JPMorgan Chase Tower At 600 Travis St.

[CaptainJilliams]

It's exciting to see all these moves, I'm hoping renovations draw more companies back to Downtown.

[danielsonr]

7 hours ago, mollusk said:

Since big common spaces are all the rage these days, if there's anything that will be done outside it would likely be taking up part of the plaza for... IDK, "creative space" or even more food options?...

If that’s their plan, it should be complimentary to their strategy to create a pedestrian friendly sreetscape around Texas Tower, the Preston, and the Calpine building.

[Ross]

Chase Tower is set too far back from the street. They need to reimagine it with structure all the way to the curb, and fill it with GFR and chef driven restaurants. Or, tear it down and replace it with something more suited for walkability, instead of the strip mall type parking area along Capitol and Milam. Bwahahahaha.

[Triton]

On 6/22/2019 at 11:50 AM, Avossos said:

 

why would they reclad? Seems fine to me.

 

Just wish the facade had more glass, like they planned to do at 800 Bell:

 

 

They should at least do something with the plaza. It's wide open and serves no purpose right now.

 

 

[CaptainJilliams]

7 minutes ago, Triton said:

 

Just wish the facade had more glass, like they planned to do at 800 Bell:

 

 

They should at least do something with the plaza. It's wide open and serves no purpose right now.

 

 

 

Man I hope they kick-off the renovation of 800 Bell within the next couple years.

[Luminare]

45 minutes ago, Triton said:

They should at least do something with the plaza. It's wide open and serves no purpose right now.

 

 

 

My thoughts exactly. That plaza is very dated and plain. Its a space that isn't very inviting.

[H-Town Man]

We can hope and pray that whatever they do, they can find a way to bring back the observation deck for public use. Even if this would require charging admission, that space is important to the city and the original intent should be restored.

 

I imagine there will be streetscape improvements, ideally synergizing with Hines' other nearby assets, although the renovation at Calpine Center was touted as major and merely involved adding interior retail to the lobby.

 

Edited June 25, 2019 by H-Town Man

[Naviguessor]

I imagine that Hines will add similar amenities to this property, that Texas Tower will have and 609 does have and I bet that they use the front plaza for this purpose.  I don't see that recladding is necessary, nor practical.  But, some cleaning and repair does seem likely and needed.

[H-Town Man]

A couple updates. Hines was already the property manager, diminishing my hope of a policy change regarding the sky lobby. This property sold for $300/SF, a little more than twice what Marathon Tower recently sold for on a per SF basis, illustrating the health of the downtown office market. Marathon does have a major tenant going dark, which accounts for some of that difference.

 

 

[Triton]

On 6/25/2019 at 12:04 PM, H-Town Man said:

A couple updates. Hines was already the property manager, diminishing my hope of a policy change regarding the sky lobby. This property sold for $300/SF, a little more than twice what Marathon Tower recently sold for on a per SF basis, illustrating the health of the downtown office market. Marathon does have a major tenant going dark, which accounts for some of that difference.

 

 

We need that sky lobby back open.

[C List]

On 6/25/2019 at 12:04 PM, H-Town Man said:

A couple updates. Hines was already the property manager, diminishing my hope of a policy change regarding the sky lobby. This property sold for $300/SF, a little more than twice what Marathon Tower recently sold for on a per SF basis, illustrating the health of the downtown office market. Marathon does have a major tenant going dark, which accounts for some of that difference.

 

 

Skanska/Capital/BofA Tower and 609 Main are both looking to be sold in the next year, pricing in the neighborhood of $600-700 psf in both buildings.  Buying 600 Travis at $300 psf (along with Cerebrus Capital who specializes in distressed assets) leads me to believe the building has major leasing issues and is in need of serious upgrades. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 8-9 figure capital injection to reposition the asset. 

 

 

[H-Town Man]

33 minutes ago, C List said:

Skanska/Capital/BofA Tower and 609 Main are both looking to be sold in the next year, pricing in the neighborhood of $600-700 psf in both buildings.  Buying 600 Travis at $300 psf (along with Cerebrus Capital who specializes in distressed assets) leads me to believe the building has major leasing issues and is in need of serious upgrades. I wouldn't be surprised to see a 8-9 figure capital injection to reposition the asset. 

 

 

They seen to have become a small tenant building with about 70 different tenants.

 

[downtownian]

2 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

They seen to have become a small tenant building with about 70 different tenants.

 

 

Yes, it's strange. My personal accountant is in the building. I was initially surprised because I thought the building would be full of major corporate tenants.

[mattyt36]

19 hours ago, downtownian said:

 

Yes, it's strange. My personal accountant is in the building. I was initially surprised because I thought the building would be full of major corporate tenants.

 

Are the floor plates just not attractive to large tenants?

[CREguy13]

On 6/23/2019 at 4:06 PM, Triton said:

They should at least do something with the plaza. It's wide open and serves no purpose right now.

 

I  guarantee the plaza is completely redeveloped into an activated, inviting public space.  Especially with the surrounding buildings' ground floors being active (many of which are Hines), the adjacency to Jones Hall, and most of downtown's recently constructed/redeveloped buildings. 

 

While highly unlikely, I think this would be an incredible location for a destination retail store - considering its proximity to high-earning downtown workers, luxury residences, and the Theater District.  Imagine if this became a flagship Apple store similar to the one on 5th avenue in New York.  There would be access from the adjacent tunnels at Pennzoil, BofA Tower, Chase Tower with the ability for pedestrians to access from street level.  Very pie in the sky, but I think it would be extremely successful.  One can dream right?

 

 

[Texasota]

What? What do city officials have to do with anything other than permitting? Nothing about that apple store entrance is remotely in conflict with city development regulations. 

[Ross]

On 7/10/2019 at 7:40 AM, CREguy13 said:

I  guarantee the plaza is completely redeveloped into an activated, inviting public space.  Especially with the surrounding buildings' ground floors being active (many of which are Hines), the adjacency to Jones Hall, and most of downtown's recently constructed/redeveloped buildings. 

 

While highly unlikely, I think this would be an incredible location for a destination retail store - considering its proximity to high-earning downtown workers, luxury residences, and the Theater District.  Imagine if this became a flagship Apple store similar to the one on 5th avenue in New York.  There would be access from the adjacent tunnels at Pennzoil, BofA Tower, Chase Tower with the ability for pedestrians to access from street level.  Very pie in the sky, but I think it would be extremely successful.  One can dream right?

 

 

Another crappy Apple store, full of crappy products that are overpriced and hard to use? No thanks.

[gmac]

47 minutes ago, Ross said:

Another crappy Apple store, full of crappy products that are overpriced and hard to use? No thanks.

 

Now, now, young person. Be grateful for what Grand Master S. Jobs has provided us with over the years.

[102IAHexpress]

19 hours ago, gclass said:

^^^ @CREguy13  GORGEOUS APPLE STORE depiction.  however, until houston starts to incorporate more forward-thinking officials/individuals such as yourself, we shall continue to DREAM/FANTASIZE throughout our fair city.  in most big cities comparable to houston, development of this exciting nature is already done.  in houston, CHASE TOWER management would have to undergo HELL and HIGH WATER to get something of this nature done!

 

if i have stated it once, i've stated it a thousand times beforehand, and i'll state it just once more... "here in our fair city of houston, really exciting out of the box development of this nature moves at a much... much... much... much... SLOWER PACE than most cities of comparable size".  heck, just think about it for a moment, the CITY OF NEW ORLEANS is built around MORE FLOOD CONTROLLED ARMY CORP OF ENGINEERED STRUCTURES imaginable... and yet, they still seem to incorporate and move much faster upon development than houston.  not to mention, i could just see your APPLE STORE depiction being constructed somewhere along CANAL STREET before the idea even reaches any officials here in houston.  it's a really sad situation, however, it's just the way it is...    

 

This is just false. Developers in other cities, envy how easy it is to build in Houston. Apple or any other retailer/developer can do pretty much whatever they want in Houston, and no one over at CoH would stop/hinder/request a kickback. Houston, compared to other cities of its size is extremely easy to build in and permit. More importantly, Houston has way fewer NIMBY lawsuits from local citizens than cities of comparable size. Again, I have no idea why you think city of Houston officials would even care one way of the other, they haven't cared in the past. Up here in Chicago, President Obama can't even build his library in the hood without people suing/seeking an injunction. From today's WSJ Activist NIMBY's have prevented a huge development of an abandoned steel mill. https://www.wsj.com/articles/activists-try-to-stop-a-huge-chicago-development-over-1-3-billion-in-tax-incentives-11562849876?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=4#comments_sector

 

[Luminare]

me walking into this conversation...and me leaving it.

[Nate99]

3 hours ago, Luminare said:

me walking into this conversation...and me leaving it.

 

 

Yeah...

 

So...

 

How about that sky lobby, that was pretty cool. 

[H-Town Man]

12 hours ago, gclass said:

they have been trying in earnest to WRING THE OBAMA FOUNDATION COMPLETELY DRY in arbitrary guarantees that this proposed new gentrification of this park/district... will not actively displace south side black residents like what happened in the (1950's) with the UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO.  current residents of this area are afraid that this newest and BRILLIANT MASTERPIECE of development shall destroy valuable JACKSON PARK greenspace and drive up property values throughout the area.  not to mention, this development shall not be a true presidential library per se... but more of a presidential center... or an outright extension of the chicago library system.  (in other words, FEAR has set-in.  whereby, they are afraid that their normal way of life shall end within this particular district)  nonetheless, if it's so very "EASY" to develop within the city of houston, then why on earth does it take so damn long to get things done here?  why are outside developers so very reluctant to consider houston over the likes of DALLAS/AUSTIN etc?  it's quite easy for you to try and speak-out right...?  at least you have your W CHICAGO HOTEL whereby, we in houston are still DREAMING about ours...    

 

You have it a little backwards. The University of Chicago has been in that neighborhood since 1893. The black residents mostly came in in the 50's-60's, which coincided with much of the local white population leaving. There was a gang called the Blackstone Knights which scared a lot of people away. It is true that the university engaged in various development and urban renewal projects to try to keep it an upper-middle class (white) neighborhood, tearing down "dilapidated" apartments and retail buildings and building new apartments, many of them designed by I.M. Pei. Of course, the university owns most of the land in that area and has a right to develop it. The other, different issue is the taking of park land for development. This is what drove the George Lucas Museum away from Chicago. Chicagoans are pretty aggressive about preserving their parks.

 

As far as the comparisons with Dallas and Austin, for the first half of this decade, we got way more and better development than they did, then our economy crashed in 2015 and they have been getting a little bit more than we have since then. We still lead the nation in office space constructed since 2010 (Dallas is no. 2), while we are fourth in apartments (behind Dallas, New York, and D.C.), and I'm pretty sure we are first in single-family construction. We have gotten pretty much all the development we can handle. The Apple store you showed above is something you see in touristy areas where companies like to make a splash and right now Houston does not have much tourism, being fourth among the major Texas cities in this area. I'm optimistic we can change this as our downtown becomes a great place to visit.

[102IAHexpress]

On 6/24/2019 at 4:04 PM, H-Town Man said:

We can hope and pray that whatever they do, they can find a way to bring back the observation deck for public use. Even if this would require charging admission, that space is important to the city and the original intent should be restored.

 

I imagine there will be streetscape improvements, ideally synergizing with Hines' other nearby assets, although the renovation at Calpine Center was touted as major and merely involved adding interior retail to the lobby.

 

 

What was the reason for closing the sky lobby? Was there a reason given? I don't remember anymore. I worked on the 73rd floor of the building for six years. I never had an issue with the sky lobby tourists. They always seemed well behaved from what I remember.

 

Because it's Friday and I like you all so much, I'll share a pic of one of the restricted elevators. Lots of buttons!

 

[H-Town Man]

38 minutes ago, 102IAHexpress said:

 

What was the reason for closing the sky lobby? Was there a reason given? I don't remember anymore. I worked on the 73rd floor of the building for six years. I never had an issue with the sky lobby tourists. They always seemed well behaved from what I remember.

 

Because it's Friday and I like you all so much, I'll share a pic of one of the restricted elevators. Lots of buttons!

 

 

Visitors bothering tenants.

 

[Highrise Tower]

My visit to the sky lobby today.

 

 

 

 

[H-Town Man]

3 hours ago, ekdrm2d1 said:

My visit to the sky lobby today.

 

 

 

 

 

Brings back memories. I've taken so many people up there. My wife on her first visit to Houston. Hopefully I can take my kids up there in a few years, if they'd get it straightened out so people can see it again.

 

[TheSirDingle]

Just saying can't wait for that parking lot in the 3rd picture to get developed. Hoping it's something extra special. maybe even "super" special. 

[jermh]

3 hours ago, ekdrm2d1 said:

My visit to the sky lobby today.

 

 

 

 

 

Tenants in the building still have access to the sky lobby or did you have to pull strings for this?

 

[102IAHexpress]

Very cool pics! Brings back memories. This is what I tried to post earlier.

 

[DH3]

I actually went to the Chase Tower Skylobby in June 2012 and it has a great view of the city.