I was over there today and visited with the owner. He said they were finishing up the steelwork today (there were several welders there) and that he anticipated having the exterior done in 3 months. The guy was excited that he was able to get the variance for building to the street and said he wanted the building to fit in with a walkable neighborhood. He told me that the style of the building would be Italian and said that the appearance and landscaping would look great (I'm not big on what developers have termed Mediterranean, but we'll see how it goes). The way I see it, the area is a mix of styles so as long as they do it well I think it will be fine. At least we are not getting a generic strip mall. Count your blessings.
The first floor will be retail, as there is not enough parking to accomodate a restaurant (keep counting your blessings and pray that retail doesn't mean nail salon, cingular wireless, mattress firm and Cindie's). I got the sense that he intends to have one retail tenant in that space. The second floor will be offices. And yes, the third floor will be a residence with a "rooftop deck." If that tower and spiral staircase are the deck, that might be quite a cool place to live.
So, there you have it. We'll see how the style and tenants shake out, but I for one am extremely excited to see mixed use retail/office/residential being put up. Hopefully this will set a trend for the parcels down Westheimer, such as the antiques emporium and the Martha Turner building. It's a little early for kudos, but I'm thankful this guy is willing to go against the Houston orthodoxy and put this development here.
