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Vacant Hotel Parcel On Westcreek Ln.


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  • 4 months later...

For those who haven't been here for more than two or three years, at least, you may not know about this project. It was originally part of River Oaks District, or at least thought to be. It's directly north of R.O.D.

 

Anyway, I found a new rendering of it. Of course, they're probably just for marketing purposes.

 

website: http://www.cypress-advisors.com/investments.html

 

rendering link; http://www.johnmoonstudio.com/gallery-marketing-illustrations/#!lightbox[group]/11/

 

westcreek.jpg

 

 

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The site is being actively marketed by cb so that is strictly a conceptual rendering in all likelihood. Hopefully the ultimate purchaser has something like that in mind - something that continues ROD but a little (or a lot) more vertical.

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Maybe since rod is established they can feed off that and do rod's original idea.

 

THAT would be outstanding...would love to see it! It could blend in very nicely with the surrounding area within a mile or two radius (ROD, Highland Village, BLVD Place, the Galleria, etc.).

 

Now if we can just get some subways in and out of Uptown...walkability and mass transit are sorely lacking all over town really.

 

I would love to see this happen, along with multiple high rise residential and mid rise, high end, mixed use restaurants/bars/arts/office/entertainment complexes built on sites from Target to Drexler's Car Wash, all along WestcreekStarbucks/Container Store to Maggiano's, Ethan Allen/Grand Lux Cafe to Canyon Cafe, California Pizza Kitchen to the shopping center just to the north of the Lofts on Post Oak (and with thoughtful, thorough consideration of the views/property values of current residents)...plus all of the remaining undeveloped/likely to be re-developed land between the "triangle" that is 610, Post Oak and San Felipe.

 

If this kind of development was built (and built with consideration for the community, efficiency and character as top priorities), Uptown could very well put Houston on "maps" it has never sniffed before. It would most certainly improve our "tourist destination" status. Uptown could become a "city" within itself, right in the middle of Houston if we did something like this and did it right.

 

The 3rd rendering down from this link is at least somewhat representative of what I have in mind for some of those arts/entertainment complexes:

 

http://www.gensler.com/uploads/documents/Mixed_Use_and_the_Reimagined_City_04_26_2013.pdf

 

Imagine something like that between Luby's and Pinto (and really all the way to San Felipe), or between Maggiano's and the Container Store, or around that Target, etc.

 

A boy can dream...

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I just hope they're able to connect ROD and Westcreek somehow, which I highly doubt happens. I'm afraid the trend for some of the these bigger blocks that are becoming mixed-use is that they don't blend with each other.

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  • 2 months later...

They are no longer signing any long term leases at Westcreek at River Oaks. Any resident renewing right now can only get a 2 month extension with no guarantee of being able to get another extension or a future term lease. Unlike 4444 Westheimer, however, there is no special redevelopment clause in the existing leases. My lease isn't up until May 2014, although I might ditch before then due to intolerable neighbors. (Someone suggested to me that perhaps these "neighbors" have been placed there - a 2nd floor unit surrounded by half a dozen other apartments - to drive people out early)

 

According to what I've heard, the feeder side buildings are of particular interest, and at least one building has been "practically sold". It looks like they are going to carve that side up building by building. They're probably going to wait for construction to finish on 4444 Westheimer before selling the other side.

 

Gotta make room for more "couture handbag" store and "gourmet yoghurt" and whatever other vapid nonsense they'll be selling in the shops.

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They are no longer signing any long term leases at Westcreek at River Oaks ...

 

According to what I've heard, the feeder side buildings are of particular interest, and at least one building has been "practically sold". It looks like they are going to carve that side up building by building ...

Gotta make room for more "couture handbag" store and "gourmet yoghurt" and whatever other vapid nonsense they'll be selling in the shops.

Interesting news.  I live nearby and have heard that the individual apartment blocks (north of the OM property) may wind up being sold to different developers.  So, at this point, it's hard to predict how cohesively the entire site will be redeveloped.  I have heard that the sellers have hotel and residential uses in mind, but I have no clue as to how things will unfold. 

 

I wish the Target property would also be redeveloped, but apparently that's not in the cards anytime soon.  I think their store serves a useful purpose, but the oversized parking area in front of it strikes me as a waste of valuable real estate.

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Interesting news.  I live nearby and have heard that the individual apartment blocks (north of the OM property) may wind up being sold to different developers.  So, at this point, it's hard to predict how cohesively the entire site will be redeveloped.  I have heard that the sellers have hotel and residential uses in mind, but I have no clue as to how things will unfold. 

 

I wish the Target property would also be redeveloped, but apparently that's not in the cards anytime soon.  I think their store serves a useful purpose, but the oversized parking area in front of it strikes me as a waste of valuable real estate.

 

Agree 100% on Target.

 

It'll be interesting to see what happens with the Westcreek project(s).

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The intolerable neighbors are now in the process of being evicted. This is about a 180 degree turn from last week, when I was told by the actual manager they had a lease until March 2014, after having being lied to by the crappy front office staff who claimed that the neighbors had just a "short term lease" for a "summer internship".

 

A day after I got that news, land surveyors were seen. They seemed to be determining a line exactly between my building and the adjacent building.

 

Somehow I feel that my douchebag neighbors' eviction has less to do with their behavior, and more to do with a convenient and adequate excuse to get them out of the building sooner. People have been moving out, slowly - I can verify that there are several empty 1 bedroom apartments, yet no one has moved in to any of them.

 

My hypothesis is that there may be some significant interest in the building, since it has frontage on San Felipe. I pay my rent on time every month and I don't cause my neighbors' walls to vibrate, so I don't think they have any solid grounds on which to evict me. The lease I signed lacks a "redevelopment clause" which was apparently included in all of the 4444 Westheimer leases.

 

Without the clause, or grounds to evict me for a legitimate reason, I'm not sure how they could get me out of the lease before the term ends in May 2014, other than some kind of mutually agreeable financial incentive. I guess I was one of the last ones to sign a 1 year lease here.

 

Might be kind of cool to live in a building like this, right up until the end, kind of abandoned, as time goes on and it empties out. Maybe I'd get to know the (non-douchebag) neighbors a little better. Probably the last chance I'll ever get to have a southern/western exposure corner top floor apartment with a great view of Uptown for less than $1/sq ft. The utility bill sucks in the summer, but the amazing breeze you could get going those few months from November to March made up for it. I'd just leave the windows open 24/7, except on those few really cold nights. I ran the heat maybe 10 days out of the year - otherwise, the sun took care of it. The fresh air for those months, except on a bad smog day or something, it was great. You get tired of the same recycled AC air day in and day out.

 

I just think it was -- it is, a neat apartment. I'll take one last winter here, I'll settle for a financial incentive, but my next place just won't be the same. I'll find another place, but it won't have a view of uptown, it probably won't be as big, or have such an interesting history. It'll just be some place to live for now, until I can buy a house, or move out of town.

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A few more bits of gossip.

 

Tomorrow they're doing an "asbestos inspection" and "may need to enter the unit".

 

For the last two days this truck with some kind of huge drilling rig on the back of it, marked with the company "Van & Sons Drilling", took some kind of samples or something out of the parking lots, from the back of the adjacent building yesterday, and this morning right outside my bedroom window.

 

I'd never seen a truck like this before, and the drilling rig, when erected, was taller than the building. Maybe 40 feet tall.

 

Eviction. Surveyors. Inspections. Drilling... hello handbag shops...

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This has to be the most fascinating place I've ever lived. Just now there was a car fire at the endmost building, the one right next to the demolition. You can smell the smoke all the way over here in the B building, the one next to San Felipe.

 

 
The most screwed up part is that they didn't have one of those red 911 boxes on the new gate (the old gate had one, but it was demolished). There's a sign on the gate that says HFD and a number but I guess that didn't work for some reason. I heard the fire trucks and saw one at the gate trying to get in and literally had to run over to my kitchen window (which overlooks the gate) and keep pressing my remote to keep the gate open, until the on site maintenance guy made his way over to put in the code that keeps the gate open permanently.
 
Anyway, no one was hurt, the one fire truck and ambulance left, I don't know if the other fire truck has left or not.
 
EDIT: It was a dumpster fire, not a car fire (I wasn't going to get close enough to check at the time). 30 minutes after I initially made this post, another two fire trucks and an ambulance with full sirens roll out here, this time to the dumpster next to my building and directly next to my car. Thank God no fire this time (so I'm not really sure why they rolled out here with full sirens) - there was some concern I guess. Apparently the gas meters are next to the dumpsters, and one of the firemen said they are going to shut off the gas, which is only used for the dryers in the laundromat, and I guess for the hot water.
 
Which, now that I think about it... if the hot water is gas, and they shut off the gas - well, that seems like a pretty fast way to empty out these buildings...
 
Edited by MikeRichardson
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  • 3 weeks later...

Westcreek is being chopped up piece by piece. Buildings B and D are being emptied out by November 30th and are to be demolished.

 

Residents are being offered apartments in the other remaining buildings on a first come first serve basis.

 

I'm in building B and got on the short list for an apartment across the street, so I guess I'll be moving pretty soon. Gotta make way for more juicy organic couture yoghurt granola shops or whatever the bloody hell it is they're planning on building. I'm sure I'll be moving again sometime next year when they sell the other buildings as well. Probably gonna head west out of the loop, maybe get some place near the beltway that's less likely to be torn down.

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Pretty sure no one cares, mike. There is nothing special about these apartments other than that they provided you w a relatively inexpensive place to live in a prime location.

 

 

I wasn't posting to see if anyone cared whether or not I will have a place to live next month.

 

I did, however, make a post relevant to the topic at hand, which concerns a potential mixed-use development at the corner of Westcreek and San Felipe, and the status of some of the buildings that currently stand in the way of the aforementioned development.

 

Being that I actually live on Westcreek Lane, I believe I'm in a unique position to provide updates as to the development going on here. The fact that I included remarks concerning my future residential situation merely reflects my own self-interest, and the precious few seconds you had to waste reading them are the price you pay for the otherwise topically relevant information provided.

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Pretty sure no one cares, mike. There is nothing special about these apartments other than that they provided you w a relatively inexpensive place to live in a prime location.

 

 

I wasn't posting to see if anyone cared whether or not I will have a place to live next month.

 

I did, however, make a post relevant to the topic at hand, which concerns a potential mixed-use development at the corner of Westcreek and San Felipe, and the status of some of the buildings that currently stand in the way of the aforementioned development.

 

Being that I actually live on Westcreek Lane, I believe I'm in a unique position to provide updates as to the development going on here. The fact that I included remarks concerning my future residential situation merely reflects my own self-interest, and the precious few seconds you had to waste reading them are the price you pay for the otherwise topically relevant information provided.

. I've enjoyed the play by play of the wind down of an income producing property transitioning due to economic demand.
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Only two of the six buildings have been sold and are being cleared out. Any story claiming the entire complex is being evicted is false.

 

It is also true that the sale has nothing to do with River Oaks District, because "F" building was not sold and has not been evicted, and it stands in the way between B & D and the River Oaks District land.

post-11698-0-17364200-1379471086_thumb.j

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