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downtownian

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  1. downtownian
    Q1 2019 downtown market report just released. See link and highlights below. Not yet 10k residents. Occupancy increased from 84.4% in Q4 2018 to 86.8% in Q1 2019. "The submarket has grown to close to 6,100 residential units, up from about 2,500 in 2013; Downtown now houses over 9,000 residents." "[The Preston], Camden Downtown and Regalia at the Park—will add 873 units to Downtown’s growing inventory." The office dynamics are interesting and worth reading all the way through. Flight to quality is causing significant renovation projects, co-working spaces are increasing share, overall vacancy increased from 19.7% to 20.4%. Bank of America Tower (formerly Capitol Tower) is 82% leased which seems fast compared to 609 Main which has been open a while and is "over 80% leased". The Downtown District has a new security program with SEAL Security. Two dedicated SEAL officers will patrol Downtown and walk designated high traffic areas daily from 7 pm to 3 am. I think having Houston's innovation and tech corridor downtown instead of the former Sears site makes a lot of sense. It seems to be organically developing: "Downtown’s emerging tech, innovation and entrepreneurial ecosystem continues to grow at a solid pace. In the first quarter alone, Downtown’s innovation ecosystem gained two new co-working spaces (Life Time Work, Spaces), two new accelerators and one incubator (MassChallenge, Founder Institute, WeWork Labs), and two notable tech tenants (Ruths.ai and UiPath), further placing Houston on the map as a competitive tech and innovation hub. Venture capital activity has also significantly increased, with Chevron Technology Ventures new $90 million Fund VII; and new accelerator/investment programs by BBL Ventures and Eunike Ventures... Downtown now has eight co-working companies, an unprecedented expansion a key amenity for cluster growth in Downtown’s dynamic innovation ecosystem." http://www.downtowndistrict.org/static/media/uploads/attachments/downtown_market_update_2019_q1.pdf
  2. downtownian
    I think the real question is: are indoor tigers a “real” tiger location? Does downtown therefore currently have a tiger location or will it only have a tiger location once this outdoor pen is constructed?
  3. downtownian
    Downtown Houston has an area of 1.6 square miles. I defined 0.7 square miles as “core” - excluding the warehouse district north of the bayou and the Louisiana street office corridor which has no residential and is just a collection of skyscrapers. Gulfton has population density of 15,500 / square mile and second place is pecan park at 10,200 / square mile.
  4. downtownian
    Yes, when I leave downtown I go west 75% of the time and east 25% of the time. Making it 50/50 would make downtown even more central.
  5. downtownian
    The front of the building is inscribed "Frugality is the Mother of the Virtues" which is likely off-brand for a Moxy hotel.
  6. downtownian
    It looks like a major international corporation ripping off Ace Hotel. Which I guess is what’s actually going on
  7. downtownian
    I had a mediocre slice of $8 pizza there.
  8. downtownian
    Not a huge fan of Meow Wolf compared to Sleep No More or Houston's own DinoLion. http://sites.uci.edu/form/files/2015/01/Greenberg-Clement-Avant-Garde-and-Kitsch-copy.pdf
  9. downtownian
    Q4 2018: Downtown’s residential population is close to reaching the 10,000-mark. At the end of 2018, Downtown had an estimated 9,395 residents, up from 3,021 in 2010 (a 211% increase). Downtown also had strong rent growth, averaging the highest monthly rent in the region, at $2,032, reflecting robust interest in Downtown living. 2018 heralded a turning point in Downtown’s multifamily market. Downtown went from having the lowest occupancy rate in the region in 2017 to being named the hottest submarket by Apartmentdata.com, Marcus & Millichap, and Berkadia, recording a massive yearover-year jump in occupancy from 62.3 percent in Q 3 2017 to 83.9 percent in Q 3 2018 (Berkadia 2018). Source to read more (also has office information): http://www.downtowndistrict.org/static/media/uploads/attachments/downtown_market_update_2018_q4_final.pdf
  10. downtownian
    Also agree. Right now in downtown would rather have two 30 story buildings that knock out two parking lots (or twelve 5 story buildings) than 1 single 60 story building that knocks out 1 parking lot.
  11. downtownian
    My guess is that it's not a budget issue - the rest of the school is very well done. I think the fence was not part of the original plans and installed after completion to prevent homeless from camping there (which they were doing prior to the fence being installed).
  12. downtownian
    I'll have to check that out. I think the best coffee in downtown is: Prelude Amaya Boomtown Coterie
  13. downtownian
    It's high quality food and coffee. Went there for brunch and lunch. Seems like a hangout spot for people who live at MST.
  14. downtownian
    Agree. For example one at market square and Phoenicia would be great. Each anchoring a residential hub of downtown.
  15. downtownian
    The rendering in the chron article looks even better than the renderings posted above
  16. downtownian
    I’m surprised that food halls are a major draw or even worth mentioning. We’re 3-5 years behind the food hall trend compared to NY or Chicago.
  17. downtownian
    Sounds like the restaurant from the owner of B&B Butchers is still on - just delayed because of historic redevelopment permitting: ”Benjamin, which requested construction permits in late December, has faced delays as it worked through the redevelopment constraints. It was originally scheduled to open in 2018 but is now slated to open later this year.”Read more at: https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/mixed-use/peeling-back-the-onion-an-exposed-process-of-renovating-a-pre-war-building-into-mixed-use-in-downtown-houston-96271#ath?utm_source=CopyShare&utm_medium=Browser Other interesting trivia in the article like there was a plan for balconies in some units but they were cost prohibitive.
  18. downtownian
    Interview posted today with Ric Campo, CEO of Camden. Realty News Report: Do you have plans to construct any more multifamily in Houston in the next few years? Ric Campo: We’re considering the second phase of our downtown project. Maybe as soon as we finish the first building, we could start. So, the answer is “we’ll see.” Construction costs continue to rise and putting up two buildings at almost the same time would be more efficient. We could simply move the team from one block to another. http://realtynewsreport.com/2019/01/02/qa-with-ric-campo-houstons-downtown-and-the-multifamily-market/
  19. downtownian
    That's ambitious. Around 25 vendors and 2 full service restaurants. It's going to be 3x Finn Hall.
  20. downtownian
    I hope there is a food hall component. Downtown Houston can't get by with only Conservatory, Bravery, Lyric, Finn Hall and Understory plus the planned one at the Post HTX.
  21. downtownian
    Same. If a city has an Ace, I stay there. For Capitol, the entire front of the building is floor to ceiling windows. The sides of Capitol Lofts actually open to interior courtyards (you can see it on google maps satellite view). One of the courtyards is bounded by Club Quarters and the soon to be open AC Hotel and you can see the top of BG Group Place from it. There are balconies both over main street and one of the courtyards which makes it a lot less claustrophobic. Looks like there is a courtyard between Battlestein and the JW. Note: I'm using courtyard loosely here. More like spaces between buildings.
  22. downtownian
    $8 million to bring it up to code and $17 million to make it OK for office occupancy. The JW Marriott cost $80 million with $12 million in city subsidies provided.
  23. downtownian
    Same reason I continue to send telegraphs, travel by horse carriage and insist on having a human reset my bowling pins.
  24. downtownian
    Yeah, all physical retail is pretty much done for me. I value my time too much to deal with it. I bet 90%+ of my retail dollars go to Amazon, online grocery shopping, online clothing shopping, etc. The only time I go to a physical store is when I absolutely need something quickly and it is not available via a 2 hr Amazon delivery.
  25. downtownian
    There are plenty of other grocery delivery services beyond Peapod. I live downtown and use Instacart every week or do HEB curbside pickup. I imagine Whole Foods + Amazon will start doing an extremely efficient delivery service. Delivery is much more time efficient than grocery shopping - I have zero desire for a grocery store to be located downtown.
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