Geoff8201

Personally I wasn’t expecting anything around this time of the year during the holidays. Will be eyeing it in January and hopefully after 4-5 years of delays we might see something. Did an open permit search. Looks like Parcel 1 will have a 3030 address while the site as a whole is 3120.

Wish granted for close ups… But as soon as I finish taking pics a guy shows up and starts attaching more renderings. Will edit or add another post later for the new ones unless someone beats me to it (which you’re welcome to, it’s hot outside!) I'm seeing two similar but different buildings so maybe these are the final concepts, or same building from different sides?

Honestly when I saw digging I figured it was more soil testing or utility marking, or other pre-construction site checks. But that they were going to be ongoing. I didn’t figure they would dig holes just to cover them back up and hightail it out of there. Could of just been a dog burying a bone.

Even more action, they’re digging.

They are adding a new section of chain link fence to block off the small parking lot off Buffalo Speedway. Most action I’ve seen on the site in years.

I figured they would build the entire Phase 1 at the same time…. At the very least build the residential and office building using the same crane(s). But we will see. W. Alabama continues to undergo construction which has progressed on the East Bound lanes right by the RO. It will be nicer and more walkable area once done.

Went back to the PC website. The RO is still on there and I don’t recall seeing any of these additional slides before. Good sign.

Did I read this correctly? Im so confused. A resort…. In the middle of Houston?

Thanks for the info! Does the Royalton have no basement so the standpipe runs under the slab of the first floor (which I presume sits on deep footings) off the fire pump? If so, I wonder why the builder elected to run the pipe under the floor and not through the ceiling of the first level? Last time I was in this building was 2005 so it’s been a while, I thought they did have a basement for mechanical. The break in that standpipe should have triggered the fire pump to turn on, along with flow switches indicating to the front desk and fire department water flow and a potential fire. The pump run would have increased the pressure under the floor even more. This should have occurred just prior or simultaneously to the break in the floor and the water flooding. I would assume while their wet pipe fire suppression system is crippled, that their alarm system would be working fine. Typically a building would implement a fire watch consisting of multiple people walking the building on shifts with 24/7 coverage. This is critical during an alarm outage. The loss of sprinklers and fire hose connections do not seem like reason enough to evacuate the entire building for a month or more, so what’s missing? Sprinklers in a condo with privately owned units are required in common area only. Lease properties are different where they do have to be in each unit.

It’s a question whether the broken pipe caused the structural issues or the structural issues caused the broken pipe. I had a colleague work here during construction back in 2002 time frame (we are stationary engineers, whom work in high rise buildings performing & supervising maintenance). He had told me during construction a large water pipe burst and flooded down to the lowest floor, but the building was still being built and no finishes we’re even close to going in. I recall he said they used schedule 40 pvc pipe for the water risers. Interesting it happened again with much more dire effects. Again which caused which. Structural failures for a 20 year old building are very alarming.

I heard today that they intend to transplant the trees within the site, or at least attempt it. That’s why the dirt lines were placed, something about it and the trees root system… makes it easier somehow to transplant them? I’m not sure how it works, I’m no arborist. I also heard the residential tower will end up being 12-14 floors of occupancy… but on top of a multilevel parking garage. Much shorter than the 37 floors originally proposed but this was expected. I found the following on Emporis listing the first building as 17 floors, which makes sense with the 12-14 floors on top of several levels of parking garage. https://www.emporis.com/buildings/1400038/the-ro-tower-i-houston-tx-usa We will likely see a 2023 start to the construction, but the site will still be divided into 8 parcels which means we should still see offices, a hotel and lots of retail in multiple phases. Edit: The Emporis site lists the 17-floor building use as commercial office. So some clarification is lost as I thought they were referring to the residential tower. We shall see.

I saw the same thing. Took some photos but until I see heavy equipment in droves and a crane foundation getting built I’ll hold my excitement. Also in curious searching I found 1. Spear Street Capital is no longer on board as the have listed the RO as a sold asset (https://spearstreetcapital.com/portfolio/sold/) and 2. Transwestern still has listings for leasable space at the RO. These listings have been there for a while. (https://transwestern.com/property/the-ro-3120-buffalo-speedway). (attached photo was taken on July 13th)

This discussion on boundaries got covered on the previous pages of this thread. The RO doesn’t fall within the boundaries of River Oaks, Upper Kirby or Greenway Plaza. Google any one of those with “Boundary Map” and you will see the borders. Some maps are more accurate and detailed then others. Take Realtor provided boundary maps with a grain of salt. With the boundary of River Oaks being a block away, and the name “The RO” not being used elsewhere it’s no surprise they used it. Maybe the initials RO don’t actually even stand for River Oaks? 🤔 Centerpoint has been doing work along W. Alabama replacing poles and aging equipment. Sanitary Sewer updates have taken place along Buffalo Spdwy and W. Alabama is supposed to get updated in the coming years on the Upper Kirby (Buffalo to Shepherd) and COH (Buffalo to Weslayan) sides. Both plans would replace storm sewers, replace the streets, add sidewalks and add bike lanes. As for the RO, last I heard they were looking for more Capital. Bears the question if Spear Street is still on board. I’m just hoping in the short term, they fix this leaking valve that has been pouring water since the freeze last year. That’s it. That’s all I know for now.

Heard through the grapevine not to expect anything happening here all through 2021. A big scale back may happen cutting the building heights in half, or potentially combining their functions and cutting the number of buildings down. But in the age of Covid, for a giant site that was going to house restaurants, a hotel and an office building, is anyone surprised. I personally hope the wait and see method pays off, and post covid the demand for everything comes roaring back.

Correction, the groundwater cleanup online meeting I was referring to is for 3509 Texas Street. The digging goes and is progressing slowly. I’ll post a photo from atop the Lamar Tower when it looks more progressed. Feel like I’ve posted enough pics of an empty lot for now. Highrises’s photos nailed it.