HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[Zapatan]

^^ To be fair, much smaller Austin has a 1k+ in the pipeline. No reason massive, rapidly growing cities like Houston (and Dallas) can't pull off a new tallest. I agree it would probably be mixed use though.

[houston19514]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

The bigger issue with downtown Houston is we have this huge inventory of office space all built in the 70s/80s. Some of the trophy towers are getting remodeled but most towers aren't so far. There's been a shift of tenants from the older office buildings to the newer towers. I count 7 new office buildings completed or under construction that didn't exist before 2000:

I don't think it's accurate to say that most of the 70's & 80's towers in downtown Houston have not been remodeled. Pretty sure the opposite is true.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

^^ To be fair, much smaller Austin has a 1k+ in the pipeline. No reason massive, rapidly growing cities like Houston (and Dallas) can't pull off a new tallest. I agree it would probably be mixed use though.

Austin is experiencing the exuberance and unbridled optimism that Houston experienced in the late 70s and early 80s. Houston, however, experienced a de facto economic depression not long after. Houstonians are more cautious than we used to be.

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

Austin is experiencing the exuberance and unbridled optimism that Houston experienced in the late 70s and early 80s. Houston, however, experienced a de facto economic depression not long after. Houstonians are more cautious than we used to be.

Yes, I remember reading about one new skyscraper announced every week in Houston at that time. I recall reading that all 4 of the 40+ story Post Oak apartment skyscrapers were built at once, which was very unusual. Sort of like Las Vegas and its boom in the late 90s/early 2000s - the City Center complex at the time was considered the most expensive development ever in a city.

[The Best Forumer]

Originally Posted by Zapatan

^^ To be fair, much smaller Austin has a 1k+ in the pipeline. No reason massive, rapidly growing cities like Houston (and Dallas) can't pull off a new tallest. I agree it would probably be mixed use though.

Agreed. The climate in Houston seems to be more... cautious. I'm trying to quantify it...

As for Austin getting a 1k+... Fingers crossed for Austin! The taller the better, bro!



Send pics pls!

[bilbao58]

Very cool nighttime shot of Texas Tower by Marc Longoria on Flickr. I love the horizontal striped effect.


Downtown by Marc longoria, on Flickr

[Twitter1]

Hyatt TMC is getting taller.

[The Best Forumer]

Nice shot of tt in the dark.

[kingkirbythe....]

Remote Work in Downtown High-rises Is Killing the Businesses in Houston’s Tunnels

The city's subterranean shops are still feeling the pandemic’s toll

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-po...uston-tunnels/

For thirty years, Sandra Lord all but lived in Houston’s tunnels. By day, she led tours of the six-and-a-half-mile underground system, a labyrinthine mall that connects City Hall with Discovery Green and the largest downtown office buildings. She bought the first of her two parakeets, Bonnie and Clyde, in a defunct pet store under the old Woolworth building (now a parking garage), ate Vietnamese dumplings almost every day for lunch in the Houston Center on McKinney Street, and got her hair done at Red’s Barber Shop under Fannin. Now in her eighties and in a wheelchair, she entered the tunnel loop last month for the first time in five years. Uncharacteristically, she was speechless.

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by kingkirbythe....

Remote Work in Downtown High-rises Is Killing the Businesses in Houston’s Tunnels

The city's subterranean shops are still feeling the pandemic’s toll

https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-po...uston-tunnels/

For thirty years, Sandra Lord all but lived in Houston’s tunnels. By day, she led tours of the six-and-a-half-mile underground system, a labyrinthine mall that connects City Hall with Discovery Green and the largest downtown office buildings. She bought the first of her two parakeets, Bonnie and Clyde, in a defunct pet store under the old Woolworth building (now a parking garage), ate Vietnamese dumplings almost every day for lunch in the Houston Center on McKinney Street, and got her hair done at Red’s Barber Shop under Fannin. Now in her eighties and in a wheelchair, she entered the tunnel loop last month for the first time in five years. Uncharacteristically, she was speechless.

It's been said that the US is over-retailed. Many cities have high vacancy rates for retail, and I probably won't improve with now dominate Amazon and the e-commerce push. I visited the main drag in NYC's Greenwich Village about 2 years ago and was shocked at all of the empty storefronts. It seems that half of the storefronts were empty and it was eerie to walk there at dusk.

[Wattleigh]

Found by Highrise Tower on HAIF - a look at the landscaping at the TMC3 site, with an emphasis on water control and usage.

https://myk-d.com/projects/tmc3-innovation-masterplan/

Previously surface parking lots, the site lies within the 500-year floodplain. The project will raise the ground plane of the site’s interior — from the finished first floors of each building to the helix gardens — by as much as 8 feet. Supported by a 3.4-million-gallon subterranean cistern, the 11.5 acres of MYKD designed open space, with over 400 new trees, will absorb approximately 2.3 million gallons of rainwater, storing and filtering it for reuse and release in a highly controlled protocol. The helix gardens extend the area’s green network into the site, modulating thermal comfort throughout. Ground floor activity from restaurants, shops, and the Collaborative Building’s central atrium will spill out into the helix garden and the surrounding “Complete Streets,” knitting together this new community.

[colemonkee]

^ Love all of the groundwater and solar innovation on that development.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

Austin is experiencing the exuberance and unbridled optimism that Houston experienced in the late 70s and early 80s. Houston, however, experienced a de facto economic depression not long after. Houstonians are more cautious than we used to be.

Austin's construction boom is largely residential and their economy seems to be more diverse than Houston's was during the 70's and early 80's...which lived and breathed all things oil.

[Wattleigh]

Texas Tower

c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF





Brava
c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF






c/o 'Nate99' on HAIF



Both in the distance by 'Nate99' on HAIF



1550 On The Green

c/o 'sapo2367' https://www.houstonarchitecture.com/...comment=640056



800 Crawford

c/o 'cityliving' on HAIF









c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF








1810 Main

c/o 'Brooklyn173' on HAIF



Fairfield Shepherd
c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF



The Allen

c/o 'cityliving' on HAIF







c/o 'Highrise Tower' on HAIF



Regent Square


c/o 'cityliving' on HAIF





Hanover Autry Park
c/o 'Highrise Tower' on HAIF









2400 West Dallas Apartments


c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF



Houston Endowment HQ
c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF





Watermark Heights

c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF



Montrose Collective

c/o 'cityliving' on HAIF







The Oliver Sawyer Yards

c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF





The Vic at the Interpose

c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF





Heritage Senior Residences

c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF



Alta River Oaks

c/o 'hindesky' on HAIF



4411 San Felipe


c/o 'Highrise Tower' on HAIF





Aspire Post Oak

c/o 'Highrise Tower' on HAIF







Texas A&M Innovation Plaza
c/o 'Highrise Tower' on HAIF



TMC 3
c/o 'Highrise Tower' on HAIF







Baylor McNair Campus New Patient Tower
c/o 'Highrise Tower' on HAIF

[Bailey]

I think we are keeping up with Austin, just our projects are not all downtown and not as flashy as what we are seeing go up in Austin right now.

[bilbao58]

Originally Posted by Bailey

I think we are keeping up with Austin, just our projects are not all downtown and not as flashy as what we are seeing go up in Austin right now.

As I stated once and got hell for: When you start from nothing, everything new that is added is very noticeable. While Austin's additions are definitely a big deal, Houston's additions aren't as noticeable because they're hidden by all the rest of Houston.

[DCReid]

Originally Posted by bilbao58

As I stated once and got hell for: When you start from nothing, everything new that is added is very noticeable. While Austin's additions are definitely a big deal, Houston's additions aren't as noticeable because they're hidden by all the rest of Houston.

Austin's downtown was not 'nothing' but has gotten very big skyscrapers that altered the skyline.
Houston has not done too bad with downtown skyscrapers, but it had some big ones from the 1970s/80s so the new ones don't alter the skyline. Dallas seems to have gotten hardly nothing major downtown since its 80s boom. It's kind of surprising but perhaps the metro has always been more sprawling than the other TX cities

[N90]

All three of ATX, HOU, and DAL have changed a lot in the core. Just in different ways.

Dallas, 2001 to 2021 (20 year change)

[Twitter1]

Older hotel that sits on 3.23-Acres across the street from NRG Park on Fannin St. was just fenced. Across from the METRO rail as well. Prime land

Would probably become multifamily or medical office.

[The Best Forumer]

Let's hope it will be that and more... say... at least 600 feet tall...