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Bank Of America Tower At 800 Capitol St.


barracuda

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From the 4Q 2014 Development Update:

Thanks for the update. Surveyors I met earlier gave me a different impression. I asked them specifically "thought tower was on hold." They clearly stated that Capitol Tower was a go, not just the garage.

EDIT: Since Tapatalk won't allow me to sign on, pic I took and tweeted. You can see the tripod on the left. https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/552556636267884544

Edited by tigereye
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Thanks for the update. Surveyors I met earlier gave me a different impression. I asked them specifically "thought tower was on hold." They clearly stated that Capitol Tower was a go, not just the garage.

EDIT: Since Tapatalk won't allow me to sign on, pic I took and tweeted. You can see the tripod on the left. https://twitter.com/thachadwick/status/552556636267884544

 

surveyors probably dont know anything.

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It literally says in the recent update that they're building the garage and will wait for the tower later

 

Here's the source:

 

"Skanska plans at a future date to construct Capitol Tower on the former Houston Club Building site. In the meantime, construction continues on a 7-story parking garage with est completion of 4Q15. After a decision to proceed with the new tower is made, Skanska will expand the garage to ten floors and build the tower."

 

http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2015-01-08/Downtown_Real_Estate_Update_2014-4Q.pdf

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Concrete being pumped down in the hole:

 

The windows are out of the temporary garage and it looks empty, or at least it did yesterday.

 

I saw the pumping going on yesterday, but I couldn't figure out just what they were pumping where (other than somewhere in the 700 block of Travis).  Not a mat pour, obviously, and so far they've kept the old side walls in place.

 

The garage looked empty again today.  I wonder how/what they did with/for/to Those Whose Parking Shall Not Be Disturbed.  :ph34r:

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This whole process was already going to take a number of years to complete I honestly don't know why people are getting so bent out of shape about delays. Delays is Construction Industry 101. Deal with it. It will get built. They have spent a lot of money to get to this point so far. They also in the process of acquiring LEED Platinum certification which isn't cheap!

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Capitol Tower

Location: Downtown, 800 Capitol

Developer: Skanska USA

Original plan: The developer purchased the former Houston Club building more than three years ago and in 2013 announced plans to build a 35-story office tower in its place. The Houston Club building was imploded in October.

Status: The office building will not break ground until a tenant has committed to occupy a substantial portion of it. The developer is still "actively and aggressively" marketing the office space, said Michael Mair, executive vice president and regional manager for Skanska. In the meantime, the company is developing a garage on the southern half of the block that will open later this summer.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Cracks-forming-in-commercial-real-estate-market-6037038.php#/0

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Status: The office building will not break ground until a tenant has committed to occupy a substantial portion of it. The developer is still "actively and aggressively" marketing the office space, said Michael Mair, executive vice president and regional manager for Skanska.

 

Same as 6HC.

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So they took out the ramps on the temporary garage.  The first pic was yesterday afternoon, the second pic is this morning.

 

29ep5c8.jpg

 

bgwf87.jpg

 

I'm not sure that they ever used it after the implosion. The whole parking easment explanation seems off now, except that I can't think of a better one that covers why you would spend as much as they did to build ramps and use it for what seemed like a few weeks. 

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Wonder if it would have been cheaper to provide each and every parker free valet parking nearby instead of doing all this.

 

I can not imagine how it would not have been cheaper.

 

Earlier in the thread, someone mentioned that it was 150 spaces.

 

Throwing out a plausible, but wholly unsupported guess on the cost of the dessign, engineering and construction required to make the temporary garage at $1 million (my gut says it is more, but I'm being conservative), that would mean nearly $7k per parking spot or roughly $12.50 per weekday for two years.

 

But in any case, it was only used for a couple of months. It would be very instructive to go through the particulars of this deal. It certainly seems incredibly wasteful.

 

The pile drillers were running in the hole this morning.

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Going back through the thread, it looks like they only used the ramps from June through October. I may be wrong, but I swear that I did not see anyone using the garage after the demolition.

 

There had to have been a big bust in someone's plan, even with Sauron's parking agreement.

Edited by Nate99
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Maybe the implosion compromised the structural integrity (at least in a certain area) of the garage, making it unsafe to have it in operation again.  I always thought that is was very risky having one half of it come down in freefall so near to the other half without causing no damage.

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Maybe the implosion compromised the structural integrity (at least in a certain area) of the garage, making it unsafe to have it in operation again.  I always thought that is was very risky having one half of it come down in freefall so near to the other half without causing no damage.

 

It might have. There is a big gash at the top that completely broke through a horizontal beam that supported the roof.  

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