The New Juniper

Where can I find more information on this?

First of all, kudos on the KISS graphics. Haven't seen this many KISS references in a long time. Very nice.

As far as this project, i got a boot leg copy of a site plan from a broker in Galveston over the weekend. However, i have no idea how to post or i would....It is already an electronic copy, i just don't know how to put it on the site, no scanning necessary.

If someone wants to explain how to post, please do and i will see if i can accomplish....

Thanks.

That's the thing... I wish I knew more about Galveston - I love it. If I weren't always so busy, I'd spend all of my weekends there. Matter of fact, I guess I need to spend this Saturday there, weather permitting.

Rental rates for the professionals that live on the island are commensurate with what we see in downtown Houston, which says all you need to know about rates in downtown Houston We have clients that we leased some relo space for in Galveston and we actually paid a higher rate down there than similar relo clients we had in downtown Houston

Yup. That's why they have those fights over houses on the beach after a storm. Once the vegetation line moves behind the house, it is ours.

I wouldn't get too bogged down over semantics. The design allegedly creates a sandy beach condition on private property similar to the real beach, only much, much nicer. This would create a nice place for families to sit and enjoy white sand while staring at the water, etc... And, as we all know, nobody goes to Galveston for the water. It is sitting on the sand to enjoy the sound and the breeze that is nice. The water is brown and infested with seaweed and jellyfish.

So, all you who are looking to confiscate everyone's property at the drop of a hat should go elsewhere....

We'll see. Stay tuned. Good to see so much interest in Galveston. Hopefully other projects will follow. I love a good debate....

TNJ

Two 36 story towers!!!

Lines in sand: Columbia, S.C.-based Drake Development said it can't go forward with plans to build two 36-story condominium towers on East Beach until it gets a clear title to the land...

http://galvestondailynews.com/bizbuzz.lasso

Jason:

Could have told you that Hytken had the land locked up, but didn't want to poo poo another project. Just like the Porrettos will never sell their land, this guy can't get out from under his land b/c he and his wife are locked up in a horrible divorce and the land value is central to the dispute.

Cory Minor over by the Porrettos may actually get something done on his little piece, but it will be something much smaller that what he is pubicly announcing. He is swinging for the fences for a high rise with the hopes that the city will relent and give him approval for something smaller. ANYTHING is a victory and if they give him half of what he requests, he will be a wealthy guy. Although, he doesn't have the wherewithall to pull it off. The very second he gets approval, he will be out shopping it to JV partners.

lastly, the Sullivan boys down at Evia seem to know what they're doing on the lot development at 95th and the bay. Well funded, 6th generation BOI, good mix. Watch them. They will be forces with which to be reckoned before it's all over. Mark my words.

That's all i've got for now on Galveston.

Now off to my real job.

TNJ

Thanks again TNJ! I was very excited when you mentioned Randall Davis' name. What do you mean by Randall Davis' office is taking options, I'm not quite sure I understand?

Diamond huh, I guess his crown jewel will rest in G-Town after all! We get the "Emerald" and "Diamond" while Padre gets "Sapphire"

I'm not familiar with the process, so I will go ahead and ask. Roughly how long does it generally take in between this stage and renderings showing up on his website, or does it just all depend?

I have no idea how much time passes before renderings show up.

I do know that it is better to get in earlier rather than late on projects that go.

I would call RD's office to find out, or maybe Personette...

Here's the skinny on what i have heard: some type of river that is as long as the Hyatt's in San Antonio and a private Beach. Sounds like a stretch, but who knows?

Always Looking For the Truth

TNJ

Heard this project is circling the drain.

You watch...there will be a couple of announcements saying changes have been made.

Couple of more announcing some delays. There will be arguments back and forth about sales and percentages and then it will be called off. Hope i'm wrong.

Bad karma. Think it's about to die on the vine.

Damn. I don't particularly care for Randall Davis.

He gets developments done. I am not crazy about ALL of his developments, but at least he builds what he announces. READ: Cosmopolitan, Emerald, Sapphire, Empire, Vegas, just in the past two years alone. I just hate hearing about Redstone, Orion, 2727, and the like that never make it to market. At least RD follows through. I am excited about it.

Spill the beans already TNJ !!! Just kidding, but thanks for keeping us posted

Heard from my contacts within the City Gov that developer is Randall Davis and his team was down in Galveston yesterday meeting with some of the Powers that Be to discuss specifics. Their office is allegedly taking options on the project, although i haven't called RD's office to confirm this.

You heard it hear first!!!

Oh yeah, almost forgot. Name of project is Diamond.....

Thirty or days or so I'm told and we'll have an announcement. Really very cool from the little i've seen....

no problem. Sorry to sound frustrated, but i believe in the Galveston market and i hate to see projects announced that i know have no chance of making it at the announced price.

*Eagerly awaits The New Junipers response*

oh yeah, thanks for the post WG

OK. And i know it seems like i poo poo projects all the time. But, i heard a local broker is hawking these "proposed" units at $240 per square foot.

For fear of sounding patronizing, a brief education on cost:

Cost to build a wood framed apartment complex (i.e. Club of the Isle) - $130 psf

Cost to build mid rise concrete post tension building under the high rise code - $155 psf

cost to build high rise with punched openings in major metropolitan area - $180 psf

cost to build high rise with curtain wall system in major metropolitan area - $190 psf

cost to build high rise in coastal community with high impact glass, hurricane code and curtain wall system - more than $200 psf.

The buildings rendered (and i know it's only $3,000 worth of someone's time to come up with those pics) show buildings that will cost more than $200 psf to build. There is a tremendous amount of site work required over there to level the land, say $5 psf. If the land cost $10 psf of net sellable square footage, which i suppose is feasible, we are now at $215 psf. If we had only $25 psf left for soft costs, which has to contain EVERYTHING else including marketing, INTEREST on the construction loan, architects, engineers, developer fee, etc. we would be at $240 psf.

So, if the above were true on the cost side, they would be selling a building at COST and NO PROFIT. When typically, developers look to make at LEAST $75 psf for the risk involved.

All I'm saying is that it doesn't do anyone any good to come to market with a picture and say "We're selling this for $240 psf. IT CAN'T BE DONE. Either they are building something other than what they are showing, or they building what they are showing and selling for more. It is that simple.

It upsets the buyers expectations and is a disservice for all those who work hard to actually bring reputable product to the market.

Off the soap box and back to work.

TNJ

The fam is heading down to Galveston for Easter brunch, but I am not sure where we are going. So far, we've seen that Moody Gardens is doing something, the San Luis is doing something, and Gaido's is also doing something. Is there a guide posted somewhere in the local paper like how they do with the Press and the Chronicle, or is there a place online that I can find out? I've tried the hotel websites but I can't find anything.

Thanks!!

Galvez is the only place to go....

Can anyone tell me about the two giant lakes north of Columbia Lakes on CR 25? My family and i were driving around the area and these two bodies of water just appear out of nowhere. Thanks for the help.

TNJ

The DA in, documents out. Carol is out of town, on vacation? but glad they are moving forth.

DA said he has wanted to do this for a long time. Let's see how far they will go back. Gordon was interviewed, Jew Don did not give a response. This will be interesting to say the least.

Just goes to show what a little power does for some people. Way to go Carol....Brilliant move.

How long do u think they will keep the trailer on the site? I'm betting til the year 2022. Are there even people in the trailer any more? How did they get away with this. Don't they owe mcdonalds a restaurant?

The only people to make money on this deal will be the lawyers. Yes, they owe McDonalds a restaurant. No, it isn't built yet. No, McDonalds isn't going to forget. Yes, huge mess. Yes, easy to see this coming.

It'd be the right tract of land, but it doesn't sound much like the resort concept that was brought up on this forum last week.

Correct. Not the same as referenced in my earlier post.

These guys are way west and are on the long term path. I applaud them and wish them nothing but luck. The project i spoke of will come much, much sooner <-- read: announced this summer.

Stay tuned.

TNJ

Dead on. Uptown is quite unified and progressive in getting the message out. Central Houston is not... they are totally reactive and way behind the times. If you look outside of Houston - and Texas, other downtown organizations seem light years ahead of Houston's downtown groups. Look at San Diego, Seattle, Denver, etc....

What is really sad is if you click on the photos at the top of the Central Houston website they discuss the groundbreaking and anticipated completion dates for such landmarks as the Hobby Center, Toyota Center, etc... uh, they do know they've opened now, right? Well, I'm not so sure...

James Coney is gone as of yesterday.

It's a shame the food is not that good. But I agree that it's all about the restaurants. They look nice, but I am always disappointed with the quality.

Tell me this.... does Tilman ever do anything for anyone other than Tilman? I'm sure everyone here knows I'm not a fan of this guy. I do secretly hope he turns out to be a good guy, but I'm not holding my breath.

I was at Galveston on Saturday. The Strand seems to be doing just fine. It 4:30 I had problems finding a parking place. Which makes me wonder where are they going to park all the cars if they keep adding to the Pier area? Hope they include in their plans a monster parking garage.

As far as gambling.... I think if anyone can get it done, it will be Tilman. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or not.

I agree on the food. It is just not my cup of tea so to speak. Vic and Anthony's is good, I will say that. The other stuff is average at best. Landry's is like Pappas, except the Pappas' have much better food.

But, to your point, i think Tilman is basically a good guy. Tough trader, but that is to be expected. In my book, if you are fair, that is about all i can ask for. He has always been fair.

I think ground breaking is still in May and completion late in '07.

but New Juniper said He or she hasn't elaborated or provided any details so no telling.

I would like to be a bit optimistic and think it's still good to go

Still nothing on my end....

Every day that goes by, pressure gets a little greater.

I can hardly find bulldozing a McDonalds equivalent to demolishing a ~10 story building and parking garage. Only a fool would buy the land and building and level it merely for a "buzz."

Also, I'm not 10 years old--I am fully aware of the value of the USD.

Yes, it would be crazy and reckless. Yes it is possible that Atlas is both.

I understand that he got pricing back from two GC's and the price exceeded $200 psf. Big Surprise. This caused him to rethink the design, which doesn't make any sense to me. If he is selling for more than $425-$450 psf, then that hard cost price is easily swallowed, even if he WAY over paid for the dirt.

Lastly, i heard he is just reserved and has no hard earnest money contracts. Always want to be clear when anyone says "presold". Sold is contract in the Title Company. Reserved can mean just about anything.

Before i get lambasted, i hope he succeeds. $500 psf condos succeeding in Houston would help EVERYONE. However, we've heard this song before. When Orion started waffling, I said it wouldn't go. Everyone told me i was crazy and they had X% of presales and blah blah. When i said that the Houstonian project was doomed, more of the same.

Not saying that about 2727 YET, but, I am nervous.

The mere fact that he tore down a building doesn't mean anything.

The land is worth more wiped clean anyway.

Just remember the golden rule when it comes to Tilman:

It all revolves around his restaurants. Dispite his foray into seemingly disparate forms of business, it always comes back to the restaurants.

When he bought the Nugget in Vegas, the first thing he did was permit through the City to expand the public areas to add space for one of each of his themed restaurants. This was merely an entree into Vegas with the hope of expanding to a much wider audience beyond the casino.

Kemah is the same way. It is a group of restaurants that happens to have an amusement park surrounding it. Whatever he can do to bring people in to eat. Brilliant strategy.

A Galveston boardwalk/amusement park would be the same thing.

There may be other activities surrounding his investments, but always look closely and you will see that the core of any of them is the food.

He never strays from his strategy and that's why he is successful.

TNJ

But a true Beach Resort is on the beach.

Running across the street to the beach does not count.

This is the best quote i've seen in a long time. This is absolutely true. This is the quandry for Galveston. How to build a resort that will be protected, provide direct beach access, but not intrude on the solitude of the existing developments like Pirates or Jamaica, but also not be way East in the sticks? I am a fan of the San Luis and Galvez, but those buildings could be anywhere. They just happen to be across the street from a beach. As Midtown says, a TRUE resort must have direct beach access.

I am telling you they have figured it out. I don't have all of the info yet, but what i do know is the most innovative thing i've seen. It's not huge numbers of units, so don't worry about that. No smoke and mirrors.

Exclusive but affordable. Major focus on the landscaping and pools.

Very cool.

I have mixed feeling on this.

Why is that?

It will be somewhere west of 61st and will be the most exciting thing Galveston has ever seen. Look for an announcement in the next 6 weeks or so. More as it leaks out...but it is an established developer, so no worries about pie in the sky type dreams.

"The developer said it pulled back on marketing the building because it's trying to get financing without pre-sales."

What kind of BS is this statement from the developer about the condo tower? It looks and sounds like the condo is on hold, but the apartment tower has financing and is moving forward. Good news for the med center, but I got news for you, this area is more trendy 3rd ward/almeda street than musuem district it wants to be.

Dream

You are correct from what i hear. This will never be a true condo development. At BEST, at i am not sure how good you can consider this, it will be built to apartment standards and then converted to condos. They couldn't get presales, so they financed it as apartments and away they went.

They say the condo tower will follow. But, then again, i/we've heard that before.....

Won't happen b/c it shouldn't happen..