Skyscraper Planned For Uptown/Galleria

[Avabamse]

Post copied over from BLVD Place thread.

Please kill this thread if someone truly in the know says that this tower is untrue. Yet, be mindful that my source is highly credible.

I just don't want another crazy topic full of random speculation, hyperbole, depression, hope, disappointment, resent, resignation, anger and surprise (with a dash of joy sprinkled in). This is what I like to refer to as the 9 steps of HAIF-life.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Ok, ok. I'm going to ask for patience on this post here because I just have a nugget of information, yet I am uncertain where to place it.

I attended the Houston Economic Development Forum this morning and spoke with a very trust-worthy area development executive about Uptown and BLVD Place. In the context of this conversation discussing BLVD Place, I was told that there is a 66 story tower being planned / developed in the Uptown submarket.

Now I am uncertain if this is part of BLVD Place or an adjacent property as we started to discuss Randall Davis' impact in the Uptown area at about the time that I was told about the tower. (I do not think this is a Randall Davis property necessarily and I have also looked at the BLVD Place renderings as well so unsure there too.) I have scrolled through this subtopic looking for comparable comments on this tower because I haven't been watching all of the minutae in this discussion. Yet, I did not notice anyone else mentioning this tower. Additionally, you can't search in the forum for '66 story' tower so I am uncertain if this has been covered elsewhere.

So, I am asking for patience on this kernel of valid info because it is such little to state here and I am uncertain of more details. Oh, last bit of related details... apparently the Uptown / Galleria commercial market is really, really tight (5% vacancy) so perhaps this tower will be a needed answer just like how downtown is getting a couple of towers.

~*~*~*~*~*~

In regards to the Houston Economic Development Forum, Joel Kotkin was the keynote speaker and his presentation was a fascinating look at Houston and the rest of the country. For those Houston nay-sayers out there, Kotkin believes that (1) Houston is the next to develop as a World-Class city in the US [NY & LA already are considered so by his standards] and (2) he was asked by American Enterprise which city is tops in the US with his answer being Houston. Finally, for those suburb / exburb apologists who dislike the City of Houston itself - Kotkin says that the outlying regions of the metro are important to Houston's success, but the absolute true key to this is to have a strong core city for growth (economic ~ residential & commericial // social ~ upward mobility & entrepreneurship).

These presentations will be posted on the GHP website. Look for more info in the HBJ and Celebrate Enterprise websites.

Edited May 16, 2007 by Avabamse

[lockmat]

(2) he was asked by American Enterprise which city is tops in the US with his answer being Houston.

These presentations will be posted on the GHP website. Look for more info in the HBJ and Celebrate Enterprise websites.

Tops in what? In general?

Tell us more. What other significant things were said? Heck, I'll take the less significant too.

Edited May 16, 2007 by lockmat

[marc]

Or, maybe he means like...

The Houston Pavilions

or the Cosmopolitan

or the Memorial Hermann Memorial City Tower

or the Memorial Hermann Tower in the TMC

or the major expansion of Texas Children's

or the Kirby at Westheimer development

or the Seven Riverway

or the Westin and Sheraton Memorial City

or the Belle Meade at River Oaks

or the Post Midtown expansion

or the Edge

or the Pointe

or the Collaborative Center at Rice

or the Methodist Research Institute

or the Faculty Center Tower

or the Outpatient Care Center at Methodist

or the Sysco Headquarters

or Granite Westchase II

or the Dominion Post Oak being so successful that Whiteco is planning on adding twin towers nearby

or the 1200 Post Oak

or maybe the fact that 3-5 years after most everyone predicted the demise of one or more of downtown's new(er) hotels, they are doing quite well and there are rumors of some new entry brands to the downtown market?

You rock!

m.

By the By, why did Houston Pavilions decide not to include a highrise or two in its final plan?

m

[Subdude]

Great post, thanks for the info. Maybe the 66 story tower deserves its own topic?

Did Kotkin define what his standards for world-class cities are? I love to hear that about Houston, but I'm wondering why Chicago isn't included.

[Avabamse]

Tops in what? In general?

Tell us more. What other significant things were said? Heck, I'll take the less significant too.

My apologies for being less than clear here...

Kotkin was saying that we are the best American City in a general / broad sense, but also he wove this directly in to the sense of entrepreneurialism. Additionally, he linked back to Mayor White's (opening speaker before his budget meeting) comments on the city being a place of opportunity. The World Class city comment was the much more significant point. He noted that Chicago, Dallas and other comparable cities have fundamental problems (partly relative to their lack of inclusiveness) that will hinder them in relation to Houston. He expects explosive growth out of Houston, which validates much of the H-GAC projection. (And you cannot question his knowledge of Houston as his comment about how you can find the best Indian food in the southwest part of town / Fort Bend Co rather than typically in the urban core like most American cities. )

Otherwise, let me try to get back to you on more details when I have a bit more time. Since I did not take notes and he flew through probably 35-50 powerpoint slides (charts, commentaries, etc) in about 30 minutes, I am hopeful that the video will be online soon for everyone to see and make their own impression.

Actually, I am really hoping that Tory from Houston Strategies was there and will blog on this.

My guess will be that the Houston Chronicle will be wise enough to write something about this morning's forum. Oh wait, the HBJ is the originator of the event so you will have to wait until the HBJ article next week.

One other note ~ there is the Houston Energy Forum tomorrow morning, which will have more great info (KBR CEO is keynote). Additionally, the Best CFO of the Year is Friday morning (Fastow is still banned from being nominated ).

Edited May 16, 2007 by Avabamse

[lockmat]

Maybe the 66 story tower deserves its own topic?

that's what I was thinking. Did anyone else attend?

[Avabamse]

that's what I was thinking. Did anyone else attend?

Just to be clear - the 66 story tower was brought up during a private conversation and not as part of the economic forum.

I did not start a new topic on this because I wanted to see if any of the true insiders had feedback on it (and whether it was tied to the BLVD Place project). Yet, I will kick one off and hope it does not go careening out of control based on a small statement.

The tower convo wedged between discussion of the 2 story Whole Foods at BLVD and Randall Davis... all a bit of a blur. HA!

[Avabamse]

Duplicate entry from #1 above due to new thread cut-over.

Edited May 16, 2007 by Avabamse

[Subdude]

I went ahead and moved the responses over from the original topic.

Thanks. I would love to find out more about this one.

[The Great Hizzy!]

I look forward to this thread becoming ground zero for all kinds of battles. I also expect insults, accusations and flat out chaos.

As for the rumored tower itself... well.

[Avabamse]

I look forward to this thread becoming ground zero for all kinds of battles. I also expect insults, accusations and flat out chaos.

As for the rumored tower itself... well.

Since I personally have not seen a post from AftonAg in a while, I am whimsically hoping that Afton Oaks will start a protest movement for visual pollution of all large edifices other than their egos.

Poke, poke on the lion in the cage. Ha!

[lockmat]

Just to be clear - the 66 story tower was brought up during a private conversation and not as part of the economic forum.

I did not start a new topic on this because I wanted to see if any of the true insiders had feedback on it (and whether it was tied to the BLVD Place project). Yet, I will kick one off and hope it does not go careening out of control based on a small statement.

The tower convo wedged between discussion of the 2 story Whole Foods at BLVD and Randall Davis... all a bit of a blur. HA!

Actually, I kind of thought the the discussion and event that you went to should have its own thread. I'd like to hear more on that stuff. In what thread, I don't know?

[The Great Hizzy!]

Since I personally have not seen a post from AftonAg in a while, I am whimsically hoping that Afton Oaks will start a protest movement for visual pollution of all large edifices other than their egos.

Poke, poke on the lion in the cage. Ha!

LOL

[Pumapayam]

Since I personally have not seen a post from AftonAg in a while, I am whimsically hoping that Afton Oaks will start a protest movement for visual pollution of all large edifices other than their egos.

Interesting note, where has he gone to?

Like wise, this would be huge, most of these condo towers are between 30 and 40 stories right now.

[ricco67]

Since I personally have not seen a post from AftonAg in a while, I am whimsically hoping that Afton Oaks will start a protest movement for visual pollution of all large edifices other than their egos.

Poke, poke on the lion in the cage. Ha!

LOL

Dude! next get together, i'm buying you a drink!

[KinkaidAlum]

Interesting note, where has he gone to?

Like wise, this would be huge, most of these condo towers are between 30 and 40 stories right now.

I didn't think the original post was talking about a condo tower since in the context of discussion the tight Uptown/Galleria office market was mentioned (around 5% for class A space).

Now, this is fun. To throw some speculation out there, here are some possible heights;

A 100% office tower at 66 floors would put it in the 890 to 990 foot range without a spire! That is HUGE. (Williams tower tops out at 901 feet). This is based off of an average of 13.5 to 15 feet per floor on most new office construction.

A mixed-use tower (office, condo, hotel, retail, etc...) would put it in the 820 to 900 foot range.

A purely residential tower would come in around 730 to 800 foot range.

Anyway you slice it, THIS IS BIG IF TRUE!

[c4smok]

hey maybe its a Trump Project =P

Figure if he did build anything here it would be around that area..

[GovernorAggie]

hey maybe its a Trump Project =P

Figure if he did build anything here it would be around that area..

I've been wondering the same thing about the Donald. Charlotte has drawn his interest so much so that apparently he's close to buying land for what could turn out to be that city's tallest tower (current tallest is 60-story, 871 ft. Bank of America headquarters). However, not even a sniff of a rumor of him in Houston. If he ever did come, I think he'd go downtown--it's the most nationally known photographed skyline in the city, and it's where the current tallest is. If he were to try to best JPMC, even by just 20 ft., he'd have the tallest building in Houston, in Texas, and west of the Mississippi River all in one motion. I say that b/c it seems to me that Trump is as much about image as he is about economics.

Edited May 17, 2007 by GovernorAggie

[marc]

I've been wondering the same thing about the Donald. Charlotte has drawn his interest so much so that apparently he's close to buying land for what could turn out to be that city's tallest tower (current tallest is 60-story, 871 ft. Bank of America headquarters). However, not even a sniff of a rumor of him in Houston. If he ever did come, I think he'd go downtown--it's the most nationally known photographed skyline in the city, and it's where the current tallest is. If he were to try to best JPMC, even by just 20 ft., he'd have the tallest building in Houston, in Texas, and west of the Mississippi River all in one motion. I say that b/c it seems to me that Trump is as much about image as he is about economics.

I will start praying to the skyscraper gods that this comes to fruition!

Just a correction (and i hate doing them, but.....) I believe the Library Tower in DT LA is 15ft higher than Chase Tower in Houston, sadly. SO, even more of a reason to build something higher. But i won't get too excited............yet.

m.

[Subdude]

Would it not be better to have something this tall downtown? Or does it make a difference?

[marc]

Would it not be better to have something this tall downtown? Or does it make a difference?

What do you mean by "better"? Economically speaking or aesthetically speaking?

IMHO i would like to see a supertall or something similar in height to the Williams Tower to be built UT.

Unless the skyscraper is to surpass 1000ft. by at least 150-200ft, i think it would be lost among the forest of towers DT.

I think of the beauty that was designed by Cesar Pelli (former Enron Tower 2). In and of itself, i think it striking. Even as a more modern twin- it works beautifully. BUT, it is lost when trying to look at it from many angles. Because UT has shorter towers which are spread out more, i think anything 700' or higher would look much taller in that area.

As for DT. I would LOVE (like pretty much everyone else) to see a tall one in DT, but unless it is built on the East or North end,

i think it would be lost. (by the way......did i get the directions right? East and North DT are less dense, right?)

m.

[Pumapayam]

(by the way......did i get the directions right? East and North DT are less dense, right?)

Yeah, that part of downtown is "Surface Lot District"

[wxman]

Trump has held meetings and siminars in the UT area before. The most recent one was in February. He's been here more than once.

[marc]

Trump has held meetings and siminars in the UT area before. The most recent one was in February. He's been here more than once.

I like to hear that. IF we get a Trump, i PRAY to the architectural gods that it won't be gaudy. You never know with Trump.

I know he is only the developer and NOT the designer (like so many people think), but there are some atrocious monoliths with his name plastered on the side. AND i would be steamed if he chose Austin or Dallas to build a signature TX tallest! (Not that i mind if they get skyscrapers, i just want Houston, the Largest city in TX to get her due)

m.

[Subdude]

Post copied over from BLVD Place thread.

Please kill this thread if someone truly in the know says that this tower is untrue. Yet, be mindful that my source is highly credible.

I just don't want another crazy topic full of random speculation, hyperbole, depression, hope, disappointment, resent, resignation, anger and surprise (with a dash of joy sprinkled in). This is what I like to refer to as the 9 steps of HAIF-life.

In regards to the Houston Economic Development Forum, Joel Kotkin was the keynote speaker and his presentation was a fascinating look at Houston and the rest of the country. For those Houston nay-sayers out there, Kotkin believes that (1) Houston is the next to develop as a World-Class city in the US [NY & LA already are considered so by his standards] and (2) he was asked by American Enterprise which city is tops in the US with his answer being Houston. Finally, for those suburb / exburb apologists who dislike the City of Houston itself - Kotkin says that the outlying regions of the metro are important to Houston's success, but the absolute true key to this is to have a strong core city for growth (economic ~ residential & commericial // social ~ upward mobility & entrepreneurship).

These presentations will be posted on the GHP website. Look for more info in the HBJ and Celebrate Enterprise websites.

At the link there is an article with Kotkin's city rankings for boom towns. Houston is at #17.

Joel Kotkin site

What do you mean by "better"? Economically speaking or aesthetically speaking?

I was thinking aesthetically. I couldn't call "better" economically. Aesthetically I would prefer the tall ones downtown where they contribute to an impressive skyline. Stand-alone skyscrapers like Williams don't really appeal to me.

[marc]

^^^ Where in DT's skyline would you put it? Personally, i would like to see something replace the smaller building to the north of One Shell Plaza. The view from the west seems to be the most famous. A New York BofA lookalike skyscraper (Bryant Park) would look sweet there, IMHO.

m.

Also, in time UT will have density once the space to build out becomes scarce; then i think you will see the grouping of skyscrapers that you want.

[Gary]

Aesthetically I would prefer the tall ones downtown where they contribute to an impressive skyline.

I agree. I would love to see a building of this stature somewhere on the West side of downtown, simply for symmetry.

[strickn]

Charlotte has drawn Trump's interest so much so that apparently he's close to buying land for what could turn out to be that city's tallest tower (current tallest is 60-story, 871 ft. Bank of America headquarters). However, not even a sniff of a rumor of him in Houston. If he ever did come, I think he'd go downtown--it's the most nationally known photographed skyline in the city, and it's where the current tallest is. If he were to try to best JPMC, even by just 20 ft., he'd have the tallest building in Houston, in Texas, and west of the Mississippi River all in one motion. I say that b/c it seems to me that Trump is as much about image as he is about economics.

Yes, and Trump is not in the slightest a Gulf Coast kind of guy. Yes, I know he's building in Tampa and Nawlins and Panama City, Panama, but one has to acknowledge that economics and image, as far as they run him, are all part of that wholly East Coast view of the nation that he has. Were he to build west of the Mississippi it would not be for its glory but just as a profitable colonial outpost. The reason he has hinted about building in Dallas is because there turn out to be so many culture creatures there who are eager for nothing more than to be an outpost of Europe and New York's sphere.

Edited May 18, 2007 by strickn

[jmancuso]

if this buildings is taller than the transco tower, they would have to turn off transco's beacon otherwise people on the top floors will be blinded every night.

[Pumapayam]

if this buildings is taller than the transco tower, they would have to turn off transco's beacon otherwise people on the top floors will be blinded every night.

True, that would be a bummer, I like the Uptown Lighthouse!