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View Full Version : FIVE potential downtown office towers in Houston?



Shasta
Mar 9, 2007, 7:46 PM
http://houston.bizjournals.com/houston/stories/2007/03/12/story1.html

For those of you without a subscription, here are the details;

Five potential developments are being shopped around in downtown Houston right now. All are at different levels of planning but most analysts agree that 2 to 3 major towers are expected to break ground by the beginning of next year. Here are the players;

1) Brookfield Properties. Has hired Thomas Phifer and Associates of NYC to design and 35 to 42 story office tower at 1500 Smith Street (near the Continental Center). The tower will be LEED Certified and contain between 750,000 to 1,000,000 square feet. That would put it in the 550 to 650 foot category if it has a flat roof. Brookfield also owns two other sites in the area that it will develop in the near future.

2) Trammel Crow of Dallas. TC is shopping for a lead tenant for a tower it is calling "Discovery Park." This will be built near the new park currently being built out (Discovery Green) and the 501 foot One Park Place that broke ground last week. (apartments with ground retail).

3) Crescent Real Estate of Fort Worth. Crescent owns the Houston Center and built 5 Houston Center not too long ago. They've announced plans for 6 Houston Center which will have 600,000 square feet. That would likely put it in the 300-450 foot range.

4) Hines of Houston. Hines is denying reports that say it is shopping the market to find a lead tenant for a development they are proposing at Main, Walker, Fannin, and Rusk. The site is described as the last "seedy" block on Main.

5) Linbeck Construction is proposing a mixed-use site for a block at Milam, Preston, Travis, and Prairie. I've heard rumors that this site MIGHT include a luxury hotel, condos, and retail.

The article doesn't state which company it is, but it says one of these projects will go forward as a spec build while the others are wanting a major tenant. Three firms were mentioned as possible lead tenants as their leases expire in 2008-2010 which would be about the same time a new building would come online.

As of right now, class A space downtown is over 91% leased and there are only 3 towers downtown that can offer a firm 100,000 square feet and there are NO towers than can offer a company a major lease.

Saddle Man
Mar 9, 2007, 8:00 PM
Let's hope they all get built.

TexasStar
Mar 9, 2007, 8:15 PM
Sweet!

JAM
Mar 9, 2007, 10:32 PM
Thanks for the update Shasta. Any idea of who the lead tenant prospects are?

Tex1899
Mar 9, 2007, 11:35 PM
My predictions:

Brookfield's will be built - someone will sign on simply to say they're in a LEED-certified building.

Trammell Crow's building will be built, provided something doesn't implode (ie Enron).

6 Houston Center's lead tenant will be a law firm.

Hines will sign a company that supports downtown. This may wind up being a nice mixed-use building...1-2 floors of retail/restaurant, maybe 200 hotel rooms (not sure if this is needed downtown), some condos, and office space.

Linbeck's won't be built.

KevinFromTexas
Mar 10, 2007, 3:10 AM
Cool. I'd love to see something new over 700 feet, though. It's been 20 years since anything over 700 feet has been built in Houston. Too bad one or two of those developers aren't pushing for something taller. If all of them think there's a market for all those smaller buildings with all that space, then surely Houston could support something even larger.

Tex1899
Mar 10, 2007, 3:28 PM
If one of the major oil companies (ie Exxon/Mobil or Shell) wanted to consolidate most or all of their space into one location then yes, something taller would be built.

My guess is a project's risk dramatically increases beyond the 4-600,000 range, much like the costs increase on a SF basis the taller you build.

tennreb
Mar 10, 2007, 3:40 PM
If one of the major oil companies (ie Exxon/Mobil or Shell) wanted to consolidate most or all of their space into one location then yes, something taller would be built.

My guess is a project's risk dramatically increases beyond the 4-600,000 range, much like the costs increase on a SF basis the taller you build.

I don't think you'll see Exxon building any skyscrapers because the company is so unpopular. It would be a symbolism of excessive wealth.

Trae
Mar 10, 2007, 4:07 PM
Exxon is headquartered in Irving. They have a few employees there, but the bulk of the company is in Houston. I don't know why they wouldn't move them all down here.

JAM
Mar 10, 2007, 5:43 PM
I don't think you'll see Exxon building any skyscrapers because the company is so unpopular. It would be a symbolism of excessive wealth.

I don't think anyone in Dallas or Houston would give a hoot.

Tex1899
Mar 10, 2007, 5:55 PM
I don't think you'll see Exxon building any skyscrapers because the company is so unpopular. It would be a symbolism of excessive wealth.

Exxon wouldn't build it. A private developer would. The building would probably be designed (to an extent) before a lead tenant would be signed.

JAM
Mar 10, 2007, 8:26 PM
Cool. I'd love to see something new over 700 feet, though. It's been 20 years since anything over 700 feet has been built in Houston. Too bad one or two of those developers aren't pushing for something taller. If all of them think there's a market for all those smaller buildings with all that space, then surely Houston could support something even larger.

I remember reading something related to this topic a while back. The general theory was that when building a scraper, going X floors high is not a problem. Going over X floors, financial justifications have to be made. I'm not sure what X is, but for some reason 60 floors are floating around in my mind.

Double L
Mar 10, 2007, 10:33 PM
Very good news. Houston's downtown market is still healthy.

As of right now, class A space downtown is over 91% leased

Complex01
Mar 11, 2007, 1:06 AM
Oh that is a good news. Well i hope they all get built and then some. There is still plenty of space in H's downtown...


:yes:

Tex1899
Mar 11, 2007, 3:53 PM
I remember reading something related to this topic a while back. The general theory was that when building a scraper, going X floors high is not a problem. Going over X floors, financial justifications have to be made. I'm not sure what X is, but for some reason 60 floors are floating around in my mind.

You are correct. I don't know if it's a height or a floor number...floors 1-X cost $N and floors X+1 and higher cost $1.25N (for example). At some point, however, land values will probably reach a point where the higher cost to build over X stories is justified.

Great_Hizzy
Mar 12, 2007, 3:59 PM
It's interesting that an article like this would come out when many in the city (City Hall, GHCV&B) feel that residential develop is what's really in place to blow up downtown. It's going to be a very interesting two or three years for DT Houston, that's for sure.