“Remember, I’m the guy that took the old fire station and made it an aquarium,” Tilman Fertitta explains to Nancy Sarnoff. “I took the old Flagship and made it the Pleasure Pier. I took an old fishing village and made it the Kemah Boardwalk.” All of which might help explain the simple concept behind the Landry’s CEO’s latest venture: taking a surface parking lot next to the Landry’s corporate headquarters near the Galleria and turning it into a 35-story hotel-apartment-office-tower with a 2-story auto showroom in front, then filling out the rest of the 10-acre site with a parking garage and couple of pad-site restaurants facing the West Loop southbound feeder.
A row of 4 large lit-up diamonds facing east across the freeway will festoon the forehead of the Gensler-designed tower at 1600 West Loop South. Fertitta calls the not-really-a-sign a “subtle message.” It’s meant to stand in for the 4 diamond shapes in the Landry’s logo — dining, hospitality, entertainment, and gaming — though until a few pesky laws can be changed not all can be offered on site.
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The drive-up restaurant buildings will be a Mastro’s Steakhouse and a relocated Willie G’s; there’ll also be some retail space in the hotel building and its conference center. The tower will include 22 apartments and 240 hotel rooms, plus 11 floors of pricey office space.
The double-story lit-up car display will feature Bentleys and Rolls Royces from the existing standalone dealership Fertitta operates at the front of the site. The new tower is being called The Post Oak for now, but it fronts the West Loop feeder and Hollyhurst Ln., not Post Oak Blvd.
- Fertitta’s new tower to offer a wealth of luxury [Houston Chronicle]
- Previously on Swamplot: Landry’s Is Cooking Up a 30-Story Hotel and Conference Center for the West Loop; Tilman Fertitta Sees and Smells a Nationwide Real Estate Crash, Starting in Houston
Renderings: Gensler/Landry’s
Is that a lawn on top of the parking garage?
I thought he was going to build this in the Heights…
Ladies and Gentlemen, this man knows how to build a product that people like. What he has done with the San Luis is nothing short of remarkable. $500 a night for galveston and the place is full.
This development gives me pause. Not because I don’t think this is great site, but because what this great man said in the past. Is this the same Tillman that was poo-pooing houston real estate just a few short months ago? http://swamplot.com/tilman-fertitta-sees-and-smells-a-nationwide-real-estate-crash-starting-in-houston/2014-11-14/ I hope things have changed. Parking lot was a CAT 5 DUMP.
The man clearly has a gift, but seems like a huge bet for a place that is headed for a “TOTAL CRASH”. And that land didn’t come cheap.
Did you know you can make cyanide out of almonds? Anyways, looks like a beautiful project and Lord knows this man can do it.
You guys stay safe out there and continue to maintain situational awareness. Lemme know.
JtP
Does anyone know who owns the old bank on the corner of Post Oak Blvd and the West Loop?
Im not a fan of Fertitta but he could certainly incorporate that area as well as the lot in between his HQ and the old bank.
I guess he doesn’t remember that he is the guy who went on Market Makers and predicted a real estate crash on the magnitude of 1986.
Who wants to place a bet that at least part of this will be designed with the intention of an easy casino conversion if Fertitta gets his way with the state.
Not sure I understand why you’d put in just 22 apartments. Seems like a really small number from which to amortize your costs to construct and lease out residential rentals.
Tilman sure likes his bling!
@JJ – good catch. Looks like he could easily convert the grand ballroom to slots and table games and have retail all around it just like they do at most casinos.
What? No Ferris Wheel?? Or white tigers behind glass? What kind of Fertitta project is this, anyway?
mmm….I can almost smell the Sysco breaded meat products deep frying already…
Yeah, 22 apartments by themselves would be silly except that they’re attached to a hotel. That makes more sense. What I don’t understand is the office component.
If I work for a company that had an office here, do I get to use the pool?
Ladies and Gentlemen, everyone here is making good points. 22 apartments, condo, music hall – Sounds like TF is going for a little bit of everything these days. Kind of a scattergun approach if you will. Food at his restaurants just not good IMHO. Ate a shrimp poboy at Landry one time and boy let me tell you what happened the next day! It was like a burned banana with hair on it! LOL
Anyways, i find it curious that Post Oak was somethat tommmy about 15 years ago. Let me know.
Oh Tilman, you’re the greatest! What do the dishwashers at your restaurants get paid?
CycleOne: I’d imagine minimum or near minimum wage — about what other dishwashers would make. Though I assume you’re not asking because your actually curious, I assume you’re making a point disguised as a question.
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But what point are you trying to make? He doesn’t pay his dishwashers enough?
The Diamond lights are incredibly bright and destroy the neighborhood views inside the loop.