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  • 2 months later...

I called Hines' Interest and spoke with the media relations lady. She confirmed for me what was in the biz journal. There is no tower imminant at this time. There is no timeline. There are no set renderings. No official height. No floor count. She just said that at this time, there is a tower that may go there in the distant future. Not anytime soon.

Not anytime soon, eh?!? 4 months later, it sounds like things may have changed...

http://www.houstonrealestateobserver.com/houston-developers-starting-new-office-buildings/

"The most surprising of the new office projects being discussed is the so-called Block 69 deal at Main Street and Texas Avenue in downtown Houston. Hines owns the block and it has retained an architect to design plans for a new tower there."
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2-3 years for a 717 Texas sized tower and 3-5 years for a BG Place sized tower, assuming lead tenant.

That doesn't seem like such a bad pace for downtown. I'm assuming the time frames you gave are when they will break ground?

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  • 5 months later...

Wasn't sure where to post this. It is relevant to when we might see new construction in downtown Houston, so I thought I would stick it in here.

Transwestern's 4th Quarter 2011 Office Market Report is out.

Downtown had more than 1.5 million square feet of positive net absorption of office space in 2011 and ended the year with a direct vacancy rate of 9.5%. Total vacancy rate (including available sublease space) stands at 10.6%.

Perhaps more important to the subject of new office tower construction, the Class A direct vacancy rate stands at 7.0% (8.6% with sublets). There is only a total of 2.1 million square feet of Class A space available in all of downtown. There may well be a rapidly-developing shortage of large blocks of Class A space. According to Colliers, at mid-year 2011 there were only 4 downtown buildings offering in excess of 100,000 square feet of contiguous space.

Another interesting tidbit from the Transwestern report: Continental/United plans to give up only 142,000 square feet of their downtown office space (when the lease expires in 2014). (IIRC, Continental had a total of 660,000 square feet of space in downtown; earlier speculation had them giving up a much larger amount of space)

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I'm curious if the building that sits on the corner of that lot would come down or be built around ala the Stowers building. It looks like it has been empty for a long time.

The Texas Tower will probably receive the same fate as the Montagu Hotel at 804 Fannin did. The difference with the Stowers bldg is that it has firewalls on two sides, whereas the Texas Tower has windows on all sides.

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The Texas Tower will probably receive the same fate as the Montagu Hotel at 804 Fannin did. The difference with the Stowers bldg is that it has firewalls on two sides, whereas the Texas Tower has windows on all sides.

The Stowers Building has windows on all 4 sides. I walked by it last night to confirm.

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The Stowers Building has windows on all 4 sides. I walked by it last night to confirm.

Well that's some confounding info, I'll have to take a gander myself. I could have sworn that when 811 Main was built that the Stowers bldg was renovated at the same time and connected to the tower base?

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http://www.chron.com...ape-2444724.php

"I think the potential for a new building to be announced in 2012 would be very high," said Chrissy Wilson, vice president of leasing for Hines, citing the single-digit vacancy rate.

The Houston-based development firm owns a site near the old Rice Hotel bordered by Main, Texas, Fannin and Capital where it could build a tower with up to 1 million square feet.

Developing without a commitment from a tenant is "very, very risky," said Paul Frazier, vice president of Brookfield Properties, which is also pondering a new building downtown.

The company has a 2.5-acre site near Allen Center where it could build a tower as big as 1.3 million square feet, Frazier said.

A third tower has also been talked about.

Skanska USA Commercial Development, a unit of Swedish construction giant Skanska, recently bought downtown's Houston Club Building at 811 Rusk and has said the company may redevelop the site. The Houston Club, which leases its facility there, is looking at space in other downtown buildings.

Edited by DrLan34
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On 1/5/2012 at 9:29 AM, DrLan34 said:

http://www.chron.com...ape-2444724.php

"I think the potential for a new building to be announced in 2012 would be very high," said Chrissy Wilson, vice president of leasing for Hines, citing the single-digit vacancy rate.

The Houston-based development firm owns a site near the old Rice Hotel bordered by Main, Texas, Fannin and Capital where it could build a tower with up to 1 million square feet.

Developing without a commitment from a tenant is "very, very risky," said Paul Frazier, vice president of Brookfield Properties, which is also pondering a new building downtown.

The company has a 2.5-acre site near Allen Center where it could build a tower as big as 1.3 million square feet, Frazier said.

A third tower has also been talked about.

Skanska USA Commercial Development, a unit of Swedish construction giant Skanska, recently bought downtown's Houston Club Building at 811 Rusk and has said the company may redevelop the site. The Houston Club, which leases its facility there, is looking at space in other downtown buildings.

 

Houston Center also has plans for Six Houston Center. No doubt they are shopping those plans for potential tenants as well. Sad that our major paper's real estate reporter is so clueless.

Also, despite the impression given in the article, don't be surprised if Hines moves forward without a signed lease.

Edited by Houston19514
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Say a major tenant was in the market for space, it wouldnt be likely that all 3 sites mentioned would develope at the same time right? Unless we have another Hess situation with Mainplace?

I wouldn't think so, unless more than one was self-financed (e.g., Skanska on Post Oak). Developers have spent a lot of time and money over the past few years leasing up buildings that were built partially-or-fully spec. So there is caution to not repeat the issues of the recent past.

Just guessing, but I would think that unless a tenant signs up for something approaching 50% of the space, a project wouldn't proceed.

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  • 4 weeks later...
.

Also, despite the impression given in the article, don't be surprised if Hines moves forward without a signed lease.

Would Metro's "Central Station" plans next door possibly help get this project moving?!?

A Hines Tower added with Central Station, the new BG Group Tower, and existing development ranging from the Rice Hotel to Main Street Sq & Houston Pavilions suddenly has some potential. Still not sold it could become the grand shopping destination the city envisions, but atleast it will have a more presentable look.

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Discovery Tower did. It was almost finished by the time Hess signed up.

That may be, but you have to look at the capital environment Discovery Tower (and MainPlace for that matter) was developed in. I'm talking current day, not 2008.

Edited by travelguy_73
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On 1/29/2012 at 2:21 PM, rsb320 said:

Discovery Tower did. It was almost finished by the time Hess signed up.

 

Yes and no. Discovery Tower was indeed started without a tenant. But it was far from "almost finished" by the time Hess signed up. The number of floors and some floor heights were even changed upon the lease signing.

Edited by Houston19514
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Yes and no. Discovery Tower was indeed started without a tenant. But it was far from "almost finished" by the time Hess siged up. The number of floors and some floor heights were even changed upon the lease signing.

That's right. Height was added to the cafeteria floor, overlooking Disco Green, and it's near the bottom. That cafeteria is fancy enough to have a reception or banquet.

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That's right. Height was added to the cafeteria floor, overlooking Disco Green, and it's near the bottom. That cafeteria is fancy enough to have a reception or banquet.

Yes. So with height being added to one of the near-bottom floors, it is safe to say that Hess signed up rather near the beginning of construction, not when it was almost finished. (its also very likely that the deal with Hess was in the works before construction started, or very shortly after.

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I'm no expert, but I would assume that when you are going to build a highrise, you can't look at today's market conditions. Even a modest 30-story highrise takes at least 2 years to complete. The economy has been in the shitter since 2008 with little improvement. I can't imagine it being this way in another few years, but then again, what do I know. I assume we're seeing a lot of projects coming online now because A) oil futures are high. Like it or not, oil drives this city and when oil is high, Houston is making bank. B ) Houston adds 140,000 people a year. Always gonna need more space. C). The economic conditions should begin to improve as time moves forward.

Edited by wxman
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  • 1 month later...

via Swamplot, could this be the project they announce? Or will it be a 4-story apartment building on the old Turnberry site? lol

Hines Hines Latest from The Business Journals Follow this company , the homegrown mega-developer of office buildings and all things related to commercial real estate, plans to announce its newest Houston project April 4 at the Society of Industrial and Office Realtors’ Society of Industrial and Office Realtors Latest from The Business Journals Follow this company Commercial Expo 2012.

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2012/03/30/latest-hines-project-in-houston-gets.html

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via Swamplot, could this be the project they announce? Or will it be a 4-story apartment building on the old Turnberry site? lol

You probably wouldn't choose to announce an apartment building at a meeting of industrial and office brokers....

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YAYYYYY!!!!!!!!! Man, Houston is on FIYAH!!!! So much development EVERYWHERE. The only thing I don't like about a skyscraper in this location is it gets lost among the other buildings. It would be shadowed by Chase and or take away from Chase's prominence. Anybody feel that way?

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YAYYYYY!!!!!!!!! Man, Houston is on FIYAH!!!! So much development EVERYWHERE. The only thing I don't like about a skyscraper in this location is it gets lost among the other buildings. It would be shadowed by Chase and or take away from Chase's prominence. Anybody feel that way?

Ummm, I'm not so sure. MainPlace imo actually kinda gets lost in the shadows. We need a more visible tower to go up. Ok, maybe not need, but it'll be nice. Plus, chase is so big, I think surrounding it with shorter buildings will only magnify it.

We need to find an admin on Linkedin, someone low on the totum pole, that will spill the beans! ;p

Edited by lockmat
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Ummm, I'm not so sure. MainPlace imo actually kinda gets lost in the shadows. We need a more visible tower to go up. Ok, maybe not need, but it'll be nice. Plus, chase is so big, I think surrounding it with shorter buildings will only magnify it.

One thing I don't like about the Houston skyline from certain angles is that it doesn't appear very dense. there are a bunch of towers that can be seen from west on Buffalo Bayou but it looks like there is a lot of space between them. So even if a building is in the shadows, I think it only enhances that view, even if it's not the most prominent. I guess Main Place is a bad example though because it can't be seen from that angle.

Also I just realized that Chase doesn't look like much from this angle either.

205368937_c35156f212.jpg

Houston Skyline Panorama by J-a-x, on Flickr

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One thing I don't like about the Houston skyline from certain angles is that it doesn't appear very dense. there are a bunch of towers that can be seen from west on Buffalo Bayou but it looks like there is a lot of space between them. So even if a building is in the shadows, I think it only enhances that view, even if it's not the most prominent. I guess Main Place is a bad example though because it can't be seen from that angle.

I think alot of this is just the street grid being in alignment with the view.

Edited by woolie
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You probably wouldn't choose to announce an apartment building at a meeting of industrial and office brokers....

Taking that into consideration, it seems likely that this would be for a big project. You wouldnt pick this conference to unveil a simple 20-story building?!? This seems more like a "Splash" making announcement.

And also, if it is indeed the Texas/Capitol/Main lot, I would expect any project Hines does here to have ground floor retail and restaurants due to the site's close proximity to Metro's planned "Central Station" and the convergence of 3 light rail lines.

Edited by tigereye
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