The Langley: Residential High-Rise At 1717 Bissonnet St.

[brijonmang]

4 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

 

I see they finally lost the arms.  Fine by me, I always thought they were a little tacky.

[BeerNut]

hmmm

[BigFootsSocks]

This is definitely a scam lol

[samagon]

not a scam, I guess it depends on whether you think bitcoin (any blockchain really) is a scam.

https://www.coindesk.com/startup-tokenizes-2-2b-in-commercial-real-estate-through-polymath

what's interesting, if you register, you get to see a 3 year balance sheet. if this is a scam, then it's just numbers on paper, but if it's for real... 

they have a line called, "balance paid at project completion", which shows income in 2024.

there's also project costs area, and within that they have "hard costs" which I assume is the construction budget, it shows minimal outlays in 2022, and then substantial outlays in 2023 and 2024.

I guess we'll see in late 2022 if this is a scam or not if they start construction, and then again we'll get confirmation in 2024 if it completes. I'm inclined to believe it's not a scam, and if I were willing to toss $1000 at a weekend in Vegas, I'd probably take a chance here. but I'm just words on a computer screen, so please don't invest based on my endorsement. 

Edited March 9, 2021 by samagon

[toxtethogrady]

1 hour ago, samagon said:

not a scam, I guess it depends on whether you think bitcoin (any blockchain really) is a scam.

Blockchain strikes me as a scam, because it's an attempt to create money from electrons. Weirdest thing I heard of was the bitcoin mine being planned for West Texas...🤪

[mkultra25]

NFT + CRE = WTF

[BigFootsSocks]

7 hours ago, samagon said:

not a scam, I guess it depends on whether you think bitcoin (any blockchain really) is a scam.

https://www.coindesk.com/startup-tokenizes-2-2b-in-commercial-real-estate-through-polymath

what's interesting, if you register, you get to see a 3 year balance sheet. if this is a scam, then it's just numbers on paper, but if it's for real... 

they have a line called, "balance paid at project completion", which shows income in 2024.

there's also project costs area, and within that they have "hard costs" which I assume is the construction budget, it shows minimal outlays in 2022, and then substantial outlays in 2023 and 2024.

I guess we'll see in late 2022 if this is a scam or not if they start construction, and then again we'll get confirmation in 2024 if it completes. I'm inclined to believe it's not a scam, and if I were willing to toss $1000 at a weekend in Vegas, I'd probably take a chance here. but I'm just words on a computer screen, so please don't invest based on my endorsement. 

Not really, I don't think bitcoin is a scam, but I can smell a sh!tcoin project from a mile away lol

[astrohip]

16 hours ago, toxtethogrady said:

Blockchain strikes me as a scam, because it's an attempt to create money from electrons. Weirdest thing I heard of was the bitcoin mine being planned for West Texas...🤪

There is a difference between blockchain technology, and bitcoins. Blockchain is becoming a commonly used tool in many applications, due to its publicly trackable chain (hence... blockchain). IBM is already offering a public-domain blockchain application.

Bitcoins, on the other hand, is fabricated, electronic money, that uses blockchain to track each coin. The value of bitcoin is debatable, but the underlying technology (blockchain) has already moved into the public arena.

Clear as mud?

Edited March 10, 2021 by astrohip

[toxtethogrady]

Just now, astrohip said:

There is a difference between blockchain technology, and bitcoins. Blockchain is becoming a commonly used tool in many applications, due to its publicly trackable chain (hence... blockchain). IBM is already offering a public-domain blockchain application.

Bitcoins, on the other hand, is fabricated, electronic money, that uses blockchain to track each coin. The value of bitcoin is debatable, but the underlying technology (blockchain) has already moved into the public arena.

I remember Ron Paul complaining that paper money wasn't backed by gold. Bitcoin?

[august948]

9 hours ago, toxtethogrady said:

I remember Ron Paul complaining that paper money wasn't backed by gold. Bitcoin?

Modern currencies are only valuable because we believe them to be.

[toxtethogrady]

That's true of all currencies. Suspension of belief...

[Highrise Tower]

Electrical permit issued for a 21 story apartment building.

[Avossos]

12 minutes ago, Highrise Tower said:

Electrical permit issued for a 21 story apartment building.

Whoa.

[AREJAY]

4 hours ago, Highrise Tower said:

Electrical permit issued for a 21 story apartment building.

This thing may not have arms anymore, but its got legs! 

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

couldn't resist. Build it, build it higher... lol

[BeerNut]

Have the 'Karens' started to lose their mind about this project?

[clutchcity94]

1 hour ago, BeerNut said:

Have the 'Karens' started to lose their mind about this project?

After all these years, how amazing would it be if they named this project The Karen?!

[CREguy13]

5 minutes ago, clutchcity94 said:

After all these years, how amazing would it be if they named this project The Karen?!

That would truly be one of the best start-to-finish development stories of all time.  The developer needs to be notified immediately.

[BeerNut]

Think someone should tell them....haha

[texan]

29 minutes ago, BeerNut said:

Think someone should tell them....haha

Nah, let everyone find out when Karen chains herself to the tower crane.

[thedistrict84]

38 minutes ago, BeerNut said:

Think someone should tell them....haha

With an attitude like that, it is probably safe to say that Jan Simpson isn't on HAIF, eh?

[toxtethogrady]

So this is really going to happen, or is the electrical permit just a tease?

[MidCenturyMoldy]

From what I read on another website’s forum earlier today, I may be suffering from a “rabid anti-density paradigm” all because I think that stretch of Bissonnet is a stupid place to put this boring-a$$ed tower. Who knew???😳😳😳

Edited March 14, 2021 by MidCenturyMoldy

[astrohip]

I drove by this site yesterday. They were drilling core samples, and there were a few other pieces of construction equipment on site, that I had not noticed before.

[toxtethogrady]

On 10/6/2021 at 10:05 AM, astrohip said:

I drove by this site yesterday. They were drilling core samples, and there were a few other pieces of construction equipment on site, that I had not noticed before.

The Project They Couldn't Kill...

[august948]

3 hours ago, toxtethogrady said:

The Project They Couldn't Kill...

I'm still rooting for a 24/7 Video and a Washateria at this location...

[hindesky]

Nothing onsite on Sat.

[astrohip]

Hmm, should have taken a pic. Maybe it was the annual "we're doing some work onsite just to keep our permit alive". Although it looked to be more than that.

[Luminare]

1 hour ago, astrohip said:

Hmm, should have taken a pic. Maybe it was the annual "we're doing some work onsite just to keep our permit alive". Although it looked to be more than that.

Two things can be true at the same time. Just because you do core samples doesn't mean you then do construction the next day. If they are doing core samples then this is still very much alive.

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

how long are construction permits valid before they need to be renewed?

[BeerNut]

Any updates?

[Ross]

1 hour ago, BeerNut said:

Any updates?

The lot is still vacant and the grass gets cut occasionally.

[KirbyDriveKid]

Chronicle has updates!

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Exclusive-Six-years-after-Ashby-high-rise-17139055.php#photo-22424407

Exclusive: Six Years After Ashby High-rise Controversy, a New Luxury Apartment Tower Planned for the Site

Since a judge sided with developers of the so-called Ashby high-rise in 2016, the grassy lot at the center of one of the most closely watched land-use battles in Houston’s history has sat untouched, surrounded by chain-link fencing.

Now, the owners of the property are resurrecting efforts to build a high-rise residential tower at the corner of Bissonnet and Ashby Street near Rice University. They have brought in a new development team and a scaled-down version of the original plans they hope will win over neighbors who fiercely opposed the earlier iteration.

Hunt Companies of El Paso is partnering with Dallas-based StreetLights Residential to build a 20-story luxury apartment community called The Langley. They plan to break ground in November and complete construction by 2025. The tower is one story lower with 94 fewer units than a 2016 version of the project. The new proposal also features a smaller parking garage at three levels instead of five.

Fewer units mean fewer residents, which the developers hope will ease concerns over traffic on the two-lane streets surrounding the site — a key point of contention for the prior proposal.

 

The Langley is expected to feature a classic design style taking cues from the nearby Rice Univeristy with brick colors and columns.

The proposed 134-unit building features unusually large two- and three-bedroom apartments, mimicking the spaciousness of a single-family home. The Langley’s average unit size is 2,850 square feet, more than double the size of the average 888-square-foot apartment in Houston, according to RentCafe, an apartment search website.

On HoustonChronicle.com: Eye-popping rent growth in Austin, Dallas makes Houston rent spikes seem almost moderate in comparison

StreetLights Residential intends to reproduce the success of a popular luxury high-rise in Dallas called The McKenzie. There, wealthy empty nesters can pay between $3,000 to $20,000 a month for luxury rentals at the 22-story tower overlooking Highland Park, according to data from Houston Association of Realtors. While The McKenzie is not senior housing, the average renter is 57 years old. Tenants can’t be under 25.

“The resident who lives at The McKenzie, as they will at the Langley, they can live anywhere. They can afford anywhere, and we have to meet the expectations they have,” said Stephen Meek, senior vice president with StreetLights Residential. “They have fine taste, and they know what elegance is that we have to provide.”

When Hunt Companies saw The McKenzie, they liked it so much they brought StreetLights on to the Bissonnet project, Meek said. StreetLights replaces Buckhead Investments as the lead developer, although Buckhead remains a passive investor.

Buckhead’s earlier proposals were also meant to appeal to affluent seniors who wanted to downsize from larger homes in the neighborhood. The proposal never had a formal name, but residents dubbed it The Ashby. Across the street from the site, a yellow-and-black sign with the “Stop Ashby Highrise” slogan is pinned to a fence - a reminder of the contentious crusade to halt the project years ago.

 

A “Stop Ashby Highrise” sign hangs on a fence across the street from the vacant property at 1717 Bissonnet Street at Ashby Street in the Boulevard Oaks neighborhood, Friday, April 29, 2022, in Houston.

Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

Memorial Hermann’s 30-story medical office tower is visible from the site, but Texas Medical Center’s skyscrapers still feel far away from the neighborhood where live oak trees tower over colonial-style mansions and Georgian homes with flickering lanterns illuminating manicured boxwood bushes.

When Buckhead Investment first announced a project in 2007, it quickly drew the ire of residents who argued a high-rise was out of character for the neighborhood. They worried about traffic congestion and plummeting property values.

The opposition sparked a yearlong battle to squash the project through protests and lawsuits in what became a symbol for fighting Houston’s lax zoning. Ultimately a judge sided with Buckhead in clearing the way for the developers to build.

But the legal win for developers came near the bottom of the 2014-to-2016 oil bust, which made it difficult to attract investors to Houston, and the property instead sat undeveloped.

 

A chain link fence surrounds the vacant property at 1717 Bissonnet Street at Ashby Street in the Boulevard Oaks neighborhood, Friday, April 29, 2022, in Houston.

Mark Mulligan, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer

On HoustonChronicle.com: Investment kicks off major growth plans for Texas build-to-rent developer

Hunt Companies, however, didn’t shelve the project. The owners kept their original permits up-to-date with routine inspections and permit renewals every few months, said a spokeswoman for Houston Public Works Department. In a statement, the department said the city's legal team would review an earlier agreement with the project owners to determine how the new proposal might be affected.

The developers have scheduled meetings with the city to determine next steps in the approval process, Meek said.

The prior project was “another developer, from another time. We’re the right developer for this and we’re excited to see The Langley come forth,” Meek said.

marissa.luck@chron.com

[nate]

Excellent news.

Very smart to drop the vicious teeth and menacing arms of the prior design. 

[samagon]

for this to still be a lucrative business model I think is astounding.

I know I've said it before, but the thought flashes in my mind every time, if it were me, I would have already built an apartment building that had exactly the same number of units as the previous, and made it 100% low income housing. the amount of money they lost from the litigation of this space can't be much different from the amount they'd lose by just doing a project to spite the neighbors.

but then, I suppose continuing to go ahead with the tower design is going to spite the neighbors just as much, and may recoup some of the loses better than the low income housing would.

Edited May 2, 2022 by samagon

[BEES?!]

I like the render, it looks really good. Very classic-looking building. It’d be neat if we could get some more of these!

[wilcal]

[Avossos]

It is a beautiful building and I think a nice addition to the area. I am 100% behind preserving our single family home communities... but this doesn't really harm anything. Some neighbors will see it in their peripheral sights, but I almost think it would improve the area overall.

build baby build!

[dbigtex56]

2 hours ago, KirbyDriveKid said:

The opposition sparked a yearlong battle to squash the project

Squash it with what - a monster truck? A steam roller?
I think the developer would quash any efforts to do such an unlikely thing.

[MidCenturyMoldy]

52 minutes ago, dbigtex56 said:

Squash it with what - a monster truck? A steam roller?
I think the developer would quash any efforts to do such an unlikely thing.

[Paco Jones]

https://thelangleyhouston.com/

[MidCenturyMoldy]

I just saw this on my Twitter feed. Google is evil.  

[hindesky]

[HoustonMidtown]

https://houston.culturemap.com/news/real-estate/05-02-22-the-langley-ashby-high-rise-1717-bissonnet-for-rent-luxury-streetlights-residential-hunt-companies/?utm_source=hot-headlines&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=website#slide=0

[hindesky]

Realty News Report article with Streetlights Residential's Stephen Meek.

https://realtynewsreport.com/upscale-residential-tower-rising-in-affluent-neighborhood/

[MarathonMan]

Nice looking rendering.  What are the odds it gets value-engineered into a Randal Davis monstrosity?

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

[Subdude]

I wonder if the neighbors will complain again. It does seem out of scale for the neighborhood. 

[shasta]

Serious question...why did the Karens scream over this project? There are many examples of mid rises in the Rice University area, and surrounding area. Many over looking residential. This is not out of character for this district.

 

The do need a stop light at Dunlay @ Bissonnet, with or without this building.