SMU1213

They should have artists paint murals on the columns at that overpass. Could be really cool.

I really like this building. It looks great.

21 hours ago, hindesky said:

I assume the city is doing this re-routing of Shepherd intersection with Allen Pkwy.

Hanover is doing the work in partnership with the TIRZ and city. 

Anyone have any idea on an expected completion date?

On 7/17/2021 at 9:55 PM, Highrise Tower said:

The three parcels I'd like to see developed within the next decade.

Apache owns the grassy parcel facing Post Oak Blvd?

Whitestone REIT owns the 6 BLVD Place surface lot?

Hines owns the grassy parcel next to Hanover Post Oak?

Per HCAD, Apache owns the entire block outside of 6 Blvd Place and Metlife owns the block surrounding the pocket park. 

2 hours ago, J.A. said:

After reading all the discussion about why 2 big mixed use projects failed in Midtown, I wonder if the answer might be pretty simple: Downtown stole Midtown's thunder... and from what I'm seeing, is continuing to run away with it.

Or because no one over the age of 30 wants to live in Midtown and people under the age of the 30 don't pay the rents necessary for a succesful highrise development. 

This project is looking great. I can't wait for it to open. 

Hanover is burying the power in front of their development. I'd imagine that anything like the above is temporary but who knows. 

7 hours ago, Valhalla said:

 

The one on the road is going away. Having it off of the road and under the trees is 100x better than what was there.

1 hour ago, gene said:

That sounds amazing!!! I am excited to have another awesome music venue in Houston!

I am hoping my best friends band plays there and no doubt they eventually will! Which btw, they play tonight at White Music Hall Lawn! www.blueoctober.com *(always happy to plug my best friend of 26 years and his band! haha!) 

 

and ps...bring back Day For Night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! that was such an incredible experience!!!

My uncle new a guy that was in the band for a while. CB Hudson

2 hours ago, thatguysly said:

Makes perfect sense. ON NPR yesterday, it mentioned that it looks like the lumber bubble may be busting and prices coming back down but that lumber prices are still 3x what they were a year ago. China is also releasing more metals into the market and that help other construction costs as well. Seems simple enough to wait a year or two and save millions.

Except for the fact that carry costs (including pref and or/opportunity costs) on that expensive of land is millions of dollars a year. Heck, the taxes on that property alone are half a million a year. 

19 hours ago, Naviguessor said:

Me Neither.  A Drive-in and a small golf course wont earn near as much as a building full of tenants.  Look at the other projects Midway has completed.   Might be 10 to 15 years before they get down to the Golf Course, but I don't think that even the golf course people think that this is forever.

Probably true but Kirby Ice House has a higher NOI (and a much higher return due to the difference in cost) than the proforma for the shelved multifamily development that was planned on the site, so you never know.

Glass half full view - this will be a great redevelopment site in 30-40 years!

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

Judging by the available units shown on their website, it looks like they are at least 75% occupied.

The Travis appears to be only about 62.5% occupied.

Axiometrics has them at 53% occupied and The Travis at 41% occupied.

ApartmentData has them at 53% occupied and the Travis at 39% occupied. Based on what I can tell from the occupancy schedule on the website, Drewery opended in July '19 and The Travis opened in April '20. 

For comparison, Apartment Data has The Driscoll and Colombe D'or both opened in August '20 and are 60% occupied 45% occupied respectively. 

On 5/7/2021 at 4:08 PM, H-Town Man said:

Their rents are probably low due to the pandemic and will go up afterwards, if it ever ends. 

 

Yes, but they are significantly lower than most of the other highrises that are going through the same pandemic. 

1 hour ago, H-Town Man said:

He expanded the boundaries of highrise development in Midtown and future development will be made easier because of it. What he was trying to do - build a bunch of towers between Main and Fannin as if it were Post Oak Boulevard, in an area where solitary figures roam carrying paper bags of who-knows-what - would have been close to a miracle. Doing this during the pandemic when virtually every urban highrise is becoming a distressed property no matter how well located proved to be impossible.

 

I would actually argue that they made it harder for future highrise development in Midtown because The Drewery's rents are so low. Their effective rents are low enough that developers would struggle to make a podium development underwrite, much less a high rise. Also, they haven't been able to get past 65% occupied even with their low rents. 

The Travis is a much better story for Midtown.

Someone should have converted it into a comedy club...The fact that all Houston has is The Improv at the Marq*E is embarrassing. 

Just now, Avossos said:

why do you mention lower heights district specifically? Is there something in the works there?

No. There are multiple tracts that are on the market in that area that I know the pricing of and it is nearby, so it is a good data point. 

28 minutes ago, Avossos said:

 

They are putting affordable senior housing along the bayou near Old Sixth Ward... that is some expensive real estate. Lower heights / First Ward / Old Sixth Ward will definitely have new affordable options.

 

Perhaps they choose location based the diversification of housing options in an area, as opposed to strictly land price / cheapest options.

Lower Heights District is less than a mile away and you could build an additional 50 affordable units for the increase in land cost. Hopefully the city would rather have 50 additional units than build at a spot with some of the highest land values in the city less than a mile away. 

2 hours ago, Texasota said:

But there's nothing objective about any of that. What's "overly expensive real estate"? What's "an inconveniently located crappy neighborhood"? 

 

This property is undoubtedly expensive, but I'm also pretty confident that it's cheaper than a comparable amount of land downtown. Cost of land *cannot* be the only determinant, or you're just replicating market forces and ending up with "affordable" housing in increasingly marginalized areas with worse and more expensive commutes. 

 

This lot actually seems like a perfect compromise: it's close enough to downtown and the service rich Montrose to be convenient, but it's not right in the middle so it's likely a bit cheaper. It's close enough to Buffalo Bayou to be convenient for recreation and exercise, but it's separated from it by a cemetery so there should be a bit less of a premium. There are multiple non-car transportation options nearby: buses and planned bike lanes on W Dallas, trails along the bayou.

 

If this lot doesn't meet your criteria, then where would?

You realize that land by the bayou is worth about twice as much as land less than a mile away right? They could put affordable housing by the lower heights district for land about 40% less than this site.

5 hours ago, Luminare said:

 

I would definitely push for that. Same with White Oak. There are probably plenty of ways to strategically place bends to create a more natural flow. The issue is who would you ask to leave their property as it would take a lot of property to put in the bends, and then the overflow areas for when a flood happens.

TIRZ 5 has plans to remove the concrete in White Oak Bayou. It's part of their next major project. 

1 hour ago, Geographer said:

Is it possible to have a mixed use development in the Rice Village, such as ground floor retail with a couple floors of apartments over them?  The demand is certainly there.

You mean like Hanover Rice Village?

John Moore's (ex-owner of the Padres, from San Antonio/Houston) investment company (JMI) masterplanned and developed the area around the Padres' stadium. 

22 hours ago, Mr.Clean19 said:

They will definitely do some workforce housing to get a tax credit. 

Why do you think that? Has Midway ever done workforce housing? Market rate units tend to underwrite better regardless of a tax credit. And if they are going to try to push the retail rents, they are going to want as high of an average income as possible in their multifamily projects to show any potential retail tenants.