Tag: Uptown

Financing, Galleria, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

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Proposed 37-Story Hanover Apartment Tower at Boulevard Place, Uptown, Houston From Jennifer Dawson in today’s Houston Business Journal comes confirmation of part of Swamplot’s report earlier this week on the two highrises planned for Boulevard Place. The Hanover Company’s planned 37-story apartment tower isn’t moving forward anytime soon:

Construction was supposed to start this month, but thatâ€™s not going to happen because itâ€™s too difficult to get a construction loan right now, says Hanover President John Nash.

He says it would be impossible to predict when the credit market would allow the project to move forward, but it could be delayed as much as a year.

Tight money postpones plans for residential tower [Houston Business Journal]
Putting Off the Ritz: Boulevard Place Towers Stalled [Swamplot]
Hanover Apartment Tower at Boulevard Place: 37 Stories [Swamplot]

Tower rendering: Solomon Cordwell Buenz, via the Houston Chronicle

77056, Apartments, BLVD Place, Condos, Financing, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Uptown

Condos

10/24/08 3:04pm

Turnberry Tower: Turning Away?

Galleria, Highrises, Proposed Developments

3 Comments

Proposed Turnberry Tower, Uptown, Houston

From the Swamplot rumor mill comes an unconfirmed and second-hand report: that the team behind proposed Houston Turnberry Tower — the 34-story luxury highrise planned to rest just behind the Williams Tower — “officially pulled the plug on their galleria deal yesterday.”

Could this be true? A lot of hard work — and a lot of plumbing design — has been poured into that project. It would be sad to see it all go down the toilet.

Late Update: The rumor has been confirmed.

Nine and a Half Bathrooms: The Turnberry Tower Penthouse Evacuation Plan [Swamplot]
The Turnberry: More Wiping, in More Places, than at Any Other Condo Tower [Swamplot]
Tune In to the Turnberry Tower [Swamplot]

Rendering of Turnberry Tower Galleria: Robert M. Swedroe Architects and Planners

77056, Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Luxury Highrises, Proposed Developments, Turnberry Tower, Uptown

Apartments

10/21/08 11:22am

Putting Off the Ritz: Boulevard Place Towers Stalled

Financing, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment

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Aerial View of BLVD Place, Showing Proposed Ritz Carlton and Hanover Apartment Towers

Remember the two 30-plus-story towers planned for Boulevard Place on Post Oak — the Ritz Carlton Hotel and the Hanover apartment tower? How have they been surviving the rumbling credit crunch?

A HAIF user last week

got slight confirmation that both the hanover tower and the ritz are going to be delayed at least slightly… they still expected both to happen, but they will be phased in.

Then yesterday came another comment:

i can confirm this in regards to hanover.

dont expect their tower to be built anytime soon.. i would consider it postponed indefinitely rather than slightly.

Followed by this:

As a sub on this project I will also confirm this. We have been told at least 6 months of delays.

But they still look great on ~~paper~~screen!

77056, Apartments, BLVD Place, Condos, Financing, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Uptown

10/17/08 10:41am

Westgate Resorts Closes Its Houston Sales Office

Office Buildings, Openings and Closings, Real Estate Marketing

JPMorgan Chase Bank Building, 5177 Richmond Dr. at Sage, Houston The HBJ’s Allison Wollam reports that the Westgate Houston Preview Gallery, a large timeshare sales center in the JPMorgan Chase bank building on Richmond at Sage, has closed:

The gallery, located at 5177 Richmond Ave., offered a full-size model with a living room and kitchen styled after Central Florida Investmentsâ€™ timeshare properties.

The Houston location, which opened in 2004, was the first offsite sales center for Orlando-based Central Florida Investments. The company owns Westgate Resorts, which operated the preview gallery.

Almost 3 weeks ago, CFI founder and CEO David Siegel told the Orlando Sentinel that financial troubles had recently begun at the company — with the suddenness of “a heart attack.”

Until that time, Siegel apparently thought he was doing pretty well.

77056, Galleria, Office Buildings, Openings and Closings, Real Estate Marketing, Sales Centers, Timeshares, Uptown

10/08/08 11:34am

No Bice: Still Behind on the Rent

Leasing, Malls, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail

5 Comments

Bice Ristorante, Houston Galleria

An austere bit of stationery is taped to the door of Bice Ristorante in the Galleria, indicating that mall owner Simon Property Group has changed the locks until Bice comes up with $164,731.37 in rent. The letter is dated from mid-July. And somebody has finally noticed!

“Seriously, how do you fall this far behind on rent?,” asks Tasty Bits author Misha. A few pix below:

Galleria, Galleria Mall, Leasing, Malls, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Uptown

Financing

08/29/08 8:39am

West Loop Nineties Revival Not Getting Enough Love

Galleria, Highrises, Houston Architects, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

1 Comment

Proposed Novati Group Office Tower at 1600 West Loop South, Uptown, Houston The Houston Business Journal‘s Jennifer Dawson is reporting that the Novati Group’s plan to dust off a 15-year-old Ziegler Cooper design for a 20-story office tower and build it on the West Loop

appears to be in limbo. The deal isnâ€™t dead, but itâ€™s not moving forward.

The problems: finding debt financing . . . and that pre-leasing thing.

Meanwhile, Dawson expects Transwestern to announce details soon on a large new addition to Uptown’s Four Oaks Place — to replace the 24-Hour Fitness on Post Oak Blvd. owned by TIAA-CREF:

The proposed building being called Tower Five at Four Oaks Place is now set to be 30 stories tall, with 525,000 square feet of office space on 22 floors atop a parking garage with roughly 1,500 spaces, says Carleton Riser, head of Transwesternâ€™s development group.

He says the building designed by architectural firm Pickard Chilton could break ground in the first quarter of 2009.

The fact that no tenants have committed to the new building wonâ€™t delay construction, Riser says.

Office buildings on and off [Houston Business Journal]
That Nineties Retro Tower Coming to the West Loop [Swamplot]
New West Loop Tower: Keeping the Uptown Office Market Up to Date [Swamplot]

Rendering: Ziegler Cooper

77027, Financing, Galleria, Highrises, Houston Architects, Office Buildings, Office Space, Proposed Developments, Uptown

Construction Materials

08/21/08 8:02am

Venue-Appropriate Stucco Repair

Galleria, Retail, Shopping Centers

10 Comments

Circuit City, 4500 San Felipe St., Uptown, Houston

Walking from their car to the front door of the Circuit City on San Felipe, Bunny Bungalow resident Annie Sitton and her husband notice a crack in the stucco covering a pilaster at the front of the building. Looking closer, they notice that . . .

77027, Chain-Stores, Construction Materials, Galleria, Retail, Shopping Centers, Stucco, Uptown

08/08/08 12:13pm

Whole Foods Galleria and North Montrose: Still on Track

North Montrose, Proposed Developments, Retail

View of Proposed New Galleria Whole Foods at Blvd Place

Whole Foods Markets’ recently announced plans to scale back some of its planned store openings will not disturb plans for new Houston stores on West Dallas at Waugh and in Boulevard Place — according to a report in the Houston Business Journal:

Scott Simon, executive marketing coordinator for Whole Foods, says this announcement will not impact any of the companyâ€™s plans in Houston.

The Austin-based health foods supermarket chain is planning to develop a 78,000-square-foot store at the southwest corner of Post Oak and San Felipe.

â€œOur Post Oak store would very likely not open until 2010 anyway, so this decision doesnâ€™t affect our Houston plans,â€ says Simon.

Whole Foods says Houston store still a go despite plans to cut back [Houston Business Journal]
Is The Reign Of Whole Foods Over? [Hair Balls]
The New Whole Foods at West Dallas and Waugh [Swamplot]
Uptown Whole Foods: Still on Track, Apparently [Swamplot]

Boulevard Place Whole Foods image: DMJM H&N

BLVD Place, Galleria, North Montrose, Proposed Developments, Retail, Uptown, Whole Foods

07/09/08 2:38pm

Bob’s Chopped, Mo Coming

Openings and Closings, Quicklink, Restaurants

BOB’S CHOPPED, MO COMING Bob’s Steak & Chop House on Post Oak has officially closed, reports Cleverley Stone. Set to open in its place: another steakhouse called Mo’s . . . A Place for Steaks, from Milwaukee and Indianapolis. The Post Oak location is where Tony’s used to be. [Cleverley’s Blog]

77056, Galleria, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Uptown

Art

06/18/08 9:43pm

Head of the Titans: Cosmopolitan Pissoirs on Post Oak

Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Parking, Public Art, Real Estate Marketing

6 Comments

Giant Fountains on Parking Garage, Cosmopolitan Condominiums, Post Oak Blvd., Houston

A reader sends photos of some recent construction on the garage podium beneath the Cosmopolitan tower and asks:

What are those three giant urinals affixed to the east exterior wall of Randall Davis’ latest glass-clad erection, the one on Post Oak where James Coney Island used to be? . . .

Where is the Colossal Statue of Constantine when you need him? (Well, he’s in Rome, but that’s no help to Post Oak Boulevard!)

Sure, there’s the vaguely Roman theming going on with the marketing for Davis’s next tower across the street, the Titan. But these new constructions might be something much more contemporary . . . think Marcel Duchamp by way of Claes Oldenburg: The big fountains!

Below: the Colossal Head of Constantine . . . and the Colossal Heads of the Cosmopolitan, on display!

77056, Art, Condos, Cosmopolitan, Galleria, Highrises, Parking-Garages, Public Art, Randall Davis, Real Estate Marketing, Titan, Uptown

06/12/08 6:31pm

3100 Post Oak: Where the Loop, the Lake, the Train, and Richmond Collide

Office Buildings, Proposed Developments

2 Comments

Rendering of Proposed Office Tower at 3100 Post Oak Blvd., Uptown, Houston

A kind tipster sends us a link to this new ~~17-~~ 26-story (including the parking garage), 452,000-sq.-ft. office tower planned for 3100 Post Oak — near Richmond, just across the Lakes on Post Oak from Randall Davis’s Manhattan fantasy in the Galleria. And right next to the new rail line. The plans show room for a ground-floor restaurant, directly on one of the lakes.

A couple more images after the jump!

77056, Galleria, Metro Rail, Office Buildings, Proposed Developments, Uptown

Buying and Selling

06/12/08 1:56pm

The Cosmopolitan: Is It Flipping Time Yet?

Condos, Galleria, Highrises, Homes for Sale, Real Estate Marketing

The Cosmopolitan Condo Tower, Post Oak Blvd., Uptown, Houston

A reader has questions about the Cosmopolitan, Randall Davis’s tower-on-a-box on Post Oak:

What’s going on with this building? My wife and I looked at this last month as they were closing out and only had 2 units left, with the agent (surprise) saying they would be sold out shortly. Now there are 4 units on MLS. Are these from the builder or resales? There are only 80 units in the building–I wonder if some speculation is going on as I heard that Randall Davis offers sizable discounts to his employees, who bought several of the units at the Cosmo at a discount and are now trying to flip them. Is this Houston or Miami?

Hey, 4 units for sale out of 80 doesn’t sound too bad. On the other hand, it looks like one of the available units on MLS is, in fact, the Miami.

Cosmo buyers, readers . . . any comments?

The Cosmopolitan Houston [Randall Davis Company]
1600 Post Oak Blvd. Unit 1001 [HAR]

Photo: HAR

77056, Buying and Selling, Condos, Cosmopolitan, Galleria, Highrises, Randall Davis, Real Estate Marketing, Uptown

Demolitions

06/06/08 11:11am

The Sleek Strip, the Ritz Tower, and the Path to Whole Foods: A Closer Look at Boulevard Place

Commercial Real Estate, Condos, Galleria, Hotels, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Retail, Shopping Centers, Strip Centers

7 Comments

Post Oak Blvd. Parking, Blvd Place, Uptown, Houston

Sure, the super-Mod architecture, elevated sidewalks, artistically moistened streets, and glistening rotunda in the new Boulevard Place renderings make the place look pretty swank, but what’s with the token strip of parking spots out front? Is this gonna be pay-to-display valet? Some kind of shopping-center twist on a velvet rope line? Or just a stab at maintaining Houston street cred: Sure, Post Oak Blvd. might be going urban upscale, but this is one development that won’t be forgetting its strip-center roots!

Updated views of Blvd Place, including the new Ritz-Carlton and Hanover towers — plus a site plan and a Whole Foods puzzle! It’s all below: