arcutech

I hear from a realtor that Titan pricing will be in the $450 psf range. Anybody know how much 2727 Kirby or Turnberry is selling for? More or less than this?

Grapevine News: I hear that McD's on Post Oak is selling off part of its land for a hirise and will stay in place. If i'm wrong, sorry. Pretty sure it's real.

Stick a fork in this one.....

That pic Pumapayam uses above gets me every time. Man, that's funny. The Pre-sales ads typically mean they are trying to get a certain number of contracts (not reservations like 2727, but i digress) so they can move forward with construction. I called number and spoke to sales lady who tells me actual project launch is in March. Lots of buzz on this project though. Hope it goes!

Success for hotels is determined by much more than occupancy. Your assertion that this alone demonstrates success for a hotel is very telling. Since you seem to want to know more about my claim, I will expand for your benefit. Convention business is one of the lowest rated fares for a hotel. If you are not the hotel that gets the benefit of also getting the convention space revenue (i.e. you are just tangential in that your rooms are located proximate to the convention space), the rate you get is poor. You do not get the revenue with the space, nor do you get the revenue from food and beverage. This is because those who book convention space book at a greatly reduced rate b/c of the bulk they bring. Just looking at occupancy is not even 1/2 of the story. It is more like 1/10th. Moreover, convention center business is booked 2-3 years in advance. The obvious response to this fact would be: Great, since construction will likely take that long, they can book business that will be ready to go on Day 1. Again, this would demonstrate a lack of knowledge. Go ask Jordy Tollett how that went on the Hilton. What the City learned (painfully) is that convention planners will not book business until they can put their hands on the facility. They want to "kick the tires" before they book. So, you have a tremendously painful ramp up which lasts this 2-3 years. All the while, the facility built to hold many hundreds, struggles to gain traction and bleeds cash. What rate are they running? What rate is required to break even? Are they pushing rate? Hotels would rather sell 1 room for $100, than 100 rooms for $1 each. The cost per occupied room constant is just that: constant. So, if your business is not highly rated, you are still not profitable. The hotels adjacent to Reliant are dogs. Anyone, and i mean anyone, who knows anything about hotels knows this is true. They are "discount" at best. A Hampton or Courtyard will do great (ask the downtown CY) when it feeds off of a convention center, b/c its cost basis is generally much less. No frills at construction, much less monthly carry. However, the cost of retrofitting the dome, creating what amounts to a HUGE atrium on the interior, will cost a fortune to heat and cool each month, NEVERMIND the cost of developing and constructing a smoke evacuation system capable of creating the air turns necessary to pass code. Look, if you want to push for a Gaylord in the Dome, then I think it's great. Great for the Dome and great for Houston. But, please don't delude yourself or anyone else reading this forum into thinking that current market conditions alone merit the construction. It is absolutely not true.

The idea that building a hotel will in and of itself generate the needed occupancy is a dangerous concept. The idea of hundreds of thousands of sf of convention space is great. However, "if we build it, they will come" doesn't work in the hospitality industry as a rule. You need to build because of demand, not build to create it. My guess is that large conventions are not staying away from that area b/c there isn't a Gaylord hotel in the dome. If the demand for convention hotel space is so strong, there would have been no reason for the taxpayers of Houston to subsidize construction and development of the Hilton Americas. It is connected to the GRB and still doesn't make positive cash flow. Only way a hotel goes there is with tremendous public contribution through Hotel Occupancy Tax abatement and rebate. Further, IMHO, the only reason to put anything in the dome is driven by emotion, not economics. That isn't a shot at anyone. Emotion alone may be enough i suppose....

The hotels that are located near the dome and Reliant currently struggle. Adding more rooms to what is a struggling market doesn't sound like a great idea. And, IMHO, the dome is ugly. I know it has history, etc., but wow, it is an ugly building

www.randalldavis.com/sonoma