SMU1213

I spoke with someone on their design team a few weeks ago that said they are working on Phase 2's design right now. Who knows what that really means from a start date, but I was somewhat surprised considering where the real estate market is right now...

Looks great. Hope it happens.

7 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

That's one of the oldest public housing units in the city. I think it's even designated a city landmark. I agree with @004n063There is nothing unfortunate about that. People of different income's have a right to live in better parts of the city and not be displaced

That land is worth $200m+. They could easily sell it to a developer and require the developer to include a brand new 400 unit affordable housing tower as part of the master planned development. More affordable units that are brand new would be a positive outcome.

22 minutes ago, BeerNut said:

I know everyone loves the new developments but is there any concern that park will become too sterilized and over planned.  

No.

12 hours ago, 5thGen said:

I thought that space was going to be Equinox’s second Houston location.

They bailed either right before or after covid.

10 hours ago, Amlaham said:

Kind of corny, an NFL team themed gym? It would make sense if it was close to NRG, but it legit doesn't make sense here...... in this "ultra luxury" development.

They have a Cowboys Fit that is part of The Star that is extremely nice. To your point, it literally butts up to the Cowboys gym where you can watch them working out next to you (separated by a glass wall). People in Dallas love the Cowboys and will pay for the expensive gym membership to be "a part of the organization". I'm not sure that's the case in Houston.

I just wish RS had built a parapet to block the views of the AC units. They are all I can see now. 

4 hours ago, Texasota said:

That suggests either incompetence or a lack of actual interest in building towers, no?

My guess is one of two things: 1) the retail is too valuable so the value he wants to put the land in for a development deal is too high or 2) Haidar is difficult.

21 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

 

But to be clear, Kimco does not own Highland Village. Yes, I think HV has a vision for more density, but I don't think we've seen anything to suggest a vision for high-rises at HV.

Haidar Barbouti's vision is definitely to have high rises as a part of Highland Village. He's been talking to developers for over a decade about trying to get one done. The conversations just haven't gone anywhere.

On 5/15/2022 at 1:06 PM, SMU1213 said:

I walked by Georgia James yesterday and the door was open so I poked my head in. The drywall looks like it has been installed and they were tiling behind the bar. It looksike it'll be open in the next 60-90 days.

I walked by Georgia James again today and it looked like they were having some sort of soft opening. 

5 hours ago, iah77 said:

I was shopping at Restoration Hardware over the weekend and the lady said they are moving indeed and adding a restaurant so I guess that is still alive as well. 

Rumor has it that they're building a new location in Highland Village. The Autry Park location is dead.

And getting people used to traveling over there isn't a bad thing. 

Are those just short term covered land plays?

4 hours ago, H-Town Man said:

Think of streets that you would want to take a photo of. Have you ever taken a photo of a street that had skybridges going over it? 

Chelsea Market's skybridge and Herald Square's sky bridge are both pretty photogenic. 

17 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

Any insight as to what is behind this?  Is it purely an issue of volume?

Supply, lack of quality product, lack of tourism, age of existing hotels, etc. 

Think about how poorly our high-end hotels compare to the same flags in other cities. Our Four Seasons just got a face lift, but you still have low ceiling heights and other issues that couldn't be fixed due to it being an older building. Our JW Marriott and St Regis are two of the worst ones in the country. 

I'm hopeful that The Thompson will get some high rates. If they do, I bet we see three hotel starts in the next few years (if hard costs normalize).

Our hotels' RevPARs are too low to support new development (with the exception of The Post Oak which doesn't release their information since they aren't part of a chain), especially with the rapidly rising construction costs. Houston's hotels rely on business travel which typically has a cap on room rates and their RevPAR peaked in 2014 when oil peaked. Our only hope for a new hotel that isn't an ego tower (Tilman's) is that the high energy prices start translating to higher RevPAR.

1 hour ago, Montrose1100 said:

🙄 Allow me to rephrase. Weird that a Federal Reserve Branch in an urban environment, was built in such a suburban style. Los Angeles, New Orleans, Seattle, Portland, Salt Lake City, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, all just fine. Charlotte's only takes 1 Block. Denver & San Antonio's are a "block", but half surface lot.

Columbus & Baltimore are the only examples I see similar to ours. Sprawling across a large chunk of land.

Dallas' Federal Reserve is built at Pearl and Woodall Rogers, catty corner from Klyde Warren Park (so in the best real estate in the city). It takes up much more space than ours, although they do have a tower element and a more modern design. 

I walked by Georgia James yesterday and the door was open so I poked my head in. The drywall looks like it has been installed and they were tiling behind the bar. It looksike it'll be open in the next 60-90 days.

Soft goods retail is extremely difficult to lock in until the building is open and the tenants can actually see the space. They are also concerned about who the other tenants are in the space, so even if you have a signed LOI, they won't sign a lease until they know their co-tenancy. F&B is a destination so they care less about co-tenancy and they typically have more financial backing so they can sign leases earlier and start spending money on design earlier. That's why you always see F&B announced first and soft goods dragging behind. 

Crazy that Highland Village's owner's money comes from chemical weapon sales to Iraq...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1992/02/09/exporters-of-death/3810097b-cd11-45cf-b284-d72275a611af/

11 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

You're saying the two entities are unrelated?

 

The group of companies known as Related Group and Related Companies are unrelated. 😀

My understanding is that Stephen Ross helped found Related Group with Jorge Perez (its founder and CEO), but that it is completely unaffiliated with Related Companies. 

I'm pretty sure that Related Group is the one buying the site, not Related Companies. Related Companies isn't looking in Texas to my knowledge.

15 hours ago, Big E said:

East Houston near the ports and refineries? A field in the middle of South Houston somewhere. Or maybe they can knock down the apartments in Gulfton and put it there. And if the residents complain, tell them they can stay and be guaranteed three square meals and a cot to sleep on, but won't be able to leave whenever they want.

Maybe it could replace the Greenspoint Mall. 

6 hours ago, IntheKnowHouston said:

 

It's the same restaurants and information I listed above last week. I emailed Eater Houston and other news outlets with dedicated dining coverage about the newer additions (that weren't previously reported) last week after I posted the brochure in the forum. It's probably why Radom Capital issued a press release due to multiple inquiries from local publications.

 

👇👇

 

Personally,  I'd rather keep leaked info here for us to enjoy and allow the developers to release information to news outlets based on their PR group's carefully thought through plan. 

1 hour ago, nate4l1f3 said:

Ride by last night and seen that Flight Club has opened. Flight Club looks really nice at street level as you can see all the action through the windows. Cool looking spot 👍🏼

I actually walked by it last night also. I feel like they need more dart boards? The place looked empty but 80% of the boards were being used.

I drove by it today. It's crazy how much nicer the park looks next door just because they removed the chain link fence.