Mixed-Use Development At 1111 Main St.

[KinkaidAlum]

Downtown Hobart, Tasmania has a freaking Target and it's a ghost town after dark. It's in the pedestrian mall about 8 blocks up from the waterfront.

 

A Target would make bank in downtown Houston. 

 

[Subdude]

Something like Target is the only thing I can see working.  The days of the old-style department stores are quickly drawing to a close.  I wouldn't want to pay incentives to support a business model that is going away.

[dml423]

Agreed. A City Target like the one in portland would do really well. This would be perfect in the old Sakowitz building.

 

[HoustonIsHome]

That is beautiful. Two things downtown is severely lacking. Windows and lights.

 

These storefronts make so much of a difference in terms of warmth. These blanks walls on all these buildings give disgustingly that cold, sterile,  soul-less feel

[enriquewx91]

On 1/13/2017 at 6:47 PM, HoustonIsHome said:

Downtown foot traffic has picked up, while the homeless population in that spot has gone down. 

There is still no big draw to Main Street Square though.

Forever 21 is ok, but not enough.

The Park Shops and Greenstreet are too inward facing.

 

As far as department stores go are they still popular?  I'm not sure what it's going to take to Jumpstart retail but I think it has to be visual.  People need to be able to see in. 

 

I think low end retail would work wonders here for now. 

Lower end than even Macy's. 

With the Galleria, ROD, Highland Village, River Oaks and Rice Village all in close proximity I don't see much high end coming to downtown soon. 

 

Don't laugh but I would put in Ross, Marshalls, Target,  a general goods store, a Houston souvenir shop, A sports merchandise shop,  a smoke shop, Petsmart, expand that CVS, bring in an urban version of Specs, throw in some restaurants,  bars and about a dozen lower end retailers such as Rainbow,  Old Navy, Bath and Body works, Lids, Sephora. That will keep the nearby residents interested.  Once the crowds become regular we can step up the game. I do think we may need something like a Williams Sonoma soon.  Something with  home goods

 

 

Low end stores like Ross, Marshalls, etc. have worked great in other cities. Nashville, Chicago I know that Houston isn't a Chicago but it'll be a start. We would just need the foot traffic.

[cloud713]

I may be ignorant on the matter, but I don't see low end stores working for downtown. Unless you're catering to the homeless population, like Main Street Market, I don't see the clientele for low end retail being in downtown. All those new apartment buildings have rents starting at like $1500 for a studio. I'm not saying everything needs to be upscale luxury, but I just have a hard time seeing very much low end retail working in downtown. Especially given the rents/profit margins needed to make money.

[UtterlyUrban]

A target or a tjmax would be teaming with office workers everyday.  

 

"Low end" retail does not mean that "upscale and wealthy" shoppers don't go there.  Said another way, Engineers earning $125k don't all shop at Nordstrom and crate and barrel exclusively.  

 

 

Edited January 17, 2017 by UtterlyUrban

[Chi-Char-Hou-Dal]

What the mole people want is a DRESS BARN !!

 

Tatget would be cool, it would be nice to speed up the eventual natural progression and get a city target through tax breaks and monies. Make it happen Sylvester .

[Subdude]

If you look at the explosion of retail for the "upscale and wealthy" lately (River Oaks District, Galleria expansion, Kirby Collection, Rice Village redevelopment etc etc) it is hard to see how much demand there could be for yet another retail destination for the upscale and wealthy.  Or maybe they feel they don't have enough choices, and I'm just blind to it. 

[cspwal]

What Downtown needs is something like a Target, where the residents can get their basic stuff that isn't sold in grocery stores.  Right now in downtown, there's no place that your $125k engineer is going to be able to get duck tape, sand paper, and a new drill bit to fix the hobby project that has gone severely wrong at 8 pm.

 

A downtown Target would have people in there day and night

[mollusk]

Target could make bank in downtown or maybe near a midtown rail stop.  The Sawyer Target is just about always packed.

[cspwal]

East side of downtown still has a bunch of parking lots and even a few greenfield sites. Though right at 1111 Main would be perfect

[cloud713]

I agree, a CityTarget would do very well. I would much rather it be in the ground floor(s) of an office/residential tower downtown than be located in midtown.

Maybe I'm not rich enough, but I don't consider target to be a "low end retailer". My previous comment was in response to the suggestions of Ross/Marshalls types of discount stores in downtown.

[cspwal]

I think a Ross or a Marshalls would be able to get plenty of bussiness, but I don't know if they'd make enough revenue per square foot to pay for downtown rent.  It would be nice to have a legit small shopping area with something like that, plus a Target and a whole bunch of little stores or something

[Urbannizer]

First look from a GreenStreet PDF file advertising office space.

 

[bobruss]

I'm confused. That rendering doesn't look anything like Greenstreet or Alessandra.

[Subdude]

Dallas at Fannin, looking east.  I think it is purely conceptual.

 

[lockmat]

I agree, that rendering doesn't make any sense, even from the Dallas/Fannin perspective, in my opinion.

 

...unless you meant, west?

Edited May 17, 2017 by lockmat

[Naviguessor]

Definitely Dallas/Fannin looking WEST toward Main.  See the Light Rail & Hilcorp. 

[H-Town Man]

So in that case, it looks like they are placing the parking garage on Main with the retail on the bottom. Sort of a dueling parking garage with Hilcorp's across the street, and continuing the rich tradition of parking garages on Main - 9 in 6 blocks between Texas and Dallas if this goes through.

 

You would think that creative office space users would want to overlook Main Street Square, rather than overlook Fannin Street and have their cars overlook Main Street Square. Right?

 

Or maybe they are preserving the Sakowitz building with garage inside, which would be slightly better, but I doubt the building can take that much more reconfiguration.

 

 

[bobruss]

So is this a rendering for a spec building to go up with retail on the bottom??

[infinite_jim]

Until Younan sells, don't hold your breath on this. This should be a residential tower not office.

[H-Town Man]

8 hours ago, infinite_jim said:

Until Younan sells, don't hold your breath on this. This should be a residential tower not office.

 

Who is Younan? Fill us in.

 

[bobruss]

That was my next question. Who is Younan?

Sounds like a superhero, a name of a transformer, or the name of a far distant moon of Jupiters.

Edited May 18, 2017 by bobruss

[cspwal]

http://www.younanproperties.com/

 

Sounds like its a commercial holdings firm

 

Quote

Younan Properties invests and provides asset management services for Class A office properties, retail centers, golf courses and luxury resorts on behalf of private, corporate and institutional investors. Today, the company has assembled a fully scalable, international platform with a valuation of more than $1 Billion.

 

[Houston19514]

Younan owns one or more of the properties on this block, including  the 1010 Lamar building.  However, I'm not sure we need for them to sell before the city's proposed mixed-use project can proceed; the city has (or at least had) an understanding with Younan to participate in the project by leasing part of its building and being provided with some parking for its office tenants.

[lockmat]

10 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

Younan owns one or more of the properties on this block, including  the 1010 Lamar building.  However, I'm not sure we need for them to sell before the city's proposed mixed-use project can proceed; the city has (or at least had) an understanding with Younan to participate in the project by leasing part of its building and being provided with some parking for its office tenants.

 

True, I recall the same thing. There is probably documentation posted earlier in the thread.

[Subdude]

Apologies for confusing east with west.  Directions are hard!  

 

My first thought also was that it seemed strange to have the parking block on Main.  The rendering shows the main entrance fronting Dallas so part of the parking garage would be next to the main entrance.  In both the Capitol Tower and proposed Market Square towers the parking structures are in the back, away from the primary entrance.  

[mattyt36]

Now up for sale.  Negotiations to redevelop as a result of the Downtown Redevelopment Authority RFP stalled.

 

https://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Downtown-office-tower-and-former-Sakowitz-12934125.php

[ArchFan]

I gotta say, putting an urban Target in the old Sakowitz building sounds like a great idea.  I'm not sure whether the investment community is ready to fund something like that yet, but I think that ultimately it would quite successful as more residential buildings open nearby.

[mattyt36]

9 hours ago, ArchFan said:

I gotta say, putting an urban Target in the old Sakowitz building sounds like a great idea.  I'm not sure whether the investment community is ready to fund something like that yet, but I think that ultimately it would quite successful as more residential buildings open nearby.

 

I’d have to say the chances of that were far higher when the DRA was involved. But that’s just my gut.

[j_cuevas713]

On 5/22/2018 at 2:25 PM, mattyt36 said:

Now up for sale.  Negotiations to redevelop as a result of the Downtown Redevelopment Authority RFP stalled.

 

https://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Downtown-office-tower-and-former-Sakowitz-12934125.php

Well then I pray it doesn't get demolished and still renovated. If everything stalled to redevelop then I'm afraid there was no desired use for the current structure. 

[cspwal]

It might be prohibitively expensive to reuse it after it was turned into a parking garage