HOUSTON | Development Thread II

[Urbannizer]

Updates Taken Today by Golyadkin

The Millenium - 237 Unit Apartment Building








Link

BBVA - 2200 Post Oak - Rendering



Link

BLVD Place - Whole Foods - Rendering







Link

[N90]

Some more info bout previous or new projects.

The Horizon- Supposedly the ground breaking is in February 2012.

The Ashby Highrise- Supposedly is breaking ground in January 2012.

La Porte to get a 16 Story Tower:

Site work and new construction of a mixed-use development in La Porte. Schematic design plans call for the construction of a 16-story office building including office space, storage space, and restrooms. Plans also include a hotel with guest rooms.

Source: https://www.bidclerk.com/project.1100641.html

I hope his new tower is on the Galveston Bay in La Porte so that way other towers could develop around this one and it can create an emerging skyline, an emerging coastal skyline that continues to elude Galveston.

[JoninATX]

New 23-story tower

Site work, demolition and new construction of a mixed-use tower in Houston. Working plans call for the demolition of an existing apartment complex to make way for a 23-story tower to house a five-story, parking garage with 460 spaces

Reported 09/30/2011

Status Pre-Construction

Est. Start Date January 2012

https://www.bidclerk.com/project.672794.html#

It seems that there map on there website is misleading it has it pointing at the Houston vistor center? I wonder if this is the Ashby project?

[Chicago3rd]

Originally Posted by N90

Resurrection of the 23 story Ashbury Apartment Tower:

Excerpt:

Source: http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/...ashby-is-back/

Am for it if it has retail or offices on street level. Putting a one/use type of building in a suburban sort of area does not lead to Urbanism.

[Complex01]

Here are some pics of the Dynamo stadium. It is gonna have some awesome DT views. Looking fancy...

[TexasPlaya]

Interesting pdf presentation by Houston Tomorrow about our current and future transit situation. Lots of interesting graphs.

[N90]

Originally Posted by JoninATX

It seems that there map on there website is misleading it has it pointing at the Houston vistor center? I wonder if this is the Ashby project?

Yeah this is the Ashby Highrise.

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Interesting pdf presentation by Houston Tomorrow about our current and future transit situation. Lots of interesting graphs.

I remember posting this yesterday on Houston Architecture, no one gave it a second thought at all it seems. That PDF is nice but its just too long term to matter. 2035 is a long time away and most of us will be plagued by old age by then. Hah.

Originally Posted by Chicago3rd

Am for it if it has retail or offices on street level. Putting a one/use type of building in a suburban sort of area does not lead to Urbanism.

I agree that at the present moment it just comes across as bizarre and estranged. Two things contribute to Houston's awkward way of urbanizing.

1. It lacks zoning, making projects like these possible to get approved without further questioning.

2. Houston is at a mature post in its growth, over the next 35 years it will be doing projects like these a lot and infilling by destroying detached family structures or low rises. Think of this now in Houston as what Chicago was in 1880 or 1890, except Chicago was quite a lot more centralized.

Basically this tower will stick out like a sore thumb when built but 10 or 15 years from now it will be accompanied by more towers near it. Houston is a fast city to destroy older structures in place for newer and larger ones. There is no doubt that if this gets built other developers will swarm to the area like wildfire to do the same. The area is centralized and has a desirable location, it's pretty much just waiting to star digging dirt and turning shovels on these projects.

[Chicago3rd]

Originally Posted by N90

Yeah this is the Ashby Highrise.

I remember posting this yesterday on Houston Architecture, no one gave it a second thought at all it seems. That PDF is nice but its just too long term to matter. 2035 is a long time away and most of us will be plagued by old age by then. Hah.

I agree that at the present moment it just comes across as bizarre and estranged. Two things contribute to Houston's awkward way of urbanizing.

1. It lacks zoning, making projects like these possible to get approved without further questioning.

2. Houston is at a mature post in its growth, over the next 35 years it will be doing projects like these a lot and infilling by destroying detached family structures or low rises. Think of this now in Houston as what Chicago was in 1880 or 1890, except Chicago was quite a lot more centralized.

Basically this tower will stick out like a sore thumb when built but 10 or 15 years from now it will be accompanied by more towers near it. Houston is a fast city to destroy older structures in place for newer and larger ones. There is no doubt that if this gets built other developers will swarm to the area like wildfire to do the same. The area is centralized and has a desirable location, it's pretty much just waiting to star digging dirt and turning shovels on these projects.

I find this exciting! But again can you imagine all these towers going in without retail/office to support these new dense neighborhoods. And your point about Chicago was excellent!

[Shasta]

Originally Posted by N90

Yeah this is the Ashby Highrise.

I remember posting this yesterday on Houston Architecture, no one gave it a second thought at all it seems. That PDF is nice but its just too long term to matter. 2035 is a long time away and most of us will be plagued by old age by then. Hah.

I agree that at the present moment it just comes across as bizarre and estranged. Two things contribute to Houston's awkward way of urbanizing.

1. It lacks zoning, making projects like these possible to get approved without further questioning.

2. Houston is at a mature post in its growth, over the next 35 years it will be doing projects like these a lot and infilling by destroying detached family structures or low rises. Think of this now in Houston as what Chicago was in 1880 or 1890, except Chicago was quite a lot more centralized.

Basically this tower will stick out like a sore thumb when built but 10 or 15 years from now it will be accompanied by more towers near it. Houston is a fast city to destroy older structures in place for newer and larger ones. There is no doubt that if this gets built other developers will swarm to the area like wildfire to do the same. The area is centralized and has a desirable location, it's pretty much just waiting to star digging dirt and turning shovels on these projects.

Nope. This tower is completely surrounded by deed restricted neighborhoods. Everything South of Bissonnet is Southampton. Southampton has fairly strong deed restrictions that limit development to single family homes and it also has very strict height requirements that generally limits structures to two stories. Everything to the North is either Boulevard Oaks or Broadacres. Both of these neighborhoods have deed restrictions. Broadacres is VERY strict. North, South, and West Boulevards are probably the most beautiful in the city, with wide parks down the center with towering live oak trees and houses from the 1920s sitting on full acres. Famous houses like the Wortham House which houses the University of Houston president, will now have a huge tower looking down on them.

Bissonnet is the ONLY sliver in that area that isn't deed restricted because it is considered a major roadway, despite it being just a two-laned road between Main St (to the East) and Greenbrier (to the West). Despite the lack of deed restrictions, the road in this area is still largely residential with no structures over 40 feet tall. The few businesses on that street are housed in single family homes that have been converted (antique stores, doctor's offices, etc...). This is a HORRIBLE location for a tower for everyone but the developers looking to make a buck by either a) ruining stable inner city neighborhoods or b) winning a lawsuit

[TexasPlaya]

Originally Posted by N90

I remember posting this yesterday on Houston Architecture, no one gave it a second thought at all it seems. That PDF is nice but its just too long term to matter. 2035 is a long time away and most of us will be plagued by old age by then. Hah.

Very true a lot of it is long range. However, there's a lot of interesting info on our current state of affairs, especially where the jobs and density are. If we could just actually get the University and Uptown rail going then we would have the beginning of a real system.

[Reverberation]

I don't know if anyone noticed, but they have broken ground and the 22 story residential project near Westheimer and Sage (Next to Walgreens) is now under construction.

Renderings (from HAIF):




http://www.houstonarchitecture.com/h...galleria-area/

[chrisherber]

Sad that the River Oaks project was downsized, either way it still looks pretty good. Anyone know where it will be located and when they will start construction?

[simms3_redux]

Originally Posted by TexasPlaya

Interesting pdf presentation by Houston Tomorrow about our current and future transit situation. Lots of interesting graphs.

I like. Very informative

[Sterling]

I'm glad for the density implied by the Ashbury concept. Deed restrictions may hamper the future for awhile, but time marches on. In the early 20th century 5th Avenue in New York along Central Park was the showplace of industrial age millionaires. Huge ornate single family houses were built, seemingly to last forever. Fights ensued over density and perceived loss of "charm", but the lure of big money won as it always does, and now only a few remain, now repurposed. The Frick Gallery for instance. And in spite of lawsuits, family holdouts and the like, 5th Ave is now home to multi story apartment buildings like the rest of the city. NIMBY is not a new concept.

As cities grow, one generation's "hallowed family hall" becomes the next generations "white elephant". One generation says "you'll get my keys when you pry them from my cold dead fingers". The next generation says "Here are the keys. I always hated this place anyway".

[YakuzaIce]

Well I got out this morning to take a few pictures.

Westheimer @ Sage




2200 Post Oak (really started pouring here, so the pics aren't great.)




Bonus Transco in the rain

[Complex01]

Nice, the galleria area will have a few cranes up. Very Kewl...

[weatherguru18]

Looks like The Woodlands is getting another highrise!

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/...the-woodlands/

[N90]

Originally Posted by N90

147 Unit Multifamily Complex for Midtown Houston [Elgin & Louisiana Streets]:

Excerpt:

Source: http://innerlooped.com/1291/new-apar...ng-to-midtown/

I like the infill, this multifamily complex will have the same design as the one across the street and will replace a surface parking lot!

More information about these apartments going up in Midtown are available here:

http://ataps1.pd.ci.houston.tx.us/drc/PC+Meeting+Calendar.nsf/WebDocumentOpen/5CE42489235C6019862577FA006DB2E3/$FILE/Draft+Agenda.pdf

[N90]

Originally Posted by Shasta

Nope. This tower is completely surrounded by deed restricted neighborhoods. Everything South of Bissonnet is Southampton. Southampton has fairly strong deed restrictions that limit development to single family homes and it also has very strict height requirements that generally limits structures to two stories. Everything to the North is either Boulevard Oaks or Broadacres. Both of these neighborhoods have deed restrictions. Broadacres is VERY strict. North, South, and West Boulevards are probably the most beautiful in the city, with wide parks down the center with towering live oak trees and houses from the 1920s sitting on full acres. Famous houses like the Wortham House which houses the University of Houston president, will now have a huge tower looking down on them.

Bissonnet is the ONLY sliver in that area that isn't deed restricted because it is considered a major roadway, despite it being just a two-laned road between Main St (to the East) and Greenbrier (to the West). Despite the lack of deed restrictions, the road in this area is still largely residential with no structures over 40 feet tall. The few businesses on that street are housed in single family homes that have been converted (antique stores, doctor's offices, etc...). This is a HORRIBLE location for a tower for everyone but the developers looking to make a buck by either a) ruining stable inner city neighborhoods or b) winning a lawsuit

While true, I still disagree to a large extent.

Yes and for a very long time during one of the fastest periods of its growth New York had no zoning but eventually sorted it out as well. Los Angeles during the start of its high growth had lax zoning restrictions.

Houston in the next 40 years wont stay the same, the policies and regulations written on paper today possibly wont exist 40 years from now, nothing is ever written in stone for growth and development is one thing I've learned about cities from their past to their future. Houston's lack of zoning is now because the people vote it down now, its quite possible that in the period of the next 40 years that Houston may adopt zoning and get rid of some regulations and protections altogether. What's historical neighborhoods today through gentrification, growth, and development may end up a string of mid-rises tomorrow.

What I'm saying is that Houston is still dominantly a maturing city now and will be for the next 20 or 30 years, lots of infill will come in, lots of changes, lots of new density and developments. I think we should give the place the benefit of time and let it do its own thing.

[N90]

Merit Medical Campus, Pearland:

Details:

The facility will be situated in a business park owned by a Betz Cos. partnership, which retains an additional 23 acres of land on the same lot.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/m...-pearland.html

Then there's also this, which I don't really consider a "true" development because the building already exists but they're renovating it and preparing it for a different use than what it had been in the past. See below.

Former Downtown Houston Cookie Factory to become lofts:

Details:

City View Lofts is now open after a major transformation that created a downtown residential space out of the 100-year-old former Nabisco cookie factory.

Source: http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/n...on-cookie.html

Houston airports selected for Obama's project:

Details:

A project involving Houston’s two commercial airports was selected as one of 14 infrastructure projects by the Obama Administration to be expedited.

Source: http://www.mmdnewswire.com/obama-adm...ion-71164.html