Perfect, that's building #110. Good to see TMC's dry spell broken finally. It was the one highrise cluster that wasn't seeing much announced recently until now.

Great finds Urbannizer. Do you know when 6 Houston Center is going to start construction? The 22-story hotel will be a great addition to TMC and is certainly needed.

Construction is suppose to start this Summer and I hope it does - if I remember correctly, this one was originally proposed around a decade ago. They always change the design when this proposal is brought back to life, but very little change to the size of it.

You can count this one as #111, another project for the Texas Medical Center

Memorial Hermann TMC Expansion

Small rendering. I counted ~16 floors.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7359/...07427c15_o.jpg

Hmm - 16 floors is a reduction in height. On the other hand, this project was originally talked about as a replacement facility, leading to a net reduction in the number of beds. I guess with some of the Obamacare uncertainties resolved (7 million sign-ups), MH is a bit more confident about the future.

HBJ also has a blurb about another tenant expanding in Pennzoil Place. Cheniere Energy has enlarged its footprint to over 160,000 sf, taking 8 floors. So the inventory of lease space downtown has just shrunk.

u guys r so lucky... :O

Really impressed with the state of Houston development. I was relatively unaware of how things were progressing until the Houston map (http://houston.devmap.io) started filling up with a ton of projects. If you happen to watch SSP, thank you to whomever the currently anonymous person is adding these.

You have a very user friendly program. I'll be adding all 111 highrise projects in Houston to it this weekend and as many midrises as possible.

One of the exciting things that become clear from the development maps of Downtown is that the "canyon" that developed during the '70s and '80's along the major North-South axis between Louisiana and Main will soon have real competition from a new East-West "canyon" between McKinney and Capitol. Downtown as a whole, in regard to building volumes, will lose its single axis and take on more of an "L" shape.

As a skyscraper enthusiast I can't wait to see the view from the intersection of, say Rusk and Travis, in ALL directions when some of these new buildings start rising. :tup:

The map is great!

I added in some more projects to the map, but they aren't showing up. How long does it usually take for them to be uploaded?

Edit: Never mind, they are uploaded now.

Yeah, for now we're just checking each of the changes to make sure there are no major issues and to keep the quality high. As things stabilize that'll probably relax a bit. Thanks for contributing!

Awesome, I'm looking forward to it!

Today's a big day for downtown, Marriott Marquis Hotel will break ground within a few hours. Pic by Triton.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3786/...56874c31_c.jpg

The map is filling up nicely. I just wish that more of Houston's high rise residential projects were in downtown. All of them seem to be in Uptown or River Oaks :(

-

Uptown begins to hear dollars attached to its mobility plan. TIRZ money and possible state money are in the mix.

Uptown plans massive construction to combat traffic

(Glad Swamplot's got renderings)
http://swamplot.com/wp-content/uploa...endering-1.jpg

11 Watercolor Renderings of the 2 Dedicated Bus Lanes and 8 New Stations Planned for Post Oak Blvd.

I too wish that Downtown would get more of the high rise residentials in Houston. Downtown is getting a few though, and I like the designs of Hines Market Square and 1400 Texas. Hopefully more residential projects will be announced as these projects get off the ground and Downtown starts to feel more like a neighborhood.

Something I noticed is that, even though there are over 100 projects proposed/under construction, there doesn’t seem to be as much activity in Houston as other cities because the projects are spread throughout many different areas.

Marriott Marquis Groundbreaking

https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.n...95381244_n.jpg

https://scontent-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...46984099_n.jpg

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https://scontent-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hpho...65080320_n.jpg

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https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3811/...b2786151_c.jpg

im sure you are aware there are many more residential projects in the works for downtown besides the two you mentioned..

Hines Market Square
1400 Texas
Fingers Crawford Ballpark
40 story Block 35
the 38 story next to Hess Garage
Camden I and II
that 10 story south of the Camden blocks
Alliance north of SkyHouse
and of course SkyHouse

thats 10 different residential projects/phases going on or about to start going up in downtown.. assuming i didnt forget anything. and someone mentioned the block south of SkyHouse might be getting an 8 or so story apartment building. the population of downtown is supposed to triple in just a matter of years. we will definitely start to have that "neighborhood" vibe going once residents start moving into all of these projects. then maybe retail will start to follow (thats a very likely scenario considering the planned retail initiative coming up down Dallas St).

Yes, I am aware of those other projects (except for the 8 story apartment south of Skyhouse). I was just mentioning the two designs that I like the most. I believe Clev was talking about high rise residentials, so there are only 6 proposed/under construction residential buildings 10+ stories in Downtown (the Camden 2-phase project looks 8-stories in the rendering, so I didn’t count them). That is great for Houston, but is lacking compared to other comparable cities. Looking at the Atlanta map, I counted 16 proposed/under construction residential buildings 10+ stories in Atlanta’s downtown+midtown (without counting the Multi-Modal passenger terminal because I wasn’t sure how to count it). I believe the downtown residential incentives have been a crucial part in the transformation of downtown and I hope they are renewed once they run out, but I still wish there was more going on. Maybe I’m wishing for too much?

However, I do believe that high rise residential development will take off in Downtown once a lot of these residential projects start to open, so hopefully the future will be bright. The numerous hotel proposals should also help bring activity to the area.

3615 Montrose: New 7-story condo building by Riverway Properties.

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3768/...80f4b2ed_b.jpg

Perhaps it will be like Austin's downtown. Once the momentum got going only a few years ago, it became unstoppable. At least I hope it happens that way in Houston's downtown, too.

Austin has the benefit of a 50,000+ university sharing a border with downtown. Houston's DT will be different for the most part.

Is/was Austin's condo boom really driven by UT? I can understand apartment complexes around the campus all along Guadalupe St but the towers downtown seem to be a result of stable professionals moving into the area. Unlike Houston for so long, Austin's downtown doesn't have the same negative stigma. Perhaps, UT has helped in that aspect; preventing downtown from being a seedy no man's land.

I hope Downtown Houston takes off like Austin did. That would be nice. A difference I noticed between Houston's proposed Downtown projects and Austin's is that all of Houston's are apartments while Austin had a lot of Condos. I'm not sure why that is, but I thought it was interesting.

Why does Downtown have a negative stigma? I mean, I've been to Houston before and the areas I went Downtown seemed better than Uptown to me.

I guess I misread the comment, thought it was talking downtown in general.

UT certainly kept Austin's DT going while a lot of cities had theirs hollowed out. Austin's current DT boom is due to the influx of money and better jobs spurred by the proximity of the adult playground that is 6th st. and surrounding areas. Not to mention a great investment in trails along Town Lake and creeks the feed into it.

It's generally lifeless overall in the evening, a lot more so in the past. Houston's DT has seen some really rough days but the 21st century has shown meaningful investment and improvement. Especially from now until the Superbowl.

Up until very recently, once business hours were over, DT was a ghost town and as a result, it was plagued (still is) by homeless and vagrants. There was nothing there apart from theater district that attracted anyone after hours. Since the stadiums, rail, the park and so on, interest in downtown living has increased. Still dissapointing for a city this size though.

Judging by the types of developments in the pipeline, I'm guessing that Houston CBD is turning the corner in a very major way.

...and Houston has a 43,000+ University a few miles from downtown which is why, once the development starts in the third ward, we will find it to be unstoppable. Imagine a gentrified district that close to the University of Houston with rail lines (already in place) connecting it to the rest of the city.

The Third Ward is feeling the squeeze from multiple border locations (mid town, museum district, UH). All it needs is one large quality development to get the momentum started

University Place is one such project in the works, although I am not sure how far along the project is or if the project has died.

Here are the HAIF and Swamplot links about it.

http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/h...versity-place/

http://swamplot.com/a-first-look-at-...su/2013-09-23/

Ok. I was unaware of that. I started coming to Houston in 2010 and most of those improvements were already there. I've been to Astros' games, Discovery Green, and Alley Theatre and there was always people walking around.

It's not the same as UT, it's a much shorter difference without a major freeway separating them. I certainly agree that Houston's inner core has a ton of unlocked potential that is just beginning to emerge with college students, both traditional and non-traditional. All of Houston's major educational institutions are undergoing some sort of expansion.

No. U. of Houston is a commuter school unlike UT where bulk of students live in the area. Austin was built around UT. Houston was never a college town. I went to UofH for grad and undergrad. Most of my classmates already lived in Houston and just commuted.

Reality check.

Houston's downtown is home to world class Opera, Ballet, Symphony, and Theatre companies. Downtown Houston is also home to a MLB, NBA, and MLS team (close enough). UH Downtown and South Texas College of Law are also located downtown. Not sure why Houstonians are so quick to dismiss our downtown and act as if Austin's central core is way better.

Austin has better residential options and LadyBird Lake provides a great setting, but I hate it when people act as if there's nothing going on in downtown. If you think that, you must hate the arts, professional sports, festivals, parades, parks, restaurants, and bars.

Also, between UH and Texas Southern, there are over 10,000 students living IN the Third Ward. The light rail is going to be a game changer.

The Dash just started playing at BBVA Compass Stadium in EaDo too.

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/s...m-alex-morgan/

Houston's DT has a lot going for it, but it still doesn't have that critical mass to be considered "lively" yet.

I agree with this. Downtown has so much to do, so that's why I'm so surprised at why it is just now starting to get residential buildings. All Uptown has is shopping.

Just a few years ago Austin's downtown was lively pretty much only in the 6th and 4th street areas (aside from the riverside activities), and was largely pretty seedy, but the transformation happened really quickly once things took off. I used to be really embarrassed about Austin's downtown, and would avoid taking visitors there (as recently as the early to mid 2000s). But look at it now. It's just incredible.

I feel like Houston's downtown will change very rapidly now that people are feeling more positive about it. It will be great for Houston to have a downtown one would expect in such a large city, regarding overall activity level. Shasta is correct that there's already a lot of activity, but what's coming is going to be like the difference between night and day.

I'm betting there will be many, even within the city, who will have trouble letting go of old impressions of downtown.

Actually, Uptown has a lot of highrise and midrise residential, along with the shopping.

Texaco Building Reno 3/30 by Triton

https://flic.kr/p/mBovTg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7264/...0023d191_c.jpg

https://flic.kr/p/mBnZJv

https://flic.kr/p/mBnY1v

JW Marriott: 4/10 by downtownian

http://i936.photobucket.com/albums/a...ps9f408688.jpg

Houston Club Demo / Capitol Tower: 4/9 by Nate99 & Triton

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7438/...8798c231_b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7439/...dfbdb651_b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7343/...dc64d14c_b.jpg

Sunset Coffee Building: 4/10 by Triton

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3668/...d7182779_c.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7336/...7c8f91ee_c.jpg

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2857/...b5ae515f_c.jpg

Hanover Post Oak: 4/10 by LarryDierker

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7245/...83a112f3_b.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7218/...8b39d6f0_b.jpg

https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3671/...0e729c46_b.jpg

SWN Energy HQ

https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2934/...7e43da89_c.jpg

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7402/...a353063d_c.jpg

I know it has high rises and mid rises. I was talking about what activities there were to do, and when I visited there wasn't much besides shopping.

Yes, but outside of shopping and dining, there aren’t as many major attractions in Uptown as there are in Downtown.

True, but UH is way younger than UT and receives way less in state funds. The "commuter school" perception is based on some truth but the reality is that UH is second in the highest number of beds ON CAMPUS (over 10,000) for any college/university in the whole state of Texas.

I actually lived on campus while I attended so, it may be more way common place than most want to believe.

Throw in a revitalized third ward with increased housing, retail, and nightlife options for both students, recent graduates, and older alums and you might see UH have a significantly stronger "core base" than its commuter school ghost its past.

Yeah, there is absolutely nothing in the vicinity right now (which includes TSU, don't forget) - a huge missed opportunity thus far. Perhaps becoming a Tier One school will help foment more of a community around the campus. But even if UH remains primarily a commuter school, the right kind of development could keep them in the neighborhood for socializing, which would in turn make it a better location for residential development, and so you could get a virtuous circle going. Light rail will help too. University Place seems like a good start...

UH is actively trying to become more like a traditional college and has made great strides. However, Houston still doesn't have a "West Campus" equivalent area like Austin does and it's not even close at this point to be honest.

I think Houston's best bet is to get the COH or Harris County involved in a bond proposition for higher education residential living over a period of a decade or two. It would not only help public schools but private schools and non-traditional schools (HCC and UHD). Houston certainly can cement a brighter future by betting on higher education, especially UH and Rice University. Let our educational institutions focus on education and let our local govts finance residential living through municipal bonds.

Retail/shopping is the most critical component for residential development. Basically developers look for proximity to retail first, jobs second, and (depending on the demographic) entertainment third.

You are right that the residential developments will help out in a big way to attract retail. Basically after 6pm or so downtown (in its current form) might as well be a suburb with excellent cab service and a train.

I don't think the university kids are buying into the highrises, but a lot of retirees are. Who wouldn't want to stare down at the river from a 30th floor balcony?