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fernz

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Everything posted by fernz

  1. fernz
    This one has land around it, Astoria is using the entire plot. That makes logistics much more difficult.
  2. fernz
    EB5 is an immigration visa that pretty much allows wealthy foreign nationals to "buy" a green card, by investing in a job-producing commercial enterprise. In can be anything, doesn't have to be real estate, doesn't have to be condos - it just needs to be for-profit and create jobs. From a RE perspective, I do agree with Mr. Contreras that it makes more sense for condos, since traditional financing is so easily available these days for apartments. Condos require pre-sales, and that's where the foreign investors come in. The big news flash to me was that this is a Randall Davis project. It could be possible, that after his Galveston and South Padre projects were foreclosed, he is having a hard time getting bank financing for these apartments, so he is using this creative alternative which he already knows how to navigate.
  3. fernz
    That is hilarious.
  4. fernz
    Exactly!
  5. fernz
    You can't compare with Belfiore, which is a condo. Unlike apartments, condos require a high pre-sales percentage (would guess in the 40's or 50's these days) to get their construction financing; so developers spend a lot of money in pre sales before breaking ground. On the other hand, apartments typically start preleasing only a few months before opening the first phase. In my experience, 25% prelease is actually quite high. Most apartments open with only about 20-30% of units available, so at 25% they are pretty much "sold-out" for phase 1.
  6. fernz
    They don't need any drones. Developers have been using blimps for a long time. http://www.blimpphoto.com And you bet Hines did something of the kind; it's one of the best tools during preleasing.
  7. fernz
    Yes, we get news from Urbannizer before they're are published in the chronicle's website!
  8. fernz
    I really like that the garage is lined with units (or at least pretending to be) so it doesn't loom like a big parking garage at the base. These developers know what they're doing.
  9. fernz
    If it's a mesh, instead of solid material, like in this case.
  10. fernz
    It's called perspective. There are special camera lenses designed to correct it, otherwise pictures of buildings (especially tall ones and/or if taken up close) will always angle towards the vanishing point.
  11. fernz
    IIRC it's 10 feet, but I'm not positive. Unfortunately I have no longer access to building codes so I can't confirm.
  12. fernz
    This tower is turning out to be one of those rare cases where the building looks better than the rendering!
  13. fernz
    I would imagine that the deal with McDonalds also included some air rights or height restriction easements. Otherwise, you risk having a tower 10ft away from your expensive condo windows. If I was going to purchase a unit there, I would make sure some agreement of the sort is in place.
  14. fernz
    Just looked at the pictures of the model. There is a small setback. On top of that, the widows could be recessed to allow for the openings to be further back from the property line. You can get away with small setbacks as long as you limit the percentage of non-rated openings. But you cannot have any openings at all on the property line (unless they are 2hr rated, which makes them both ugly and expensive). This is from the building codes, and the city would never give exemptions to this since it's a safety issue.
  15. fernz
    You are allowed to build up to the property line, no setbacks required, as long as you have a 2hr fire rated wall- which means no windows. If you want windows you need a setback. My guess is the parking garage will be a block wall along the parking lot, and then the building will set back to allow for windows for the condos.
  16. fernz
    Right, because they haven't given back to the city yet...
  17. fernz
    A little bit of both. But I think mostly there wasn't much demand at the time.
  18. fernz
    I worked with a developer back in 2000 who was looking at converting those buildings into condos. It just wasn't viable back then. The buildings don't seem like much, but the interior spaces have lots of potential for cool redevelopment. Glad to see more residential coming to this part of DT though.
  19. fernz
    Well, this is Houston after all. So the only opinion that counts is that of the property owners' who need to make a return on their investment. In order to do that, they need to upscale, and bring in national chains who can afford higher rents. Some of us will miss the charm and stop going there, but a larger number of people will like the convenience and patronize the Restoration Haresres, Sprinkles and Apple stores.
  20. fernz
    They will probably move into one of the lower floors of the marriott building. It's common to build temporary offices once the structure comes out of the ground.
  21. fernz
    Totally agree!
  22. fernz
    Weren't these the guys calling their development "pro-urban vs proforma"? Yeah, right!
  23. fernz
    According to the article in the chronicle (consider the source), the developers are asking the city for changes in land-use restrictions. Considering there are generally no land-use restrictions in Houston, I would say this is a highly unusual case.
  24. fernz
    For the office tower...when is the multi family going up?
  25. fernz
    Not crazy about the design, but I don't think the previous one was that great either.
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