Montrose Collective: Office Building with Retail Coming to 888 Westheimer

[phillip_white 1913]

11 minutes ago, wilcal said:

I honestly wish that they would just charge for parking for all of it. Maybe exempt the 25 library parking spots. 

 

Maybe they could take a cue from the Midtown parking garage and charge "event pricing" for Astros games.

[trymahjong 548]

Noticed the Variance sign and got an email about it.

 

Seems they want to reduce the building set back from 5 feet along California and Grant street and by pass the requirement of a visability triangle at the intersection.

googled it just to be sure but it means the triangular area adjacent to the intersection of any public street or public alley within which no obstruction may be placed which would block the sight lines for vehicular traffic. The triangle is established by measuring a distance of 45 feet from the intersection of the extended curb or edge of the pavement of a major thoroughfares, and 25 feet from the extended edge of the curb or pavement of local streets. A straight line connecting the ends of each measured distance which forms the hypotenuse shall establish the visibility triangle. The visibility triangle should not contain any visual or physical impediments or obstructions to the vertical view between 30 inches and seven feet in height.

 

Messing around with the "visibility triangle" sort of sets off a few warning bells to me. A few Civic Clubs wrote  wrote a letters of Objection when Shaws jewelry wanted to do that at Gray and MOntrose-- of course the traffic through Grant and California is minimal but still.........

 

BTW........I never heard the number 600 used by the developer at Cohens Town Hall thingy when talking about number of parking spaces.....I wonder why?

[phillip_white 1913]

10 hours ago, trymahjong said:

Noticed the Variance sign and got an email about it.

 

Seems they want to reduce the building set back from 5 feet along California and Grant street and by pass the requirement of a visability triangle at the intersection.

googled it just to be sure but it means the triangular area adjacent to the intersection of any public street or public alley within which no obstruction may be placed which would block the sight lines for vehicular traffic. The triangle is established by measuring a distance of 45 feet from the intersection of the extended curb or edge of the pavement of a major thoroughfares, and 25 feet from the extended edge of the curb or pavement of local streets. A straight line connecting the ends of each measured distance which forms the hypotenuse shall establish the visibility triangle. The visibility triangle should not contain any visual or physical impediments or obstructions to the vertical view between 30 inches and seven feet in height.

 

Messing around with the "visibility triangle" sort of sets off a few warning bells to me. A few Civic Clubs wrote  wrote a letters of Objection when Shaws jewelry wanted to do that at Gray and MOntrose-- of course the traffic through Grant and California is minimal but still.........

 

BTW........I never heard the number 600 used by the developer at Cohens Town Hall thingy when talking about number of parking spaces.....I wonder why?

 

With Grant traffic not stopping at the intersection with California, I see it very unlikely that this would be approved. If they add a stop sign in both directions on Grant it might get approved. Typically I've only seen the visibility triangles removed where one way streets intersect since there's no need for visibility in the downstream direction.

[Urbannizer 44134]

On 7/16/2019 at 3:06 PM, Urbannizer said:

 

I'm betting Michael Hsu is the architect, them and Radom Capital have paired together in the past.

 

https://hsuoffice.com/

 

https://hsuoffice.com/project/montrose-collective/

 

 

 

 

 

 

[bobruss 4988]

He is the architect.

[phillip_white 1913]

YIMBY, please!

[Avossos 2283]

I'm a little overwhelmed... a lot going on...

[j_cuevas713 3063]

We need about 100 more of these throughout the city please lol

[Luminare 6046]

This was posted on the Oct. 17th Planning Agenda.

 

 

 

 

[gene 3054]

wait is Building B the Burger Joint/parking lot or am i reading that wrong?!

I love The Burger Joint! 

[Luminare 6046]

6 minutes ago, gene said:

wait is Building B the Burger Joint/parking lot or am i reading that wrong?!

I love The Burger Joint! 

 

Its the parking lot next to Burger Joint. Not sure if they also use it for their business or not.

[H-Town Man 5007]

On ‎9‎/‎27‎/‎2019 at 2:35 PM, danielsonr said:

I believe Steve Radom said about 2 1/2 years.  They are still negotiating the lease terms with COH for the library space and the parking agreement with Montrose TIRZ.

 

I had thought that this was the view looking north from Westheimer but I see now it is the view looking east from Grant Street. I'm a little concerned we haven't seen a rendering from Westheimer, unless I missed it. I'd rather see them enhance Westheimer than Grant.

 

[j_cuevas713 3063]

23 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

 

I had thought that this was the view looking north from Westheimer but I see now it is the view looking east from Grant Street. I'm a little concerned we haven't seen a rendering from Westheimer, unless I missed it. I'd rather see them enhance Westheimer than Grant.

 

Wow so 2.5 years for all the buildings? That's impressive. I'm going to assume since this was on the COH agenda, that this will start relatively soon. 

[X.R. 1120]

2 hours ago, Luminare said:

 

Its the parking lot next to Burger Joint. Not sure if they also use it for their business or not.

 

That is one of the worst parking lots in the city, hands down. The amount of near accidents, actual accidents, wrong way entrances, people waiting 5 mins + for someone to pull out of a spot, etc is pretty astonishing. Its so bad that I leave my car at home when I g...oh was that their plan all along?!?

 

But yes to a a garage that forces people to park further away and walk to the place. More foot traffic in that area to me is a massive W to fight the 40+ mph crowd trying to book it down westheimer. 

[Luminare 6046]

4 minutes ago, X.R. said:

 

That is one of the worst parking lots in the city, hands down. The amount of near accidents, actual accidents, wrong way entrances, people waiting 5 mins + for someone to pull out of a spot, etc is pretty astonishing. Its so bad that I leave my car at home when I g...oh was that their plan all along?!?

 

But yes to a a garage that forces people to park further away and walk to the place. More foot traffic in that area to me is a massive W to fight the 40+ mph crowd trying to book it down westheimer. 

 

A huge win for possible development in the future. I hope that they will let future new businesses lease parking spots or when in planning stages can throw there parking requirements to something like this garage.

[danielsonr 389]

 

4 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

 

I had thought that this was the view looking north from Westheimer but I see now it is the view looking east from Grant Street. I'm a little concerned we haven't seen a rendering from Westheimer, unless I missed it. I'd rather see them enhance Westheimer than Grant.

 

It may be the view looking west from Crockett, but it’s hard to tell. The fourth rendering in Urbannizer’s October 22 post is the Westheimer frontage. You can see Uchi across Grant from the building.

[bobruss 4988]

I find it rather telling that in none of these renderings, do they show a 7 story parking garage looming over the development or surrounding neighborhood.

However they do show it on the first drawing of the floor plan that Luminaire just posted, and I guess a camouflaged grey glance at it in the very last drawing. It doesn't really give you a view of the whole project with the garage.

[Luminare 6046]

11 minutes ago, bobruss said:

I find it rather telling that in none of these renderings, do they show a 7 story parking garage looming over the development or surrounding neighborhood.

However they do show it on the first drawing of the floor plan that Luminaire just posted, and I guess a camouflaged grey glance at it in the very last drawing. It doesn't really give you a view of the whole project with the garage.

 

To tell you the truth, if I was setting up shots for renders, I wouldn't included it either. I think this building is already going to be 4-5 stories, so the garage isn't going to be that much taller. From the look of the other renders where you do catch the garage it looks like they will blend it in with the building. The back side of the garage will be pretty big though in contrast to whats next to it.

[H-Town Man 5007]

6 hours ago, danielsonr said:

 

It may be the view looking west from Crockett, but it’s hard to tell. The fourth rendering in Urbannizer’s October 22 post is the Westheimer frontage. You can see Uchi across Grant from the building.

 

Looks good.

 

[bobruss 4988]

From the renders you provided the building shows three floors. Not 4 or 5. So going from 3 to seven is a pretty good leap.

[Angostura 1252]

17 hours ago, Luminare said:

 

A huge win for possible development in the future. I hope that they will let future new businesses lease parking spots or when in planning stages can throw there parking requirements to something like this garage.

 

It's 12X above CoH minimums, so presumably this has to be part of the plan. 

 

This is within the boundaries of the Montrose Special Parking Area. Businesses within the SPA can provide up to 100% of their (non-handicap) parking off-site. 

 

Alternatively, since due to grandfathering, within the boundaries of the SPA, total off-site parking is >2000 off-street spaces under what CoH would currently require, they could just charge for parking without leasing specific spots to specific developments. Parking is definitely at a premium in the area, and LOTS of people get towed for inadvertently parking on resident-only streets.

[cityliving 2672]

There was an article about this project recently on Virtual builders exchange

http://Virtualbx.com

 

Edited October 30, 2019 by cityliving

[Houston19514 4647]

On 10/30/2019 at 12:04 AM, bobruss said:

From the renders you provided the building shows three floors. Not 4 or 5. So going from 3 to seven is a pretty good leap.

 

The cross sections posted above by Luminaire show 3 stories, but that is only of one building (Building B).  The renderings of the other buildings clearly show 4 and 5 stories.

Edited October 31, 2019 by Houston19514

[cityliving 2672]

Old house behind the HPD substation located on Crocker and Avondale Street one block from Westheimer.

[trymahjong 548]

That House was in fairly good condition, so I innocently wondered out loud why not give it away to moved, with buyer assuming moving costs.

All Avondale business members went on to explain how that notion didn’t make economic sense.  Economic sense seems to be my biggest stumbling block, I guess.  Pure and Simple I hate seeing useable historic homes bull dozed.The remaining houses on the west side of Crocker are in better than “fair”  condition. Extensive remodeling was done to each. One of the houses has a better than average historical story attach. It was the home of Billie Bath, part of the Levi family and sister of Harriet Bath, who helped found TheHouston Ballet Guild.

[H-Town Man 5007]

On ‎11‎/‎16‎/‎2019 at 10:06 AM, trymahjong said:

That House was in fairly good condition, so I innocently wondered out loud why not give it away to moved, with buyer assuming moving costs.

All Avondale business members went on to explain how that notion didn’t make economic sense.  Economic sense seems to be my biggest stumbling block, I guess.  Pure and Simple I hate seeing useable historic homes bull dozed.The remaining houses on the west side of Crocker are in better than “fair”  condition. Extensive remodeling was done to each. One of the houses has a better than average historical story attach. It was the home of Billie Bath, part of the Levi family and sister of Harriet Bath, who helped found TheHouston Ballet Guild.

 

I was talking to a lady in Dallas recently who sold an old house in University Park to a buyer who demolished it and she was explaining, "Well, the floors upstairs sloped an inch from one side of the bedroom to the other. You can't renovate a house like that!" And I'm thinking, "Have you ever been to England?" Stayed at a hotel in the Cotswolds that probably dropped six inches from one side of the bedroom to the other - on the third floor. No one cared. Face it, we are living in a land of Philistines. There have been some improvements in historical consciousness the past 20 years but even if it keeps improving at this rate, we will still see dumb decisions the rest of our lives. Gotta have laser-level floors or it's just unlivable!

 

Edited November 17, 2019 by H-Town Man

[Luminare 6046]

22 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

 

I was talking to a lady in Dallas recently who sold an old house in University Park to a buyer who demolished it and she was explaining, "Well, the floors upstairs sloped an inch from one side of the bedroom to the other. You can't renovate a house like that!" And I'm thinking, "Have you ever been to England?" Stayed at a hotel in the Cotswolds that probably dropped six inches from one side of the bedroom to the other - on the third floor. No one cared. Face it, we are living in a land of Philistines. There have been some improvements in historical consciousness the past 20 years but even if it keeps improving at this rate, we will still see dumb decisions the rest of our lives. Gotta have laser-level floors or it's just unlivable!

 

 

Yeah I can see that, if we were analyzing this in a vacuum, but examined in context of each (America and Europe), and its just different sensibilities along with developmental practices for each. You know this.

[H-Town Man 5007]

2 minutes ago, Luminare said:

 

Yeah I can see that, if we were analyzing this in a vacuum, but examined in context of each (America and Europe), and its just different sensibilities along with developmental practices for each. You know this.

 

But those different sensibilities and developmental practices have a basis in attitudes and mindsets. And our attitude and mindset, on the whole, is still thinking everything newer and bigger is better. We are much better than we were a few decades ago but have a long way to go before we stop seeing wasteful atrocities.

 

 

[gene 3054]

On 11/16/2019 at 10:06 AM, trymahjong said:

That House was in fairly good condition, so I innocently wondered out loud why not give it away to moved, with buyer assuming moving costs.

All Avondale business members went on to explain how that notion didn’t make economic sense.  Economic sense seems to be my biggest stumbling block, I guess.  Pure and Simple I hate seeing useable historic homes bull dozed.The remaining houses on the west side of Crocker are in better than “fair”  condition. Extensive remodeling was done to each. One of the houses has a better than average historical story attach. It was the home of Billie Bath, part of the Levi family and sister of Harriet Bath, who helped found TheHouston Ballet Guild.

 

It was either that house or the one next door to the right that always scared me...why? Because back in the day when i would go to Numbers with friends against my parents wishes there was a man that lived there that would stand in his door way in briefs and just hang out there...sometimes literally. There is that stop sign on Avondale heading north where you would directly aim/dead end at his house...and it was so disturbing that the first time i encountered him i "rolled" through the stop sign...

well that is what the police officer said when he gave us a ticket haha! Anyway we told the officer about the guy and he just mumbled something about knowing that the guy was an issue.

On the day of the court proceeding i realized the officer circled failure to stop at a traffic "LIGHT" not a stop sign option so the case was dismissed  

I always never wondered what happened to that guy LOL 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by gene

[Urbannizer 44134]

https://houston.novusagenda.com/AgendaPublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=18562&MeetingID=387

 

The City of Houston has an opportunity to partner with Montrose Collective LP in the construction of a new mixed-use development in the heart of Montrose, which will house a new approximate 10,000 square foot, state of the art, Montrose Library as a replacement for the existing Freed-Montrose Library at 4100 Montrose.  The current library is over 70 years old, has limited parking, and needs costly repairs and improvements.

 

The City owns 8,333 square feet of land, located at 802 Westheimer Road, which serves as a Houston Police Department (HPD) storefront.  Montrose Collective owns approximately 82,908 square feet of land adjacent to the City property.  Both properties are located within the Montrose TIRZ #27.  Montrose Collective desires to acquire the City property to develop both properties for a mixed-use retail and commercial project on Westheimer Road, just east of Montrose Boulevard, that will stimulate the economic development and growth of the Montrose Zone, and create pedestrian friendly development and activity centers, in accordance with the approved project plan for Montrose TIRZ.  

 

The City agrees to convey its land to Montrose Collective in exchange for the conveyance to the City of a condominium unit in a building to be constructed by Montrose Collective at its sole cost and expense, and the City will retain an ownership interest.  The condominium unit will include the building shell for the new Montrose Library as well as related free garage parking for library employees and patrons. The estimated fair market value of the condominium unit, upon completion of construction, exceeds the appraised fair market value of the City property, as determined by two independent appraisers.

 

Upon conveyance of the City property to Montrose Collective, HPD will close the storefront and  maximize its resources and officers on the street.  HPD is expanding online reporting services and most of its communities are close to existing police stations.  It is anticipated that Montrose Collective will break ground on the first phase of the project in early 2020, which includes construction of a parking garage and office and retail space. The second phase of the project, which includes building the shell for the new Montrose Library, is expected to be completed in May 2022, at which point the City will construct interior improvements for the new library. The current Freed-Montrose Library will remain open until the grand opening of the new library.

 

This conveyance is in accordance with Texas Local Government Code Section 272.001(b)(6), which authorizes municipalities to enter into negotiated sales, rather than notice and bid sales, for property within a tax increment reinvestment zone that will be developed in a manner set out in the project plan and reinvestment zone financing plan for the zone.

Therefore, the General Services Department recommends that City Council approve and authorize an Agreement Regarding Conveyance and Development with Montrose Collective LP for 8,333 square feet of land located at 802 Westheimer Road; and authorize the Mayor to execute and the City Secretary to attest a Special Warranty Deed conveying the property to Montrose Collective LP.

 

[gene 3054]

the sale of the land went through today!

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Land-sale-paves-way-for-new-Montrose-library-in-14899636.php

[skooljunkie 654]

houses are being demoed this AM.

[Avossos 2283]

36 minutes ago, skooljunkie said:

houses are being demoed this AM.

 

How many? I feel like only some on that block are going... the North side should stay.

[wilcal 1706]

8 minutes ago, Toopicky said:

 

I have to wonder what price they plan on selling the old library .... if it is like the sweetheart deal the city gave Olsteen for The Summit then I want a chance to better the bid.

 

Surely there's some deal already in place with everything else closing on that corner.

 

Gonna be pretty disappointed if it's St. Thomas. 

 

It's a little bit bigger than the footprint of the La Colombe d'Or tower. 

 

Would be super cool to get another residential tower. That would be a fourth in like 5 years in that stretch of Montrose. 

[Avossos 2283]

48 minutes ago, wilcal said:

 

Surely there's some deal already in place with everything else closing on that corner.

 

Gonna be pretty disappointed if it's St. Thomas. 

 

It's a little bit bigger than the footprint of the La Colombe d'Or tower. 

 

Would be super cool to get another residential tower. That would be a fourth in like 5 years in that stretch of Montrose. 

 

1 hour ago, Toopicky said:

 

I have to wonder what price they plan on selling the old library .... if it is like the sweetheart deal the city gave Olsteen for The Summit then I want a chance to better the bid.

 

St. Thomas already owns that entire block... It will be used for the school. There will be no sale as the owner is already planning on using the space when the Library moves. We are seeing everyone vacate that block likely because St. Thomas is pushing them out by not renewing leases.

[wilcal 1706]

Just now, Avossos said:

 

 

St. Thomas already owns that entire block... It will be used for the school. There will be no sale as the owner is already planning on using the space when the Library moves. We are seeing everyone vacate that block likely because St. Thomas is pushing them out by not renewing leases.

 

Fantastic.

 

*sigh*

[iah77 294]

1 hour ago, wilcal said:

 

Fantastic.

 

*sigh*

This complex is so pretty why would you sigh that it's not being torn down?

[wilcal 1706]

1 minute ago, iah77 said:

This complex is so pretty why would you sigh that it's not being torn down?

 

I guess I assumed that it would be torn down. Do you know how they would use the existing buildings?

 

In my mind, I really didn't consider that they would keep them like that. 

 

 

[Houston19514 4647]

1 hour ago, Avossos said:

 

 

St. Thomas already owns that entire block... It will be used for the school. There will be no sale as the owner is already planning on using the space when the Library moves. We are seeing everyone vacate that block likely because St. Thomas is pushing them out by not renewing leases.

I don’t think that is correct.  St Thomas owns everything except the library building.  The city owns the library building

[Urbannizer 44134]

https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/CSdlfk4ryxHUMK8zfo5JaZXNIgNgigIDpyM986sRS5c/document.pdf

 

 

 

 

[Caleb 93]

3 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

https://images1.loopnet.com/d2/CSdlfk4ryxHUMK8zfo5JaZXNIgNgigIDpyM986sRS5c/document.pdf

 

 

 

 

Yes. Yes. Yes. This is exactly the direction Houston needs to go. 

[West Timer 412]

5 hours ago, Caleb said:

Yes. Yes. Yes. This is exactly the direction Houston needs to go. 

I agree. We only need about 5,000 more of these. But I'd settle for a few dozen or so as long as they are in Midtown, Montrose and Uptown. Seriously, wouldn't something like this be great on all 4 corners at the intersection of Westhiemer and Montrose?

[Avossos 2283]

Generally, this looks nice... but I am curious how this style will age. Perhaps it could seem a bit busy, perhaps sloppy... I tend to go for simpler, more streamlined mod when going modern.

 

Despite the criticism aesthetically, I do really like the black masonry. I also love the idea of that many small retail shops and the foot traffic this can bring! Huge improvement for the area.

[trymahjong 548]

I attended the Montrose TIRZ

 

i was charmed that a bit of “the futuristic “ was discussed.........what type of transportation will be used by Montrose resident in the next forty years and how can that be planned for currently. 

 

otherwise just the milder details of contract negotiations over ratio of business to public parking spaces ( yes a bit of a side bar over dimensions of driverless cars)  I think it will be 5 business parking places to 1 public parking space.

 

I have to say a bit of that type of discussion can make for a much more enjoyable meeting as far As this audience member was concerned........ ;)

[X.R. 1120]

That looks fantastic. I'd take this every day of the week and twice on Sunday. The colors are dynamic, the stone is cool, and the greenery is well dispersed throughout the development. Love the idea of that walk-way between the buildings.

 

I was walking to and around Hermann Park yesterday and it reminded me of how conditioned some of those drivers are to stopping for pedestrians going to and from the park on Crawford Street. You don't get that level of conditioning even at Memorial park, but I think developments like this will go a long way to adding enough foot traffic to get people in Montrose conditioned to the fact that they need to be looking out for pedestrians. 

 

I do love the building the library is currently in but putting the library in here may make it easier for people with kids/groups of people to go to the library. Ate at one of places in the Collective? Mosey on over to the library to check stuff out. Right now if you eat/go anywhere in montrose you have to get into a car and hope you get decent parking. I think the accessibility goes up. 

[hindesky 46652]

[Urbannizer 44134]

https://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Montrose-staple-Theo-s-Greek-Restaurant-closing-14934888.php?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=socialflow#photo-6610055

 

Theo's Greek Restaurant, a favorite late-night eatery in Montrose, will be closing its doors early in the new year. And once the doors close, everything must go.

 

The restaurant at 812 Westheimer is owned by Ted "Theo" Mousoudakis. In a restaurant auction notification, the ownership posted, "Ted has been in business for 12 years and is closing due to demolition of the strip center for building of a high rise."

[j_cuevas713 3063]

This development is literally the turning point for this city. 2020 is going to be a massive year for Houston. 

[crock 130]

44 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

This development is literally the turning point for this city. 2020 is going to be a massive year for Houston. 

 

all i see is that it's going to be harder for me to casually get southside coffee on saturday mornings.  

I'm also really unsure who is going to come here?  Montrose has already been effectively priced out for millennials, so it doesn't have the same sort of foot traffic as even areas of the Heights do.  Haven't two shops already closed in the brand new strip center across from Uchi already in less than a year?  

 

[Luminare 6046]

So some interesting insider industry info. Recently learned that the architect responsible for this design, Michael Hsu Office of Architecture, is opening up a Houston office. They have already established themselves as the next big player in town regarding commercial architecture. Expect to see their name on more projects to come, and have an influence on Houston's mixed-use scene as well as commercial architecture aesthetics.