The Woodlands Towers At The Waterway

[bachanon]

swamplot reports:

Anadarko Petroleum announced to its employees last week that the company is ready to begin constructing a second office tower just west of its existing headquarters building in The Woodlands Town Center, a source tells Swamplot. The new building will fit on the corner of Lake Robbins Dr. and Woodloch Forest Dr., just south of The Woodlands Mall, and like the current tower will be visible from miles south on I-45. At the announced 31 stories, the new structure would be one floor "shorter taller."

http://swamplot.com/...rst/2012-01-17/

works for me!

[fatesdisastr]

I know I am excited to see this go up!

[wxman]

HOLY!!!! THAT IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[shasta]

who is the developer on this one?

[wxman]

Anadarko building new office tower

Houston Business Journal by Jennifer Dawson, Reporter

Date: Thursday, January 19, 2012, 6:30am CST

Enlarge Image

Rendering courtesy of Anadarko.

Anadarko’s new 31-story building will have 21 floors of office space over 10 levels of parking garage space.

Jennifer Dawson Reporter - Houston Business Journal Email | Twitter

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. has announced plans to construct a 31-story office building next to its headquarters in The Woodlands to accommodate planned growth.

Anadarko (NYSE: APC) is beginning site work this week on the project, which will rise on land it already owns at the corner of Woodloch Forest Drive and Lake Robbins Drive. The building will have 21 floors with a total of 550,000 square feet of office space located above 10 levels of parking garage space, said John Christiansen, a company spokesman.

The building was designed by Gensler , and will be constructed by David E. Harvey Builders Inc. Employees learned about the new structure last week.

Anadarko’s existing tower in The Woodlands is 30-stories tall and has a total of 818,000 square feet of office space. The company also leases nearby office space, which will no longer be needed once the new building is complete in the spring of 2014.

“We’ll be able to bring them on the campus,” Christiansen said. “You create some business efficiencies when you’re able to get all of your employees in one place.”

Anadarko has more than 4,700 employees worldwide. Between 2,200 and 2,300 of those people work in The Woodlands. While the company continually adds employees, a estimation of the number of new hires is not available.

“I couldn’t speculate,” Christiansen said. “A lot of that is yet to be determined.”

The time is right to add new office space because of the company’s growth opportunities in shale plays and offshore natural gas, Christiansen said.

Anadarko announced Jan. 17 that it discovered 777 total net feet of natural gas off the coast of Mozambique, its largest find in the area.

[wxman]

this is the Town Center of The Woodlands. A couple of things stand out immediately:

1. The expansion of The Woodlands Mall (near Dillards) and behind Cheesecake Factory.

2. Another large office tower on the other side of Lake Robbins from the Anadarko complex.

3. No condo tower. Interesting.

[Geoff8201]

If that rendering is indeed what the final product will look like, then I like it, it's similar enough to be associated with the 1st tower, but it isn't a clone.

[lockmat]

I think something else I notice different is the new retirement condos that are like 8 stories is not there. Also, there is a apt/condo tower in the distance; upper left.

I always had hope that they'd tear down the mall and make an awesome mixed use development like the initial plans of Oaks District or BLVD Place. Dreams not coming true

[bachanon]

this is the Town Center of The Woodlands. A couple of things stand out immediately:

1. The expansion of The Woodlands Mall (near Dillards) and behind Cheesecake Factory.

2. Another large office tower on the other side of Lake Robbins from the Anadarko complex.

3. No condo tower. Interesting.

the "expansion" by dillard's is not new, as it is the location of the last anchor store. a recurring rumor is that neiman marcus had been discussing a location here before the recession.

if this is current, it does make you wonder about the condo tower and boutique hotel at waterway square. if this is at the visitor's center, i doubt the model contains the most current information. do you know where the model is located?

[Houston19514]

Seems bizarre that Nordstrom hasn't gone into the woodlands

[wxman]

I drove by the site today and didn't realize just how incredibly small that plot of land is for a 31-story building. However, there are construction crews on site doing ground work. All the trees are still there but you can tell they are prepping.

[hldjhn987]

Another rendering. Site work has begun.

[wxman]

This is going to be such a sweet building...

[JoninATX]

The crane is up.

[wxman]

Can somebody take some pics for me?! lol

[kennyc05]

What happens when The Woodlands run out of room?

[wxman]

I don't see it happening. I would assume that once the Grand Parkway goes in, a lot of companies may build along the freeway or closer to it.

[TheNiche]

What happens when The Woodlands run out of room?

Greenspoint 2.0

But shhhhh...don't tell them about it. It's a secret.

[tangledwoods]

There is plenty of room East of 45

[lockmat]

Greenspoint 2.0

But shhhhh...don't tell them about it. It's a secret.

Greenspoint didn't have the housing like The Woodlands does (million dollar homes etc) or the ameneties The Woodlands has. I'm not saying TW won't have the same fate as Greenspoint, but it seems to me they have a much better shot at it not happening.

[TheNiche]

Greenspoint didn't have the housing like The Woodlands does (million dollar homes etc) or the ameneties The Woodlands has. I'm not saying TW won't have the same fate as Greenspoint, but it seems to me they have a much better shot at it not happening.

Who told you!? It was a secret!

[wxman]

The Woodlands WON'T face Greenspoints fate. I picture The Woodlands, many years down the line, becoming a Champions or a Memorial/Bunker Hill. It'll just become old and kinda stagnant.

The Woodlands has so many things going for it. Easy access to IAH, Downtown, Hardy, North Frwy and soon to be Grand Pkwy. It's got the amenities, a quality of life, the Waterway and corporations that have spent hundreds of millions on new office buildings and campus'...i.e., Exxon, Anadarko, Chevron, Onchology, and countless others. The tax bracket and median income is many, many times higher than in Greenspoint. The Woodlands becoming Greenspoint is like saying River Oaks becomes Sharpstown. No way....ever.

[swtsig]

yeah pretty hard to imagine the woodlands experiencing the same fate as greenspoint... first and foremost bc greenspoint never had anything like TWDC running things. and although the woodlands is experiencing a monumental boom right now, it has been steadily growing commerically since the mid-to-late 90's. truth be told it's pretty impressive they've been able to only maintain but essentially improve upon their demographics for so long.

[TheNiche]

Those parts of The Woodlands that already send most of their kids to private school have staying power. But that is all! The older parts have only been demographically buoyed by new construction, the careful attention and marketing of the Woodlands Development Corporation (which was still hugely invested in selling inconveniently-located residential lots), and shorter commute times to I-45.

But with most of The Woodlands built out, what remains are mostly just commercial parcels. If it were already its own municipality, it would probably institute a de facto ban on apartments through zoning. But in this final stage of involvement by TWDC, they're,focused on selling off the parcels and pulling out. Here's an interesting statistic: there have been 4,744 apartment units built in 77380, 77381, and 77382 since 2000. Here's another interesting statistic: 1,672 apartment units are Section 8 or Tax Credit subsidized housing. These are most of your older complexes, up through the 90's. Most of them weren't built that way, but converted in the last decade. That trend is more likely to accelerate than not, IMO.

Master planning urbanism was a wonderful scheme by TWDC to tell a story, enhance commercial land values, and create a distracting illusion that multifamily housing could be innocuous, but as with any dense development outside of an urban core, the improvements will age, depreciate, and drag surrounding neighborhoods into death spiral. It is inevitable. The western portions, although newer, will decline especially fast once the marketing engine has been turned off. The commute is just too extreme...and many of those newer lots were actually fairly small to begin with.

In comparison, Greenspoint actually has some important things going for it that The Woodlands does not. It is the airport office submarket, it is closer-in, and it is at the confluence of two major highways. There is structural demand for that location. The desirability of The Woodlands as a commercial submarket is contingent on its prestige. When it is no longer propped up by TWDC and the death spiral begins, don't say you weren't warned.

[bachanon]

Those parts of The Woodlands that already send most of their kids to private school have staying power. But that is all! The older parts have only been demographically buoyed by new construction, the careful attention and marketing of the Woodlands Development Corporation (which was still hugely invested in selling inconveniently-located residential lots), and shorter commute times to I-45.

But with most of The Woodlands built out, what remains are mostly just commercial parcels. If it were already its own municipality, it would probably institute a de facto ban on apartments through zoning. But in this final stage of involvement by TWDC, they're,focused on selling off the parcels and pulling out. Here's an interesting statistic: there have been 4,744 apartment units built in 77380, 77381, and 77382 since 2000. Here's another interesting statistic: 1,672 apartment units are Section 8 or Tax Credit subsidized housing. These are most of your older complexes, up through the 90's. Most of them weren't built that way, but converted in the last decade. That trend is more likely to accelerate than not, IMO.

Master planning urbanism was a wonderful scheme by TWDC to tell a story, enhance commercial land values, and create a distracting illusion that multifamily housing could be innocuous, but as with any dense development outside of an urban core, the improvements will age, depreciate, and drag surrounding neighborhoods into death spiral. It is inevitable. The western portions, although newer, will decline especially fast once the marketing engine has been turned off. The commute is just too extreme...and many of those newer lots were actually fairly small to begin with.

In comparison, Greenspoint actually has some important things going for it that The Woodlands does not. It is the airport office submarket, it is closer-in, and it is at the confluence of two major highways. There is structural demand for that location. The desirability of The Woodlands as a commercial submarket is contingent on its prestige. When it is no longer propped up by TWDC and the death spiral begins, don't say you weren't warned.

77380 includes budde road, sawdust and borough park apartment complexes not in the woodlands proper. in your demographics, yes, but not in the woodlands development. this would account for the majority of the units you speak of (changed to section 8). in addition, the woodlands had, by design, low income housing opportunities included in each village so as to secure government assistance, this is not new. to use low income housing in the older villages as a sign of decay is inaccurate. it was there from the beginning. chapter two of roger galatas' book the woodlands: the inside story of creating a better home town is titled "the HUD experience". hud granted a 50 million dollar guarantee with a requirement that each village contain "rent-subsidized" apartments. panther creek and grogan's mill had "rent-subsidized" apartments as a part of the mix before the first complex was designed; 1971 i think.

the woodlands has been growing for 30 years, greenspoint has been in decline for twenty? this "death spiral" you speak of, if accurate even a little, will occur after many of us are dead and gone.

[wxman]

I'm so tired of the ''commute to extreme'' crap. Not everybody lives or wants to live inside the loop. Jealousy is a very ugly thing and so are most people at Walmart. If it was ''too far out,'' The Woodlands wouldn't be as successful as it has been. The fact of the matter is, The Woodlands only exists because of Houston. I'd argue that most in south Montgomery County commute into Houston for work. My parents do. I did when I lived there. Not only did I commute, but I drove nearly to Missouri City. If you've ever been on the North Frwy at 5:30, the traffic load speaks for itself as you crawl along at a daunting 15 mph for most of your drive. This isn't something exclusive just to The Woodlands though. Conroe is growing, too. Even further north---Willis. Let's look at Dallas. McKinney, Frisco and even Ennis are all fast growing and they are ''well removed'' from Downtown Dallas. I assume that burbs in Austin, Atlanta, Phoenix and any other fast growing city is the same way.

To rip off a quote from Bill Clinton, there is nothing wrong with The Woodlands that can't be fixed with what is RIGHT with The Woodlands. Easy access to IAH (something Sugar Land and Clear Lake don't have), easy access to downtown via TWO arteries (Hardy and North Frwy), a very successful transit system (The Woodlands Express---which btw is packed full every single morning and evening) and its natural aesthetic appeal with trees and parks.

As far as government subsidized apartments and what not, we don't want them there. Period. We don't want METRO servicing Montgomery County for a reason. It sounds like a bigoted statement, but the fact is the aforementioned is often associated with higher crime and undesirable people in and around the area.

Edited February 29, 2012 by wxman

[bachanon]

oh yeah...and this is a thread on the new anadarko tower. any crane pics yet? i'll see if i can get over there this week.

[brijonmang]

oh yeah...and this is a thread on the new anadarko tower. any crane pics yet? i'll see if i can get over there this week.

I just walked down the waterway last night and can tell you there is nothing to see yet...They have put up the safety walkway made out of plywood but that's about it.

[lockmat]

boom crane is up. larger photos here: http://goo.gl/mzP6s

[RedScare]

77380 includes budde road, sawdust and borough park apartment complexes not in the woodlands proper. in your demographics, yes, but not in the woodlands development. this would account for the majority of the units you speak of (changed to section 8).

You state this as if there is a border wall around "The Woodlands proper". There is not. Only a couple of hundred feet separates the Budde Road apartments and "The Woodlands proper". Furthermore, the apartments on Sawmill and Sawdust west of Grogans Mill are decidedly within "The Woodlands Proper". Not that there is anything wrong with that. Despite wxman's protestations to the contrary, Woodlands maids and Subway workers need places to live, too.