houston-development

Atlas redeveloped the Oak Lane Apartments at 2700 Revere. They are now Oak Lane Condominiums. The Oak Lane project was never as successful as he had hoped, so he never did Phase II (across the street at 2701 Revere). Phase I was first listed in April 2005 and had some units ready for sale by summer, but they still haven't sold them 2 years later.

I thought that he had sold the project to concentrate on 2727 Kirby, but the condos are listed by the same company that is listing 2727 Kirby. That company also has the same address as MDA Holdings. So, perhaps he still had some involvement in Oak Lane.

oak lane could have been a successful project but the jv and rehab costs were just too much.

rather than converting both phases, they sold phase 2 to zom, who will build a class a+ project.

archstone-smith sold esplanade, so they have to differentiate between the two.

as niche said, this project has nothing to do with simmons vedder.

as i mentioned on another thread and has now been confirmed.

rest in peace, mike. you had a vision for houston and i hope others can fill your spirit.

link

Michael David Atlas

MICHAEL DAVID ATLAS, 52, our beloved husband father and son, passed away Friday, July 6th, 2007 . He was born in Houston, Texas January 22nd, 1955 and graduated from Memorial High School in 1973, then graduated in 1977 from University of Texas Business School. He loved the city of his birth and spent his life involved in projects aimed at improving Houston whether it was by making it more comfortable to live in or erecting a skyscraper of previously unmatched quality and beauty. From 1977 to 2000 Mike partnered with his brother Brian Smith Atlas at Atlas Air Conditioning Company. Under his leadership, the nationwide company became publicly traded on the NYSE in 1997. Moving on from mechanical contracting, Mike utilized his educational background in real estate appraisal and land development by becoming more involved in real estate, finding properties that intrigued him to purchase and renovate. As his interest increased, he took on more elaborate projects until recently realizing his dream of building a modernist skyscraper in the most sought after location in Houston at 2727 Kirby Drive. Mike was a loving and devoted husband and father, he is survived by his wife Sherri Gorme Atlas, his two daughters Robyn Nicole Atlas and Natalie Brooke Atlas and son Harrison Meyer Atlas. He is also survived by his mother Helene Allen Atlas, grandmother Faye Allen Tucker, mother-in-law Betty Ruth Gorme, brother Brian Smith Atlas and wife Cindy Freeman Atlas all of Houston; sisters Susan Atlas Bryson and husband Steven Bryson of Kailua, Hawaii, and Cyd Sheri Atlas Novak and husband Charles Novak of Atlanta, Georgia; father-in-law Frank Gorme of Poland; brothers-in-law Neil Gorme and wife Laura Gorme and Brian Gorme; sister-in-law Caryn Gorme all of Houston, and numerous nieces and nephews and a great niece. He was preceded in death by his father Sidney Forrest Atlas, grandfather Harry Allen, step grandfather Hank Tucker and his niece Amy Lee Atlas. He was an active member of Temple Emanu El his entire life. Mike served on the board of the Technion Institute and the Anti-Defamation League and was instrumental in the air conditioning of the Holocaust Museum when it was being built. Mike also dedicated time, support and energy to other causes such as Seven Acres and the Crossroads School where he was recently honored, a school for children with learning differences. He loved to travel all over the world from Alaska to the savannahs of Africa, and fishing was one of his lifelong passions. Michael's presence will be missed, both in his close extended family and in the professional community. His sense of humor, charisma and sweet nature are things for which he will surely be remembered as well as his uncanny business savvy and love of architecture. The service to celebrate Michael's life will be conducted at two o'clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, July 10th in the sanctuary of Temple Emanu El, 1500 Sunset Blvd in Houston. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Bo's Place, www.bosplace.org or the Building Expansion Fund of 2007 at Temple Emanu El.

Are they related?

yes they were.

i just heard of another passing; however, i do not have confirmation other than one source.

allegedly, mike atlas passed away from a heart attack on saturday.

sorry, but im not going to contact people to confirm a death. thats not how i roll.

Mr. Finger died of cancer Saturday. Here's the link.

please note that is bobby finger, who runs finger furniture.

it is not marvy finger.

just for clarification, are you saying they have closed the land, without any drawings/renderings, and will break ground sometime within the next two years?

thank you in advance for the insight.

and edited to add, after reading tnj's post: he pretty much hit the nail on the head. several downtown hotels are bleeding red and the owners are throwing good money after bad.

you can choose to believe it or not.

*to no one in particular*

keep shooting the messenger and see if they disclose as much information next time.

the unappreciative people really do ruin it for everyone else.

learn to appreciate insight from those who know, dont demand elaboration or else their credibility is crud, and take it for what its worth.

: gets off soap box :

in regards to hanover, they plan to break ground beginning of next year.

this is not speculation but straight from the horse's mouth.

ps - im not calling nor implying anyone at hanover looks like a horse...

well, now thinking about it, one person kinda does but thats not important.

Houstondevo...where did you here that they were the developer anyway? Did I just pass over it in the article? Or is it insider info?

i dont believe its public knowledge.

edited to add: oooops, tnj already covered it.

dam, y'all already crashed their site?!?

nothing on the houston site but showcases their previous developments; from stand alones to mixed use.

they are an impressive group and spare no expense.

click me

I am in the know:) However, i'm not the only one. There is a multitude of information floating around and I am told they haven't commited anywhere yet. But, they are searching for a "home".

i can confirm this, for what its worth.

they havent committed anywhere just yet but have narrowed it down to a select few sites.

edited to add: ill vote later, so it wont be as obvious.

it was the mason jar, thanks! dam you short term memory loss due to... oh sorry, im straying off topic.

no, its not the entire center and i don't foresee another major renovation just yet.

Yes, looks to be these 3 parcels which were owned by Hines or related entities per HCAD.

045-140-004-0001 (3.3 acres)

083-022-000-0015 (5.5 acres)

083-022-000-0025 (<.5 acres)

You can see them here on this HCAD map.

HCAD map

ding. ding. ding.

we have a winner.

this is the development i mentioned in this thread.

its the eastern-most portion of the retail center on richmond and post oak (nw corner). there use to be a restaurant there but cant recall what it was.

this group has A LOT of money and plan to develop over $1B in houston within the next couple of years. they have another site tied up in the tanglewood area.. will gladly pinpoint it after they close or make it public.

just to clarify, the hotel will be on top of 2 to 3 levels of retail. barbouti is actually negotiating with a fitness center to be one of the levels; which personally, i dont get.

however, barbouti has a vision of what he wants HV to eventually evolve into. hes got a ton of money and will develop it the way he wants (subject to lender approval of the carve outs).

to the mods, sorry for the derail.

They are tearing down the building where The Gap used to be as well as where Harold Powell is (or used to be). Harold's will relocate elsewhere in the center before the buildings are torn down. Then there will be a new larger building, with underground parking. Could that explain what you saw?

Highland Village plans

i know whats happening at HV but limited on what i can disclose. MAJOR changes coming (relocations, expansions, vertical developments) within the next 12 months.

expect a 5 to 10-storey hotel with 2 or 3 levels of underground parking where the gap was.

that is all i can say for now.

So is this a rumor, or do we have some documentation here.

This is a borderline "Plastic" post.

i honestly dont know.

i thought he was talking about another deal down the street, which is 100% legit. however, thats another story and the reason for my edit.

edited.

nothing to see here, move along...

crows plans to put a parking structure on block 98: rusk, crawford, walker, and la branch.

It appears that someone just mentioned that (or just questioned about) a row of residences along the west/back side of the project already being demolished. (South of the home of the fortune teller.) If this is the case, would this be an indication of a positive direction being taken in the development? Or, is the razing of these structures not true?

all of the homes south of the palm reader are gone; nothing but grass and trees.

unfortunately i was unable to take pictures because someone decided to steal my camera

if you dont want to take my word for it, no hard feelings. feel free to drive over there and see for yourself.

Anyway, I've lived in Houston since 89' and I can tell you that Houston deserves it's bad image because it does nothing to clean up slum areas.

huh?

do you remember what midtown, reliant park, tmc south, washington ave, downtown, montrose, etc looked like in the late 80s and early 90s as compared to today?

not a chance you would have found me in those areas after sundown. well, except for going to emos, club some, and that dance club in downtown (cant remember name) on occasion

The palm reader is leaving, how about the rest of the homes in that row?

im 99.999% sure they are already demolished.

And how are they supposed to market themselves to retailers without publicizing their proposal?

...besides, all it takes is one such retailer to go to the Chronicle, and suddenly Wulfe would've had to have dealt with the publicity at a time not of his choosing and on somebody else's terms, a la Weingarten. In contrast, they *could* just make a reporter's life easy, spill the beans, get some publicity for their project in a way that is constructive and posed entirely as a 'Yay Houston' article as opposed to a 'Pro/Con' article. If you were him, which path would you take?

the niche speaks the truth.

as a side note, hanover still plans to move forward with 1 tower where the palm reader currently resides. its considered, in their minds, a done deal.

doesnt mean it wont happen; however, i would be absolutely shocked and floored if it didnt.

fyi and fwiw - gid closed on siena. thats the property on the ne corner of allen parkway and montrose/studemont.

link

property was on the market for just north of $150k / unit.

UH OH!

unfortunately, i cannot and will not elaborate.

because of events that have unfolded in the past week, it doesn't look too good.

in theory, it can/will move forward. having said that, there is a heartbeat but it's fading.

i know im talking out of the both sides of my mouth but it is what it is.

and now i return to my self-imposed sabbatical.