Trophy Property

But this project is the not the same project as the Orion and never was. The Orion was suppose to be back behind the Sterling Bank building. This project is 300-500 yards East down Memorial.

Note the HISD - Costco topic was appended to the earlier HISD land topic.

Looks like it may not happen after all, but I didn't think Costco was such a bad idea. Inside the loop lacks a lot of low-price shopping options.

Thanks Subdude. I should Now we have one big thread !!!

As for the prvious post, maybe it should be on another thread, but Many of the resturants and bars closed down on Main or went through a horrible slump while the Rail project was being built. I might have exageratd a tad (which I tend to do) but I clearly remember all that reatil by Rice slumping bigtime.

I am pretty sure I remember a Weingarten

Wachovia has some serious money.

They plan to overtake Chase. I'd like to see it.

Chase is no bueno.

That got a long way to go.

Westcreek was my first and only apartment in town. I'm sad for that. They were nice and affordable for the area. Loads of people have lived there at one time or another. Now, I assume, they'll be really expensive and outside the price range for people with their first jobs and the older people who live there on a fixed income. That was the two typical Westcreek residents when I lived there. Kinda sad for me.

I wonder when those buildings were built. They look like late 60's or 70's. I assume they kept them somewhat updated because opccupancy always seemed to be high enough.

A brief history of Weingarten. Not much info on the grocery stores, but sort of interesting.

From the Weingarten Site:

Weingarten

The Weingarten story begins in 1854 with the birth of Harris Weingarten, a poor villager from a small community in Poland. Seeking new opportunities in America in the 1880s, he eventually settled in the Houston area where he opened a dry goods store. Joined by his family, Harris, his wife Beile and their children survived the ups and downs of the young town

Name changes happen all the time... now. Thats the sad part. Empire State is still Empire State.

Regardless... When I was told, I guess I assumed Wachovia didn't have offices there now? Am I wrong ? Do they already have offices in Williams Tower and are expanding and as a result will be the biggest tenant ?

The Empire State Building is a historical property and the owners would most likely never offer naming rights. Many offices offer signage rights. Once your name is on top of the building, people start to call the building by that name. I can not tell you many "Wells Fargo" Buildings there are.

I've heard a rumor from a Williams Employee that Williams Energy (formerly Transco) may soon no longer be the majority tenant of Williams Tower. Wachovia Bank is apparently moving in and will be the main tenant. How soon this could happen and if it could lead to another building name change, I wasn't told.

Wachovia is based in Charlotte and I can't imagine will be moving anytime soon. To be the majority tenent of Williams Tower, that would require quite a presence, quite an office. Do any banks have that kind of presence here? I know we have BOA Building.. but I guess I was always under the impression that Houston failed at trying to be center of banking.. that lots of smaller banks that were headquartered here got swallowed up and that none were headquartered here now.

That may all be irrelevent.

Anyways... does anyone here work for Williams, for Wachovia, or in Williams Tower that can affirm or squash this rumor ?

The name change is dependent on what is written in the lease. The Wachovia lease coupled with a Williams contraction of space might might trigger a name change. Maybe someone knows that information. Anyone work for Hines and has access to that lease? Let us know.

Name changes happen all the time. For Instance with Hibernia was bought out by Capital One, all signage and naming rights went to Capital One. Bank One Tower in Austin has been re-branded Chase Tower after that sale. Chevron Tower (aka 1301 McKinney) was re-named Fullbright Tower when Chevron sold the building to Crescent.

Right across from the horse was the source of my first social consciousness awakening. It was the restrooms. There were three of them

Any update from anyone that would know?

This project will take a while to happen. For one there are probably 12-18 month leases in place. Even if they are dedicated to this project, don't expect the buildings to be razed until late 2007-early 2008

I was surprised to hear that HISD is actually keeping the building for some other purpose. I think Terry Abbott said either training or lease portions of it to other businesses.

So the deal is dead all together. Wow, I figured it was pretty much a done deal. How have they not closed on the land by now. I also thought that HISD had already vacated the buildings.

Spoke with my friend who is involved in this project still and last time we talked which was a while back his opinion was that the project was dead. However the Orion people have come back to the table to talk about starting up again. The only catch is that they have less money than original planned and the budget as of right now is much smaller. If built, the building will not be as elaborate as once thought. My guess is that the building will have to go through an rather large redesign to get rid of some of the architectural features tht are driving up the costs. We will see.

On a side note the question about the work going on right now is the completion of the utility lines being installed and the prep work for the building foundation. Ths was put under contract in order to get started while the building itself was getting the problems with the design worked out.

it seems to me the people making all the money on this deal are the architects.

I wonder how many of their buyers they lost. Public and consumer confidence in the project is so well eroded at this point that it would take a small miracle for them to convince people that they know what they are doing and can make good on their promises. I know quite a few buyers who have taken back their deposits and went elsewhere.

Maybe they took their money to the Shamrock. We all know that project is happening

you're right, it was there a few weeks ago, on the very same site plan. I saw it on their website, PDF format. I guess it fell through.

That is a shame. It seems that Chick Fil A is gold. Everyone freestanding one I know of always has 20 cars in the drive through. I find it funny because I never liked the place until 4 years ago when I tried it again and got hooked. those chicken biscuits are like crack.

Although I rarely went in there, that used to be a Weingarten's back in the 50s. I also remember that it had a basement with a stairway right in the middle of the store. Also, there was usually a tamale vendor in the parking lot in the afternoons. That's the way Berryhill got started.

sorry to change speed here, but does anyone have an idea of how many Weingarten's there were back in the day. I only remember the store at Westhiemer and Hillcroft. I grew up in Briarmeadow and we used to shop there in the early to mid seventies. It became a Apple Tree later and is now some other big box user. Weingarten still owns the center. They have probably owned it for 40 years.

I'd rather have a Flying Saucer Pie!

(One of the very few things I miss about Houston)

Tollhouse cookies are only good if made fresh from scratch. The stores put weird ingredients in the cookies which make them tase funny. Trust me on this one. I am fat. Thanks for listenting.

Costco? No way.

Why do you think it is out the question.

what i heard just yesterday is that morgan and crow are having a hell of a time finding retail commitments due to the possibility of rail going down richmond. the problem is two fold if it in fact does happen:

1) richmond will be torn up and the accessability will be absolutely terrible for some time (look at main)

2) if metro doesnt put a stop in front, the site will get double-donged (as in construction and then no stop)

they have up a huge letter of credit with hisd. if they end up not closing, its gonna be REAL ugly.

Thanks, that is why I love this site. I had not heard that angle before, although it makes total sense. Main street was a total dissastor for years. One day there was bars, restuarants and life along Main and the next it was gone. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Last night I was discussing all the big projects slated to go up around the Gallaria, Upper Kirby, Westcreek, Richmond, etc. One of the persons I was discussing this is Real Estate Broker who works on two very high profile Retail projects. He is credible and knows all the players involved with most of the deals.

The rumor he heard was that Costco was going to be taking over the big HISD site at Richmond and Westlayan. With so many players chasing the same tenant base it makes sense that some of the delopments will never get off the ground. The owners of this tract are aware of this and might be willing to make a deal with Costco. Hmmmm.

I know many will be livid if this occurs. I too think it is a waste of a huge opportunity to offer a unique use for the site. Of course on the flip side, all those wealthy people living inside the loop will have a Costco for to send the Housekeeper too.

Again, this is by no means concrete information. I just thought it was worth passing along.

Editor: I could not find the original thread about the Richmond site, so I apologize if this thread needs to be linked to another.

Basically it was three rookie pitchers, the Giants have dominated the Astros in the Juice Box, and the hitting wasn't exactly making it easy either - plus berkman has been out the last three games.

Hokieone summed it up. The only bright side is that Lidge has pitched great in his last three innings pitched. I heard Garner say that is the closer again. Lets hope he can keep it together.

hahaha what a clueless writer...he needs to calm down and let baseball be played, and oh yeah, get his head out of barrys _ _ _...but thats what an opinion is all about

Anyone else cringe watching the Stros play the Giants this week. They got killed. Lets hope this is not a sign of things to come. Hopefully Roger comes back and the Astros can get hot.

Does anyone have information regarding the shopping center at the corner of Washington and Shepherd that was once an Exkerd and auto supply store?

Washington Place

Yes, definitely some sweet views from that building...i even like the allen parkway section down on the ground. its a nice area

I agree. The complex itself is a mix of old buildings (Wortham Tower) dating from the 60's- 80's. The Life building in the back of the back of the complex was recently renovated and looks pretty cool from the inside (as Atrium buildings go). The real problem I see with that complex is the fact that AIG owns and occupies much of the real estate. They have put in way too many security measures and made it very difficult for visitors to enter the building. For a non downtown complex I think it is a pretty darn cool.

Is this development underway. I have not been to that part of town in a long time.

I took my wife to Spindletop for Valentine's Day a couple of years ago. Don't worry about it being hemmed in. At night the view is really dynamic and interesting.

I had the opportunity a few years back to hang out on the roof of the America Tower (AG Center). The building is only 40 some odd stories, but its location outside of Downtown allowed for 360 degrees views. It was a clear day and the views were amazing. I wish I would have had a camera.

Well from the rumors I've read just around here, it would seem that the Ritz is interested in Boulvard Place, while the W is interested in High Street

I heard Ritz Carlton is aching to get back into the Houston Market. Crescent is developing a Ritz Carlton in Dallas right across from the Crescent Hotel. The Rtiz Carlton is a mix condo / hotel / spa destination and seems to be a hot development. It would not suprise me if this concept was part of the BLVD project. Wulfe will get a big time Hotelier in here.