Hines To Developed Wood Office Buildings In Houston

[H-Town Man]

https://product.costar.com/home/news/shared/1931708221?utm_source=costar&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=costar-market-newsletter&utm_content=p1

 

Thanks to Hines, we get them before the rest of Texas. But only 5 stories due to building codes.

[CaptainJilliams]

I wonder where they plan on building it in Houston, any guesses?

[H-Town Man]

1 hour ago, CaptainJilliams said:

I wonder where they plan on building it in Houston, any guesses?

 

Well, only being 5 stories pretty much eliminates downtown due to high land prices. But something cutting-edge like this doesn't seem very likely in the outer suburbs with their low profile. Hines' last smaller office building was done on San Felipe in River Oaks. So I would guess some trendy Inner Loop neighborhood. Maybe near the bayou or in/near the Heights?

[htownbro]

2 hours ago, CaptainJilliams said:

I wonder where they plan on building it in Houston, any guesses?

My vote is for Upper Kirby area.

[SMU1213]

Land is way too expensive for UK, probably Heights or Montrose.

[Luminare]

Upper Kirby / Greenway Plaza would be a good place to try. Especially Greenway Plaza between Kirby and Edloe. That area, historically, has always been unique testing ground for various styles and ideas.

[tangledwoods]

where do you get the 5 story limit from?  Mass timber / CLT framed structures are not bound by the typical fire code that stop balloon frame apartment bldgs.

[H-Town Man]

2 minutes ago, tangledwoods said:

where do you get the 5 story limit from?  Mass timber / CLT framed structures are not bound by the typical fire code that stop balloon frame apartment bldgs.

 

See the linked article.

 

[Houston19514]

The linked article does not seem to say anything about a 5 story limit.  It says US building codes limit these buildings to 85 feet and one has been built in Minneapolis that is 7 stories.

 

I also can't find anything in the article that says Houston will get one before the rest of Texas.

[Luminare]

1 hour ago, tangledwoods said:

where do you get the 5 story limit from?  Mass timber / CLT framed structures are not bound by the typical fire code that stop balloon frame apartment bldgs.

 

24 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

The linked article does not seem to say anything about a 5 story limit.  It says US building codes limit these buildings to 85 feet and one has been built in Minneapolis that is 7 stories.

 

I also can't find anything in the article that says Houston will get one before the rest of Texas.

 

59 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

 

See the linked article.

 

 

So there seems to be some half truths and missing information between all quotes above and even the article. While the article is correct that timber can't go further than 85ft its normally interpreted as being balloon frame as @tangledwoods correctly stated and this has been vastly applied to the 2+5 apartment blocks that are being built everywhere. Again @tangledwoods is correct that Mass timber / CLT or any kind of heavy glue-lam timber is not exactly bound by that particular part of the code, but thats because they are a different kind of construction all together and are instead limited in height by a different part of the fire code. Fire walls and fire abatement of any kind is still a growing science for wood. From what I understand there are many people involve with the IBC who are now rigoriously testing now forms of firewalls and structural timber members to see if code can be changed to allow the height to rise, and it looks like its going in that direction. @Houston19514 you are correct in your info, but when the article says 85ft it means the 2+5 model which adds up to your 7 stories. @H-Town Man you are also correct that the article (if you are doing the math) means that it would be limited to 5 stories, but again the article doesn't go into which style of timber or framing this is. So basically all of you guys are correct, but with only pieces and patchwork information. Simply just consolidating all info for the sake of clarity. Honest opinion on Mass Wood TImber here? Its several years away. Houston has a reputation for not exactly being quick to pick up the latest codes. If one were to be planned and submitted for permit now I don't think the people at the office would be trained to handle that submission and it would be in permitting hell for months or years. Usually when these types of broad announcements are made it means that it isn't happening even in a couple years, but more like 5-7 years. Hopefully by then it becomes just another different option for interesting construction, and not the overblown fad and near Puritan Environmentalist fervor it is garnering at the moment. There are times for Steel, times for concrete, and hopefully times for wood in the future.

[MaxConcrete]

The Chronicle recently had an extensive article about mass timber, focusing on the potential economic benefits to East Texas.

 

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/article/East-Texas-nation-s-wood-basket-13707045.php

 

The article claims that the International Building Code now allows 18-story buildings, and local building codes are expected to be adjusted to allow 18 floors.

Quote

Engineering advances have greatly increased the strength, rigidity and stability of wood as a building material. As a result, the International Building Code, which forms the basis of many cities’ building regulations, decided in January to more than double the allowed height of a wooden building to 18 stories.

The new code has the potential to transform both foresting communities and cityscapes.
---
It will likely take another two years before cities begin adopting the code, but developers have begun to push up against current limits. Houston-based Hines has built multiple 85-foot-tall wooden buildings (which is the current height limit) and says there is no reason it could not go higher when limits increase.

 

Quote

Mass timber — a category of engineered wood products using glue or nails to turn layers of stacked lumber into large panels and beams — addressed many of the concerns surrounding wood structures. Fire studies have shown that the large wood panels burn much differently than two-by-fours: mass timber forms a layer of char that actually acts as insulation, helping it resist burning for more than two hours.

 

[H-Town Man]

2 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

The linked article does not seem to say anything about a 5 story limit.  It says US building codes limit these buildings to 85 feet and one has been built in Minneapolis that is 7 stories.

 

I also can't find anything in the article that says Houston will get one before the rest of Texas.

 

I think I must be mixing in another article I read because you're right, it says 85 foot limit, not 5 stories. Not sure what happened mentally there. As far as Houston getting one first, it seems evident from this quote:

 

"The Houston-based developer is in the active preliminary planning stages to build one, and possibly two, timber office buildings in the Bayou City, John Mooz, senior managing director at Hines, said in an interview. Hines is also looking at potential development sites in Dallas and Austin, Mooz said."

 

I think "active preliminary planning stages" means they are further along here than "potential development sites" in the other cities. I also think they will most likely choose their hometown to bring this to Texas.

[swtsig]

my guess is that Hines and Rice will consider timber for their Ion innovation district development in Midtown. the functionality and aesthetics of timber would interact well with the scope and location of that development.

[Urbannizer]

Redirected here @Houston19514 as it appears to be unrelated to the Hines proposal.

 

 

[bobruss]

Perhaps they might replace some of the old buildings that Hines first developed on Richmond between Kirby and Buffalo Speedway.