[jt16]

I got out of a meeting with the leasing manager for Brookfield. She told me that they were in talks with a large tenant (Devon) to build another tower. It was listed on this site earlier that the greenspace in front of Continental Tower would be the location. She said they were now looking at building on the parking lot just east of 45 and North of the Met Parking Garage. She also confirmed that the Heritage Plaza is going ahead with their parking garage on the adjacent surface lot. They signed two large tenants and are now in a position to finally begin construction.

Forgive me if this has been discussed before.

[Subdude]

Great news! I'm kind of glad they are going with that surface lot across from the Met garage instead of the grassy area in front of Continental. At one point Enron considered that lot for its second building, and later there was some plan for a condo tower there I think. I know we have this discussion about every proposal, but given the visibility of this location on the western skyline, I really hope they go with something spectacular looking. (Not that I really expect it.) This is the perfect location for that "Houston icon" building.

[RedScare]

I agree, this lot would produce a front row view. Hopefully, whoever develops it realizes the significance of that location to the favored westside skyline photographers.

As for the parking garage, I assume you meant cattycorner, as opposed to adjacent to Heritage Plaza, jt?

EDIT: Nevermind. You meant the two adjacent parking lots.

This post has been edited by RedScare: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 4:14 PM

[jt16]

RedScare, on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 @ 4:13pm, said:

I agree, this lot would produce a front row view. Hopefully, whoever develops it realizes the significance of that location to the favored westside skyline photographers.

As for the parking garage, I assume you meant cattycorner, as opposed to adjacent to Heritage Plaza, jt?

EDIT: Nevermind. You meant the two adjacent parking lots.

That's correct. Brookfield is making a major push in Downtown Houston. They recently purchase 1201 Louisiana, and are supposedly making a run on the BofA Tower.

The tenant interested in a new building is Devon. Supposedly they weren't too keen on the proposed building next to the Continental Tower and is pushing for the parking lot location instead.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Any details on the building's dimensions?

[Houston19514]

Cool news! Like Subdude (and apparently like Devon as well), I'm happy to hear they are going in the direction of building on that surface lot instead of on the nice, landscaped area in front by the Continental Center. We have too many surface lots to use up before we start tearing up green space for buildings! ;-)

If it's true about Devon being the primary tenant, they may not have been too keen on the location by Continental Center because they would have been almost completely surrounded by Chevron.

[Trae]

How tall are we talking? I am glad greenspace is being saved.

[Houston19514]

This is what Brookfield refers to as the Gateway Site. On their website, they have it slated as being able to accommodate a 700,000 square foot building.

[The Great Hizzy!]

So maybe in the vicinity of 30 stories, depending on how wide the building is?

[Trae]

So, it would be about 40 stories or less?

Hizzy posted right before me. Not a bad size, but will be dwarfed by the rest of Houston's skyline.

This post has been edited by Trae: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 at 5:52 PM

[HtownWxBoy]

jt16, on Wednesday, June 6th, 2007 @ 3:54pm, said:

I got out of a meeting with the leasing manager for Brookfield. She told me that they were in talks with a large tenant (Devon) to build another tower. It was listed on this site earlier that the greenspace in front of Continental Tower would be the location. She said they were now looking at building on the parking lot just east of 45 and North of the Met Parking Garage. She also confirmed that the Heritage Plaza is going ahead with their parking garage on the adjacent surface lot. They signed two large tenants and are now in a position to finally begin construction.

Forgive me if this has been discussed before.

Great news. :-) Hopefully they will build soon!

[Subdude]

I doubt they would take the risk on something very tall, but with the high-profile it should at least be architecturally distinctive. Since that side of the skyline gets great lighting at sunset, I would like to see something almost prismatic looking, like the Hearst Tower in New York.

This post has been edited by Subdude: Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 10:37 AM

[KinkaidAlum]

Good news about building the "gateway site" before the 1500 Smith St site. I really hope this is true. Devon is already a fairly large tenant in one of the Allen Center Bldgs now (bldg named after the company). Doesn't Brookfield own that bldg?

[Trae]

I hope they cheat their way into being a tall building by doing an Atlanta. Have 55 stories, but have the spire go really high. Like this tower:

[GovernorAggie]

Trae, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 10:30am, said:

I hope they cheat their way into being a tall building by doing an Atlanta. Have 55 stories, but have the spire go really high. Like this tower:

LOL, I'm with you on that one! That thing may as well be chicken wire wrapped around a frame--but it gets the effect done!

Mobile, AL just opened the RSA Tower--35 floors...over 700 feet (I think closer to 800 actually)! It has a huge see-through spire (at least 100') at the top a la Bank of America Atlanta. Bank of America Charlotte's crown is also about 100' tall.

This post has been edited by GovernorAggie: Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 10:54 AM

[Houston19514]

KinkaidAlum, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 10:10am, said:

Good news about building the "gateway site" before the 1500 Smith St site. I really hope this is true. Devon is already a fairly large tenant in one of the Allen Center Bldgs now (bldg named after the company). Doesn't Brookfield own that bldg?

Yes, Brookfield does own the Devon Energy Tower in Allen Center.

[Subdude]

GovernorAggie, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 10:53am, said:

LOL, I'm with you on that one! That thing may as well be chicken wire wrapped around a frame--but it gets the effect done!

Mobile, AL just opened the RSA Tower--35 floors...over 700 feet (I think closer to 800 actually)! It has a huge see-through spire (at least 100') at the top a la Bank of America Atlanta. Bank of America Charlotte's crown is also about 100' tall.

To me that Atlanta design looks very dated.
Of course, the "Freedom Tower" (how I wish they would change that name) is the king of the meaningless spire skyscrapers.

[jt16]

Devon is in Two Allen currently, but is growing and looking for additional space.

[Double L]

This should be an important project, it is a rare case in Houston's history that we can recieve a change of the west skyline.

[Mister X]

Very true. I hope that the builder and architect realize that this building, however tall or short, will be among the most photographed buildings in the city. So PLEASE make it a good one.

That other location would have made anything less than 50 stories be practally invisible in every direction. The new location puts the tower on Houston's front stage.

[lockmat]

Mister X, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 1:43pm, said:

Very true. I hope that the builder and architect realize that this building, however tall or short, will be among the most photographed buildings in the city. So PLEASE make it a good one.

That other location would have made anything less than 50 stories be practally invisible in every direction. The new location puts the tower on Houston's front stage.

I wouldn't get my hopes up.

[Mister X]

That may be a realistic attitude. But I don't want to look at the prospect of a new building in that location with dread until something is official, so I'll just cling to my hope and hope for the best. Actually, as long as the building isn't a total eyesore, I'll be happy. Even if they only build another insignificant 30 story boxy looking building in that spot, it will make the view of downtown look wider at a distance from the southwest and northeast.

Downtown looks bigger when viewed from the north, northwest, west, south, southeast and east, but from the southwest and northeast I think it needs a little padding. And unless I'm wrong about the surface lot they are talking about, a building in that spot will make an impact. At a distance, good buildings and bad buildings look about the same (unless they are really tall or have a sloped roof) I'm talking about viewing the entire downtown skyline as if it were one giant blob from a few miles out. This building will make the blob bigger where it's most needed.

The Discovery Park proprosed tower will also help make dt look bigger (from the south and north). I love it when they build towers on the edge of DT.

This post has been edited by Mister X: Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 3:18 PM

[lockmat]

Mister X, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 2:15pm, said:

That maybe a realistic attitude.

I say that, but I still kind of have your mentality too. I'm wishing the best and can't wait.

[bach]

Glad to hear that they're going ahead with the garage for Heritage Plaza. The two large tenants they've signed are EOG and Deloitte. They had discussed including a residential tower component, but I believe that's out. I also believe there will be room to develop something else later on.

The Brookfield building will be glass, and I believe most people (ok, maybe not people in this forum) will be pleased. Won't be a concrete box. I believe the lead tenant's broker had some influence on location. That one-acre of green space was going to be very tight, even though it was designed as a site for a future building. That was before we needed larger spaces for larger floorplates.

[Subdude]

bach, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 3:27pm, said:

The Brookfield building will be glass, and I believe most people (ok, maybe not people in this forum) will be pleased.

Well we have higher standards!

[Trae]

Could someone map the parking lot? I'm not familiar with Downtown as much as some here.

This post has been edited by Trae: Thursday, June 7, 2007 at 4:18 PM

[REALaw]

Trae, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 4:18pm, said:

Could someone map the parking lot? I'm not familiar with Downtown as much as some here.

 newbldgs.JPG (111.85K)
Number of downloads: 49

[Trae]

Damn, that is right in the front of it all. The arrow points to the tower.

Attached File(s)

•  brookfield_site.JPG (80.8K)
  Number of downloads: 58

[Mister X]

bach, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 1:27pm, said:

Glad to hear that they're going ahead with the garage for Heritage Plaza. The two large tenants they've signed are EOG and Deloitte. They had discussed including a residential tower component, but I believe that's out. I also believe there will be room to develop something else later on.

The Brookfield building will be glass, and I believe most people (ok, maybe not people in this forum) will be pleased. Won't be a concrete box. I believe the lead tenant's broker had some influence on location. That one-acre of green space was going to be very tight, even though it was designed as a site for a future building. That was before we needed larger spaces for larger floorplates.

Thanks for the info, Bach.

If you know that the building they are concidering will be glass, do you also know how tall it will be? The Brookfield website states that a building of 700,000 sq ft can go on that lot. I'm assuming 700,000 means 30-40 floors. Do you think that because they need larger floorplates, that could mean that the building will be shorter rather than taller?

[Saddleman]

Wow, that's right out front. This building needs to be very show-y.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Subdude, on Thursday, June 7th, 2007 @ 9:14am, said:

I doubt they would take the risk on something very tall, but with the high-profile it should at least be architecturally distinctive. Since that side of the skyline gets great lighting at sunset, I would like to see something almost prismatic looking, like the Hearst Tower in New York.

I agree with Subdude in theory but as for his example, I don't particularly care for the Hearst Tower. The criss crossing lines actually take away from the shape of the building, IMO. Makes the facade look too busy and you end up getting distracted.

[lockmat]

The Great Hizzy!, on Friday, June 8th, 2007 @ 8:20am, said:

I agree with Subdude in theory but as for his example, I don't particularly care for the Hearst Tower. The criss crossing lines actually take away from the shape of the building, IMO. Makes the facade look too busy and you end up getting distracted.

Yeah, it seems pretty cool, but it doesn't blend in well with the surrounding buildings. It might be better off if it was just standing alone. I wouldn't want to see something like that at the forefront of our skyline.

[ChannelTwoNews]

Since this was the only topic I could find that was dedicated to Brookfield's Gateway Tract, I figured I'd post it here.

It was briefly mentioned in this article (publicly viewable in a few days)

It's planned to be 50 stories, still all glass and working for LEED Gold certification. It won't be built until it is 50% leased.

[Trae]

No early renderings yet?

[The Great Hizzy!]

50 stories? Why do I recall early discussions referring to something "smaller"?

Anyway, great news, especially if it comes to fruition.

[arche787]

50 stories? Seems a bit large especially given the current story in the HBJ that there are 3 new office towers planned for downtown (or did I miss the point that this is one of them?)?

Well the more that get built the better as that will drop rental rates in DT.

[ChannelTwoNews]

arche787, on Saturday, March 15th, 2008 @ 3:57pm, said:

50 stories? Seems a bit large especially given the current story in the HBJ that there are 3 new office towers planned for downtown (or did I miss the point that this is one of them?)?

Well the more that get built the better as that will drop rental rates in DT.

It's mentioned in addition to the three towers in the article (MainPlace, Discovery Tower, 6HC). As I mentioned before, the entire article should be viewable in a few days, though that's the bulk of what was said about the project in question.

[NewMND]

Well if they need to lease 50% of the space before construction starts, it seems like there would be a rendering somewhere that they use to show to potential tenants. Maybe someone will leak the rendering

This post has been edited by NewMND: Sunday, March 16, 2008 at 5:27 AM

[swtsig]

Trae, on Friday, March 14th, 2008 @ 3:53pm, said:

No early renderings yet?

perhaps...

[NewMND]

swtsig, on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 @ 2:41am, said:

perhaps...

I'm guessing maybe you've seen a rendering, and if you have, I must know, is it west wall worthy? This building is going to be out there in front, for all to see, on pretty much the most photographed side of downtown. Would be a shame if it's another effing box.

[KinkaidAlum]

Seems as if Brookfield has done the smart thing and "merged" their two proposals. They first came out with a 35 to 42 story tower for 1500 Smith Street. Then the news leaked about a smaller tower on the "gateway" parcel. Seems as if they are now focusing all their leasing efforts on one tower (the better/more visible parcel) which makes sense.

A poster about a year ago mentioned Devon Energy. They are growing quickly. So quickly that they've announced a new 37 story tower for their home in Oklahoma City. That would make it the city's tallest. Seems as if they'd be a perfect fit for a 50 story trophy tower in an area they are already familiar with (Allen Center).......

[Houston19514]

KinkaidAlum, on Sunday, March 16th, 2008 @ 10:41pm, said:

Seems as if Brookfield has done the smart thing and "merged" their two proposals. They first came out with a 35 to 42 story tower for 1500 Smith Street. Then the news leaked about a smaller tower on the "gateway" parcel. Seems as if they are now focusing all their leasing efforts on one tower (the better/more visible parcel) which makes sense.

A poster about a year ago mentioned Devon Energy. They are growing quickly. So quickly that they've announced a new 37 story tower for their home in Oklahoma City. That would make it the city's tallest. Seems as if they'd be a perfect fit for a 50 story trophy tower in an area they are already familiar with (Allen Center).......

I think any earlier discussion of a proposed height for the gateway site was just speculation based on the 700,000 square foot size stated on Brookfield's website (reasonable speculation, but speculation nonetheless). FWIW, the Brookfield website still says 700,000 square feet.

[KinkaidAlum]

While the speculation may have been true, I would doubt this 50 story bldg would only contain 700,000 square feet. That would result in 14,000 square foot floor plates and that would never fly in today's CLASS A market. This is why I am assuming the two Brookfield projects have merged into one and that their website hasn't been updated (but potential leasors have).

[ricco67]

While the location may be in question, I wonder if its related to a thread I started a year ago.

[lockmat]

ricco67, on Monday, March 17th, 2008 @ 11:39am, said:

While the location may be in question, I wonder if its related to a thread I started a year ago.

Sure looks like it to me uncle ricco. Merge?

[Houston19514]

KinkaidAlum, on Monday, March 17th, 2008 @ 10:11am, said:

While the speculation may have been true, I would doubt this 50 story bldg would only contain 700,000 square feet. That would result in 14,000 square foot floor plates and that would never fly in today's CLASS A market. This is why I am assuming the two Brookfield projects have merged into one and that their website hasn't been updated (but potential leasors have).

I understand your logic and agree with it. (But, we're also assuming that the journalist got it right when they wrote that 50-story thing, not something I would bet money on...)

[lockmat]

Houston19514, on Monday, March 17th, 2008 @ 12:07pm, said:

I understand your logic and agree with it. (But, we're also assuming that the journalist got it right when they wrote that 50-story thing, not something I would bet money on...)

Journalist? Isn't the 50-story straight from the website?

[Houston19514]

lockmat, on Monday, March 17th, 2008 @ 11:08am, said:

Journalist? Isn't the 50-story straight from the website?

Nope. Don't think so.

[lockmat]

Houston19514, on Monday, March 17th, 2008 @ 12:10pm, said:

Nope. Don't think so.

You're right. It says 50 for the existing 1400 Smith, which by the way is 1,267,000 sqf = about 25,000 sqf/plate. Their site says 25-30k plates for 1500 Smith, which the math says...

800,000 total
- 32 floors for 25k/plate
- 26/27 floors for 30k/plate

1,000,000 total
- 40 floors for 25k/plate
- 33ish floors for 30k/plate

Not that yall needed that. Guess it's just for me. But per their numbers, I guess we're looking at something anywhere between 26-40 floors?

[Houston19514]

lockmat, on Monday, March 17th, 2008 @ 11:25am, said:

You're right. It says 50 for the existing 1400 Smith, which by the way is 1,267,000 sqf = about 25,000 sqf/plate. Their site says 25-30k plates for 1500 Smith, which the math says...

800,000 total
- 32 floors for 25k/plate
- 26/27 floors for 30k/plate

1,000,000 total
- 40 floors for 25k/plate
- 33ish floors for 30k/plate

Not that yall needed that. Guess it's just for me. But per their numbers, I guess we're looking at something anywhere between 26-40 floors?

1500 Smith is a different project. The one they are apparently concentrating on, and that we are discussing in this thread is their "Gateway" site.