dalai

Location at Binz and Austin:

22K SF Building, 2nd and 3rd floor offices for a dermatology practice and a clinical research facility. 1st floor retail/restaurant.

Do what I did. Get a 90lb German Shepherd from http://www.ghgsdr.org/ and spend a few weeks training her.

Best security system out there and she's a great family member too.

Only pursue LEED if it is an office building in a suitable location and of sufficient size and quality that institutional buyers (i.e. TIAA-CREF, USAA, Unilev Capital, KBS REIT, Hines Global REIT, etc.) would express interest when you're ready to sell. That's something that the big players look for.

Although the location may be suitable, at 30,000SF - a third of which will be occupied by the owners, I doubt that the size would be attractive to institutions. I don't know for sure.

If your building is anything else, and particularly if it is a smaller property or serving a niche tenant, build it green and advertise the fact. A word of caution, however...the LEED criteria and scoring system are intentionally structured that it is impossible to claim that a building outperforms LEED in any way. Be very cautious of how you compare your building to LEED for promotional purposes or in the press, as it may open you up to a defamation lawsuit.

The more I think about it, this is the strategy we should take. Thanks again for all of your input.

Thank you for all of your replies.

I just feel that I can get my Mech.E.P. engineers to designs according to or exceeding the LEED standard and not pursue the certification from the USGBC. This would save a lot of money and time, not having to prepare and submit the paperwork to the USGBC. I would still have a "green" building, which would reduce the utility expenses for the occupants, but it wouldn't be able to advertise it as LEED. Would I be shooting myself in the foot with this strategy?

I'm stating discussions for a new 30,000SF Office building in the Museum District and the topic of LEED certification came up. The commissioning and documentation fees are almost 15% of the entire design and engineering budget, not including what the USGBC will charge for their portion.

My question is: 1. Is this worth it? 2. Would this money be better spend towards "greening" the building without pursuing LEED certification(Spend the money towards hard assets instead of documents)? 3. Does a LEED certification mean anything to future tenants, buyers, lenders?

My 100 lb wife walks our 85 lb German shepherd around the neighborhood, and most people cross the street to avoid them. haha!

But regardless, you just have to be very vigilant when walking around, whether it was in 1950 or 2010...and a little pepper spray can go a long way.

Do you have a lot already?

I hired MDGi to design my house. They were great to work with and have very unique design that really suit my taste...exposed steel, concrete, and wood, but I had it built by someone else. I think they are moving towards designing and building more expensive houses with higher end finishes, but I know from experience that the house can be built for a lot less than they estimate.

I think the short drive to the new HEB on I-10/bunker hill is better than driving to the W. Gray Kroger's. The HEB is very nice, has everything that I need and takes me less than 10 minutes from my home in the Heights. For quick pick-ups, I go to the Kroger on 11th, of course.

I am a close friend of the new owners of this property and they tell me they cleared the lot because of letters they received from the HPD Neighborhood Protection to clean up the property. No one was sure why HPD would care, but my friends were threatened with a fine.

Almeda seems to the perfect corridor connecting downtown, midtown, museum district/med-center. And with all the investment ocurring in these area, why has it been so slow to develop? any ideas or thoughts?

https://www.houstontx.gov/ecodev/tirz/24.html

Looks like TIRZ Number 24, Greater Houston, includes the infamous Buffalo Speedway/Holmes Road area. 

That whole area is prime for redevelopment. There are countless of acres a long Almeda Road, West Airport, West Bellfort, Holmes Road, Fannin, Buffalo Speedway, etc. etc. 

I spoke to the cityview rep yesterday, and she said that each unit has 10ft by 15ft of yard space. she added that they think the yard is secondary on this project because of that open terrace...and i agree. that would make a great place to relax and entertain. the builder is installing a gas line up there for a grill. she added that five of the nine units already have contracts on them, and they expect to break ground by the end of the month and complete by september.

I think the live oak lofts are slow to sell because of the hugh price per sq foot that they are asking. For a 2 bed/2bath, 1936 sq foot condo they are asking $319K or $165/sq. ft. For that price you should be able to live in the heights or montrose.

Most new construction projects in the east end seem to be around $100psf. Cityview Terraces, the project i mentioned before, is offering a 2bed/2.5bath with study, 1974sf for $210K or $106psf. Thats a huge savings. I think perry and juliet are around that price too. juliet was even going to throw in a 42" flat panel tv when i spoke to them.

There is a great looking project called the Cityview Terraces on south jensen and ann, right across the street from the Alexan Lofts and Perry Homes development. I think this is one of alan atkinson's deals or he's involved to some degree. I picked up a flyer from the sign there and its looks very nice. Each unit has a 272 sq foot roof-top terrace and views from there should be awesome.

I currently live in midtown at post apts, but am considering a move to the east end and this project looks most intriguing.

Check out the sign on south jensen, across from perry home's bayou landing. looks like loft-style townhomes in the 180K range. sign mentions a 4th floor terrace(from that angle the views of the skyline would be sweet).

where was this article published?