Urbannizer Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Downtown Houston by Norman Gates, on Flickr 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Yes and no. The people who re-did it did not find tenants. But they did sell it. It was purchased by the Episcopal Health Foundation. They plan to move their offices into the upper floors (may have already moved in). The first floor and mezzanine have been leased to Christ Church Cathedral. It will house the Hines Center for Spirituality and Prayer. I have nothing against prayer (in fact I'm all for it), but if ground floor space is being leased to a prayer center, either that is one lucrative prayer center or one weak leasing market. Probably the latter. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tumbleweed_Tx Posted September 10, 2015 Share Posted September 10, 2015 Tax deduction. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 I have nothing against prayer (in fact I'm all for it), but if ground floor space is being leased to a prayer center, either that is one lucrative prayer center or one weak leasing market. Probably the latter. Well, Christ Church is right across the street... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted September 11, 2015 Share Posted September 11, 2015 Well, Christ Church is right across the street... Yeah, and they have a little bit of an "in" with the landlord. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post fkp5 Posted September 11, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 11, 2015 12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 ^^^ we have stated it once, we have stated it a thousand times, this is going to be one GORGEOUS tower! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted September 12, 2015 Share Posted September 12, 2015 (edited) Well, Christ Church is right across the street... That doesn't really affect the economics of ground floor retail space. For a normal retail rent, the tenant needs a certain amount of revenue from retail sales in order to provide a reasonable profit after subtracting rent, operating expenses, overhead. Prayer obviously doesn't bring in any money (at least not directly), so for ground floor retail space to be used as a prayer center, the rent must be much lower than the rent you can get from, say, a sub shop or café or pizzeria. The church I suppose has some motivation to pay for a space close to their campus, but typically I think you'd put your prayer center in an upper floor where rent is cheaper and there is more solitude anyway. (Aside: isn't the "prayer center" traditionally the church itself?) This seems like it was just there for the taking at a bargain basement rate, sort of like the Good Will center or City Annex offices where there used to be a grocery store at your local shopping center. tl;dr - Institutional users in retail spaces does not indicate a healthy retail market. Hopefully when downtown's population doubles in a few years we stop seeing this. Edited September 12, 2015 by H-Town Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 That doesn't really affect the economics of ground floor retail space. For a normal retail rent, the tenant needs a certain amount of revenue from retail sales in order to provide a reasonable profit after subtracting rent, operating expenses, overhead. Prayer obviously doesn't bring in any money (at least not directly), so for ground floor retail space to be used as a prayer center, the rent must be much lower than the rent you can get from, say, a sub shop or café or pizzeria. The church I suppose has some motivation to pay for a space close to their campus, but typically I think you'd put your prayer center in an upper floor where rent is cheaper and there is more solitude anyway. (Aside: isn't the "prayer center" traditionally the church itself?) This seems like it was just there for the taking at a bargain basement rate, sort of like the Good Will center or City Annex offices where there used to be a grocery store at your local shopping center. tl;dr - Institutional users in retail spaces does not indicate a healthy retail market. Hopefully when downtown's population doubles in a few years we stop seeing this. It is hardly news to anyone that the downtown street level retail market is not particularly strong. Having said that, this particular transaction tells us literally nothing about the "market." The landlord is a nonprofit foundation. The tenant is a closely-related nonprofit entity. And, FWIW, the church indeed wanted street-level, street-front space for this facility. They very specifically did not want it hidden away in the upper levels of the large church complex. They want a very visible outreach to and engagement with the downtown community, especially the thousands of new residents coming soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post brijonmang Posted September 16, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 16, 2015 (edited) Bad picture of glass going up at street level: Updated with more photos: 609 Main from Afar by Bryan Malloch, on Flickr Downtown Houston by Bryan Malloch, on Flickr 609 Main and Esperson Buildings by Bryan Malloch, on Flickr Edited September 16, 2015 by brijonmang 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 our little princess, is fast becoming a queen wonderful illustrations brijonmang.... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 our little princess, is fast becoming a queen wonderful illustrations brijonmang.... Lmao! I hope he knew the recognition he was asking for. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted September 17, 2015 Share Posted September 17, 2015 (edited) It is hardly news to anyone that the downtown street level retail market is not particularly strong. Having said that, this particular transaction tells us literally nothing about the "market." The landlord is a nonprofit foundation. The tenant is a closely-related nonprofit entity. And, FWIW, the church indeed wanted street-level, street-front space for this facility. They very specifically did not want it hidden away in the upper levels of the large church complex. They want a very visible outreach to and engagement with the downtown community, especially the thousands of new residents coming soon. Nonsense, any transaction tells you something about the market. I don't care if the landlord is the Archbishop of Canterbury, if they can get $30/SF leasing the space to a coffee shop or something else that would tastefully complement the upstairs office use and the church campus, they would in a second, and then all the Episcopalians would have a nice hangout to go to on the way from the prayer center (wherever it ended up) to the office and vice versa. And obviously the church wanted the street-level space if it was there for the taking, although I would be interested in seeing whatever quotes you've read that tell you that they "very specifically" rejected a location in the upper levels. I would bet strongly however that they did not want it so bad as to pay a retail-level rent for it, which tells you that retail tenants were uninterested... which tells you something about the market. Edited September 17, 2015 by H-Town Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post brijonmang Posted September 17, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 17, 2015 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinsanity02 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 It appears 609 is 20 some feet taller than the 240 foot garage across the street. This means they are approximately 1/3rd the way up. This is going to be one tall building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 The crown may be very close to the observation deck of the Chase tower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmitch94 Posted September 18, 2015 Share Posted September 18, 2015 It should be about 130 feet taller than BG group place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 On skyscraperpage.com the Houston diagram does show it will be as tall up to the 60th floor of the Chase Tower. What a impact it will make! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 On ground floor retail, the old site for the tower was a McDonald's, which was demolished for a skyscraper that never came to be. They even had supposedly signed a lease. Could a McDonald's be a tenant for 609 Main?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 I seriously doubt Hines would lease GFR to a McDonalds.. They have standards. From what I've heard a Walgreens wanted to open in the base of one of their office towers awhile back (before Page/ moved their offices into the space) and they said no. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted September 20, 2015 Share Posted September 20, 2015 I seriously doubt Hines would lease GFR to a McDonalds.. They have standards. From what I've heard a Walgreens wanted to open in the base of one of their office towers awhile back (before Page/ moved their offices into the space) and they said no.At least we have a rumor for a first tenant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post brijonmang Posted September 20, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 20, 2015 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 On ground floor retail, the old site for the tower was a McDonald's, which was demolished for a skyscraper that never came to be. They even had supposedly signed a lease. Could a McDonald's be a tenant for 609 Main?? Highly doubtful that Hines would honor any agreement made ca. 2004 between McDonald's and Tracy Suttles' Shamrock. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted September 21, 2015 Share Posted September 21, 2015 I seriously doubt Hines would lease GFR to a McDonalds.. They have standards. From what I've heard a Walgreens wanted to open in the base of one of their office towers awhile back (before Page/ moved their offices into the space) and they said no. Would make sense for there to be a Walgreen's - just a few blocks away is that CVS, and Walgreen's and CVS like to be as close to each other as possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post brijonmang Posted September 21, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 21, 2015 Forgot to add this one. Peeking up between the buildings from Discovery Green. 18 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post adr Posted September 22, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 22, 2015 22 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted September 23, 2015 Share Posted September 23, 2015 ^^^ outstanding work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Urbannizer Posted September 25, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 25, 2015 609 Main at Texas | Houston Texas by Andrew Broadfoot, on Flickr 25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astros148 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 wow!!! that looks amazing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinsanity02 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Splendid Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monarch Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 love me some 609 MAIN! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enriquewx91 Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted September 25, 2015 Share Posted September 25, 2015 Cannot wait till it tops out! That could be next May. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post fkp5 Posted September 29, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted September 29, 2015 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post adr Posted October 2, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 2, 2015 Peeking Out 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CREguy13 Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Great photo. It's weird to think 2 Houston Center will not be visible from this standpoint in a few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinsanity02 Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 This building will be a few feet shy of the Bank of America ( formerly Republic Bank) building. It is going to be the sixth tallest in the city. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 They were anchoring the northern tower crane for a jump, counted 6 new vertical sections on the ground. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Triton Posted October 3, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 3, 2015 Houston by Marc longoria, on Flickr 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmitch94 Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Has anyone taken one of those buffalo bayou tours? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post aarosurf Posted October 4, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 4, 2015 Crane rising: 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post hindesky Posted October 4, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 4, 2015 The 10th Annual Heights Bicycle Scavenger Hunt went right by 609 Main and I could see that they were on the 3rd of 6 new vert section on the tower crane jump. Of course I had to get a few pics before I moved on to the next clue. 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Tellez1984 Posted October 5, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 5, 2015 10/4/15 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sunstar Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 Looks like Google Maps might have done a recent update. You can now see this project and several others currently under construction. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enriquewx91 Posted October 5, 2015 Share Posted October 5, 2015 (edited) Took these yesterday morning, 609 peeking out Edited October 5, 2015 by enriquewx91 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Urbannizer Posted October 5, 2015 Popular Post Share Posted October 5, 2015 Downtown #htown #hdr #monday by Dang T., on Flickr 24 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Downtown #htown #hdr #monday by Dang T., on FlickrWow. Looks like a Mirror's Edge cover. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howard Huge Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Took these yesterday morning, 609 peeking outWe did it! The skyline has been extended north! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Looks like Google Maps might have done a recent update. You can now see this project and several others currently under construction.Not me! I use the progress at US 290 and Beltway 8 to check if anythings new. The frontage roads should have overpasses, and they don't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigFootsSocks Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Not me! I use the progress at US 290 and Beltway 8 to check if anythings new. The frontage roads should have overpasses, and they don't.Not all of Houston is captured in one "flyover" or however it's done. It's a big city... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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