Jump to content

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


Recommended Posts

Just an observation. The copyright on this is dated 2007.

Plus a couple of the buildings look like the physical model that was shown last year, before the newer renderings were released. I'm going to guess that nothing's changed thus far with the more recent version, the financing group just opted to use an older rendering of the project for their notes.

I haven't recieved any indication from the engineering firm I've talked to that it's been upsized, but I'm sure I can ask around.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...
Here is the architects website if it hasn't been posted already: http://www.bokapowell.com/

We already know what hotels are going in there, right?

Thought I'd pass along some info I heard regarding this project. The story is that this project is going to go forward, but it's going to be 2 years down the road. The tenants and others lined up are ok with the delay and there is a basic problem with the financing people being able to come up with the money the had committed to providing. I also heard that BLVD place will not have the hotel or condo tower straight away either. The long term plan is to do it and the construction will allow for them to be added later, but there are some financing issues on that project as well.

Don't shoot the messenger. I think this is a good source for what it's worth.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought I'd pass along some info I heard regarding this project. The story is that this project is going to go forward, but it's going to be 2 years down the road. The tenants and others lined up are ok with the delay and there is a basic problem with the financing people being able to come up with the money the had committed to providing. I also heard that BLVD place will not have the hotel or condo tower straight away either. The long term plan is to do it and the construction will allow for them to be added later, but there are some financing issues on that project as well.

Don't shoot the messenger. I think this is a good source for what it's worth.

I knew the owners had procrastinated on getting their financing together and that this project may not go all at once but in phases. I have not heard that they are pushing it back for 2 years. Are you sure about that statement? Not starting any construction until 2010?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I knew the owners had procrastinated on getting their financing together and that this project may not go all at once but in phases. I have not heard that they are pushing it back for 2 years. Are you sure about that statement? Not starting any construction until 2010?

That's what I heard and confirmed a couple of times. I heard that the tenants are still a go and that they were very confident this thing would get done, just that it needed to get pushed back. Heard that the size of the project made it hard to get financing through one or two major players and that it was a simple of function of having to go to 8 or 10 people to get financed instead of 1 or 2. The negotiations get slowed way down and closings get put off, etc. Once you are almost there someone who promised $100,000,000 will balk and say they can give you 50, and then you have to start again with a new party to make up the difference. But, on the good side, they were confident that the market here is solid and will continue to be. It's just a liquidity thing. I also heard, for what it's worth, that some retail tenants have put a freeze on new locations until this thing passes. They are planning on filling this place with "ultra-ultra high end" stuff and while these retailers want a Houston presence asap, they want to wait until the big picture settles a little bit before they do anything anywhere. I got the impression that everyone involved kind of agreed to take a deep breath. Like one of those scheduled holds on a Shuttle launch.

He was also excited about the High Street project, even though it wasn't his. He thinks the two together will be incredible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's what I heard and confirmed a couple of times. I heard that the tenants are still a go and that they were very confident this thing would get done, just that it needed to get pushed back. Heard that the size of the project made it hard to get financing through one or two major players and that it was a simple of function of having to go to 8 or 10 people to get financed instead of 1 or 2. The negotiations get slowed way down and closings get put off, etc. Once you are almost there someone who promised $100,000,000 will balk and say they can give you 50, and then you have to start again with a new party to make up the difference. But, on the good side, they were confident that the market here is solid and will continue to be. It's just a liquidity thing. I also heard, for what it's worth, that some retail tenants have put a freeze on new locations until this thing passes. They are planning on filling this place with "ultra-ultra high end" stuff and while these retailers want a Houston presence asap, they want to wait until the big picture settles a little bit before they do anything anywhere. I got the impression that everyone involved kind of agreed to take a deep breath. Like one of those scheduled holds on a Shuttle launch.

He was also excited about the High Street project, even though it wasn't his. He thinks the two together will be incredible.

This is unfortunate, but expected. Oh well, at least it's still on the board.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This bodes well for Houston Pavilions. With the delay being almost 2 years+another 2 years for the thing to get built, will give HP some time to mature, grow and develop as well as attract and prove the concept that Downtown Houston can be a draw for entertainment, shopping and retail. These are some fascinating times we live in, I also believed that some of these projects were going to die anyway. It was way too progressive to have all of this development in and around the loop without adding a significant amount of residential to the mix.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thought I'd pass along some info I heard regarding this project. The story is that this project is going to go forward, but it's going to be 2 years down the road. The tenants and others lined up are ok with the delay and there is a basic problem with the financing people being able to come up with the money the had committed to providing. I also heard that BLVD place will not have the hotel or condo tower straight away either. The long term plan is to do it and the construction will allow for them to be added later, but there are some financing issues on that project as well.

Don't shoot the messenger. I think this is a good source for what it's worth.

Disappointed but not surprised. Do you have any word on what kind of tenants are expected?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...

Nothing we really don't already know. Just information and link to the company dealing with the hotels:

At its perimeter, the project will feature a mid-rise retail flagship building and four high-rise towers that will contain 300 rental apartments, 200,000sf of Class A office space, a luxury hotel and residences, and a four-star, business-oriented hotel.

Keen Partners is co-developing the two hotel sites in partnership with OliverMcMillan. Hotel Site A is designed to be Houston

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

I searched and searched for this but did not find anything. This appears to be a mixed-use project (200,000 SF of retail space plus "hotels, condo, apartments, and office space). Given its location, at first I thought it was the high street project, but it appears to be different. There is a ton of info on the following websites. I'll let the experts extract renderings and/or confirm/delete/merge.

http://www.gensler.com/#projects/222

http://www.olivermcmillan.com/deve/houston/index.htm

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is this new? I wonder why they chose that plot of land.

Wait. This can't be new. There's an incomplete development right next door that appears to have been abandoned, and the apartment complex on the site of this development has been aggressively trying to attract new residents with promises of a month or two of free rent. Those aren't the actions of a complex that's planning on shutting their doors to make way for the bulldozers, plus I would imagine the undeveloped land next door would be less expensive to acquire.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

No, that's next door. That's the lot I was referring to when I wrote this previously:

Hi,

to clarify some confusion about two different developments on Westheimer I decided to post these images. High Street is going to be in place of demolished Ford dealership and River Oaks District is next door (in place of the an apartment complex). I am looking for any updates regarding these two mixed-use developments.

Thanks

post-9173-12717182940542_thumb.jpg

post-9173-12717184841894_thumb.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...