The Great Hizzy!

Not that anyone really cares, but there was a bulldozer moving around/leveling the dirt next to the Hotel.

I noticed this too a couple of days ago and forgot to mention it. I can't tell what they're doing, though. Doesn't look like they're really doing anything to/for the building itself.

Obviously, I might be wrong.

I think its only meant to represent the form, so y'all can stop worrying about a white tombstone/urinal etc. going up.

Okay, but I'm gonna hold you to this.

Oh, there's definitely room for improvement, but it's not hideous IMO. Just pretty straight-forward. Nothing earth-shaking. Just typical Turnberry.

I was, however, hoping for a more varied color-scheme, I guess.

That's more like the color scheme I thought they might go with (still might, we'll see). Other than that, the design is pretty much what you should expect from Turnberry. Some slight modifications but that's it.

That's what I gathered. I just thought that maybe it was phase II of the complex that's on the block just north of it.

It looks pretty much like how I thought it would look, except I thought they'd go with some form of a light green, blue or mango.

Well, let's look at other new residential highrises...

The Mercer is 400 feet at 30 stories

One Park Place will be 501 feet at 37 stories

Dominion Post Oak is 351 feet at 31 stories

Montebello is 330 feet at 30 stories

I know amenities will differ and that floor heights won't be exactly the same on each flor as what's in those other buildings but in general, it looks like a 38-story tower will net you somewhere between 425 - 475 feet.

LOL @ Mancuso circling his house. For some reason, that cracks me up.

There's a convenience factor with the tunnel when it's a GD monsoon outside and you're hungry and didn't bring anything from home. That said, I'd prefer to be outside--even in summer.

Umm...

BLVD place? might be a little discussion we've held here and there.

So they ARE indeed moving around land to get things started on the overall project. I'm well aware of the thread on the subject (including the closing of the stores in the existing complex) but didn't know if the current land clearing across the street was directly associated. Thanks for the info.

I've always wondered why there weren't more highrises on the western stretch of Westheimer near the Galleria. Land is available and it would really be a "hot" location. If Kinkaid Alum's intepretations are true, then this would finally tap into that part of Uptown.

Also:

They're clearing land behind the former Eatzi's on San Felipe. Anybody know for what purpose exactly are they doing this?

That's a good question. I imagine the idea is to at least be done with a section of the retail component at pretty much the same time but even with that, executable leases don't HAVE to begin at the same time. I could be wrong, though.

Good lord.

How many blocks will be between the two when both projectsare all fnished? Or will they almost be connected?

Not likely "connected", as the TC development (City Centre) and the Memorial City development are about a 1/2 mile (8-10 blocks roughly) apart geographically. Although, I agree that maybe a limited service trolley (subsidized in part or in whole by the two developments or some shared governing body) could be a winner. If you do that, though, I think you need to charge a fare of some kind from day one. METRO's downtown trolley system was successful for the most part but it was free when introduced--entirely subsidized by METRO/the Feds--but then METRO tried to charge a fare to cover some of the escalating costs and that, along with the opening of METRO Rail, killed the service.

I'd charge a basic $0.25/$0.50 fare at the onset so that it doesn't come as a shock to the system and you'd have some form of revenue coming back to you.

It also looks like High Street is at least moving in the direction of getting off the ground in the not too distant future.

Of course, as usual, we just shrug our shoulders at the Med Center activity .

It's too bad that the former HISD site in Greenway Plaza is turning out to be so controversial, otherwise you'd really have something to talk about there (especially with the Metropole and the infill near Lakewood Center).

The sign, "Home to Bohemians, Attorneys and Hippies," promotes Sonoma...

"Bohemians, Attorneys and Hippies? OH, NO!! THERE GOES THE NEIGHBORHOOD!!

People are amusing.

It might have been a homeless guy taking advantage of a rare moment of peace.

I kid, I kid... anyway. The play-by-plays would actually be cool. I can contribute a couple of times per week, since I stop off at Corner Bakery sometimes for lunch.

Atlanta definitely seems like a case in point. Although, I guess you could point to Mockingbird Station in Dallas as either an exception or a full-blown counterpoint.

Here's an easy visual... it's the building across Fannin Street from the Club Quarters, the building with the arches running down the base along the sidewalk.

Most of the newer construction is taking place south of Holcombe Blvd. (in fact, a couple of new places appear to be going up along OST, just west of SH 288). Rents will be higher in this area because of access to the Medical Center and the fact that it's a pretty prosperous area in general.

There are some charming older places just north of the Museum District, between San Jacinto and Almeda and north of Herman Park Drive that might interest you. But again... rents can be pretty high, given the area.

Has a brutalist versus Post Modern look to it. I suppose it's in the area of 11 or 12 stories, right?

Was the original talk some five or so years ago concerning the Texaco Building was that it would be converted into a hotel? Anyway, I like the idea of residential conversion better if it pans out. It would be located roughly equidistant from the Main Street attractions and the Pavillions development.

How fitting that the name of the development company it this case is called Finger.

FWIW

I don't know if it was merely for show but today during lunch (approximately 12:30 PM) I noticed a couple of steam shovels on the site, with one of them looking as if it were actually doing some work. But like I said, this may just be all show and no go.

^^ Exactly. The 20% figure was a result of several things happening, including the collapse of Enron, 9-11, the merging of oil companies, and so forth.

As a general rule, I've seen it written on a few commercial real estate sites, including C.B. Richard Ellis, that 12% and lower is typically a healthy enough rate for a submarket to take on new construction, thus my comment. This, however, doesn't mean that it's a foregone conclusion.

(BTW, CB Richard Ellis currently has a stream/banner on its website that says Hong Kong's Class A vacancy rate is just 3.8%... heh!)