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sup girl wanna check out that rooftop bar peep the planning commission agenda for deets

I am not sure if I have read this correctly... Are there phases to the tower? Will the 48 story tower break ground this fall?

That is just a construction stormwater permit. Means they have authorization to start disturbing soils and they have a plan in place to prevent sediment or contamination from discharging offsite during construction. The permit has to be in place from the initial point of land disturbance and ends when the have stabilized the area using grass or concrete etc. If you could see the reference SWPPP you would be able to see their construction timeline and what is included in this portion of the construction. Of course they could have a poorly written SWPPP that provides no details.

This is a reminder of what is going in between Westheimer and new hotel. This will be Phase II.

Neighborhood meeting earlier this week. Believe it was 12 floors... "may look something like Elan Heights". Premium price point to the Elan across the street.

Finally saw some activity on this site driving home from work. Looks like they have a digger out along N Durham.

Its a blank wall because the lot that is between this site and westheimer is where phase II of this development will take place which is the apartment building (not exactly a highrise, but taller than a mid-rise). The blank wall makes sense since it will eventually be covered up.

Looks fantastic.

https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__www.bizjournals.com_houston_news_2017_11_17_exclusive-2Dmedistar-2Dto-2Ddevelop-2Dhealth-2Dcare-2Dtower-2Din.html&d=DwIFAg&c=Nwf-pp4xtYRe0sCRVM8_LWH54joYF7EKmrYIdfxIq10&r=blKN8VopvORAS0wfhRwbytKy3LX7VRXXkSGAZ5grTVE&m=oKU_5Ug6V8IJKYixwlZLicFxT7bwrDWZ7k3QPqzFwBI&s=uDs1_LFkk24xzLzhNZ31xvHRCcLU97r55jO4sstW_H0&e= New Design: http://media.bizj.us/view/img/11203455/innovationtower.jpg

The base looks thicc in the rendering.

The initial phase is open. Its the hotel and high rise apartments and these images are of phase two, which was promised when they were breaking ground for phase one. This is huge!

I know there is an existing forum for the Medistar office project, but Wow. This would have a huge impact. Houston-based Medistar Corp. is expected to begin construction on its next tower in the Texas Medical Center area around the end of the third quarter of 2019, according to a press release from Houston-based Transwestern. Transwestern Executive Vice President Justin Brasell and Senior Vice President Lisa Bovermann are handling health care leasing for the project, dubbed Innovation Tower, per the release. Plans for the medical tower first emerged in November 2017. However, as expected, much has changed since then. Phase 1 of Innovation Tower will contain 476,500 square feet of medical and life science office space above a 1,700-vehicle parking garage, per the release. There will also be retail space and a penthouse-level restaurant and lounge. The building is outside the bounds of the Texas Medical Center, which restricts for-profit businesses from operating in nonprofit hospital complexes, Medistar CEO Monzer Hourani told the Houston Business Journal in 2017. The development of Innovation Tower's second phase will depend on market demands. Phase 2 could include 410 luxury high-rise residential units or additional medical, biomedical and life science office space, per the Transwestern release. Eventually, the tower is expected to be 48 stories and 1.6 million square feet, per the release. Innovation Tower will be built at 6700 Main St., the site of a SureStay Plus Hotel by Best Western that Medistar bought around 2006 or so, Hourani told HBJ previously. The tower will be connected via a skybridge to Medistar's joint hotel-multifamily development across the street. The Intercontinental Houston Medical Center at 6750 Main St. opened earlier this year, and the attached Greystar apartment development, dubbed Latitude Med Center, at 1850 Old Main St. welcomed its first residents last summer. “Once completed, Innovation Tower will be the first Class AA tower in the Texas Medical Center offering world-class building amenities to create a distinct live/work/play environment,” Transwestern’s Brasell said in the release. “Innovation Tower will be an iconic building and great complement to the Texas Medical Center." Information about the architecture firm and general contractor were not immediately available.

Very cool looking building. 17 stories is still a good height. This area is getting dense.

Nice looking project but it has definitely shrunk from the original 25 floors. However, I'd rather have this than another box.

Sexy, looks like something you'd see in London.

It looks like february 28 2019

but that's not what they're referring to when they say phase I and II. The initial phase of the development was the hotel and apt tower. Phase I as they are referring to it here is for a 500,000 SF medical office on top of 1700 parking spaces. Depending on floor plates that's about 19-20 stories of office on top of another 6-8 stories of garage plus a floor of retail. Due to the balconies you can see quite clearly that the residential high-rise units are situated above the office component. My guess is they'll wait to see how their office leasing velocity is during pre-development while at the same time gauging the multifamily or condo market and make a determination from there. if they think they can lease 1M SF of office or actually get the preleasing they'll build more office and less residential.

Chill. I fat fingered the img tag and fixed it a couple seconds later. Take my internet likes, I don't care.

This block of land between 610, Westheimer, San Felipe, and the train tracks is almost unrecognizable from 10 years ago. Amazing development in these past few years.

Wow thank you Luminare!

Wow I like it! Thanks for the post!!! The only thing I wish was different would be the side facing Westheimer...wish they would make that some sort of retail or coffee shop etc instead of a blank wall.

Doubt it - that property is currently being marketed for sale.

This is going up at a good speed now. Def going under the radar.

7-story senior living project coming to the southeast corner of Richmond and Revere. Being developed by Hines and designed by Munoz Albin. Renderings on the planning commissions agenda.

Went inside both lobbies. The hotel lobby is a lot brighter and has cooler art. The apartment lobby has a darker tone. Hotel: Apartments

Here's the Instagram with the additional mid rises across from Arabella https://www.instagram.com/p/BAX0ephJPYK/

Ive been watching this area like a hawk. I check several times a week for you alls update. I really appreciate you guys input. I just though i i would add to the conversation. Alot of my information, i was assuming you guys already knew. Im just a rookie. Thanks for your input.

Beautiful tower but I got my eye on that first generation Lamborghini Murcielago 😍

This thing and the Tilman Hotel are a blight on the skyline. Coming up from Bellaire you can’t take your eyes off how out of place these two are. I want to say they belong in Vegas or Tampa, but I don’t think they’d pass there. Like a giant white and opposable brown thumb with equally bad proportions/symmetry. I thought we had turned the page from the Montebellos & 1200 Post Oaks. Even the stale apartment towers going up Downtown are good at being bland. They easily blend in and could be over shadowed by a building with a sprinkle of imagination. Not these two... like driving down a fresh 20 lane highway. No amount of tint on your sunglasses can help. BF over.

Eric Kelly the new up and coming 5th ward breaking news source. Love it! keep it up! Naviguessor and I have been doing it for far too long.

1.6 million square feet in a 48 story building. 609 Main is 48 stories and has just over 1.07 million square feet. The base must have a large volume for this building

Hell yeah here we go guys! With this along with Hanover in Montrose, Lower Heights District and Buffalo Heights, this is going to be a GREAT year for development in this city! Midtown is going to change drastically along with the Heights and TMC. This is amazing!

I wouldn't argue with you. My original info was from the foreman on the original building. I stopped by just before they started digging in the ground, and when I asked he elaborated. He was the one who told me about a 60 + story in the plans. Always appreciate your insight!

Two port-a-potties onsite, near Bayou Street, which is quite a ways East of the demolished Warehouse site.

Oh ok, no worries. Just one second there was only the rendering I posted and then two so it was really confusing at first.

Anybody knows if ACADEMY is still going up here?

Still looks awful!

Fenceing up for Phase II: http://swamplot.com/a-chain-link-goodbye-hug-for-whats-left-of-the-memorial-club-apartments/2019-01-11/

Residential property is typically worth less than commercial, although in Houston due to lack of zoning the differences are blurred. Does your lot have any deed restrictions? Does it front on a major road? Any other development restrictions? Normally smaller properties are worth more per foot, but there is utility in a larger site that a small site doesn't have. There is not much utility below a half acre unless it can be assembled into a larger site. The appraisal district usually appraises residential property pretty accurately because they can look at MLS and see what has been paid for similar properties, but if your residence is on a site that could be commercial, that goes out the window.

Found some renderings of a mixed-use project by Gensler. http://terraloom.com/

You can see it emerging from the fog at the very bottom.

I agree and it looks connected. I was just remembering a job foreman for the Latitude telling me they were going to tear down the best western after the Lat. project and build a 66 story tower. They obviously are designed as a group, and the transition from Latitude to the office tower is very well done. I guess the side street is going to be part of the transition. I wish he had been right about the number of floors. As KincaidAlum said this should be very close to the tallest in the Med center. If you haven't driven east on Holcombe or Braeswood from Buffalo speedway its a nice view and definitely adds height and scale to the southern end of TMC. Thats something that gets overlooked sometimes in these discussions. Its not just the height of a building but what it does to the skyline. The infill that adds texture, layering, density , while creating so many interesting juxtapositions.

This article says 33-stories http://realtynewsreport.com/2017/11/20/medistar-developing-33-story-medical-tower-on-main-street/

Do they own the surface lot next door?

This is the site that the construction foreman for Latitude said was going to be a sixty story tower. I guess he was right about the site getting developed but not the height.

http://www.digitaljournal.com/pr/3566986 I don't completely understand the height of this thing - one of the renderings in the article above make this appear taller than the Latitude

Knew the parking lot had a limited future but that was fast. TMC is an awe inspiring place. It grows by leaps and bounds.

Correct. "The project will take two years to build, Hourani said. It'll sit at the site of the Best Western at 6700 Main St., which Medistar bought around 2006 or so, Hourani said. Medistar will demolish the hotel in the second or third quarter of 2018; the construction will coincide with the tower's groundbreaking."

More height in the TMC!