HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[Dale]

Is it true that $7.5 billion in transportation improvements were placed on hold by Mayor Whitmire ? If true, will the new $146 billion outlay by the state put the plan back into motion ?

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news...n-convention-center-economic-impact.html

George R. Brown Convention Center expansion to drive $20B in new spending, study finds

By Jeff Jeffrey – Senior reporter, Houston Business Journal
Aug 27, 2025

The planned renovation and expansion of the George R. Brown Convention Center is likely to drive over $20 billion in new spending over the next three decades, according to a new study commissioned by Houston First Corp.

The study, which was conducted by destination real estate development advisory firm Hunden Partners, found the convention center expansion will increase the number of citywide-equivalent meetings and conventions by 62% and reduce “dark days” at the facility by 66%.

The expansion also is expected to result in more than 337,000 additional group hotel room nights booked annually in the central business district and help raise the occupancy rate in the submarket by nearly 5%, the study said.
Houston First President and CEO Michael Heckman told the Houston Business Journal the study helped to validate the city’s approach to the expansion project.

“One of the reasons we commissioned the study was to determine whether the design for the expanded convention center was what our clients were looking for,” Heckman said in an interview. “When we started this process, we didn’t want to build the biggest convention center in the country. We wanted to build the most sellable convention center. And this study shows that the design we have come up with is what our clients and potential clients are looking for.”

Convention center's planned expansion

The convention center expansion project is scheduled to be completed in several phases over the next decade.

Along with building a new 700,000-square-foot convention space — set to break ground later this year — Houston First’s plans for the convention center include cutting a promenade through the middle of the George R. Brown building to open it up to the east side of downtown. Initial renderings of the planned upgrades to the existing building show its iconic ship-like aesthetic might be traded in for one that embraces sustainable timber and rooftop green spaces.

The master plan for the project also includes the creation of a 100,000-square-foot outdoor plaza that aims to serve as the centerpiece of a larger convention center campus and entertainment district that includes the Toyota Center and Daikin Park.

Phase 1 of the project is slated for completion in mid-2028, just in time for the Republican National Convention.

To build the new building, Houston First has tapped Houston-based Hines to serve as development manager; Kansas City, Missouri-based Populous as architect of record; Jacobs Advance Planning Group as landscape architect; and a team made up of Rhode Island-based Gilbane and Oklahoma-based Flintco as construction manager.

[Wattleigh]

Ralph Bivins' site went another way with the info from the report...

https://realtynewsreport.com/800-room-hotel-needed-for-houstons-convention-growth/

800-Room Hotel Needed For Houston’s Convention Growth
by Realty News Report
August 27, 2025

HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – A new 800-room hotel should be constructed downtown to elevate the economic growth associated with the expansion of the George R. Brown Convention Center, according to an analysis by Hunden Partners, a national destination real estate development advisory firm.

The city [has] recently launched an effort to add 700,000 SF to the convention center in order to draw more conventions to Houston and enable Space City to be in the top tier of convention destinations. After the expansion is completed in 2028 with the heft of a total of 2.5 million SF, Houston’s convention center still won’t be as big as the 4.6 million SF Las Vegas Convention Center, the nation’s top convention destination. But Houston will be in the major leagues of convention cities, able to handle large events and conventions.

The Hunden report said that a new 800-room hotel should be built near the convention center.

“The new (hotel) would help maximize the opportunities from the major meetings the expanded convention center can then serve. Such a hotel should be a full-service upper upscale property with sufficient meeting space and amenities needed to complement the convention center and the broader campus,” according to Hunden, which is based in Chicago.

To be a primary portion of a convention package, meeting planners prefer to be large hotels to be within a five-minute walk of the convention complex.

Currently, Houston’s largest downtown hotels are the 1,200-room Hilton Americas – Houston, which is connected to the convention center by a skybridge; the 1,000-room Marriott Marquis Houston, which across the street from the convention center, and the 960-room Hyatt Regency Houston that is several blocks away at 1200 Louisiana Street.

[Wattleigh]

Uptown Oaks at the Hallmark


rendering c/o Perkins Eastman

Is this one back on?

c/o Highrise Tower on HAIF



It will be on the agenda for the Planning Commission's meeting on 9/4, item D.

[Dale]

Anyone care to take a whack at my question on #13241 ?

[Wattleigh]

Kinder Children's Cancer Center

The remnants of the former hotel's foundation are effectively no more and the street-level concrete appears to be in the process of being broken up

c/o Highrise Tower on HAIF



Next door, the adjacent TMC Surface lot is closed for the next few days - soil testing may be taking place during this time.




I mentioned this today on the HAIF thread for this project, but it looks like the tower will be on that closed surface lot.

This video from the announcement a few months back shows a placeholder structure that might be an indication of the scale and footprint of the ultimate
tower.

• Video Link

[Oscarhouston86]

Originally Posted by Dale

Is it true that $7.5 billion in transportation improvements were placed on hold by Mayor Whitmire ? If true, will the new $146 billion outlay by the state put the plan back into motion ?

I don't know if it's true, but I wouldn't be surprised. He has been cutting funding to Metro's infrastructure.

Also, let's be honest. Houston doesn't need a convention center. Businesses and industries are not looking to host a major event in Houston because it simply cannot compete with other major cities like Vegas, Miami, Atlanta and others. Why? because transportation 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵. Getting to and from IAH is a mess.

IMO....

[Dale]

Originally Posted by Oscarhouston86

I don't know if it's true, but I wouldn't be surprised. He has been cutting funding to Metro's infrastructure.

Also, let's be honest. Houston doesn't need a convention center. Businesses and industries are not looking to host a major event in Houston because it simply cannot compete with other major cities like Vegas, Miami, Atlanta and others. Why? because transportation 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵. Getting to and from IAH is a mess.

IMO....

Bummer, but thanks for the feedback.

[Wattleigh]

Originally Posted by Wattleigh

Uptown Oaks at the Hallmark


rendering c/o Perkins Eastman

Is this one back on?

c/o Highrise Tower on HAIF



It will be on the agenda for the Planning Commission's meeting on 9/4, item D.

This looks to be the same request as before when the tower was proposed. We will see what happens later on.

Snaps from the Planning Commission Agenda c/o hindesky on HAIF







A good question answered in the same thread...

On 8/28/2025 at 9:50 AM, geoffbaskir said:
What defines an "unrestricted reserve?"

When discussing platting, an unrestricted reserve is a tract of land within a subdivision that is not limited to single-family residential use. This allows the property to be developed for various other uses, including commercial or multi-family projects.

[JManc]

Are they keeping the existing Hallmark and adding the new tower adjacent to it (per renderings) or is the entire site to be redeveloped?

[Wattleigh]

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news...kes-medical-center-mcnair-expansion.html

Baylor St. Luke's Medical Center eyes another tower at McNair Campus in TMC area

By Jishnu Nair – Reporter, Houston Business Journal
Aug 29, 2025

Increasing patient numbers in the Texas Medical Center are driving Baylor St. Luke’s to expand its footprint.

Plans for a new tower are on the horizon at the system’s McNair Campus, Dr. Brad Lembcke, president of Baylor St. Luke’s Medical Center, told the Houston Business Journal in a recent interview.

Lembcke said it's too early to disclose any further specifics, especially as Baylor St. Luke’s completes projects for both the McNair Campus and its legacy campus on Bertner Avenue.

If a second tower does go ahead, it would be a significant boost to Baylor St. Luke’s two-campus strategy in the TMC, reversing previously reported plans to demolish the legacy Bertner Avenue campus.

“With Covid-19 and other things, there was a pause on some of the construction and the plans to make that transition to a single campus in a shorter time,” Lembcke said.

The most recent tower that opened at the McNair Campus was the $426 million O’Quinn Medical Tower, which opened in 2023.

Recently, Baylor St. Luke’s has focused on moving its lower-acuity patients to the McNair Campus, which is still under construction, Lembcke said. That comes as the Bertner campus, which Lembcke estimated has around 600 beds, is hitting patient capacity more regularly.

He estimated McNair would need another two and a half years to be complete but said it still had enough capacity to take those patients.

“As Houston grows, and we’re growing, it’s nice to have that capacity to move into,” Lembcke said.

[Wattleigh]

Bunch O' Updates from other threads

Autry Park

c/o hindesky on HAIF

















c/o Brijonmang on HAIF







Houston Methodist Centennial Tower

c/o hindesky on HAIF

















c/o Highrise Tower on HAIF















Project Green Tower

c/o hindesky on HAIF











Rice Chao & Lovett Colleges

c/o hindesky on HAIF











c/o Highrise Tower on HAIF







Hanover Tanglewood

c/o hindesky on HAIF











MD Anderson Clinical Services Building


c/o hindesky on HAIF









c/o Highrise Tower on HAIF





UTHealth Houston Research Park

-SCRB 5

c/o hindesky on HAIF













-UT Health Houston School of Public Health


c/o Highrise Tower on HAIF







c/o hindesky on HAIF









-MD Anderson South Campus Vivarium

c/o Highrise Tower on HAIF

[Wattleigh]

Holiday Inn Express / Staybridge Suites Downtown

c/o hindesky on HAIF




The Langley

c/o hindesky on HAIF













Chaucer

c/o hindesky on HAIF

[Wattleigh]

2120 Post Oak - Now at 44 Floors

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/busines...ton-hotel-galleria-post-oak-21036919.php

Exclusive: The Ritz-Carlton could be coming back to Houston. Here's what we know.

By Erica Grieder,
Staff Writer

Sep 10, 2025

A Houston developer is planning to bring the Ritz-Carlton back to the city.

Real estate firm Deiso Moss told the Houston Chronicle it is working with Marriott International, the Ritz-Carlton’s parent company, to develop a 44-story Ritz-Carlton hotel and branded residences at 2120 Post Oak Boulevard near the Galleria.

Deiso Moss's plans, as shared with the Chronicle, call for a hotel with 154 guest rooms as well as 114 private residences, "envisioned as gracious homes in the sky," beginning at 2,200 square feet. Hotel guests and condo owners will share 50,000 square feet of Ritz-Carlton restaurants, lounges and amenities. Residence owners will also have a private motor court, lobby, elevators and 27,000 square feet of exclusive amenities.

A spokesperson for the project said that the Ritz-Carlton will operate the hotel, while the condos will be available via a licensing agreement with Marriott International.

A website launched Wednesday allows people to register their interest in the residences.

This week, the firm was not yet ready to give a timeline for when the project will be completed or when sales will begin, or to specify what pricing will look like. The spokesperson declined to comment on the financing for the project.

As planned, the project at 2120 Post Oak would be the only Ritz-Carlton hotel in Houston, and the third in Texas, as well as the first Ritz Carlton- branded property in the city itself. Houston previously had a Ritz-Carlton hotel in River Oaks, which hosted the late Queen Elizabeth II when they toured Texas in 1991, but it was stripped of its name in 1997 along with three other Ritz-Carltons in New York, Washington, and Colorado.

Architect: Pickard Chilton / Ziegler Cooper
Interior Design: Rottet Studio
GC: Harvey Cleary

[Wattleigh]

Originally Posted by Wattleigh

2120 Post Oak - Now at 44 Floors

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/busines...ton-hotel-galleria-post-oak-21036919.php





Architect: Pickard Chilton / Ziegler Cooper
Interior Design: Rottet Studio
GC: Harvey Cleary

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news...on-hotel-condo-tower-uptown-houston.html

Not much new in this - but HBJ is projecting a 600' + tower for the site.

Would put it ahead of 5555 San Felipe (the 1st old Marathon Oil Tower, 562') at least. San Felipe Plaza is still the 2nd tallest Uptown at 625'.

[The Best Forumer]

Originally Posted by Dale

Anyone care to take a whack at my question on #13241 ?

I'll take a whack...

I don't know.

[Wattleigh]

I don't think this was posted when it was released last year, but UHD looks to be pursuing an expansion plan over the next 25 years.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/ho...uhd-state-of-the-university-19787135.php

UH-Downtown president shares expansion plan in annual 'State of the University' address

By Samantha Ketterer,
Staff Writer
Sep 26, 2024

University of Houston-Downtown will begin its 25-year campus expansion project with an acquired space in a skyscraper, more than 1 mile down the road in the business district.

The tenth floor at 1801 Main will house programs that focus on post-college success, helping students and alumni in a location near many of the places they hope to gain employment, UHD President Loren J. Blanchard said Thursday at a “State of the University” address. Leaders hope that more acquisitions will follow around the existing campus, as well as building renovations and purchased land that could double the university’s footprint by 2050.

“Expansion is inevitable if we are to reach our full potential as an institution,” Blanchard said.

The announcement came near the end of UH-Downtown's 50th anniversary year, which Blanchard launched in January with a master plan to expand into the Warehouse District. The details offered Thursday revealed three phases, the first of which would prop up buildings by 2030 on land already owned by the university. Those include student housing, a police department and academic building, a convocation center, and a building for performing arts and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

Over two phases through 2050, the university has also pinpointed 16 other spaces it could renovate, build or acquire through partnerships.

From UHD

[Wattleigh]

3100 West Alabama

Looks like a small office building just south of The Cabochon and east of the Lamar High School baseball field may be demolished. In its place - a new condo building. The proposal will go before the Planning Commission this week.

Current view c/o hindesky on HAIF









From the Planning Commission agenda for the week - also c/o hindesky on HAIF

[Wattleigh]

Chaucer

Crane went up on Saturday

c/o hindesky on HAIF









c/o OkieEric on HAIF

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Wattleigh

I don't think this was posted when it was released last year, but UHD looks to be pursuing an expansion plan over the next 25 years.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/ho...uhd-state-of-the-university-19787135.php



From UHD

If they are going to go through all that and be a full on major university rather than a commuter school, they should rebrand at some point and come out from UH's shadow.