The photo above — sent to Swamplot by a HAIF user who goes by the handle SkylineView — is our best view yet of the project themed-condo developer Randall Davis has been working on for more than 5 years: convincing the Galleria McDonald’s to scooch over just a smidge and sell him part of the fast-food restaurant’s parking lot so he could build a 30-story highrise on it with all the benefits and cachet of drive-thru adjacency. Davis’s $70 million Astoria (portrayed in more glamorous circumstances at left) is being funded in part by the immigration dreams of 29 well-to-do foreigners, who have ponied up $1 million a piece to gain themselves status as U.S. residents, a path to citizenship, and a piece of whatever action the investment brings.
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The original double-decker McDonald’s on the site was torn down and rebuilt last year; it’s on the left in the aerial view. That made room for construction of the Astoria, which looks somewhat similar to the Titan tower Davis had previously marketed for that location — minus the rocketship styling, the “Titans of Industry” marketing gloss, and balcony pools but with the addition of a new “Art Deco Modern” glaze and foreign backing. The building’s architect is the former Page Southerland Page, now known simply as Page.
Future residents of the $1.5 million-plus units in the tower who aren’t thrilled with the fast food options nearby will be able to head the other way on Post Oak Blvd. — to the new Whole Foods Market under construction at BLVD. Place.
- Galleria-area tower has global backing [Houston Chronicle ($)]
- Previously on Swamplot: End of the Parking Lot Sideshow: Mobile Home of the Titan Packs Up, Moves On; Crash of the Titan: The Goodbye Post; Whole Foods, Fast Foods, and the Titan; The Titan: Uptown Theme Blender; The Titan: Rocketship Condos on Post Oak; The Luxury Highrise and the Drive-Thru: They’re Lovin’ It!
Photos: SkylineView. Rendering: Randall Davis Company/Page
If I recall correctly I read that ICE is not too happy with the apartment for Investor Visa scheme. They said this is not what the law was intended for, it was to induce people to invest money into small businesses and hire permanent employees. They said that it “Violates the spirit of the law” and they are reviewing it and will most likely ultimately deny the investor visas.
It’s going to rise straight up, right at its neighbor’s property line. People on the upper floors will be able to look down and see everything that’s going on outside on the neighbors property.
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But nobody’s freaking out about it. Why could this be?! Luck? The neighbors are asleep? No, it’s because the neighbors in this case aren’t single family houses. It’s a McDonalds, and they don’t care if people have a good view of their parking lot and roof. In fact, now they have better shade for their customer parking. See, in Houston we’re not supposed to talk about compatible land uses, and adjacencies, and buffering and all of that – we don’t have zoning. But a smart developer and design team know they need to think about those things anyway in order to be a good neighbor. Say what you will about Randall Davis and the styling of his buildings – at least he’s sensitive when he picks his sites.
ZAW, I assure you those points were not even on the list of considerations. The lot was chosen for the price. He took a run at several lots for sale in the immediate area and this one was the cheapest with a major street address. It was just by chance.
Oh look, Amazon carries those high-power telescopes for only a few hundred bucks.
@commonsense
I’d like to see where you read that ICE would deny their visas. Despite how they feel, this is how the EB-5 visa has been used for 25 years with the majority coming in the last 7 years or so. Invest one million bucks and create or preserve 10 jobs. There are a lot of practices and lawyers who setup these kind of deals and I don’t imagine people investing $29 million without having done their due diligence.
Yeah, that visa scheme is under review–at any rate this building is a good investment and I like how that part of Post Oak is looking like Turtle Creek in Dallas (minus the beauty)—I much prefer what Interfin is doing at Uptown Park, everything they do is light years ahead of Davis’ kitchy, atrociously tacky properties (except The Rice)–they build beautiful, elegant properties with a timeless look, not some hideous, taste less ediface–
ICE is unhappy with any immigration scheme, but this one is legal, has already been challenged, and is currently the law.
This is not going to change any time soon.
Gotta love ICE. Going after LEGAL immigration, whilst doing little about illegal immigration.
Someone please make Randall Davis stop adding architectural blight to the City of Houston.