BLVD Place/Hanover Towers/Apache Headquarters

[Highway6]

Here's something! It is not good form to post a tenant roster first and explain it as guesses later!

Yah.. No @!#$.... That was just wrong !!!!

[Mister X]

Yes, especially when Houston (more specifically HAIFers) are salavating for all the places you listed.

That was evil.

[Trae]

BLVD PLACE

Ritz Carlton Hotel (lower floors)

Ritz Carlton Residences (higher floors)

Hanover luxury apartment tower

Whole Foods Flagship

Retail:

Barneys Flagship

H&M

Prada

Escada

Niketown

Virgin Megastore

Intermix

Scoop

Restaurants:

Spago

Emeril's

Existing Anchors:

Cafe Annie

Americas

Hermes

I'm throwing this information out in the hopes that elicits some sort of a response form someone inside or at least near this deal.

Tell me I'm wrong.

Tell me I'm close.

Tell me I right.

Just tell me something.

Development X

Please don't do this again. Looking at your name, I thought this was a legit list of tenants. ____!

[DevelopmentX]

At one point or another over the last year, I have been told that each of the tenants listed were looking at BLVD Place.

If you believe that I'm "throwing things against the wall to see if they stick" then you will be proved wrong.

My post was intended for individuals close to the deal.

If you have no connection to this project, then don't feel obligated to reply.

P.S. My intention was to draw an emotional reaction from "informed sources" although I find the responses from the "outsiders" humorous as well!

Development X

[TheNiche]

My post was intended for individuals close to the deal.

My intention was to draw an emotional reaction from "informed sources" although I find the responses from the "outsiders" humorous as well!

Well if you were going to be underhanded about it, the best way would've been to post the list as semi-misinformation and see which ones get knocked off the list by insiders. You might've gotten banned from HAIF, but you'd have had a better chance of getting what you want.

[KinkaidAlum]

I'd be surprised if H&M's first Houston store would be at BLVD Place but the others seem likely candidates. Of course, I am basing that off of their entry into other U.S. markets where they started in the center of the city and worked their way out.

[Mister X]

P.S. My intention was to draw an emotional reaction from "informed sources" although I find the responses from the "outsiders" humorous as well!

Development X

Good luck. People who know anything about what's going on behind the scenes in Houston don't give it up that easily. I guess you're new, you'll learn. But those who don't know anything about what's coming up next (like me) will give you plenty of emotional reaction.

It would be great if we could pick out only the people we wanted responses from, but it's best to not expect more facts than opinions around here. That's o.k. for me - Sometimes I like the opinions better than the facts anyway.

[TheIndustry]

The Ritz is going into BLVD Place.

Prada, Intermix and Scoop are listed on the Leasing Plan in the River Oaks District Flash Leasing Plan; Barney's is shown in the renderings

River Oaks District

[Mister X]

Jackpot!

Edited July 17, 2007 by Mister X

[Houston19514]

The Ritz is going into BLVD Place.

Prada, Intermix and Scoop are listed on the Leasing Plan in the River Oaks District Flash Leasing Plan; Barney's is shown in the renderings

River Oaks District

I saw that a while ago. But they also show DeBeers in the Leasing Plan. DeBeers is going into The Galleria. So it looks like the stores shown on the plans are tenants they are HOPING to get.

[Trae]

Hopefully that isn't true.

[The Great Hizzy!]

I saw that a while ago. But they also show DeBeers in the Leasing Plan. DeBeers is going into The Galleria. So it looks like the stores shown on the plans are tenants they are HOPING to get.

I'd asked that question elsewhere, 19514. I hadn't recall seeing an actual tenant roster on the website before (River Oaks District) and wasn't sure if this was just a new update with tenants they were soliciting or tenants with whom they basically had at least a handshake agreement.

Like Trae, I'm hoping that it's closer to the latter.

[Houston19514]

I'd asked that question elsewhere, 19514. I hadn't recall seeing an actual tenant roster on the website before (River Oaks District) and wasn't sure if this was just a new update with tenants they were soliciting or tenants with whom they basically had at least a handshake agreement.

Like Trae, I'm hoping that it's closer to the latter.

I too would love for that to be the case, but I'm sad to say it really appears otherwise. These stores are not listed in tenant roster. They are shown on the flash version of the site plan, with specific spaces identified and with almost no spaces being vacant. Highly unlikely for a development that is two years from groundbreaking (I think that's what the developer said recently). (And this information has been on their website for quite some time.)

That and the fact that a number of the tenants shown on that plan already have stores in The Galleria... some very recently opened (e.g., the Apple store). I suppose it's conceivable there could be another Coach store that close to The Galleria. But quite unlikely that Apple would plan another store that nearby.

I'm a little surprised that they can post store names like that without getting calls from trademark counsel for those stores, but who knows?

All things considered, it looks like nothing more than the developer's dream site plan and tenant layout.

[lockmat]

It seems that ithis article is one more indicator that this is more of a sure thing.

http://chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/s...ff/4967759.html

On Post Oak Boulevard, some property owners are adopting a keeping-up-with-the-Joneses attitude.

Post Oak Plaza, Levcor's aging shopping center at the southeast corner of Post Oak Boulevard and San Felipe, will soon undergo an extensive makeover. Its neighbors in this high-rent district are shiny new condo towers and across the street is the site for a proposed mixed-use center with a flagship Whole Foods Market, upscale shops, condos and a high-end hotel.

The project is across the street from the proposed BLVD Place, where development firm Wulfe & Co. is planning more than 600,000 square feet of retail and office space, 800 high-rise residential units, a hotel and the Whole Foods.

Or not...

"In light of all the competition going on, we thought we'd wait and see how things transpire," he said.

Who knows

[houston-development]

It seems that ithis article is one more indicator that this is more of a sure thing.

may take a while to break ground but i would be absolutely shocked if blvd place fell through.

seriously.

if i had to put a number on it, 99.9% sure it will eventually happen.

[lockmat]

I know y'all have affirmed this will take place, but haifers are always cynical. But the article musicman posted for restaurants going in at discovery green gives a bit of information that helps build doubters' confidence.

The group's flagship Cafe Annie is within days of signing a lease to move down the street to a larger location at BLVD Place

[houston-development]

hanover is planning to break ground in december.

[Montrose1100]

I don't know why some are excited about H&M. It sucks.

[ProHouston]

hanover is planning to break ground in december.

Awesome! We've been waiting a loooooong time.

[KinkaidAlum]

hanover is planning to break ground in december.

Hanover going up is a HUGE positive sign for the overall project. Their Seven Riverway seems to be a smashing success. Their rental rates are enormous and yet they are already fairly full (last I heard, they were 93% occupied).

Can't wait to see what this apartment tower will look like. I am holding out hope that it will have a graceful curve.

[Saddleman]

I don't know why some are excited about H&M. It sucks.

Subjective.

[Saddleman]

The publisher of Houston magazine says that there will probably be a Ritz Carlton. He says he's good friends with Ed Wulfe. Crossing my fingers.

[Montrose1100]

Subjective.

No really, its not anything different from some of the stuff you can find here.

[Saddleman]

No really, its not anything different from some of the stuff you can find here.

Still subjective.

Edited September 13, 2007 by kingkirbythegreatoftexas

[BuilderGeek]

Still subjective.

Agreed. H&M is much easier to shop than anything I've been to here.

Oh yeah. That's subjective too.

[fernz]

Can't wait to see what this apartment tower will look like. I am holding out hope that it will have a graceful curve.

it will

[Montrose1100]

Still subjective.

Your subjective...

[Saddleman]

I'm correctly stating a fact about how your statement is subjective.

[KinkaidAlum]

SWEET!

Hanover plans to build a FIFTY-FIVE story apartment tower as part of the BLVD Place development that will have 350 units.

Construction on phase I will begin in October. It's a 70,000 square foot space on the Southern boundary that will house 7 current tenants like Cafe Annie, Hermes, and Americas so that the spaces they currently occupy can be torn down.

you can find out more in next week's print edition of the HBJ...

[lockmat]

SWEET!

Hanover plans to build a FIFTY-FIVE story apartment tower as part of the BLVD Place development that will have 350 units.

Construction on phase I will begin in October. It's a 70,000 square foot space on the Southern boundary that will house 7 current tenants like Cafe Annie, Hermes, and Americas so that the spaces they currently occupy can be torn down.

you can find out more in next week's print edition of the HBJ...

55? wow. How tall is Transco again?

And is this new news?

[King Owl]

Wow. 55 stories.... That is awesome. This is going to be a tremendous addition to uptown. With the whole foods and the high end retail at BLVD place, we're really looking at something special.

How many stories are the 4 leaf towers, or the huntingdon, by comparison? Just trying to get a feel for the height of this new tower

[ChannelTwoNews]

55? wow. How tall is Transco again?

64 Floors, 909 Feet (according to the property's website- though I'd always heard 901)

As for the other residential towers...

The Huntingdon is 34 Floors and 503 Feet Tall

The Four Leaf Towers are both 40 Floors & 444 Feet Tall

Edited September 21, 2007 by ChannelTwoNews

[King Owl]

...so we may be looking at something in the 500-600 foot range? Outstanding.

Maybe they'll have a rotating beacon that moves in concert with Transco's!

[ProHouston]

SWEET!

Hanover plans to build a FIFTY-FIVE story apartment tower as part of the BLVD Place development that will have 350 units.

Construction on phase I will begin in October. It's a 70,000 square foot space on the Southern boundary that will house 7 current tenants like Cafe Annie, Hermes, and Americas so that the spaces they currently occupy can be torn down.

you can find out more in next week's print edition of the HBJ...

That's awesome news!!! I'm confused though, Americas is already located on the southern portion of this site in the Pavilion center. How are they going to tear it down to build a new 70000 sq ft spot and not tear down the Pavilion? Will they tear down the back portion of the Pavilion but not the front?

Also, I did notice yesterday that there is a new sign in front of America's facing the Stewart Title Post Oak Central building that is a construction notification.

It's all starting!!! I can't believe it'll break ground next month.

[Mister X]

Yes! Yes! Yes!

I wonder if the 55 story tower will look like the one in the latest renderings posted of BLVD Place (the ones posted last June). I rememeber counting the floors in one of those renderings of the tallest tower (the one in the middle of the project) and it was 50+ floors, but with no hard data or details released with the renderings, I was afraid it was just wishful thinking that BLVD Place was REALLY going to have a 50+ story tower. I'm so buzzed to find out that the rendering of the towers (or at least the height) was no joke. I hope the towers look like the renderings with those cool angled footprints and glass facades.

I love it that we will have 2 towers going up in Houston over 45 floors, and several (already lost count) going up over 30!

Edited September 21, 2007 by Mister X

[ProHouston]

Here is some additional BLVD Place info on the new street grid that is being enhanced by Wulfe.

Click here.

[Pumapayam]

Not much of a grid, they could do better.

[Houston19514]

Not much of a grid, they could do better.

Christof didn't get it quite complete (which, unfortunately, is not as unusual for him as one might hope). They actually are doing better. The article in today's Business Journal states that in addition to the streets shown on Christof's map rendering, they will "establish a new street called Boulevard Place to cut east to west through the project". This new street can also be seen in the renderings on the BLVD Place website.

Edited September 24, 2007 by Houston19514

[Pumapayam]

Christof didn't get it quite complete (which, unfortunately, is not all that unusual for him). They actually are doing better. The article in today's Business Journal states that in addition to the streets shown on Christof's map rendering, they will "establish a new street called Boulevard Place to cut east to west through the project". This new street can also be seen in the renderings on the BLVD Place website.

So it will be an official city street, or just a dressed up driveway?

[Houston19514]

So it will be an official city street, or just a dressed up driveway?

Well, there are plenty of options in between those two choices. I have no idea if they will dedicate the street to the city. I would doubt it. The important point is, it will provide vehicular and pedestrian connectivity through the development from Post Oak Blvd to Post Oak Lane. Furthermore, if you look at the renderings you can also see a couple other places where there will be at least pedestrian connectivity from Post Oak Blvd through the development to Post Oak Lane as well, and possibly some further vehicular connectivity as well.

[houstonfella]

SWEET!

Hanover plans to build a FIFTY-FIVE story apartment tower as part of the BLVD Place development that will have 350 units.

Construction on phase I will begin in October. It's a 70,000 square foot space on the Southern boundary that will house 7 current tenants like Cafe Annie, Hermes, and Americas so that the spaces they currently occupy can be torn down.

you can find out more in next week's print edition of the HBJ...

Well, here is the HBJ article. Blvd. Place

[ProHouston]

Once again, October 1st is one week away. I just don't see how they can start building anything at that site in the next week. America's is still open and using their parking lot for guests. In order to build a new 70,000 retail building at the NW corner of Post Oak and Ambassador's Way, they'll surely have to close down America's to do it and I see no sign of that happening yet.

Hopefully I'm wrong.

[bachanon]

Once again, October 1st is one week away. I just don't see how they can start building anything at that site in the next week. America's is still open and using their parking lot for guests. In order to build a new 70,000 retail building at the NW corner of Post Oak and Ambassador's Way, they'll surely have to close down America's to do it and I see no sign of that happening yet.

Hopefully I'm wrong.

i wonder if the opening of americas in the woodlands this fall will coincide with the closure of the post oak location? the americas website has a wine dinner scheduled for october 22nd at post oak. as of yet, there is no opening date for the woodlands location. if anyone hears of the americas post oak being torn down, we should find out if they are preserving all the fixtures. i could use a couple custom blown glass chandeliers.

anyhoo, it appears they will not be closing at post oak in october.

[Gary]

It sounds to me like Wulfe was goofing off a bit while announcing the groundbreaking of October 1st.

Wulfe joked at last week's Commercial Real Estate Women luncheon that come Oct. 1, "somebody's going to be shoveling something" at the site,

Sounds like it's coming, but not neccesarily on October 1st.

[Trae]

Not much of a grid, they could do better.

That would be so nice if that was a subway. There is so much traffic in that area, so I wonder if METRO ever (and maybe still are) considering it. An elevated station would be nice, too.

[Houston19514]

Once again, October 1st is one week away. I just don't see how they can start building anything at that site in the next week. America's is still open and using their parking lot for guests. In order to build a new 70,000 retail building at the NW corner of Post Oak and Ambassador's Way, they'll surely have to close down America's to do it and I see no sign of that happening yet.

Hopefully I'm wrong.

Let me count the ways... ;-)

October 1 is indeed one week away, but that of course makes October 31 more than 5 weeks away. I believe they have said construction will start IN October. Nobody said it would start ON October 1, did they?

Furthermore, they have been quite clear from the very first announcement of this project that it would be built in phases and in a manner so that existing tenants would be able to move directly into their new locations without shutting down in the interim. The most recent article also makes that quite clear:

"The first building will rise at the project's southern boundary, at the northwest corner of Post Oak Boulevard and Ambassador Way. The 70,000-square-foot building will house seven tenants currently in the Pavilion on Post Oak and Fashion Place retail centers that are relocating to Blvd Place -- including Cafe Annie, Americas and Hermes. Once the tenants move, the older retail centers will be demolished..."

[ProHouston]

"The first building will rise at the project's southern boundary, at the northwest corner of Post Oak Boulevard and Ambassador Way. The 70,000-square-foot building will house seven tenants currently in the Pavilion on Post Oak and Fashion Place retail centers that are relocating to Blvd Place -- including Cafe Annie, Americas and Hermes. Once the tenants move, the older retail centers will be demolished..."

Yeah, that's my beef though. I don't see how they have the space to build the new building and preserve the existing America's restaurant which is located on the NW corner. It should be interesting. Oh, and the story said the Wulfe himself mentioned the October 1st date.

That would be so nice if that was a subway. There is so much traffic in that area, so I wonder if METRO ever (and maybe still are) considering it. An elevated station would be nice, too.

I went to a Metro presentation over a year ago and the plan then was to begin with BRT down Post Oak and then when ridership allowed, they'd add rail to the BRT lanes. I agree 100% that this area, more than any other, needs a subway or elevated rail not street level. I've only they'd spend the money for a measly 2 miles down Post Oak.

[Gary]

Oh, and the story said the Wulfe himself mentioned the October 1st date.

Again, the October 1st quote seems to be a half joke.

"Wulfe joked at last week's Commercial Real Estate Women luncheon that come Oct. 1, "somebody's going to be shoveling something" at the site"

As 19514 said... This seems to allude to an October groundbreaking of some sort, but doesn't really give a specific date.

[Houston19514]

Yeah, that's my beef though. I don't see how they have the space to build the new building and preserve the existing America's restaurant which is located on the NW corner. It should be interesting. Oh, and the story said the Wulfe himself mentioned the October 1st date.

There is plenty of room. This building will be at the very southeast corner of the site. There is an open space at that corner that is approximately square and something like 225 feet on each side. That's 50,625 square feet. The building will be 3 or 4 stories and contain a total of 70,000 square feet. So if it's 3 stories, they only need a 23,333 square foot footprint, less than half the space that is available. If it's 4 stories (and that's what it looks like in their renderings), they only need a 17,500 square foot footprint, about 1/3 of the space that is available. There actually does not appear to be any reason they could not start shoveling on October 1.

[ProHouston]

There is plenty of room. This building will be at the very southeast corner of the site. There is an open space at that corner that is approximately square and something like 225 feet on each side. That's 50,625 square feet. The building will be 3 or 4 stories and contain a total of 70,000 square feet. So if it's 3 stories, they only need a 23,333 square foot footprint, less than half the space that is available. If it's 4 stories (and that's what it looks like in their renderings), they only need a 17,500 square foot footprint, about 1/3 of the space that is available. There actually does not appear to be any reason they could not start shoveling on October 1.

Wouldn't that effectively eliminate the vast majority of America's parking? They use that entire parking lot today at lunchtime. I guess they could go to all valet parking.