River Oaks District: Mixed-Use Development At 4444 Westheimer Rd. & 4702 Westheimer Rd.

[monarch]

 

 

^^^ HARRY WINSTON at ROD, soft opening 01 july, grand opening september 2016.

9000 sq.ft., their largest establishment to date... even larger than the new york main retail salon.

houston's groove has definitely returned....

 

[Urbannizer]

ROD via Flickr:

 

River Oaks District by russell.hancock, on Flickr

 

Downtown by russell.hancock, on Flickr

 

River Oaks District by russell.hancock, on Flickr

 

River Oaks District by russell.hancock, on Flickr

 

[Houston19514]

On 7/14/2016 at 10:27 AM, imagoman said:

Someone referred to ROD coming alive (more?) with the most recent restaurant openings, and that makes sense to me even though I personally am not impressed (quite the opposite) with some of the restaurants.  I love ROD, and am excited about the few stores signed and yet to open, like the gelato place, etc.   What I find most interesting, however, from a business perspective is how many empty spaces still remain.  If one looks at the current site plan in the brochure, there is a LOT of unleased space, much of which could be described as 'among the least attractive locations within the property."  I would guess that the somewhat of a recession Houston is experiencing, or slowdown, or employment dips, or whatever a person chooses to describe our current economy, is the primary factor in what seems to me to be a dramatic slowdown and loss of momentum.  Just interesting to me, and makes me wonder about the future of ROD in particular, and the undeveloped (and 'to be redeveloped someday') properties surrounding it.  I hope this makes sense to you.  All thoughts as always are welcome as I continue to enjoy the beauty of ROD's total experience.

 

nm

Edited July 26, 2016 by Houston19514

[rayjay]

http://wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/harry-winston-opens-houston-10496460/

Quote

Harry Winston has opened in Houston. The jewelry house marks its 12th U.S. location with the unveiling of its new River Oaks District salon.

 

The unit will carry a full breadth of Harry Winston fine jewelry, watches and rare stones.

 

The brand already operates a boutique in the Highland Park Village of Dallas, Texas.

 

“As the fourth-largest city in the U.S., Houston was a natural choice for our newest salon location. Our future expansion plans for the U.S. market include the opening of our first salon in San Francisco in early 2017,” Harry Winston chief executive officer Nayla Hayek said of the opening.

 

The store is meant to strike a visual balance between contemporary Americana and the brand’s classical retail elements — refined moldings, graphic tiled floors, et al. It measures 4,528 square feet.

 

River Oaks, an outdoor shopping mall, is also home to high-end jewelry retailers including Cartier, Chopard and Van Cleef & Arpels.

 

[imagoman]

Thanks, Urbanizzer, for some great photos of wonderful ROD!  I'm guessing a droid might've been involved, or some Flash Gordon equipment.

 

I heard a rumor from a buddy yesterday, who claims his source 'definitely knows,' that Equinox has signed a hotel agreement with Oliver McMillan for the 'LePeep / Sullivan's' tract.  I think it's called ROD, Phase II.   Unfortunately, the source said that like every developer (except perhaps Hines) they cannot obtain financing for the office building and the development until they get a lot more office leasing signatures, especially a chore in this economy.  Equinox, the fitness club  company, recently announced a hotel division, with their first project being built in LA.  I guess movies and TV shows are still selling, much better than energy products and services these days!

[Houston19514]

24 minutes ago, imagoman said:

Thanks, Urbanizzer, for some great photos of wonderful ROD!  I'm guessing a droid might've been involved, or some Flash Gordon equipment.

 

I heard a rumor from a buddy yesterday, who claims his source 'definitely knows,' that Equinox has signed a hotel agreement with Oliver McMillan for the 'LePeep / Sullivan's' tract.  I think it's called ROD, Phase II.   Unfortunately, the source said that like every developer (except perhaps Hines) they cannot obtain financing for the office building and the development until they get a lot more office leasing signatures, especially a chore in this economy.  Equinox, the fitness club  company, recently announced a hotel division, with their first project being built in LA.  I guess movies and TV shows are still selling, much better than energy products and services these days!

 

Are you saying the hotel is contingent on the office building going forward?

 

River Oaks District Phase II

[monarch]

Upscale fitness chain Equinox has announced plans to open at many as 75 fitness-centric hotels around the world, and the first one is going to be located in the Hudson Yards megaproject on Manhattan's West Side. (This makes sense, as the project's developer, Related, acquired Equinox in 2006.) The hotel, designed by Yabu Pushelberg, will include a 60,000-square-foot gym. Joining of ranks for fashionable tenants at Hudson Yards, it will cater to the clientele with indoor and outdoor pools and a restaurant featuring organic and locally sourced ingredients. It's expected to open in 2018 and will be followed by a Los Angeles hotel in 2019.

^^^ @imagoman well my pal, you were correct in regards to the BONPOINT boutique, and now it seems that you have struck gold again.  upon 

receiving news regarding the RITZ CARLTON possibly laying down their golden anchor at the GALLERIA, and with our city's first W HOTEL possibly

slated as per the UPTOWN development, i was beginning to acquire a very strong feeling that the hotel portion of the EQUINOX brand was possibly

stirring up something with OLIVER MCMILLAN.  i saw what they were proposing for LA as well as NY above, and yet, i knew that phase II of ROD was

upon the horizon.  the EQUINOX HOTEL would be a 5***** star powerhouse, as well as a perfect compliment to our burgeoning ROD development.

definitely something to smile about....

Edited July 26, 2016 by monarch

[Montrose1100]

fitness-centric hotel? Most places have pools & gyms/workout spaces. Although a buff staff might be an attractive booking thought... it's a weird concept.

 

I picture a boot camp situation where you don't have control of the alarm time and are forced to take the stairs. Sync your fitness pal app to their data base and get refused certain items from room service.

[Texasota]

I weirdly like that idea.

[imagoman]

Monarch, our buddy with the mostest (news scoops), you are a veritable font of information!  And pretty pics, too. Thank you.  I hope the brand Equinox can compete with R-C and W.  I understand the company that owns the fitness centers is indeed owned by well-funded investors, and I hope it's true.  I know O-M will build a great team of architects, engineers, etc. to make Phase II at least as remarkable as Phase I.  As for the financing question, I don't know the answer of course, but the implication I received was that they want financing for the entire Phase II (hotel, office and retail...perhaps some highrise condos with the hotel) development.  I can understand why they'd want a complete project financing vs. breaking it up.  

 

Any feedback from anyone on their experiences of the ROD restaurants, Steak 48 and Taverna?  I've not tried either yet, and am curious about the quality and overall dining experience.  Thanks in advance.

[monarch]

^^^ welcome to ROD.. AKRIS!  swiss luxe now open....

[august948]

On 7/26/2016 at 6:20 PM, imagoman said:

Monarch, our buddy with the mostest (news scoops), you are a veritable font of information!  And pretty pics, too. Thank you.  I hope the brand Equinox can compete with R-C and W.  I understand the company that owns the fitness centers is indeed owned by well-funded investors, and I hope it's true.  I know O-M will build a great team of architects, engineers, etc. to make Phase II at least as remarkable as Phase I.  As for the financing question, I don't know the answer of course, but the implication I received was that they want financing for the entire Phase II (hotel, office and retail...perhaps some highrise condos with the hotel) development.  I can understand why they'd want a complete project financing vs. breaking it up.  

 

Any feedback from anyone on their experiences of the ROD restaurants, Steak 48 and Taverna?  I've not tried either yet, and am curious about the quality and overall dining experience.  Thanks in advance.

 

My wife and I ate at Taverna on a late afternoon weekday a couple of weeks ago.  At that time it was easy to get into.  I don't know if it gets more crowded on weekends but it started to fill up more as people wandered in after work.  Service was good but kind of hovering at times.  Food was decent, not great, but decent.  Reminded me a little of Paulie's but not quite as good and about twice the price.  There were quite a few done-up young women gathered at tables and at the bar.  One or two were with much older men.  I started to get a Brasserie 19 vibe as time went on and more people showed up.  Might go there some weekend night to see if that vibe holds up.  When I paid our ~$60 check with a hundred the waiter asked me if I wanted change.  Service was good, but not THAT good.

 

We're planning on trying Toulouse and Hopdoddy sometime in the near future.  Maybe also Le Colonial as well when it opens, though I'm pretty sure I'll be disappointed since I've been eating home-cooked Vietnamese for 30 years and the best of Bellaire Blvd for 17.

[JCR]

20 hours ago, august948 said:

 

There were quite a few done-up young women gathered at tables and at the bar.  One or two were with much older men. 

You mean the working girls that run the River Oaks/Galleria corridor?

[gene]

looks like Le Colonial will be open in just a couple of weeks:

http://houston.eater.com/2016/7/29/12320578/le-colonial-houston-will-open-august

[monarch]

^^^ BONPOINT is officially open at ROD.  nothing better than seeing the little ones stylishly dressed.  welcome to houston....

[Texasota]

What...

What is that picture even? Why? 

 

Something about that minihorse looks strangely ...untrustworthy.

 

Also those children might actually be Victorian ghosts. 

[Nole23]

*Just bumping a page worth of threads ahead of all of the spam*

[Naviguessor]

Poor kids. 

[imagoman]

Wow!  Such high-quality developments in the few blocks around River Oaks District.   The least attractive, imho, by far, are the Millennium Apartments on its east line, particularly the back end along Bettis.  I understand they're kids who inherited dad's apt. development biz.  Fear of failure produces 'it's ALL about the bottom line' so the quality of the architecture and building materials dropped dramatically on the side furthest from Westheimer.  And now we are seeing further 'vision pollution' as they're building some sort of chain link fenced storage area on Bettis.  Made me want to throw up as I drove to Hoppdoddy's today.  So ugly!  I hope Millenium doesn't become a ghetto if this particular apartment submarket is dominated going forward by SkyHouse, Grey House, and the fairly nice James River Oaks over on Mid Lane.  We were in both Akris and Jo Malone yesterday...and they're very fine, high quality stores.

[gene]

i am still trying to understand that weird midlane (3 story?) newly built building that is supposedly going to be retail i think? not alot of windows, to me doesn't seem to fit the area at all...and just not sure how it will survive unless its for office and not retail...anyone have any more information on that and what (*and why) it is? haha! 

 

edited to say...okay i forgot,...it is called Westheimer Oaks and i guess its more office than retail...which makes sense but i still think its ugly  sorry! haha!  

Edited August 5, 2016 by gene

[urbanize713]

So as we talk about this development and surrounding developments I have a question and it applies to this area and some other areas around Houston. What will happen to the pockets/clusters of townhomes when they are sourrounded by high rises and commercial? Developers buy out owner by owner? owners band together? It would seem this area and say midtown will have that come up sooner than later.

[gene]

i own a small one bedroom condo in a small 40 unit complex just off westheimer and mccue across from the galleria...so needless to say we are surrounded by larger condos/apartments/offices...we have it where 80 percent of the owners must agree to sell in order for someone to be able to purchase our building.

i have only owned my unit for a year and a half (but lived on mccue for about 20 years!) and in my time of ownership i have only known of one offer which was turned down.

 

 

[imagoman]

Historically, what Gene describes is, I think, the only way that an Association (whether they're condominiums or townhomes) can trigger acceptance of an offer to purchase for the whole property, only in which a prescribed majority (I've seen 70%-80% as the cutoff) of homeowners have signed off with their approval.  These deals are tough to do, and even attempted rarely, in part because not all owners are close enough in the valuation of their homes, including some elderly who love their home so much they overvalue (in terms of the area market).  I believe last year I had heard that one of these relatively rare sales did in fact occur across Post Oak Blvd from the McDonalds, and across from Uptown Park's Starbucks.  I think that if indeed it did ever close, and I know it was attempted but not sure if it was completed, it was with an agreement for owners to continue to use their property for a modest rent until the developer is actually ready to build  .  My point is that it is only these types of very prime property that are generally even offered a sales contract.

 

It seems to me that these types of high density townhomes and condos that have see land values skyrocket since first built exist in only certain areas where these buyout deals could make sense sooner rather than later.  Sooner: Uptown for sure, River Oaks (see Pelican Builders recent purchases) and Medical Center probably, and mostly because of the strong employment drivers.   Later on: Montrose and Kirby,  Midtown, west of Uptown, and Memorial City/ Town & Country.  my humble opinion.  These 'teardown' developments don't even exist downtown. 

 

As for The James River Oaks, they don't look too bad to me.  And imho, a lot better looking than either morgan's property on mid lane to the north of them (fronting San Felipe), or definitely Millenium fronting both Westheimer and Bettis (with its unsightly back end, now replete with a barbed wire, chain link fence storage area next to ROD.  Ayyy!  So awful!  However, I remember reading that the developer of the James hirise apartments would put some retail on the first floor, or perhaps that was just the office buildings they have planned for the balance of the property.  What is incredible and bears watching as the years go by, the James developers announced their intentions to create a nice sized park (2-4 acres) along the RR right of way, on Westheimer, as an amenity for their development and the neighborhood.  Now THAT would be something considering the value of that dirt!   Full grown adults developing quality stuff!  Smart guys! What a beautiful amenity for all those people living and working right there, healing their Nature Deprivation Disorder!  Perhaps the City will even recover from its financial weakness in a few decades, rewarding the developers with a purchase.  LOL   One can dream!

[gene]

apparently Le Colonial is now open! 

http://houston.eater.com/2016/8/8/12403140/le-colonial-houston-open-menu

 

[DrLan34]

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Edited August 10, 2016 by DrLan34

[DrLan34]

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[gene]

Amorino Gelato is finally opening...this wednesday August 25th! 

http://www.amorino.com/

 

[Urbannizer]

Paris-based gelato shop to open first Houston location in River Oaks District

 

Quote

Paris-based Amorino plans to open its first Houston location Aug. 25,CultureMap reports. The dessert-focused concept will serve gelato, sorbet and expresso drinks before adding crepes and waffles at a later point.

Franchise owner Nathalie Debbouzzi told CultureMap that she moved with her husband, Sebastien, from Paris to Houston to set up the gelato shop. She said she's looking to expand the concept to other spots around Houston like The Woodlands or the Memorial area. Amorino boasts locations across the world with about nine spots in the U.S., per its website.

 

[monarch]

^^^ AMORINO GELATO opens today at ROD.  finally....

 

[H-Town Man]

Very Georgia O'Keefe.