Highrises | Swamplot

01/30/14 11:00am

Downtown’s New Highrise for Cars Is Going Up!

Construction, 1311 Louisiana Parking Garage, Downtown Houston

Rendering of Proposed 1311 Louisiana Parking Garage, Downtown Houston Construction has begun on the 16-story, 1,600-car parking-only highrise at 1311 Louisiana St. When complete, it’ll cover the northeast half of the block surrounded by Polk, Milam, Louisiana, and Clay, and provide layers of automotive insulation for the cars up against the ropes (and more recently installed chain-link fence) on the adjacent Wedge International parking garage. In the meantime, Wedge parkers will have a decent view of the construction activity below.

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16 Stories of Vertical Parking Bliss

77002, Downtown, Highrises, New Construction, Parking, Parking-Garages

Apartments

01/28/14 10:30am

What the SkyHouse River Oaks, Not Far from River Oaks, Will Actually Look Like

by Swamplot

Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments

16 Comments

Proposed SkyHouse River Oaks, Westcreek Ln., Highland Village, Houston A pair of renderings are out showing the sorta-near-River-Oaks River Oaks SkyHouse, which has already broken ground, the developers declared yesterday. And — surprise! — it looks a whole lot like the SkyHouse Houston going up downtown (as well as the 9 other SkyHouses completed or under construction in other Southern cities). Two views — one more polished than the other — will allow map sleuths to pinpoint the tower’s spot within Cypress Realty Advisor’s redevelopment of the former Westcreek Apartments: It’s on the plot of the now-vacant apartment block at 2041 Westcreek Ln., directly adjacent to the, uh, “River Oaks” Target. It’s identified as Building D in the site map below. Ashley Furniture is the white box at the top left of the image above, on the other side of San Felipe.

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Just Off Target

77027, Apartments, Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments

Apartments

01/16/14 10:15am

A Deck Pool, but no ‘Skybar,’ for the New 3400 Montrose

by Swamplot

Highrises, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Redevelopment

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A DECK POOL, BUT NO ‘SKYBAR,’ FOR THE NEW 3400 MONTROSE Rendering of Montrose Facade of Proposed 3400 Montrose Highrise, Montrose, Houston Nancy Sarnoff collects a few more details on Hanover’s plans for the 30-story tower to replace the vacant ‘Skybar’ building the apartment developer bought just south of Kroger on Montrose Blvd.. The new 3400 Montrose will contain a total of 330 apartments, the smallest of which will be 500 sq. ft. (keeping them out of the “micro-unit” category). The Montrose-facing driveway will serve as a garage entrance as well as an exit. On the ninth-floor open-air deck above the parking garage (just out of view in the rendering above of the Montrose Blvd. view) there’ll be “a swimming pool with private cabanas, grilling areas and a green lawn.” If downtown views from that level are blocked by the tower, they’ll be available from the Hawthorne St. balcony overhang Hanover hopes to gain approval for in its variance hearing next week. The company expects to take about 2 years to build the Montrose highrise, but hasn’t announced a start date for construction. [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Solomon Cordwell Buenz

77006, Apartments, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

Apartments

01/14/14 2:00pm

Here’s Chelsea Montrose, Another 20-Story Apartment Tower for the Museum District

by Swamplot

Highrises, Montrose, Museum District, Proposed Developments

27 Comments

Proposed Chelsea Montrose Apartment Tower, 4 Chelsea Blvd., Montrose, Houston

Dallas apartment developer Streetlights Residential is planning to build this 20-story apartment tower on the former site of the Eye Excellence clinic at 4 Chelsea Blvd., backing up to the Southwest Fwy. just south of where it spits out the Downtown Spur. The company bought the property behind the Chelsea Market shopping center last September, tacking on an additional freeway-facing parcel. The rendering above shows the not-quite-final scheme from Dallas architects Gromatzky Dupree & Associates.

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From the Site That Gave You Eye Excellence

77006, Apartments, Demolitions, Highrises, Montrose, Museum District, Proposed Developments

New 30-Story 3400 Montrose Tower Will Face Kroger, Show Montrose Blvd. Its Garage and Drive-Thru

by Swamplot

Uncategorized

44 Comments

Rendering of Proposed 30-Story Hanover Apartment Tower at 3400 Montrose, Montrose, Houston

The new 30-story apartment tower theÂ HanoverÂ Company is planning to replace the vacant 10-story office tower just south of the Kroger at Montrose and Hawthorne will hang back from the street that gives the new development its name. Renderings submitted to the city’s planning department in conjunction with a variance request for the development — labeled 3400 Montrose like its predecessor — show a structure set back approximately 30 ft. from Montrose Blvd., but hugging and favoring its Hawthorne St. side, where the views of the Kroger parking lot (if you look down from your new skypad) will be much better. The rendering above shows how the building’s Montrose Blvd. face should look, from a spot just south of the Walgreens drive-thru across the street.

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Hanover Looks North

77006, Apartments, Highrises, Montrose, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

Apartments

01/10/14 2:30pm

New ‘River Oaks’ SkyHouse Apartment Tower Wants To Snuggle Up Between Target and the West Loop off San Felipe

by Swamplot

Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

10 Comments

Rendering of SkyHouse Houston, Downtown Houston Atlanta’s Novare Group is getting ready to announce construction of its second SkyHouse apartment tower in Houston. According to the company, it’ll be “just like” the 24-story building (and adjacent parking garage) currently under construction on Main St. between Pease and Leeland downtown (shown in the rendering above, which in turn looks very similar to the company’s SkyHouse developments in other cities). Novare appears to have designated the building the River Oaks SkyHouse. Though it’ll be a bit south and west and on the other side of the tracks from the actual River Oaks, the new building will sit closer to its namesake than the River Oaks District mixed-use project currently under construction directly south of it.

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Just Like Downtown

77027, Apartments, Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

Demolitions

01/08/14 10:30am

The Crane for the Crane for the Texas Building Demo Is Here

by Swamplot

Downtown, Highrises, Office Buildings, Redevelopment

15 Comments

Crane for Demolition of Texas Tower, 608 Main St. at Texas, Downtown Houston

What’s that giant red crane looming downtown on the block surrounded by Main, Texas, Fannin, and Capitol? Assembling another crane. Which, in turn, will do all sorts of nasty business to the 21-story Texas Tower, which happens to be in the way of the shiny new 609 Main St. office tower that Hines plans to build on that block. The Texas Tower’s original Art Deco details were removed in the 1940s; back then it was known as the Sterling Building. It went up in 1931.

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Knock-em-Down â€™Scrapers

77002, Demolitions, Downtown, Highrises, Office Buildings, Redevelopment

Apartments

01/06/14 11:00am

The Best Views Yet of Hines’s Market Square Apartment Tower and Its Downtown Headlight

by Swamplot

Downtown, Highrises, Proposed Developments

22 Comments

Proposed Hines Market Square Apartment Tower, Travis and Preston Streets, Downtown Houston

Slicker renderings of the 33-story almost-half-block apartment tower Hines is planning to plant on what’s now a parking lot catty-corner to Market Square downtown have been posted to the website of the building’s designers, Ziegler Cooper Architects. And an appended description annotates the more than half-dozen different facade treatments scheduled for different portions of the building’s 7-level parking garage, meant to allow the 289-unit structure to fit better into to its smaller-scale surroundings: The building will be clad in “a crisp combination of glass, aluminum, and stainless steel complimented by the richness of stone and masonry detailing.”

Between the garage and the apartments above them, according to the website, will be a 9th-floor gathering space featuring an “aqua lounge,” outdoor pool and terrace, fitness center, club room and kitchen, theater, and other typical apartment amenities. Facing Market Square at the corner of Travis and Preston streets will be “a welcoming porch for outdoor dining.” Ground-floor plans presented to the city’s historical commission in August showed retail spaces along Travis and Preston, but the latest renderings appear to show a garage entrance on PrestonÂ that might eat into some of it (on the building’s left) and don’t make clear which level will have the outside eats:

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A Building of Many Faces

77002, Apartments, Downtown, Highrises, Market Square, Proposed Developments

Cancellations and Delays

12/20/13 10:00am

Chevron Won’t Reconsider Plans for New Downtown Tower on Old YMCA Site Until 2015 at Least

by Swamplot

Downtown, Highrises, Office Buildings

25 Comments

Proposed Chevron Tower at 1600 Louisiana St. and Pease, Downtown Houston The tallest, least-curvy tower in the trio pictured at left won’t be built any time soon, Chevron declared yesterday. The new 50-story structure, which the oil company announced over the summer and planned to combine with the 2 structures passed down to it from Enron into a consolidated Downtown campus, had been scheduled to begin construction shortly after March of next year. A spokesperson for the company tells the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff it won’t even make a decision on whether to proceed with the now-on-hold project until 2015. The 1.7-million-sq.-ft. building on a parking-garage plinth at 1600 Louisiana St. had been designed by architecture firm HOK for the former site of Houston’s Downtown YMCA.

Chevron puts downtown tower on hold [Prime Property]
Previously on Swamplot:Â Chevronâ€™s New 50-Story Tower on Site of Downtown Y: Bigger, Boxier, Just as Blue;Â The Ring of Chevron;Â Starting Now: Downtown YMCA Is Coming Down;Â Early Exit: The Fire at the Downtown Y; Downtown YMCA To Self-Destruct, Finally

Rendering: HOK

On Hold

77002, Cancellations and Delays, Downtown, Highrises, Office Buildings

Jury Tells Ashby Highrise Developers To Pay Neighbors $1,661,993.62

by Swamplot

Highrises, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Southampton

68 Comments

Rendering of Street in Front of Proposed Ashby Highrise, 1717 Bissonnet St., Southampton, Houston After more than 6 hours of deliberation over 2 days, the jury in the Ashby Highrise trial came back with a verdict this afternoon, awarding damage claims to a subset of the neighbors who filed suit against the developers of the highrise apartment tower planned for 1717 Bissonnet, claiming that the development would cause harm to their property. Jurors who spoke afterward to Chronicle reporter Erin Mulvaney said they believed the development was “out of place” for the Southampton neighborhood it abuts. Expert witnesses for the plaintiffs in the month-long trial presented evidence that the 21-story tower would cause lower property values, structural problems, and increased traffic for its immediate neighbors. Total bill, ordered for 20 of the 30 neighborhood households that entered into the lawsuit: $1,661,993.62. Next up: a hearing before Judge Randy Wilson over whether the project should be allowed to go forward.

Jury sides with residents in Ashby case [Prime Property]
Ashby Highrise coverageÂ [Swamplot]

Rendering: Buckhead Investment Partners

Surprise!?

77005, Apartments, Ashby Highrise, Highrises, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Southampton

Lawsuits

12/12/13 10:00am

In Ashby Highrise Trial, Engineers Get Testy Over Settlement

by Swamplot

Neighborhood Disputes, Quicklink, Southampton

17 Comments

IN ASHBY HIGHRISE TRIAL, ENGINEERS GET TESTY OVER SETTLEMENT Site and Neighbors of Proposed Ashby Highrise, 1717 Bissonnet St. at Ashby, Southampton, Houston Engineers for both sides may be spending much of the coming weekend testing the Southampton soil surrounding the site of the Ashby Highrise. Erin Mulvaney reports that the judge in the civil trial has postponed additional testimony from Paradigm Consultants president Woody Vogt until next Monday, after the attorney for the group of neighbors suing Buckhead Investment Partners complained Vogt was attempting to present new evidence their own expert hadn’t had time to analyze and pick apart. Vogt, who was hired by the defendants, told the jury last week that construction of the proposed 21-story highrise tower at 1717 Bissonnet St. would have no adverse affects on the foundations of nearby homes, and produce only one inch of settlement in the soil. But he also admitted he had used separate sets of calculations for each of those 2 predictions, and that the expert witness for the group of neighbors suing the developers had performed a more thorough analysis of the construction’s potential effects. Writes Mulvaney: “Rick Ellman of New York-based Muesler Rutledge Consulting Engineers testified earlier for the resident group that 10 existing homes near the site could suffer moderate to severe damage, including cracked foundations, buckled walls and busted water pipes. Ellman predicted the ground would ‘settle’ four inches.” [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot] Photo of site: Swamplot inbox

77005, Ashby Highrise, Foundations, Highrises, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton

Apartments

10/18/13 10:00am

The 25-Story Apartment Tower Hines Plans To Build in the Museum District

by Allyn West

Highrises, Museum District, Parks, Proposed Developments, Retail

13 Comments

Here’s a rendering of that 25-story residential highrise Hines says it plans to start building in the Museum District in July. Designed by Munoz + Albin, the 259-unit, 301,000-sq.-ft. apartment building and parking garage will stand next to the Asia Society Texas Center on most of the block bound by Caroline, Oakdale, Southmore, and San Jacinto.

What’s missing from this rendering is that historic home on the corner of Caroline and Southmore whose owners chose not to sell. It appears that the property immediately west of the holdouts’ and next to the light rail line will become a 10,000-sq.-ft. “public-access park,” reports the Houston Business Journal: “In addition, there is potential for small retail space adjacent to the park, such as a cafÃ© or light food services.”

Rendering: Hines

77004, Apartments, Highrises, Museum District, Parks, Proposed Developments, Retail

Comments

10/10/13 2:30pm

Comment of the Day: Your Inner Loop Neighbors

by Allyn West

Highrises, Homebuying, Quicklink, Renting

39 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: YOUR INNER LOOP NEIGHBORS “Who wants to buy a house in the innermost area of Houston when you never know what horrible thing is gonna sprout 25 stories in the sky butted up next to your charming house and garden you spent so much time on? Renting is the only quick easy escape. Of course then your landlord sells the vintage apt bldg, gives tenants notice and the new owners tear it down. I feel sorry for my old neighbors, theyâ€™re about to have a colossal monstrosity next to them, after they put up with the banging and the big trucks and the port-a-potty that sits in the yard for 6 months. [Bethsheba, commenting on The First Look at That 25-Story Residential Highrise Hines Might Build in the Museum District] Illustration: Lulu

Comments, Highrises, Homebuying, Renting

Apartments

10/09/13 4:05pm

The First Look at That 25-Story Residential Highrise Hines Might Build in the Museum District

by Allyn West

Highrises, Museum Park, Proposed Developments

42 Comments

Here are a pair of early drawings and the site plan for that apartment tower Hines has said it’s considering putting up across the street from the Asia Society Texas Center in the Museum District. Previous reports and rumors pegged the building at 20 or 22 stories, but these elevations appear to show a 25-story structure, with 19 floors of apartments perched atop a 6-level parking garage. This drawing shows the north faÃ§ade. The block Hines has in mind is bound by Caroline, Oakdale, Southmore, and San Jacinto, where the light rail runs. But it appears that the building won’t take up thatÂ whole block: The site plan shows that the tower has been drawn around that home on the corner of Southmore and Caroline, whose owners have been rumored to have refused to sell.