HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[JManc]

yeah the parking there is atrocious.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by photoLith

^
I love that part of town, it feels very much like a part of LA, the people too mostly all seem like uppity douchebags like youd find in certain parts of LA also.

I've never heard of Highland Village. What all is there?

Edit: Just research it. I've actually been to the Central Market (about 5 years ago). I remember the palm lined street being very nice looking. River Oaks Shopping Center on W. Gray is similar regarding the palms along W. Gray. I think shopping areas should make more use of palms.

[photoLith]

^
Kinda relates, but I've heard rumours that they are planning on tearing down the historic river oaks theatre down there after the current owners lease is up in a couple years This also comes right after the anhialated the amazing art deco interior of the Alabama theatre.

[Wattleigh]

Swamplot says a new Phillips 66 HQ will be built...

http://swamplot.com/phillips-66-will...on/2012-03-20/

ConocoPhillips refining offshoot Phillips 66 will build a new headquarters facility no more than 10 miles away from the company’s current location, “within the I-10 and Beltway 8 corridors,” according to an email sent to employees this morning. The company had already indicated that Phillips 66 employees would leave the company’s iconic current facility at Dairy Ashford and Eldridge, but the announcement that the oil company’s headquarters will be built from scratch is new

.

[JoninATX]

Granite Properties to build new Westchase office tower

Houston Business Journal Date: Monday, March 19, 2012, 2:54pm CDT - Last Modified: Monday, March 19, 2012, 3:45pm CDT

Granite Properties will break ground within the next 60 days on a speculative office building in Houston's Westchase submarket, the commercial real estate investment and management company said Monday.

Granite Briarpark Green, a 300,000-square-foot, 12-story, Class A office building, will be located at 3141 Briarpark Drive. Situated on a 4-acre site, the building will be adjacent to the existing Briarpark Green building owned by PGAL Architects.

PGAL will design the new building, and Hoar Construction has been chosen as general contractor. Dallas-based Granite estimates construction will take 14 months. The project is aiming for LEED Gold certification and will incorporate water-conserving fixtures and landscaping, optimized energy performance and on-site recycling.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/n...=image_gallery

[photoLith]

Just rode my bike passed the Texas children's hospital pavilion for women and today's their grand opening.

[photoLith]

I ran out of room on my computer for pictures so for the foreseeable future all my updates will be shitty iPhone pictures. Anyways, here's the north bound light rail line elevated extension from today.










For all the shit infill going on in Houston I have to say the heights has some really nice infill going in everywhere.


New lofts in the heights at the corner of studewood and 11 1/2 streets.


Some more new lofts under construction at the corner of sawyer and Washington avenue.


They just finished restoring this beautiful fire station along Washington avenue.


Some more new stuff in mid town.

[mfastx]

Looks great! Those pictures are not shitty at all, lol.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by mfastx

Looks great! Those pictures are not shitty at all, lol.

I think a lot of the new infill is very sharp looking. Lots of midrise going in. I've seen a few complexes, though, that look more like shitty low rise apartments, and I think that's what Photolith was commenting on. But overall there's a lot to be proud of and it just gets better and better.

General comment: With the new line being built going east of downtown, there's no telling what kind of development will eventually happen in that area. Anyone heard about prospects for that part of Houston? Seems like there would be a great deal of excitement.

[photoLith]

I don't expect much considering the light rail really hasn't been too much of a boon to development yet. I mean the area it runs through in mid town is still a bunch of empty lots.

[GrimReaper]

So, why do you need light rails on the wards?

[photoLith]

So that nobody will pay for their tickets and just ride the rails for free.

[JoninATX]

Council approves 20-story building on beach

By Amanda Casanova The Daily News

Published March 24, 2012

GALVESTON — After about three hours of sometimes contentious discussion Thursday, the city council approved a specific-use permit for a multistory housing development on East Beach.

The beach-front project still will need a series of state and city permits and land-use approvals to build apartment units south of the seawall.

The $40 million to $50 million building, 601-627 Ave. L, has drawn criticism since the city’s zoning board of adjustment approved a height variance for the proposed development from 55 feet to 269 feet in January.

Development in the seawall zone only allows buildings up to 55 feet and requires a specific-use permit to operate apartments in the area.

Earlier this month, the planning commission approved the apartments in the seawall development zone, but the building still needed approval from the city council.

Residents at the meeting Thursday said they were worried the multistory building would block Gulf views, while others said the development of the high-end apartments would pump needed tax dollars into the city’s economy.

http://galvestondailynews.com/story/301802

[JoninATX]

Houston No. 1 relocation center, report says

Houston Business Journal Date: Monday, March 26, 2012, 6:32am CDT

Houston is the No. 1 U.S. destination city to relocate to for the third year in a row, a report from U-Haul International Inc. shows.

The report, titled "The 2011 Top 50 U.S. Destination Cities," ranks destinations for movers traveling more than 50 miles, U-Haul said in a statement. Data was compiled from more than 1.6 million U-Haul truck transactions in 2011.

Dallas and Austin also made the top 25 cities, and Plano and Fort Worth made the top 50.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/m...on-center.html

[photoLith]

Some more updates and tons of crane porn from today. It almost feels like 2009 again.




The same project from the billboard above which is basically on the same lot as the bbva tower in the galleria.


Gables


Gables on San felipe across from the t h rogers school


New apartments on brownway street across from the Marriott by the galleria.


Same project as above. Now they just need to tear down that shit Walgreens and really make the place feel urban.


3009 post oak blvd, the 18 some odd story office building which is right across from the transco tower.


High street apartments on westheimer and west lane drive.


Bbva from the Marriott




Bonus shot of Williams tower from the Marriott.


Bbva


You can see bbva's cranes in the skyline.




The new apple store on westheimer.




This development is filling in the last few vacant lots around the Camden apartments in old freedmans town. And unlike the tin sided buildings that are all too common in this area, this development will actually be traditionally urban looking.


This 1870s house is one of the few remaining houses in freedmans towns and it's currently under restoration to be turned into a museum. I believe this house is Rutherford B Yates brothers house, one of Houstons first black pastors.

Heres an interesting read on the history of Freedmans Town, http://www.isocracytx.net/hp-org/FTAbrief.html

[BrandonJXN]

No one got around to doing it the first time I asked so I'll try again: Can someone give a rundown on what's being developed in Houston?

[Wattleigh]

The official opening for the TCH Maternity Center was today, and there's been a fair amount of attention paid to it locally.

Hospital President & CEO Mark Wallace discusses the center in his latest blog post. (w/video)

The Houston Business Journal provides a capsule version of the post and some brief bits on the project in general. (w/slideshow)

The Chronicle takes a look at the hospital and what it will mean in terms of added services for both mothers and their children.

[Wattleigh]

Wile Interests, Stream Realty building new office space

Houston Business Journal by Jennifer Dawson, Reporter

Date: Monday, March 26, 2012, 2:51pm CDT

Jennifer Dawson
Reporter - Houston Business Journal

An affiliate of Wile Interests Inc. that bought acreage in west Houston in 2008 for an office development is finally pulling the trigger on the project, which it will build with Stream Realty Partners LP


The partners will break ground by the end of the year on a 250,000-square-foot, Class A office building in the Energy Corridor. The project will be constructed on a 12-acre site at the southeast corner of Interstate 10 and Greenhouse Road.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/b...-partners.html

[East7thStreet]

Originally Posted by ThreeHundred

No one got around to doing it the first time I asked so I'll try again: Can someone give a rundown on what's being developed in Houston?

Probably too much for one person to summarize but if you check out the Houston section of this forum there is some info, as well as the main Houston architecture site at http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/h...um/7-going-up/

[kingkirbythe....]

Damn that Apple Store is good looking.