Bank Of America Tower At 800 Capitol St.

[Nate99]

From what I understand they had a contract for parking X number of cars that couldn't be broken.  This is the solution that allows them to demo half the building and build the new garage, then demo this structure and build the tower.

 

I'm leaning more toward thinking the building is a "go" because of this too. If there were not a compelling reason to start construction now, I would imagine that they would just delay any demolition until the old parking contracts expire. I guess the economics for the building still work with the added cost of this retrofit. 

[fernz]

That is a reasonable explanation to why they are doing it this way. Still seems like a lot of money to be spending for a tower that may not happen... It leads me to believe that this one will in fact, go up. I've said this before, but it seems like the new standard is to build a project with or without the tenants - with the expectation they will come - or else the project may never happen.

Seems to be happening - "if you build it, they will come"

1. 609 Main - Hines (Summer 2014)

2. 6 Houston Center - Cresant (Summer 2014)

3. Capitol Tower - Shanska (Early 2015)

4. Chevron Tower 3 - ? (Mid 2015)

Waiting on a lead tenant - "the tenant that never came due to too many options UC"

1. 5 Allen Center

2. International Tower

You really think Chevron Tower 3 does not have a tenant??

[Triton]

 

 

[j_cuevas713]

I can't find the original topic so can a mod please merge topics for me? I noticed today that they seem to be building some sort of frame on the existing Houston Club site as they demo the building. Are they building as they demo? I've never seen anything like this before.

Edited March 27, 2014 by j_cuevas713

[Triton]

Just a few threads down.

 

I tried to take a picture of it. I know exactly what you're talking about.

 

Edit: Well, there are two different frames. They are building what appears to be an extension of the parking garage on Milam. On Travis, they are setting up a metal frame to, I guess, protect pedestrians and vehicles from the Houston Club demo. It's a very bizarre process.

Edited March 27, 2014 by Triton

[Subdude]

I can't find the original topic so can a mod please merge topics for me? I noticed today that they seem to be building some sort of frame on the existing Houston Club site as they demo the building. Are they building as they demo? I've never seen anything like this before.

 

Merged.

[Nate99]

 

[mollusk]

Seeing the frame for the parking garage that will be there for a year or two go up, I must now accept the "parking contract that can't be broken" theory posted a couple weeks ago.  That must be one insane (and very carefully assigned) contract for the buyout numbers not to work, given that they were able to buy out the Houston Club with its nearly Panama Canal lease term at a rate set when Ike was President.

[Nate99]

Seeing the frame for the parking garage that will be there for a year or two go up, I must now accept the "parking contract that can't be broken" theory posted a couple weeks ago.  That must be one insane (and very carefully assigned) contract for the buyout numbers not to work, given that they were able to buy out the Houston Club with its nearly Panama Canal lease term at a rate set when Ike was President.

 

I'm with you on this one. 

 

Some combination of ironclad parking contracts and buying time to find tenants while initial demolition commences must make this make sense, but these modifications are expensive and temporary. It would be interesting to see how many spaces the temporary garage setup will have, then you could back in to how much cash their getting over the term. Seems a long shot that it would even cover the cost to build the ramps, never mind operate the thing for 2-4 years. 

[mollusk]

I hadn't wandered through that section of the tunnels in the last week or so, but today I noticed that the giant "SKANSKA" signage and some other artifacts are now removed.  

 

See ya, pretty much the last stairs in the tunnels that can't be easily bypassed.  IIRC, that will leave only Two Houston's spiral connection to 1001 McKinney and 801 Travis to Pearl's JW Marriott a-birthin'.

[Urbannizer]

 

 

 

 

http://www.vrayworld.com/index.php?section=members&project=harper-corey-capitol-tower

 

[BayouCityMan]

Great stuff Urb... I can't help but think this building belongs somewhere out on I 10 or the West Belt... That said, it will be a nice addition when done.

[fernz]

LOL!

[wxman]

This building will be mostly hidden from view though regardless of angle you're looking at downtown, right?

[BayouCityMan]

Yes, for the most part it will be hidden. Will look good at street level though, especially with the lighting effects, reflections, and so on.

[j_cuevas713]

Nice VRay model, I'm actually doing one for Williams Tower

[monarch]

glamour shots!

 

 

 

 

 

[Nate99]

 

 

See ya, pretty much the last stairs in the tunnels that can't be easily bypassed.  IIRC, that will leave only Two Houston's spiral connection to 1001 McKinney and 801 Travis to Pearl's JW Marriott a-birthin'.

 

It will be interesting to see if they dig out level to the Chase Tower's tunnel level to avoid that grade separation. If they do, they will still have a large jump up to get up to the Esperson building and Pennzoil's level.  With enough length, I guess they could plan for ramps to replace though, and they may have to do so to stay ADA compliant

 

It looks like the JW Marriott's tunnel connection is being worked on currently. Something changed down there between last week the previous time that I walked that part of the tunnels. 

[mollusk]

Esperson, Pennzoil, and Chase Tower are all roughly six feet lower than the current Houston Club tunnel level - only the old Chase Building (Gulf Building if you're old enough) is at roughly the same level (Pennzoil has a gentle ramp).  With Houston Club's current low ceiling heights, I'd be more surprised if they didn't dig it down further.  ADA compliance is just a (required) lagniappe. 

[Nate99]

Esperson, Pennzoil, and Chase Tower are all roughly six feet lower than the current Houston Club tunnel level - only the old Chase Building (Gulf Building if you're old enough) is at roughly the same level (Pennzoil has a gentle ramp).  With Houston Club's current low ceiling heights, I'd be more surprised if they didn't dig it down further.  ADA compliance is just a (required) lagniappe. 

 

 

Maybe I have it backwards. I thought that you had to go up a few stairs to get to Esperson (through the really narrow corridor) out of HC, perhaps it is down.  I never noticed the slope down to Pennzoil, not that I doubt you on that, I can't even get the direction of stairs correct.  

Edited April 1, 2014 by Nate99

[Subdude]

Esperson, Pennzoil, and Chase Tower are all roughly six feet lower than the current Houston Club tunnel level - only the old Chase Building (Gulf Building if you're old enough) is at roughly the same level (Pennzoil has a gentle ramp).  With Houston Club's current low ceiling heights, I'd be more surprised if they didn't dig it down further.  ADA compliance is just a (required) lagniappe. 

 

The depth differences presumably derive from the fact that the tunnel system wasn't really planned.  I think the first section was underneath Capitol between what is now the Houston Club building and the Chase Tower (if someone has more detail please post) and at that time it would never have been envisioned as part of a network encompassing most of downtown.  Bits were more or less hooked up on an ad hoc basis for many years.  The tunnel system never seems to get a lot of positive press, but one thing that I've always enjoyed about it is how the lack of uniformity and oddball layout shows its organic growth over time.  Same thing applies to IAH.

[mollusk]

Old lore I heard was that Jesse Jones built what is now the Houston Club building (for the time being, at least) in part to house back room functions of what was then the National Bank of Commerce, the main part of which was housed in what was then the Gulf Building across the street - hence the flat tunnel.  

 

I've been a mole person for decades and have also enjoyed the organic growth of the tunnel system.  Way back when, the tunnel level under 919 Milam was not a food court, but instead went past the building's boilers and mechanical systems, with big windows to allow spectating upon them.  The last vestige of that particular kind of archaeology is under Neils Esperson, on the way to 801 Travis.

 

BTW, back on topic - the temporary garage ramps also cause me to add credence to the idea that the Capitol Tower will be built. I don't have any way to know the numbers, but logic dictates that mothballing the rest of the building and just operating the parking garage could likely be done economically on its own, without the added drama of demolition.

[J Money]

Will this be taller than Pennzoil Place?

[democide]

I read somewhere that there was a lot of interest in 609 Main, and that's why the floor count rose to 49 when initially it was lower than that, like 41 I think.  Since it's going to be 3 years before it is finished, I assumed any tenant signings will be all hush-hush for now.

 

Avossos, you should create a new thread concerning this planned tower in the galleria that you were told about, just a suggestion.

 

Sorry to be off topic.

[fernz]

This is exactly my thought. This is just a whole lot of effort to go to for nothing. So much money being spent for the garage arrangement.

Also,Shanska build the Uptown / Galleria building with 0 tennants... and then they sold it / is now leased. They may have a similar attitude with this building. 6 Houston Center may have adopted the same philosophy. 609 Main probably has someone interested already.

This is off topic, but a Hines employee told me that a building taller than Transco (Williams) is planned for the Galleria...................

Keep in mind that it is much easier for Sanska to build on spec than it is for other developers. Stanska doesn't borrow any money, they just invest profits from the construction side of the business.

If you're borrowing money, you have to (a) convince the banks that there's little market risk, and ( be willing and able to start paying off the loan as soon as the building is done, even it it's empty and it generates no income.

[Nate99]

Bricking up the new ramps...

 

[Avossos]

brick?

[Nate99]

brick?

 

 

Well, cinder blocks anyway. 

[Nate99]

[ClutchCity]

You can kind of see it in Nates picture but they are starting to wrap the building in metal framing that looks like scaffolding. I can't tell what it is though, because even though it was about 10 floors up on the Travis side it didn't have any decking for workers to perch. This is such an interesting development due to the wacky way they are going about it!