HOUSTON | Development Thread II - Page 157

photoLith · #**3121** Posted **Jun 8, 2011, 1:10 AM**

Why they feel the need to abandon downtown is beyond me. Not good news for downtown. Screw exxon.

TexasPlaya · #**3122** Posted **Jun 8, 2011, 3:17 AM**

Haha exxon doesn't operate just to fulfill your downtown Houston desires. Downtown has certainly seen way worst departures.

Cory · #**3123** Posted **Jun 8, 2011, 3:39 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Haha exxon doesn't operate just to fulfill your downtown Houston desires. Downtown has certainly seen way worst departures.

yeah but it does make them justifying the use of the word sustainability because of this campus development more of an annoying buzzword with this move into the near exurbs.

TexasPlaya · #**3124** Posted **Jun 8, 2011, 4:03 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by WesternGulf

yeah but it does make them justifying the use of the word sustainability because of this campus development more of an annoying buzzword with this move into the near exurbs.

Most definitely, it sucks they are leaving downtown which means there probably won't be any more new office for a little bit (hopefully).

CALMSP · #**3125** Posted **Jun 8, 2011, 11:27 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Most definitely, it sucks they are leaving downtown which means there probably won't be any more new office for a little bit (hopefully).

most def probably not. Exxon and Continental heading out there will be plenty of office space available to lease.

weatherguru18 · #**3126** Posted **Jun 8, 2011, 2:18 PM**

Man, this is GREAT news for my area (Woodlands)! I just happen to think that their new campus is pretty baller. Too bad it can't be seen from the Freeway.

http://swamplot.com/welcome-to-the-l...us/2011-06-07/

JoninATX · #**3127** Posted **Jun 9, 2011, 10:09 AM**

The Gateway into the campus looks amazing.

http://swamplot.com/welcome-to-the-l...07/#more-29569

mfastx · #**3128** Posted **Jun 9, 2011, 6:03 PM**

Wow that does look pretty cool. Too bad it couldn't be built in a more central location, I might never see this in person lol.

photoLith · #**3129** Posted **Jun 9, 2011, 7:50 PM**

I also wish this was much closer to downtown but oh well. That building in the first post is kick ass though.

Samwill89 · #**3130** Posted **Jun 10, 2011, 8:44 PM**

Quote:

The Hines real-estate firm is planning a luxury apartment complex in Uptown it says will be a "flagship" property for the Houston-based developer as it expands its multifamily business. The project will be built on three acres in the shadow of the Williams Tower, Galleria mall and Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park. The announcement comes as demand for apartments heats up even as the housing market continues to sputter. Moderate job growth in the Houston area combined with little new construction has other developers returning to the market, too.

"We're starting to have more under construction all of a sudden," said Bruce McClenny, president of Apartment Data Services, which tracks multifamily activity. "The proposed list is really growing."
Details of the Hines project are still being worked out, but senior vice president Alan Patton says the complex will be six to eight stories and contain about 300 units. He said the company plans to break ground in the first quarter of 2012. Construction is expected to last two years.

"It's not often that you have the ability to find a site that's located next to a fabulous public park, walking distance to the Galleria, and amongst a large employment center," Patton said.

The project will be the first multifamily complex the company has built in Houston since announcing its push into multifamily development nationwide in January. Hines, which knows the Galleria area well, is building in a particularly strong market. Rents there are 8.2 percent higher today than they were a year ago, according to the data firm.

"That's a pretty significant number," McClenny said.

The average rent for a top-class apartment in the Galleria area is $1.37 per square foot, and 93.7 percent of all such units there are rented. Stan Creech, the real-estate broker who represented the seller of the three-acre site, said the property is unique for several reasons, including the Waterwall park and the possibility that rail could someday run near the site.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...#ixzz1OuOA33Ln

The site:

Previous Proposal for site:

Too bad the Turnberry project couldn't be revived. But this will have almost twice as many residential units (Turnberry was 184 units at 34 floors vs 300 units on 6-8 floors). This should fill out the block and encourage pedestrian activity. Hines says that this is just the first of many residential buildings of this sort he is looking to develop in Houston over the next few years.

Bailey · #**3131** Posted **Jun 11, 2011, 3:32 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by Samwill89

Too bad the Turnberry project couldn't be revived. But this will have almost twice as many residential units (Turnberry was 184 units at 34 floors vs 300 units on 6-8 floors). This should fill out the block and encourage pedestrian activity. Hines says that this is just the first of many residential buildings of this sort he is looking to develop in Houston over the next few years.

Does Hines have any plans for a residential tower in downtown? I've heard rumors that developers are sniffing around dafter seeing the success of One Park Place.

If you could afford a highrise condo- would you prefer to live in an isolated tower in uptown with freeway like-wide lanes at Wetsheimer and Post Oak....or downtown within walking distance of Discovery Green, Theater District, CBD, Minute Maid, Toyota Center, Dynamo Stadium, and mass transit that in a couple of years can get you around the urban core, including Hermann Park, Museum District and Reliant Park?

photoLith · #**3132** Posted **Jun 11, 2011, 5:23 PM**

^
Theres two abandoned 1920s buildings downtown being converted into condos/apartments, plus a new 17 story or so residential tower to be built next to them in a vacant lot. I dont think thats a Hines development though.

CALMSP · #**3133** Posted **Jun 11, 2011, 7:00 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photolitherland

^
Theres two abandoned 1920s buildings downtown being converted into condos/apartments, plus a new 17 story or so residential tower to be built next to them in a vacant lot. I dont think thats a Hines development though.

what is this 17 story residential tower you speak of?

photoLith · #**3134** Posted **Jun 12, 2011, 1:31 AM**

Refer to page 154

photoLith · #**3135** Posted **Jun 20, 2011, 3:24 PM**

The new maternal care unit or whatever its called (building on right) of the Texas Children Hospital, they are almost done with the sky walk.

photo by me

Samwill89 · #**3136** Posted **Jun 23, 2011, 7:42 AM**

Revised groundbreaking schedule

Quote:

Earth Quest developers set groundbreaking for early 2012

The developer of the proposed Earth Quest project in east Montgomery County has established another deadline for start-up of the 550-acre mixed-use project.

Christopher Brown, president of California-based Contour Entertainment, the project’s master planner and lead designer, met with the East Montgomery County Improvement District board members June 16.

Before Brown and the board went into executive session to discuss the project, EMCID President Frank McCrady asked Brown if groundbreaking within nine months was a “reasonable” expectation.

“That is our plan,” said Brown.

Estimated at a cost of $500 million, Earth Quest is to include a retail shopping experience, a water park, a hotel and a family entertainment center located on 1,600 acres along U.S. 59 between FM 1485 and Texas 242 on the west side, and FM 1485 and Roman Forest Boulevard on the east.

At the heart of the concept is a 150-acre dinosaur theme park and museum. They were scheduled to open sometime this year or in 2012.

Brown said the dinosaur project remains “central” to the development’s project.

We’re not going to put another carnival on the ground,” McCrady said after the EMCID meeting. “Nothing significant has changed.”

Announcing a date for groundbreaking is nothing new for the Earth Quest project. Construction was to start sometime in 2010, but a need for investors and the economy affected the timetable.

source

Not holding my breath for this one.

photoLith · #**3137** Posted **Jun 23, 2011, 4:08 PM**

It would be best for that to never get built. Montgomery county doesn't need more sprawl.

ktk819 · #**3138** Posted **Jun 23, 2011, 9:05 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photolitherland

It would be best for that to never get built. Montgomery county doesn't need more sprawl.

I'm not sure why "it would be best" if it didn't go through. It doesn't have to be inside 610 to be beneficial development.

Illithid Dude · #**3139** Posted **Jun 23, 2011, 9:14 PM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photolitherland

It would be best for that to never get built. Montgomery county doesn't need more sprawl.

But it's a theme park... for DINOSAURZ!!

Samwill89 · #**3140** Posted **Jun 24, 2011, 12:17 AM**

Quote:

Originally Posted by photolitherland

It would be best for that to never get built. Montgomery county doesn't need more sprawl.

Sorry to break it to you, but Montgomery County is already a lost cause. If this were to be in Liberty County, I could see your point. If anything, this would boost the Northeastern sector of the metro area, which sorely needs it.