HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[CALMSP]

does anyone else have any more info regarding this "America Plaza"???? I bought a townhome just down navigation, and have not heard of this.

[Xeelee]

Originally Posted by CALMSP

does anyone else have any more info regarding this "America Plaza"???? I bought a townhome just down navigation, and have not heard of this.

It looks like a redo of Mercado del Sol. Looks like they're going to clean it up alot.

[rdavis4559]

This is all I could find about the Americas thing:

After three years of struggling to make his east-side investment flourish, Alan Atkinson of the TransAmerica Group has signed a deal to sell one of the main towers that make up The Americas -- the old El Mercado del Sol complex.

Hoping to capitalize on the new economy, a subsidiary of New York-based Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds is under contract to purchase the 200,000-square-foot-concrete building, develop an additional 50,000 square feet, and turn the once-neglected building into a "carrier hotel."

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/s...12/story1.html

[rdavis4559]

Agency calls for rejection of Galveston Island project

GALVESTON — A permit request for the largest development ever proposed on Galveston Island should be rejected because it fails to fully consider damage to wildlife, wetlands and coastal prairies, according to a recommendation by a state agency.

In a letter obtained by the Houston Chronicle through a public information request, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department recommends that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reject an application by the Marquette Cos. to develop 1,154 acres.

The project, known as the Preserve at West Beach, proposes nearly 4,000 dwellings, two 15-story beach hotels, a marina and possibly a golf course to be built as market conditions allow.

Spanning an undeveloped area on the island's west end from West Galveston Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, the project also includes a 361-acre nature preserve.

The Galveston City Council approved the project last year, subject to clearance by the Corps of Engineers, despite widespread public opposition from environmentalists and others who said it would destroy wildlife habitat and wetlands. The notoriety of the project has made it an issue in the May 10 City Council election.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/5688515.html

[photoLith]

Man, I hope that Galveston development goes under, I am really hating how that end of the island is turning out. It used to be so beautiful and full of wildlife, not its just turning into some crappy urban sprawl suburb looking thing. I wish someone would step in and preserve that land from development. Dont get me wrong, Im all for development, high rises and density, but I hate seeing it spread like a disease across the land. It needs to stay in downtown areas and not destroy the last vestiges of pristine land in Houston.

[rdavis4559]

Soaring costs of materials delay city projects
Public, private sectors suffering from rapid hikes

Rising prices for steel, concrete and oil are swelling the city's capital improvement budget, forcing the delay of dozens of projects, city officials said Friday.

"Steel and cement are crazy," said James Tillman IV, director of the city's Capital Improvement Program. "In previous CIPs and previous years we could build a pretty nice fire station for $3 million. Now, we're having trouble building one for less than $5 million."

Tillman said there are many reasons for construction delays and cost increases, including unforeseen problems that appear mid-project or changes in codes and laws. But material construction costs seem to be a prevalent problem challenging both the private and public sectors nationwide.

Rebar prices have risen from $700 per ton to $1,000 in four months, said Ken Simonson, chief economist for the Associated General Contractors of America, a construction trade group. Diesel prices are rising faster than gasoline prices, he added, forcing governments to pay more to operate dump trucks, concrete mixers and cranes.

On Wednesday, the City Council could adopt a new five-year $4.43 billion capital improvement plan.

Despite the construction challenges, the city is working to keep the capital planning process running smoothly. A study of 245 projects that were carried over from last year's CIP shows more than two-thirds remain on schedule. But 44 percent of the projects increased in costs, while almost 19 percent dropped. The cumulative effect was a 7 percent increase worth $91 million, according to Webb Mitchell, the city's CIP manager.

Among the projects in the proposed five-year plan:

•$12 million for utility and street upgrades on the east side of downtown for a "new multipurpose sport and entertainment venue."
•$125 million to replace bridges along Sims and Brays bayous.
•$34 million for a new police radio system.
•$10 million to renovate the Julia Ideson Library.
•$10 million to restore the Gregory School as an African-American archives and cultural center.
More than 60 percent of the capital spending will occur within so-called enterprise funds involving airport, convention and entertainment facilities, water and wastewater. Those funds operate separately from the city's general fund.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/5695122.html

[Von]

hey guys so I had to go to work this saturday and I saw that they were taking down some of the cranes in the Pavillions... so I wasted no time to take some pictures of that... but one I have a crappy phone with crappy cam and two I was late for work so I couldn't really stop, I was taking pics as I walked





and as you can see on this pictures...they're already putting up some glass on the bridge!

[Great_Hizzy]

Yep. Now it's time for the claddings and exterior touches.

[rdavis4559]

Finalists selected for Dynamo stadium design
Houston Business Journal - by Greg Barr

Interviews were under way Tuesday with five finalists vying to design the proposed downtown soccer stadium that would be home to the Houston Dynamo.

A spokeswoman for Colorado-based ICON Venue Group, the developer in charge of the project, told the Houston Business Journal that the finalists include two local architectural firms that are partnering with national firms on their bids.

The Major League Soccer team, which currently plays home games at Robertson Stadium, is close to working out a deal with the City of Houston which is close to finalizing the acquisition of a chunk of prime acreage near Minute Maid Park for the $80 million stadium, which could open as early as 2010.

The Dynamo wants to have an architect in hand as it continues to negotiate the stadium financing package in which the club and the City would share the cost of the project, according to team President Oliver Luck.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/s...l?ana=from_rss

[rdavis4559]

From HAIF this morning:
Katy prairie someday may be an angler's paradise
Commissioner must find money to excavate five Astrodomes of dirt.

Out on prairie as flat as a polished dining room table, where he has no river or even rivulet to dam, Commissioner Steve Radack intends to dig a hole and build a 500-acre lake that will teem with sportfish and lure anglers from afar.

Radack has defied nature before — his Precinct 3 is building a nearly 50-foot-high soap box derby hill in equally flat Hockley. But the proposed lake dwarfs the soap box derby in scope and cost, the way a trophy bass does a minnow.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/...howtopic=15670

Also, here are some pics from this morning:

[Great_Hizzy]

My plan was to pull out my new camera this afternoon and take some shots of the progress at Houston Pavillions and Main Place but I was in a rush and left it sitting on the kitchen counter.

Maybe later this week, given the fabulous weather.

[Xeelee]

Looks like Radack is at it again.

[Xeelee]

Originally Posted by rdavis4559

From HAIF this morning:
Katy prairie someday may be an angler's paradise
Commissioner must find money to excavate five Astrodomes of dirt.

Out on prairie as flat as a polished dining room table, where he has no river or even rivulet to dam, Commissioner Steve Radack intends to dig a hole and build a 500-acre lake that will teem with sportfish and lure anglers from afar.

Radack has defied nature before — his Precinct 3 is building a nearly 50-foot-high soap box derby hill in equally flat Hockley. But the proposed lake dwarfs the soap box derby in scope and cost, the way a trophy bass does a minnow.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.info/...howtopic=15670

With all the lakes in Texas and this joker wants to build a lake in Katy. Let him pay for it then.

[Great_Hizzy]

I wonder what he's getting out of it. More incentive to push the time table on the NW section of the Grand Parkway, which may bring development towards his own financial interests?

Or is he really that concerned about nature? Hmm...

[toxteth o'grady]

My HouBiz, which is always a week late getting to me, says KBR is building an 8-building, 900,000 sf campus in the Katy Freeway corridor. It's going to be all low-rises, though. Pity - it could have been 40 stories if they'd gone vertical...

[Complex01]

Discovery Green was super packed today. Lots of people all over the place. It was great to see the activity...

[Trae]

Originally Posted by toxteth o'grady

My HouBiz, which is always a week late getting to me, says KBR is building an 8-building, 900,000 sf campus in the Katy Freeway corridor. It's going to be all low-rises, though. Pity - it could have been 40 stories if they'd gone vertical...

Yeah I read that. Katy is starting to form its own nice little skyline. The section of Katy Freeway from around Gessner to Grand Parkway is seeing new lowrises and midrises going up.

[Great_Hizzy]

It's having quite the affect on traffic, however--and I mean in addition to construction on the freeway itself. Still... there are miles of construction cranes along the corridor with obviously more to come.

[Trae]

Yeah, traffic is both ways on the Katy nowadays.

[CALMSP]

would be nice to follow the look of DXB with the highrises lined up right along the freeway!!!