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One Market Square: Proposed Office Tower For Block 43 - 800 Preston St.


lockmat

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I was eating at Franks Pizza yesterday and the owner was there and he was mentioning that he believes it's still stalled.

 

It's a shame, had I won the billion dollar powerball I would have bought this block and built a restaurant and coffee shop on the ground floor, floors 2-4 would have been high end apartments (maybe ultra boutique bed and breakfast, I was still working out the details when my dreams were crushed), and floor 5 and 6 would have been my personal home.

Edited by samagon
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I was eating at Franks Pizza yesterday and the owner was there and he was mentioning that he believes it's still stalled.

 

It's a shame, had I won the billion dollar powerball I would have bought this block and built a restaurant and coffee shop on the ground floor, floors 2-4 would have been high end apartments (maybe ultra boutique bed and breakfast, I was still working out the details when my dreams were crushed), and floor 5 and 6 would have been my personal home.

 

That guy should know, just look what he's building one block over.

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Aquinas isn't giving that site up unless its something good. The last time it stalled out is because the developer they were in talks with just didn't work. Which I find odd because they do have a real estate group in house.

They are content to let it sit until the right thing comes along, their parking lot is minimal effort and pretty lucrative. 

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Aquinas isn't giving that site up unless its something good. The last time it stalled out is because the developer they were in talks with just didn't work. Which I find odd because they do have a real estate group in house.

They are content to let it sit until the right thing comes along, their parking lot is minimal effort and pretty lucrative. 

 

Had I won, I'm sure a wad of cash would have been the right thing to come along. hahaha.

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Had I won, I'm sure a wad of cash would have been the right thing to come along. hahaha.

 

Maybe. Not only is the lot lucrative, but assuming a tower gets built (assume a +/-100-150mil project) I don't know that they'd want to give it up because they own Linbeck and thats a good size job to have in the books, especially if it hits when they have staff coming off of another project and have no where to send them.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What's up with the multi-colored models? Guess someone likes the GSW Building enough to give it full details.

Also assume they don't like 609 Main.

Right?

 

Let's go ahead and give full details to the juice box, that one church, and the GSW, but that Esperson building, one of the most iconic in Houston with the intricate crown, a box will suffice.

 

it looks like they started building this model on the east side of town, and after spending 5 months making the juice box and GSW, they realized they only had a month left to complete it and phoned in the rest of it.

Edited by samagon
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Right?

 

Let's go ahead and give full details to the juice box, that one church, and the GSW, but that Esperson building, one of the most iconic in Houston with the intricate crown, a box will suffice.

 

it looks like they started building this model on the east side of town, and after spending 5 months making the juice box and GSW, they realized they only had a month left to complete it and phoned in the rest of it.

 

The block with Annunciation Church on it needs to be spun 180 degrees.  Or maybe they're planning on installing a lazy Susan. BG Place looks odd somehow with the Stowers building area/space not where it should be, and the Melrose/Le Meridian was replaced by a low-rise box. The Nau Center is still there too, so it is all over the place in terms of what is there and what is not.

Edited by Nate99
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  • 2 months later...

International Tower Theatre square is back in the news!

http://swamplot.com/hines-and-hearst-being-sued-over-planned-demo-of-former-houston-chronicle-building/2016-04-26/

 

Quote

Linbeck’s Theater Square entity claimed in a Wednesday night filing that the planned demo is the latest in a string of interferences with its attempts to build a tunnel through the former newspaper building’s basement and connect its property into the broader downtown tunnel network.

 

Oh yay more parking

Quote

As for what’s coming up next for either block: the lawsuit filing says that a parking structure with ground floor retail are planned for Theater Square’s property asphase 1 of a larger development. The former Chronicle building is slated forsurface parking-lot-dom for the time being.

 

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A parking structure on one of the more important blocks downtown.  Awesome.

 

(obviously this is already a "parking structure" as is - the retail should at least make it better than the current surface lot, but still, F)

Edited by kbates2
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"phase 1 of a larger development" sounds like the Skanska tower, and the Texaco building tower.  A couple of examples of parking garages built to hold towers some day.  Are there other examples from previous rounds of development?

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http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Downtown-property-owner-files-lawsuit-to-halt-7375374.php

 

The Linbeck entity said it is in the initial phase of developing its site, which will include a retail and parking structure on the southern half of the block. The city has approved its foundation permit.

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Given the relative shortage of parking in this part of Downtown, constructing a parking garage (similar to Skanska as noted above) makes for a good place holder on the property to generate some revenue until the next cycle picks up.  We are moving to the Chronicle garage because MST is taking over the lot to the northwest corner of Market Square Park.  There's actually a need for more parking for a change.

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Proposed Prairie Tunnel Map, per Theater Square lawsuit filings

 

Swamplot posted the above photo. http://swamplot.com/digging-into-the-downtown-tunnel-tussle-that-spurred-the-hines-hearst-lawsuit/2016-04-28/

 

A couple of things:

 

1) Do you guys think the entrance to the new tunnel gives away the orientation? It seems most are at the front of a building.

 

2) If they want to build a tunnel, doesn't that pretty much confirm this will mostly be an office tower?

 

3) Swamplot reported in their follow-up article that Hines repeatedly told Linbeck they would be demolishing the building. If Linbeck is right that they had access to it, how does repeatedly telling Linbeck you're breaching the contract make it right?

 

4) I think in the long run, Linbeck will eventually have access to the tunnel once Hines builds, they just might have to wait until they do or if they decide to build first they'll have to pinky promise their tenants they 'll eventually have access.

 

5)Lastly, the tunnel access on Hines' site pretty much guarantees they'll have an office component too. The tunnels is part of what makes a downtown Houston building class A.It would be a waste not to incorporate it.

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