied byÂ Bar Bleu since last summer) has been sold toÂ senior living developer Bridgewood.Â The land, bounded by the condo tower and by Robinhood, Quenby and Kelvin streets,Â is temporarily being leased back to the bar, but will be cleared out by the end of this year toÂ allow the construction of what the company is tentatively calling The Village ofÂ Southampton, a 17-story senior living highrise. That’ll put it roughly on the level with 17-story 2520 Robinhood, potentiallyÂ trimming the viewsÂ in a number ofÂ the condo building’s east-facing units. Bridgewood’s previous 8-storyÂ height record is just about metÂ by the company’s most recent senior living project, the almost-done 8-story The Village ofÂ River Oaks at 1015 Shepherd Dr.;Â that projectÂ faced a lawsuit during its early stages over claims from residents of the next-door Renoir Lofts and Gotham Lofts condos Â that an increase inÂ traffic — more specifically, the number of emergency vehicles heading to the senior living centerÂ —- might drive down nearby condo property values. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo of 2520 Robinhood condo tower:Â Sandra Gunn

77005, Condos, Highrises, Rice-Village, Senior Living

Demolitions

01/12/17 3:45pm

Mural-Slathered Former MHMRA Building Readies For The End

Highrises, Midtown

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Murals at former MHMRA building, 2850 Fannin St., Midtown, Houston, 77003 Demolition setup at 2850 Fannin St., Midtown, Houston, 77003

The colorful faces behind the chain-link fencing surrounding the former Mental Health and Mental Retardation Authority building at 2850 Fannin St. have been joined this week by a few pieces of bright yellow knock-down equipment. Permits came through last week clearing the site for clearance in advance of a planned 27-story apartment highriseÂ going by the name Main Midtown. The tower was okayed for a parking variance in late October, as part of which Australian developer Caydon Properties agreed to install over 200 bike spaces.Â

The long-empty MHMRA structure got its last hurrah this fall when much of the street-level wallspace was painted over in tan, making way for new muralage.Â A nearby residentÂ buzzed around the site recently taking some final snaps of the paintings (like the one featured at the top of the page) before the demo gets going in earnest — here’s a sampling below:

Midtown Breakdown

77003, Apartments, Demolition, Highrises, Midtown, Murals, Proposed Developments

Downtown

11/30/16 1:15pm

A Downtown Height Check on Alessandra and Marlowe

Highrises, New Construction

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Construction of Hotel Alessandra, Fannin St. at Dallas St., GreenStreet, Houston, 77002

Second Proposed Design for Hotel Alessandra, GreenStreet, Downtown Houston Today’s look at up-and-coming personified downtown highrises includes a reader’s freshÂ snap of Hotel Alessandra, which reached full height in August and has been filling out a bit since then. The latest rendering (released after the original question mark design was scrapped)Â depicts mostly the buildin’s glassier Dallas-St.-facing side; the shot up topÂ is facingÂ the structure’s beige-er south corner.Â Midway announced a few weeks after the Tax Day flood that the hotel wouldn’t be open in time for the Super Bowl after all, citing weather-related logistical issues.Â The developers are now planning to open up later on in 2017.

Meanwhile, at the opposite corner of the GreenStreet complex — where Polk and Caroline streets meetÂ — Randall Davis’s Marlowe condo tower is getting off the ground behind The Dirt Bar and Reserve,Â at the edge ofÂ a sea of parked cars:

Up and Out Around GreenStreet

77002, Condos, Downtown, Highrises, Hotels, New Construction

Highrises

11/29/16 5:00pm

ConocoPhillips To Leave 62-Acre Energy Corridor Campus for Something More Cozy Across I-10

Quicklink

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CONOCOPHILLIPS TO LEAVE 62-ACRE ENERGY CORRIDOR CAMPUS FOR SOMETHING MORE COZY ACROSS I-10 Leasing Flier for Energy Center 4, 925 N. Eldridge Pkwy., Energy Corridor, Houston, 77079 ConocoPhillips told its employees at the 62-acre complex at 600 N. Dairy Ashford Rd. today that the energy giant will be pulling them out of its 1980’s campus and moving them across I-10 into that empty 22-story Energy Center 4 highrise the company has been trying to sublet since earlier this year. Nancy Sarnoff says that the move is planned for mid-2018Â after the highrise gets built out, noting that so far, the new building “has remained an empty shell as ConocoPhillips has tried to sublease the space.” Before then, the campus will be getting some new nextdoor neighbors, as Shell’s nearby Woodcreek campusÂ takes on some of the employees being moved out of One Shell Plaza downtown. [Houston Chronicle; previously on Swamplot] Photo of Energy Center 4 at 925 N. Eldridge Pkwy.: CBRE

77079, Energy-Corridor, Highrises, Leasing, Oil

Condos

11/03/16 10:00am

Tiny Tokyos Grow as Ivy Lofts Scraps Second Tower, Hotel Plans

Condos for Sale, East Downtown, Highrises

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Ivy Lofts renderings with new EDI design

TheÂ new, new designÂ views of the Ivy Lofts highrise have been trickling out this week, and the glossy view above is fresh out into the digital ether as of late last night. The project’sÂ marketing folks are prepping for a Saturday afternoon sales relaunch party at theÂ converted grocery warehouseÂ on the site (bounded by Nagle, Leeland, Live Oak, and the would-be path of Pease St., just north of the Texas Art Asylum and 59).

The tiny-condos highrise developersÂ swapped architects a few months ago, midway through a redesign intended to turn the place into a double-lobbiedÂ condo-hotel mashup;Â the latest design, from EDI Architecture, is back to no hotel component and is down to just 1 main tower, with a 5-story parking garage filling in the extra space onÂ top of a layerÂ of ground floor storefronts. As for the building’s tiniest units, the 360-ish-sq.-ft. Tokyo, they’ve put on a little floorspace (and now measure in closer to 400 sq. ft.).

Here’s a closer view of some of those 14,228-sq.-ft. of retail space, from the corner ofÂ Live Oak and Leeland:

EaDo Pre-Do Redo

77002, Architecture, Condos, East Downtown, Highrises, Houston Real Estate Marketing

Apartments

10/25/16 1:00pm

Thousands of Gallons of Water Now Hanging Over Preston St. from Market Square Tower’s Roof

Downtown, Highrises

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Market Square Tower, 777 Preston St., Downtown, Houston, 77002

Just added: water for the cantilevered glass-bottom pool jutting out of Market Square Tower’s rooftop deck, some 41-plus-or-minus-the-penthousesÂ stories above street level. Woodway is now advertising leasing availability for November, with some of the smaller one-bedroom units listedÂ for $2,100 and up per month (and the largest of the penthouses, aÂ 3-bedroom 3.5-bathroom 3-balcony affair,Â listed atÂ $18,175) . The current floorplans available on the site now also suggest that the ground floor retail options will include a cafe, in addition to thatÂ CVS announced last month.

Those not enthused byÂ the prospect of dangling over the downtown streetscapeÂ can opt for the other pool on the 4th-floor terrace, which overlooksÂ Preston and MilamÂ St.:

Filling Up Downtown

77002, Apartments, Downtown, Highrises, Leasing, Market Square, Pools

Downtown

10/11/16 12:45pm

Where George R. Brown Has Gone Red in the Face from All the Downtown Convention Center Work

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October 2016 look around Discovery Green and George R. Brown Convention Center, 1001 Avenida De Las Americas, Downtown, Houston, 77010

Supercolumn Going Up on George R. Brown Convention Center, Downtown Houston Bob Russell sends a fresh slew of downtown updates, this time checking up on the state of the George R. Brown Convention CenterÂ area’s ongoing redo. The structure’s main entrance on Avenida De Las Americas has been getting a major facelift — the supercolumns installed last summer have since turnedÂ white, andÂ the glassyÂ Â facade has stepped outward andÂ dropped a few stripes,Â in line withÂ the plans released previously byÂ semi-public cityÂ brandingÂ organization Houston First:

Super Bowl Conditioning

77010, Downtown, George R. Brown Convention Center, Highrises, Hotels, Houston First, Midrises, New Construction, Redevelopment

10/06/16 11:45am

An Orange and Silver Welcome to Hanover Montrose from the Disco Kroger Parking Lot

WAMM

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The Hawthorne-facingÂ apartment highrise at 3400 Montrose is now open for general business, as theÂ orange sign recently added over the door declares in all-caps. Across the street at the edge of the Disco Kroger parking lot, another orange sign is also directing folks toward the entrance, a reader notes —Â as of yesterday evening, the decked-out flag man above wasÂ set up across from the tower’s main entrance as some heavy equipmentÂ work wrapped up in the street behind it. Here’s a close-up portrait:

Hawthorne St. Style

77006, Apartments, Construction Sites, Highrises, Openings and Closings, WAMM

10/04/16 11:30am

Main St. Mod Code Building Under Assault From Rooftop, Ground Level, Interior

Midtown

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Demo of Former City of Houston Code Enforcement Building, 3300 Main St., Midtown, Houston, 77002

A gang of smaller machinery is seen spreading out across the roof of 3300 Main St. inÂ the shot above (capturing a reader’s viewÂ of the sceneÂ fromÂ the HCC midrise next door), asÂ a larger excavator worksÂ over some ofÂ the rubble piling up at the site lately.Â Also visible behind the former city code enforcement building, to the south: the now-in-full-swing MATCH theater building, and the rising facades of some of theÂ apartment midrises going up on the Mid Main block.

Midtown Falling Flat, Rising High

77002, Demolitions, Highrises, Midtown, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

Downtown

10/03/16 5:15pm

Younger Market Square Apartment Tower Reaches Grown Up Height

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Aris Market Square Tower, Travis and Preston Streets, Downtown Houston

Hines’s increasingly pointy 609 Main and flat-topped Chase Tower are visible toÂ either side of the company’s Aris Market Square apartment highriseÂ in this recent shot from Congress at Travis streets (sent in by a reader, who notedÂ the top-out treeÂ temporarily hoisted ontoÂ to the rooftop). Following the latest growth spurt, the towerÂ has now gotten about asÂ tall as it’s going toÂ (andÂ the newly-craneless Market Square Apartment Tower, now leasing across the eponymous Square, will always haveÂ 8 storiesÂ to lord over it). Here’s a closeupÂ of the Aris’sÂ Preston-facingÂ facade, as the glass and exterior finishes start to creep up the sides:

Highrise Done Rising

77002, Downtown, Highrises, Market Square, New Construction, Residential

Condos

09/23/16 5:30pm

Ivy Lofts To Release Even Newer Drawings in October, Break Ground in January

East Downtown, Highrises, Hotels

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Actually, the rendering above is not the newest look for the Ivy Lofts, PR headÂ Jared Anthony tells Swamplot this afternoon. Anthony says that the 3-week-oldÂ images postedÂ in Wednesday’s since-pulled listing for ground floor retail space in the development had beenÂ planned for release that same day during a meeting with folks who have reserved units in the projectÂ —Â but some totally different designs came in from theÂ new architectÂ onÂ Tuesday.Â Anthony says the newest plansÂ will be shown offÂ in mid-October when the sales center relaunches (complete with anotherÂ scale model of the planned building), and that groundbreaking is now planned for January, with no change to the estimated completion date.

Previously on Swamplot:Â New Ivy Lofts Condo Tower Renderings Smooth Over the Shift Toward Semi-Hotelification;Â Playing Dress Up with the Tiny Floorplans of the Ivy Lofts Condos;Â Climbing Around the Enormous Nooks of the Proposed Ivy Lofts Highrise;Â Those Not Sold on the Ivy Lofts Tiny Condo Concept Can Buy 2 Tokyos and Stick Them Together;Â A Mini-Preview of Houston’s Tiniest Condos, Coming Soon to a Former Grocery Store in East Downtown

Images: Powers Brown Architecture

East Downtown Loft Swapping

77002, Architecture, Condos, East Downtown, Highrises, Hotels

09/16/16 11:30am

Mosaic Penthouse Back With Half-Million Price Drop, Axes To Grind

Hermann Park, Homes for Sale

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5925 Almeda Rd. #12809, Hermann Park, Houston, TX 77004

Mosaic and Montage Towers, Hermann Park, Houston That mosaic-filled penthouse in the north tower of the split-up-then-stuck-back-together Mosaic highrise complex has been relisted once againÂ as of Friday, this timeÂ down atÂ $1.49 million. The unit hitÂ the marketÂ in 2014Â asking forÂ $2.05 million (up from the $930,000 it originally sold for in 2012, in the wake of the original owners’Â bank-rupturing bankruptcy). Since then, the listing has taken only a few quick days off here and thereÂ to step down the price. The customized 3-bedroom pad includes the mother-of-pearl show-off-whatever-you-want slots in the main entrywayÂ (shown above; sickÂ guitar collection not included).Â Here’s a look around at some of the unit’s other tilework:

Hermann Park Outlook

77004, Condos, Hermann Park, Highrises, Home Listings, Homes for Sale, Mosaic on Hermann Park

09/14/16 4:45pm

Bowling, Bocce, Booze Headed to the Kirby Collection

Highrises, New Construction, New Construction: Residential, Restaurants, Retail, Upper Kirby

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Rendering of under-construction Kirby Collection, Kirby Dr. at Colquitt St., Upper Kirby, Houston

Rolling-sphere-themed restaurant and entertainment chain Pinstripes has just leased up some space in the under-construction Kirby Collection (and hey — there might even be some bocce players nearby still looking for a new court!) That’s the first confirmed tenant for the project, which Thor Equities wants to open by the end of next year; the 33,600 sq. ft. ofÂ leased space makes upÂ aroundÂ half of the total retail spaceÂ available, and isÂ split acrossÂ both retail floors of the complex (shown in the foreground above, with aÂ row of trees peeking downÂ atÂ Kirby Dr. from the edge of the roof).Â Pinstripes will take overÂ a 7,260-sq.-ft. subdivision of first floor space, out of the segment labeled 23,900 in the ground floor plan below:

Leasing Ball Rolling

77098, Buildings for Lease, Commercial Properties, Highrises, Midrises, New Construction

09/08/16 1:00pm

Gardens of Bammel Lane’s Glass Conservatory Won’t Be Shattered by the Condo Highrise Planting Process

Greenway Plaza

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Looks like the glassy structure above will be jumping gardens, per the announcement last week from the wedding venue formerly known as the Gardens of Bammel Lane (which took the new name Gardens of River Oaks late in July). The conservatory building will head north to the Gardens at Madeley Manor in Conroe once the Bammel Ln. venue shuts down in December. The rest of the garden’s structures and landscaping will likely be removed by less delicate means to make way for the planned 26-story Villa Borghese highrise, depicted below with Downtown peeking over its shoulder from the east: