[Urbannizer]

The upper pool in the renderings will have a clear bottom, similar to Market Square Tower Downtown.

Exclusive: Houston developer's latest Uptown apartment tower to have sky pool

The Hanover Co. has broken ground on its second Uptown apartment tower,
which will feature a clear-bottom “sky pool” jutting out from the rooftop deck.

The Houston multifamily developer began construction Dec. 16 on Hanover Blvd Place, a 32-story, 281-unit tower on 1.5 acres off South Post Oak Lane. The new apartment building sits just south of the developer’s Hanover Post Oak apartment tower and north of Wulfe & Cos. Inc.’s Blvd Place mixed-use project.

Hanover Blvd Place, designed by Chicago-based SCB Architects, will complement its sister tower, featuring a simple, but elegant glass and concrete facade, said Brandt Bowden, Hanover’s managing partner for capital markets. SCB Architects also designed Hanover Montrose, the developer’s newest Houston apartment tower that opened in 2016.

However, the new tower will have two amenity decks: one on the fifth floor and one on the top floor. The lower amenity deck will feature a resort-style pool and outdoor space with landscaping and trees, while the top amenity deck will boast a party room with kitchen and a fitness center that overlooks the Galleria area and downtown Houston.

However, the centerpiece of the rooftop deck will be a clear-bottom, cantilever pool that will jut out between six and eight feet over the edge of the tower, giving residents the sensation of swimming in the sky 368 feet above street level. Similar “sky pools” have been built around in the world, including one in Market Square Tower in downtown Houston.

Hanover also plans to relocate its corporate headquarters into Hanover Blvd Place. The developer intends to move from its roughly 40,000-square-foot office space in San Felipe Plaza, 5847 San Felipe St., into a 61,000-square-foot office space located on the second to fourth floors in Hanover Blvd Place.

“We’ve been trying to find a way to do this for a while now,” Bowden said. “This is a great location for everyone in our company. It’s a little bit more room for modest expansion and we’ll have some opportunities to upgrade our space.”

The office space will also benefit apartment residents, Bowden said. With Hanover occupying some of the lower levels, the apartment units will start on the fifth floor, giving residents a better view and closer access to the lower amenity deck, he said.

Hanover decided to integrate its new office space into its latest apartment tower because building out its own office building didn’t make much financial sense, Bowden said. The developer is financing its office space independently from the residential tower, he added.

Hanover’s new office will be next door to the developer’s third Uptown project, now in the early development stages. When Hanover and its San Antonio-based capital partner United Services Automobile Association purchased a 2.5-acre site off South Post Oak Lane, the companies subdivided the land for Hanover Blvd Place and a third yet-to-be-determined project.

The future “phase three” project could be a number of different things, including more upscale apartments, senior homes or even a luxury hotel, Bowden said. If it’s a hotel, Hanover plans to partner with a hospitality operator to execute that strategy, he said.

“We’re just now starting to focus on what that last acre should be, and we acknowledge that there are opportunities beyond residential that will be a really good fit for existing uses in that area,” Bowden said. “But we are and we always will be a multifamily company.”