Originally Posted by Houston Chronicle

Luxury builder bets high-end sales will continue to soar

In another sign that low oil prices haven't crushed demand for high-end real estate, a local builder is proposing a 16-story residential structure in the Galleria area where the most expensive units could fetch as much as $5 million.

Chris Sims, a custom home builder based in Sugar Land, is planning the new building on a tree-lined street behind Uptown Park, a high-end shopping destination off the West Loop near Post Oak Boulevard.

The new building will be called Aurora and will hold 40 units, most of which will be priced between $2 million and $2.6 million. The units will range from 3,400 to 4,000 square feet. Four two-story penthouses as large as 6,400 square feet will be priced in the $4 million to $5 million range.

Sims is buying about an acre of land at 4906 Tilbury Drive for the project, which he plans to start construction on once half the units are spoken for.

Originally Posted by animatedmartian (Post 7128992)

Cool looking condo. Wouldn't hurt if there was another 16 floors on top of it though.

Originally Posted by Chron

The Aurora: A highrise where every unit has an elevator


Marko Dasigenis, who leads the Houston office of Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects, says they designed the form from the inside-out, by giving each of the 40 units its own "direct-entry" elevator.

They've eliminated the core, basically — the common lobby and that typical configuration of corridors accessed by one or two elevators. It's an idea borrowed from New York's newest luxury condominiums, although there private elevators are only for the most expensive units or penthouses, Dasigenis said. "But in this one, we were able to find a solution so every unit has its own direct elevator. We have four units per level with two elevators. Each elevator has a door in the front and a door in the back, and with each door, you enter into a unit."

The size of the units also played into the form. They're 3,500 to 4,000 square feet, with a few two-story penthouses that are about 6,500 square feet. Sims calls it "single-story living" for people who want an alternative to townhomes.