[lockmat]

Is there a Hilton Garden Inn being planned for downtown?

Last weeks planning agenda had "Hilton Garden Inn CBD Subdivision" listed in the Consent section. For some reason I'm not able to download the .pdf with the details so I can't see what zip code it's in or any other info. Maybe someone else can?...

This post has been edited by lockmat: Tuesday, March 10, 2009 at 9:28 PM

[Houston19514]

lockmat, on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 @ 8:34pm, said:

Is there a Hilton Garden Inn being planned for downtown?

Last weeks planning agenda had "Hilton Garden Inn CBD Subdivision" listed in the Consent section. For some reason I'm not able to download the .pdf with the details so I can't see what zip code it's in or any other info. Maybe someone else can?...

Good find! and very interesting. I was able to see some details. It is indeed in 77002.

[lockmat]

Houston19514, on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 @ 8:49pm, said:

Good find! and very interesting. I was able to see some details. It is indeed in 77002.

.pdf finally came up for me and holla!!!!!.....

From their website:

Quote

WEDGE Hotels Corporation is actively engaged in the pre-development process for a 240-room Hilton Garden Inn adjacent to WEDGE International Tower on Louisiana Street and Clay in downtown Houston, TX. Project is expected to break ground in 2009 and open in 2010. See rendering on right side of page.

http://www.wedgereal...evelopment.html

[DrLan34]

this would be awesome!

[lockmat]

Well...it may not be as awesome as first thought. It looks like the hotel would just be that 12-15 story building in the forefront and the tall building behind it is the existing building they're currently officed in.

Not a bad deal none the less, better than the parking lot that's currenly there.

[CALMSP]

lockmat, on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 @ 9:39pm, said:

Well...it may not be as awesome as first thought. It looks like the hotel would just be that 12-15 story building in the forefront and the tall building behind it is the existing building they're currently officed in.

Not a bad deal none the less, better than the parking lot that's currenly there.

although ike you say, not a "tall" building, but I'll take it!! 12-15 is not that bad.

[KinkaidAlum]

Great find, Lock.

I hope this goes forward because the South side of downtown is still very vacant. The Crowne Plaza could also use another hotel neighbor. Additionally, as far as Hilton Garden Inns go, this is a very nice design that compliments downtown rather well (compared to the Holiday Inn Express for comparison).

[lockmat]

CALMSP, on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 @ 10:42pm, said:

although ike you say, not a "tall" building, but I'll take it!! 12-15 is not that bad.

After a Florida recount, it looks more like 11. I just glanced at it before.

I would say this could be promising if they're actually on the planning commissions agenda.

[Montrose1100]

I think this fits the site better then that black glass box office tower proposal a few years back. It looks like it will compliment the Wedge Tower nicely.

I stayed at the Hilton Garden Inn in San Antonio, of course it was in a historic building, but It was very nice. Hope this gets built, that side of Downtown could use some more density.

[rsb320]

It looks like this will only be half a block. It will hide Wedge's parking garage and eliminate another surface parking lot.

[swtsig]

nice desgin + removing yet another unsightly surface lot = win/win

[Subdude]

I like a lot. That space has been surface parking for decades, and the hotel plays nicely off the Wedge Tower. My only concern is that a hotel in that location will make it less likely that the Sheraton Lincoln building will ever be redeveloped.

[Montrose1100]

Subdude, on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 @ 1:27pm, said:

I like a lot. That space has been surface parking for decades, and the hotel plays nicely off the Wedge Tower. My only concern is that a hotel in that location will make it less likely that the Sheraton Lincoln building will ever be redeveloped.

I'd like to see the Sheraton developed again into a hotel, but since omni & hyatt haven't yet, I don't know who will. It'll probably sit as the valet parking for the hyatt until the concrete is eroded enough for it to be torn down.

[Highway6]

lockmat, on Tuesday, March 10th, 2009 @ 9:39pm, said:

Not a bad deal none the less, better than the parking lot that's currenly there.

Unless of course you're one of the Wedge Bldg VIP's, of which i know a few, lucky enough to have a spot right there...

[rsb320]

Does anyone know what the hotel occupancy rates are downtown? I'm just curious as to what the demand is for business travelers and visitors. These numbers may or may not justify redevelopment of the Sheraton.

[Jax]

Not a bad location. There isn't that much immediately around it besides offices, but it would be close to the rail, and 1-2 light rail stops away and there's the theater district, Houston Pavilions, market square area, bayou place, and disco green. Plus soon there will be access to the Galleria by the light rail (I hope).

[Houston19514]

rsb320, on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 @ 4:17pm, said:

Does anyone know what the hotel occupancy rates are downtown? I'm just curious as to what the demand is for business travelers and visitors. These numbers may or may not justify redevelopment of the Sheraton.

For 2008, the downtown hotel occupancy rate was 67%, up 3.7 percentage points from 2007.

[Talbot]

Very cool. I like Hilton Gardens, we stayed in one in South Lake Tahoe, California, and it was a very nice hotel.

[MyEvilTwin]

rsb320, on Wednesday, March 11th, 2009 @ 9:27am, said:

It looks like this will only be half a block. It will hide Wedge's parking garage and eliminate another surface parking lot.

Yeah the bigger factor of the two (for me) is hiding the Wedge parking garage. That ugly wall was clearly not built for public viewing -- I assume (?) it was put up when there was something else on this spot that was shielding it from view. To me it gives the impression that whatever was torn down on this surface lot was actually attached to the garage.

It will be nice to have what looks like an attractive hotel blocking this from view! (Keeping fingers crossed that it doesn't turn into another recession victim)

[lockmat]

MyEvilTwin, on Friday, March 13th, 2009 @ 7:58am, said:

Yeah the bigger factor of the two (for me) is hiding the Wedge parking garage. That ugly wall was clearly not built for public viewing -- I assume (?) it was put up when there was something else on this spot that was shielding it from view. To me it gives the impression that whatever was torn down on this surface lot was actually attached to the garage.

It will be nice to have what looks like an attractive hotel blocking this from view! (Keeping fingers crossed that it doesn't turn into another recession victim)

Bernard on swamplot had this to say about financing...

Financing? WEDGE’s principal can find the money for this project in his couch cushions. According to ArabianBusiness.com, Issam Fares is currently the 32nd richest Arab on the planet with a net worth of $2.4 Billion.
http://swamplot.com/.../#comment-22227

So financing may not be an issue if true, but market demand might be a bigger issue in these economic times...is my guess.

[TheNiche]

MyEvilTwin, on Friday, March 13th, 2009 @ 7:58am, said:

Yeah the bigger factor of the two (for me) is hiding the Wedge parking garage. That ugly wall was clearly not built for public viewing -- I assume (?) it was put up when there was something else on this spot that was shielding it from view.

Actually, the vacant half of that block was originally supposed to be a second phase to the tower, attached at the hip. Too bad it never got built; the massing made for a very interesting design.

[MyEvilTwin]

TheNiche, on Friday, March 13th, 2009 @ 3:52pm, said:

Actually, the vacant half of that block was originally supposed to be a second phase to the tower, attached at the hip. Too bad it never got built; the massing made for a very interesting design.

Interesting... I didn't realize that. Well, I guess it could have been worse (I'm thinking of Mercer I, where we never got II ).

[TheNiche]

MyEvilTwin, on Saturday, March 14th, 2009 @ 9:30am, said:

Interesting... I didn't realize that. Well, I guess it could have been worse (I'm thinking of Mercer I, where we never got II ).

No kidding. About six or seven years back, I think, there was a proposal for a boxy office highrise which basically would've blocked or ruined views of the existing tower.

[MyEvilTwin]

TheNiche, on Saturday, March 14th, 2009 @ 3:18pm, said:

No kidding. About six or seven years back, I think, there was a proposal for a boxy office highrise which basically would've blocked or ruined views of the existing tower.

Are they still around? Could we get them to build it behind the Mercer?

[TheNiche]

MyEvilTwin, on Saturday, March 14th, 2009 @ 4:15pm, said:

Are they still around? Could we get them to build it behind the Mercer?

Short answer, no. I'd rather that the Mercer Ph. II project would actually happen, as it would basically replicate the decent-looking north facade on the south side of the site. But that's never going to happen.

[Houston19514]

TheNiche, on Saturday, March 14th, 2009 @ 6:12pm, said:

Short answer, no. I'd rather that the Mercer Ph. II project would actually happen, as it would basically replicate the decent-looking north facade on the south side of the site. But that's never going to happen.

No, it would not. The plan for Mercer II is/was to be lined up with Mercer I in an east-west formation, not north south. From day one of that plan, it looked to me like they should be planning a 4 building complex, so that they did have the nearly-blank walls of the towers backing up to one another.

This post has been edited by Houston19514: Saturday, March 14, 2009 at 8:30 PM

[TheNiche]

Houston19514, on Saturday, March 14th, 2009 @ 8:06pm, said:

No, it would not. The plan for Mercer II is/was to be lined up with Mercer I in an east-west formation, not north south. From day one of that plan, it looked to me like they should be planning a 4 building complex, so that they did have the nearly-blank walls of the towers backing up to one another.

I could've sworn that the plan was to make them back-to-back. Maybe I only thought that because it was logical.

[swtsig]

TheNiche, on Saturday, March 14th, 2009 @ 7:46pm, said:

I could've sworn that the plan was to make them back-to-back. Maybe I only thought that because it was logical.

[woolie]

TheNiche, on Saturday, March 14th, 2009 @ 8:46pm, said:

I could've sworn that the plan was to make them back-to-back. Maybe I only thought that because it was logical.

I remember the original renderings when the Mercer was announced -- it did have them back to back instead of side to side. This side to side rendering is new to me.

[TheNiche]

woolie, on Monday, March 16th, 2009 @ 12:16am, said:

I remember the original renderings when the Mercer was announced -- it did have them back to back instead of side to side. This side to side rendering is new to me.

So I'm not going crazy from all this joblessness! That's a relief.

[rsb320]

TheNiche, on Monday, March 16th, 2009 @ 12:18am, said:

So I'm not going crazy from all this joblessness! That's a relief.

Sort of off topic, but then again so's Mercer. Niche, how's the job search going?

[TheNiche]

rsb320, on Monday, March 16th, 2009 @ 10:00am, said:

Sort of off topic, but then again so's Mercer. Niche, how's the job search going?

I've been more or less self-employed since early January, as I've been heavily involved in the restoration of a commercial building and remodeling of my condo. They aren't salaried positions, but they do add value to my balance sheet and the condo sale will give me an infusion of cash. I occasionally put in a resume for an especially nice job, the kind I don't honestly expect to get. My toiling will probably slow in a couple of weeks, unless I can find a way burden myself with some other kind of real estate or construction work. I'll get serious about the job search soon enough.

[Houston19514]

woolie, on Monday, March 16th, 2009 @ 12:16am, said:

I remember the original renderings when the Mercer was announced -- it did have them back to back instead of side to side. This side to side rendering is new to me.

I'm pretty sure you are mis-remembering.

[Urbannizer]

Suprise this has not been posted..

From Swamplot

Quote

That 11-story, 240-room Hilton Garden Inn the WEDGE Group International was planning to build next to the company’s Downtown tower has been put on hold — at least until September — a source tells Swamplot. Financing apparently wasn’t the issue. Our source says that Hilton’s executive board is being cautious, and “wanted to watch the Houston market conditions to see if it would be a wise placement.”

The hotel was planned to fit directly to the north of the WEDGE tower at 1415 Louisiana and cover the blank parking-garage wall facing Clay St.

http://swamplot.com/...04-06/#comments

[GovernorAggie]

UpuPUp!, on Monday, April 6th, 2009 @ 7:31pm, said:

Suprise this has not been posted..

From Swamplot



http://swamplot.com/...04-06/#comments

Maybe not bad news. At first, we had "2009", now we have "September 2009" as a possibility.

[lockmat]

Found this:

The Mathis Group, Inc. (TMG+), owners representatives, and Wedge Real Estate Holdings, Inc. (WREH) property owners, have awarded Cadence McShane Construction (CMS) as general contractors for the Hilton Garden Inn Downtown Houston.

The project is located between Milam and Louisiana in Houston's Central Business District. It is anticipated to begin construction late 2009 or early 2010 and expected completion in approximately 16 months. The project is expected to be 12 stories, and is to include 242 guest rooms, meeting rooms, board rooms, fitness facility, business center, lobby, bar, restaurant and parking in a garage across the street. The hotel is adjacent to the existing Wedge International Tower in Downtown Houston. "This is such a great project for our client, Wedge Real Estate Holdings, Inc.," said Joseph Mathis, President of The Mathis Group, Inc. The Hilton Garden Inn Downtown hotel project will serve as the only mid-serve Hilton brand in the Downtown Houston market.

http://www.aiahousto...mbersinnews.cfm

[ricco67]

That's interesting and that's a good looking model;

The only block that is totally empty along those lines is the one at Walker and McKinney.
Looking at the the rendering, I don't think it can be done on a half block.

[kylejack]

ricco67, on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 @ 4:22pm, said:

That's interesting and that's a good looking model;

The only block that is totally empty along those lines is the one at Walker and McKinney.
Looking at the the rendering, I don't think it can be done on a half block.

Its the block surrounded by Milam, Louisiana, Bell, and Leeland. The building on that block used to be a daycare for Enron employees, but its been unoccupied since Chevron took possession of the Enron buildings. They're probably buying that and tearing it down.

This post has been edited by kylejack: Thursday, June 11, 2009 at 4:32 PM

[rsb320]

kylejack, on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 @ 4:32pm, said:

Its the block surrounded by Milam, Louisiana, Bell, and Leeland. The building on that block used to be a daycare for Enron employees, but its been unoccupied since Chevron took possession of the Enron buildings. They're probably buying that and tearing it down.

I was under the impression that it was the parking lot adjacent to the Wedge Tower. There's plenty of room for it there, plus it'll cover up that 12+/- ugly parking garage wall at Wedge and will eliminate a surface lot. I think it's highly unlikely that Chevron will sell their (daycare) lot, especially seeing that their buying the land where the Y stands.

[kylejack]

Good point, that makes more sense

[Houston19514]

rsb320, on Thursday, June 11th, 2009 @ 4:40pm, said:

I was under the impression that it was the parking lot adjacent to the Wedge Tower. There's plenty of room for it there, plus it'll cover up that 12+/- ugly parking garage wall at Wedge and will eliminate a surface lot. I think it's highly unlikely that Chevron will sell their (daycare) lot, especially seeing that their buying the land where the Y stands.

Yeah, I'm pretty sure RSB is right. Ricco, the Garden Inn is only the 12-story structure at the front of the rendering. The Wedge International Tower is the taller structure in the background, I believe; so it clearly fits on one-half block.

[UrbaNerd]

Not too pretty, but it will do a decent job of covering up that part of the Wedge. Oh, and it's more affordable hotel rooms for the CBD. Win.