CREguy13

I love how they are using the old "all glass" rendering of Arabella as the backdrop in this.  Hopefully this is a quality project.

The Catalyst is leasing up real fast.  Would really like to see Marquette break ground on their second tower.  With Regalia, it would really spur more activity on north side of MMP.

From what I've been told, both Block 58 and 42 will rise at the same time and 42 is scheduled to open before 58.  I would imagine that if brijonmang was given the okay to present the rendering, that a press release on groundbreaking is forthcoming.

19 hours ago, houstontexasjack said:

Looks like Hines is following the Skanska playbook. Do the excavation and foundation pour before getting a tenant signed up to allow for a shorter lead time on getting an anchor tenant signed up. Very cool.

These deals are done and this is breaking ground.  Will likely be an announcement very soon and I believe Block 42 will rise at the same time.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Houston-developer-starts-long-awaited-Midtown-13038743.php

Per the Chronicle:

It looks like the second block will probably be a 21-story high-rise and break ground in late 2019, early 2020.  Are we going to have multiple high-rises proposed/constructed in Midtown during this cycle?

Crane went up today.

To break ground in 2019, Per HBJ Article this morning:

When California-based Spear Street Capital, a commercial real estate investment and development firm, came into the Houston market in 2017, it set off a flurry of office investment activity in the Bayou City. The company has since bought office towers in downtown, Uptown and west Houston, as well as a joint venture with Houston-based Transwestern Development Co. at the site of an old Exxon campus on Buffalo Speedway.

The project with Transwestern will be a mixed-use development known as The Ro, which will break ground in 2019, according to marketing materials from Transwestern and Spear Street. Transwestern confirmed the information but declined to comment further. The Ro will be built on 16.88 acres at 3120 Buffalo Speedway, just half a block away from Greenway Plaza and a few blocks away from River Oaks.

Tranwestern and Spear Street bought the tract in a partnership in March 2017. Later that month, Spear Street's John Grassi shared more details on the project with the Houston Business Journal.

"You can imagine some nice retail users, some nice multifamily users," Grassi said in March 2017. "Even in these tough times, you can imagine a nice office use as well — something a little more creative in appearance and something more boutique-y that would fit with the neighborhood demographics."

Grassi also said at the time that the project's development could take a while. Spear Street didn't return requests for comment.

The old Exxon campus was comprised of a six-story, 450,000-square-foot, single-tenant office building, a 100,000-square-foot training center, 13 auxiliary buildings and a large parking structure.

In January 2017, Spear Street bought the three aforementioned Houston office properties: 5 Houston Center, Energy Center I and 515 Post Oak Boulevard. The 1.2 million-square-foot deal was valued at $272 million, according to a release from seller Atlanta-based Columbia Property Trust Inc. (NYSE: CXP). Spear Street has since begun renovating 5 Houston Center.

I recently saw that this building is now about 50% leased which is approx. 180 units.  Hopefully Marquette is still scheduled to break ground soon on its next project.

That also matches the construction schedule shown above.  Can someone grab a picture this week?  This is awesome news.

Video of press conference: 

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/local/2018/04/12/278818/watch-live-houston-mayor-and-rice-university-president-announce-new-houston-innovation-hub/

Bill Mckeon with TMC talks about how the city is on fire and that a number of things are going to happen this year.  I get the sense that TMC3 is delaying its announcement as to not take away from the Midtown Sears announcement, but is coming in the next several weeks. 

This will be awesome infill for this area and love the large retail component.  It would be great if some nearby retailers relocated to this building, freeing up their freestanding or strip center buildings for more redevelopment.  Washington corridor keeps chugging along.

16 minutes ago, Triton said:

 

Wow... I really need to lower my expectations right now because they are sky high!

Same here.  While it was only preliminary drawings and everything is subject to change if/when this were to break ground, we must remember this is Hines.  And if you look at the immediate area with 609 Main, Aris MS, MST and Capitol Tower, these are all of the highest quality in their asset classes and are doing very well.  As we've seen time again, the Hines effect is real and we should expect this area to continue to reflect that.

18 minutes ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

Was there an estimated start date?

There was not a date mentioned.  There was a motion on the floor and it was passed unanimously.  In the middle of the motion, one of the regents made a comment for the record of their deepest appreciation to Marc Watts for working with the regents and helping this project come to fruition.  Marc is currently the chair of the Greater Houston Partnership, so clearly a lot of people were active in making this happen.

Unless I missed something (tuned in at the very end of webcast) all of the items that were needing to be further addressed from the November 2017 meeting were approved, all of the regents were in favor, and the project is moving forward.  Can someone else confirm if I missed anything?  Otherwise, we'll likely see an article soon.  Outstanding news.

On 3/13/2018 at 10:35 AM, AREJAY said:

It's next door neighbor (3613) is on the demo report today.

 

A JLL billboard from street view has this site as 3 acres and is no longer listed on their site. Is there a project proposed for this site? I couldn't find anything 

http://swamplot.com/daily-demolition-report-rescinded/2018-03-13/#comments

Not sure whether something has been proposed, but this 3 acre site was sold to the same group that bought 3621 W Alabama.  There sure is a lot of interest on W Alabama between Kirby and Weslayan.  Excited to see some of the projects along this stretch come to fruition in the coming years.

On 3/6/2018 at 9:06 PM, 102IAHexpress said:

Having to offer three months free rent was not forecasted in Aris' demand forecast when they developed this property. No developer plans on giving away three months free. The reality is demand in downtown is not what Aris projected. That's not good or bad, it's just the market reality. There's no need to go into contortions to say otherwise. Demand performance has just not delivered. According to HAIF, people should be flocking to be near the awesome downtown light rail and great restaurant scene in downtown. Or maybe not? Even putting aside the train of death and lack of restaurants, downtown developers were gifted a larger than anticipated potential tenant population caused by the largest rain even in US history and they were gifted oil making a faster than anticipated comeback yet... demand has been ehh. Lets see if a year from now this is still 'temporary' as some apologists would say. 

The below two quotes + article from today say otherwise:

"Less than a year after opening, Market Square Tower, Houston's tallest residential high-rise, is now over 90% leased."

"Despite many in Houston tightening their budgets, especially in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, interest in the property, where rent starts at $2,200/month, has been robust."

https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/multifamily/market-square-hits-90-occupancy-amid-down-market-86022

1 hour ago, Vy65 said:

I don't think you can say that the presence of multiple empty lots - that have been empty for years - is a sign of a densification. I only know of the one tower being built by Hanover (to the extent that you're suggesting that there are two being built). As for other's "on the way," I'll believe it when I see it because a lot of what I see out there is empty land. 

 

As for Apache, their Alpine play is poised to be highly lucrative. That, along with the rise/recovery of oil makes the renewal of their POC lease (as opposed to starting their building) kinda prove my point. 

I respect your opinion and energy against this project, but Apache renewing their lease and deciding to not commit to a 300m+ project, does not prove your point.  The wider sidewalks and trees will encourage developers to incorporate GFR or more of a 'Street Presence' in their projects that front Post Oak Boulevard.  I've certainly utilized it a lot more to walk to BLVD Place or Uptown Park for lunch, now that these sections of sidewalks are opening up.  As a current office employee and former resident of the area, it definitely has my approval.

The new sidewalks and trees being installed are really looking great and some of the more completed sections are getting more use.  I walked to Uptown Park for lunch the other day and sidewalks are so much wider and makes me want to walk more if heading down Post Oak.  Summer will be a different story, but I'm interested to see how this works when the trees provide a lot more shade.

17 hours ago, 102IAHexpress said:

That's a corporate U-Haul, not a dealer. Odd that Amerco would give up on a prime downtown location. Unless they think not that many people are moving to or need storage in Downtown? 

To add on to this, unfortunately I have heard this may be U-Haul just tearing down their existing building to build a new facility.  As @swtsig mentioned, I would not get too excited on this.