totheskies

That would be the rent floor for an efficiency at only the Houston House, average rent would be in the $2500-3500 range. I'm saying having the low end of the market ($1000-2000) will help churn young professionals through the nab and establish the idea of downtown as a neighborhood. If only older professionals can afford downtown then they will not flock when they can get more space at a discount nearby or will lease the apartments as second homes (i.e. not actually live there like half of One Park Place).

edit:

Downtown's new problem will be a limited amount of the type/designs of available space. Maybe the city will allow developers to build micro-apts in the 300-600 sq.ft. range..

 

Try $1130 as the rent floor... CHEAPER than several new complexes in Montrose/ Midtown

 

Houston House

http://aim.force.com/locatormls/apex/houstonhouse?id=a19F0000001HgZ2

 

Check some other places downtown.  It's not as much as you might think...

That may be the case here in Houston, but once a stable downtown is created, it's only going to have a greater effect on outlining neighborhoods. Houston is spread out, so yeah those neighborhoods have developed very organically, with little to no help from downtown activity, which is really a good thing. What I'm saying is that when downtown DOES become a more centralized hub of activity, it can only build on itself outwards toward those neighborhoods, thus enhancing whats already been created.

 

Couldn't agree more with this.  The development in the shoulder neighborhoods is almost dizzying.  It's Downtown's turn to get in on the hot residential market. 

 

Take it from someone who is apartment hunting right now.  I've been SHOCKED to find that Montrose/ Midtown is actually competitive with Downtown highrises.  There are garage apartments renting in Montrose right this second for $1200/mo, but it only costs 1100/mo to move to Houston House.  The inner loop market (with the exception of most things EAST of I-45) is simply bonkers right now. 

 

Downtown residential will be welcomed because any inner loop residential is being welcomed. 

 

I'm a frequent Theater District patron and performer.  I see people in tuxes on the existing rail all the time.  Many actually enjoy the walk from Preston station down to the Wortham. 

 

It's not a lot of the older patrons, but trust me there are a fair amount of 40 and under that do this.  More rail means the number can only grow. 

Isn't it the planning commission? I think if it's "consent" that means the planning commission aides recommend to the board that they approve the project and any needed variances. That's my guess.

I could totally be wrong on Hines, which will be perfectly fine with me.  All is speculation until the building is off the ground anyway. 

Haha, no worries. So you don't think the 757' 49 story floor plans posted by lockmat are official?

 

I guess we all have different ways of measuring height.  The height of the Hines building hasn't been confirmed, and who knows if Chevron doesn't decide to slap an antenna or something on theirs, but my understanding is that the crown will be taller than Chevron's building, and by that reasoning the crown is part of the building. 

 

Of course we also know that total building height and number of floors don't necessarily correlate either.  A 40-story building could be taller than a 50-story one (office vs residential, etc.), so those are also factors to take into account. 

 

I'll have to revisit the thread, but lockmat posted the square footage and assumed number of stories, correct?  He didn't post the height. 

 

But I get y'all's point... when talking about Chevron I referred to stories, but then with Hines I referred to height (which was on purpose to keep the post very generalized). 

interesting article. im sure he is talking about the Hines redevelopment too (but hes assuming the Chevron tower will only be 50 stories, not sitting on top of a podium making the tower closer in height to a 58 story building). the crown will make Hines taller than 50 stories, but the podium will make Chevron taller than Hines. im thinking ~800', but im no expert.

as for the rumors. someone replied to a post of mine once mentioning Hines owning a plot located in an area that allowed/was basically designated for a supertall? anyone have any idea what lot this would be?

 

I'm Texas Leftist

 

Yes I was referring to 609 Main, given that we don't have an official height for it yet. 

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/realestate/07-08-13-houstons-next-great-skyscraper-hines-to-texas-size-new-main-street-office-tower-speed-up-development/

 

 

I just wrote a simple blog post outlining the totality of construction... didn't expect to set off a new rumor mill! 

Yeah, I like Juan Mon's a lot... my friend even hosted a karaoke night there which was a lot of fun.  I think the owner might be traveling or something this month, and he doesn't have a whole bunch of employees. 

 

Such a cool building with the historic gas station too, but I agree it would be much visible if they were up on Gray, or even down at Fairview. 

 

I'm looking forward to this! 

Well ok... but your " Absolutely BUILT for downtown Houston." sounded sarcastic and even the rest of that comment for that matter. It's not unreasonable to make one think you are trolling...

 

So it's a crime to like Buc-ee's and downtown so much that you feel the need to capitalize?? 

 

No beaver nuggets for you. 

I have this feeling that totheskies is trolling

 

Why do you say that?  You should probably be careful to lodge such accusations. 

 

 

 

Y'all don't have to like the idea... that's the point of having a forum.  But in my opinion, downtown needs to do some things to increase it's tourist appeal. 

 

On Monday I took the day off and decided to catch the bus downtown.  I had lunch at Phoenicia, then rode the Green Link bus over to City Hall.  I checked out the one gift shop we do have, and went to the Ideson Library, then decided to get some pictures from the observation decks. 

 

At the Chase tower deck, I met a whole group (8 people) of tourists from China.  They were all taking pictures in the deck, and they stopped me to ask where they PAY to be able to exit.  I told them that Houston's ob decks are free, and they were floored.  I'm sure most of us have been to New York, and paid 40, 50 bucks for the "privilege" of going into the Empire State Building.  The fact that we just dismiss our downtown as something unworthy of a true tourist infrastructure really upsets me.  Downtown Houston has lots of fun, interesting things to do, and we need to start acting like it!! 

 

 

I dig the Beaver, but there is NO WAY it works downtown. The entire concept is built around being a road stop. A clean place to pee, fill up the car, and get the screaming kids to shut up for the next hour while they stuff their faces with Icees and Beaver Nuggets. Would a Buc-ees make money without the ability to move tons of gas?

However, when the new Marriott Marquis opens, then maybe the convention bureau needs to open a retail joint in the lobby filled with Texana stuff that the tourists can buy that would also market stuff to the park (convenience store stuff).

Buc-ee's is so much more than a gas station... It's become a true Texas brand. Besides beaver swag and beautimus bathrooms, Buc-ee's could bring a bulwark of boisterous dining options. They have great food at the one in Madsonville, and it's all grab-n-go. Absolutely BUILT for downtown Houston.

I've thought about downtown retail a whole lot... like seriously. Two things that I think would make an immediate, positive impact to our downtown...

1) HOUSTON Gift Shops- The only decent one in downtown is at City Hall. We need MORE, and they need to sell all the crap that you would expect them too. If we're going to grow tourism in Houston, we must have gift shops. No better place for them than downtown.

2) Buc-ees- the stores have quickly become a Texas favorite. Even without gas, the Texas knick knacks and great food that Buc-ees has would work well in downtown Houston. Think how much stuff the Conventioners could buy there.

Anyone know what UH is building at the intersection of Holman and Scott Street, behind the rail line?  It used to be a Football practice field, but now it's completely torn up, and they've got tractors all over it. 

 

I so hope they have the foresight to put in some street-level retail.

I am friends with Scott Gertner and even sang a few gigs at the old Skybar in Montrose. It is official... Pavilions is CLOSED. He posted it on Facebook on the 27th.

Exciting times for downtown!  brijonmang I really hope your friend's rumor mill pans out.  The next step for this area is to plan for some grocery stores.  EaDo is still in need of more options, so an easy solution would be to put it on either side of the I-69 trench. 

It's one thing for Houston to be interested in restoring 100-year old structures, but now this building built in 1966.  The Central Houston hotel market is hotter than ever right now.  There's definitely hope for Central Square and the old Days Inn before Super Bowl LI. 

Word on the street is that UH-D wants a piece of this action too. They plan on locating student housing in the immediate vicinity of this station, as well as establishing special leases with existing apartments in the Near Northside. I've heard this both from members of UH-D's student government, and from a member of the upper administration.

Regardless of what else happens, student housing for UH-D will be in this area within two years' time.

Any renderings of the Aga Khan center?  Sounds like a cool project. 

I for one welcome the new businesses and activity in Midtown, but I also welcome things like the Safe Passing Ordinance that was just passed in Council today, better law enforcement, better signage and developements that will help cater more to pedestrians.  IMO Accidents like this have much less to do with zoning and much more to do with the fact that Midtown is a network of very busy, very wide one-way streets that people think they can drag race on. 

Some additional restaurant retail would do well in this area.  Near the rail stations, two large apartment buildings and the very busy Co-Cathedral community, some good fast casual dining should have a steady stream of business here.  Not to mention the flood of people going to Toyota Center for events.  I hope Sky House is thinking along the same lines with the retail element. 

The problem with the City of Houston is that they have no checks and balances regarding projects that fall under the city's incentive programs.

They hand out incentives for developers, based on an initial scheme, and then the developer pulls out a portion of the project, or cheapens the design, and they still get the same incentive.

This has already happened twice, that I know of:

1) Houston Pavilions.....The developer promised a residential component and then pulled back...they still received the incentives

2) Embassy Suites....The developer took advantage of the downtown Hotel incentive plan and then substantially altered (cheapened) the design

Let's hope the same fate doesn't happen to this high profile project but if developers have found a way around the system it just might be happening again.

That's a really valid point Shasta, and I've often thought about going to City Council's public session and raising this issue. Even if nothing gets done about it, someone needs to put points like this into public record. Then WHEN the next project gets built far below the original concept, we can look at our city government and say "I told you so!"

Yeah I really don't like the Cougar Village designs. They totally look like a prison, and beyond that the mega-small windows don't appear to be very energy efficient. But I'm sure the only think on UH's mind was that they be durable and CHEAP.

Thanks for the updates Golyadkin! Do you live on campus?