800 Bell St. (Former Exxon Building) Conversion to Residential

[Houston19514]

15 minutes ago, tigereye said:

Anyone know what’s up with the Municipal Courts (Lubbock)? I thought there was a plan for the city to relocate municipal to 800 Bell and sell the land on Lubbock? 

Not really a "plan".  It was little more than an idea that was floated and pretty quickly dropped for cost and other reasons.  It seems the Municipal Courts/police project got put on a very back burner after the City got hit by Harvey and then COVID.  

Edited June 23, 2021 by Houston19514

[cougarpad]

So basically with all the comments in the above thread would it be more cost effective to just implode the building and start from scratch to build something more to spec of what a client wants? I so wish that the City of Houston would just order that the Holiday Inn building is not up to code enough for purchase and remodel and have the thing imploded. This is city government and when they want something done they usually can find loops holes and ways to get it done. At least get one of the empty buildings that is an eyesore out of the way. As far as the old Exon building, there are options it just needs someone to take action.

[thatguysly]

It costs millions to demo so it'll just sit there until someone figures they can recoup the costs with a new development on top of the demo costs. They already complain the margins are thin. It is the same reason the City voted to demo the Astrodome and then the City and County looked at the costs and nothing happened.

[Houston19514]

1 hour ago, thatguysly said:

It costs millions to demo so it'll just sit there until someone figures they can recoup the costs with a new development on top of the demo costs. They already complain the margins are thin. It is the same reason the City voted to demo the Astrodome and then the City and County looked at the costs and nothing happened.

FWIW, nobody, least of all the City, has ever voted to demo the Astrodome.

[thatguysly]

On 6/29/2021 at 5:13 PM, Houston19514 said:

FWIW, nobody, least of all the City, has ever voted to demo the Astrodome.

I was implying the residents. And it was Harris County.

 

[Houston19514]

Just now, thatguysly said:

I was implying the residents. And it was Harris County.

 

Again, there has never been a vote by any body or group to demo the Astrodome.  Has. Not. Happened.

[thatguysly]

25 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

Again, there has never been a vote by any body or group to demo the Astrodome.  Has. Not. Happened.

Fine. Voted against renovating it. The point remains that demo costs are too high to get rid of worthless structures unless the developer is willing to pay a premium. 

[HouTXRanger]

Speaking of the Astrodome, just saw this article on it recently. It also has the most up-to-date info on the state of its "renovations."

https://kinder.rice.edu/urbanedge/2021/06/28/we-need-talk-about-astrodome

[Ross]

Shorenstein sold 800 Bell to Bell Business Investments llc on January 3, 2023. Tax notices to be sent to CMI Developers https://www.cmidevelopers.com/

[urbanize713]

27 minutes ago, Ross said:

Shorenstein sold 800 Bell to Bell Business Investments llc on January 3, 2023. Tax notices to be sent to CMI Developers https://www.cmidevelopers.com/

From their website:

"CMI Developers LLC is the development arm of a New York City-based real estate firm with decades of experience in real estate acquisition, development, and management. CMI has successfully developed properties in Brooklyn, The Bronx, Manhattan, and Upstate New York, and is at work on several large-scale historic adaptive reuse projects across the U.S."

Could this be one of the best developments of 2023? (so far)

[BEES?!]

This is so exciting!! I really had hoped it’d be the Days Inn, but this is honestly awesome news.

I hope they keep the character of the building. It’s a really cool MCM skyscraper and I love the shades. 

[strickn]

4 hours ago, urbanize713 said:

Could this be one of the best developments of 2023? (so far)

😊

[Brooklyn173]

CMI stands for Carnegie Management Inc. The address is in a bank building in Williamsburg Brooklyn. None of that is glamorous but you never know. It seems most of their business is tenant management all over NYC. I tried sending an email to the email address listed but it was bounced back as 'undeliverable'.

There is another CMI in Houston (Central Management) but at a different website. https://cmirealestate.com/ I don't think that they are related.

This project seems very much out of the ordinary for what I could find out about CMI Brooklyn. In size and complexity and location. It doesn't mean that they couldn't do it but I'd lean more towards the possibility that they are buying the property for a private trust or the like.

My hopes are high but my expectations are very tempered.

[strickn]

Yeah, but the featured projects on their site do account for at least four recent actual buildings that went vastly beyond tenant management.

maybe e-mail them a link about the Howard Cottonseed warehouse listing while you're looking for active inboxes?

 

[mkultra25]

Ran across a Mold-A-Rama history site containing some scans of an interesting period article about the building when it first opened. For those who aren't aware, the building originally had a coin-operated Mold-A-Rama machine installed on the floor that was publicly accessible as an observation deck, from which you could obtain your own plastic injection-molded replica of the building.

Humble Oil Building

[DotCom]

Ralph Bivins wrote about the sale yesterday in his Realty News Report email...it's not on his website yet.  He has been around for a minute (or two), so he always gives great historic recaps.  https://realtynewsreport.com/

Exxon Skyscraper Sold for Conversion to Residential in Downtown Houston

By Ralph Bivins

HOUSTON - The 45-story former headquarters of Humble Oil, a predecessor to Exxon, has been sold to a developer that plans to convert the vacant office building to residential units – a redevelopment that could supercharge downtown revitalization. 

The 1.2 million-SF building, located at 800 Bell, has been empty since the oil company relocated to its new campus about eight years ago. 

The buyer, a New York investment group affiliated with CMI Developers, has experience in historic redevelopment and apartment conversions.  The tower was completed in 1962. The age and prominence of the Exxon building might enable the developers to obtain tax credits designated for redeveloping historic buildings.

When the Exxon tower opened it was considered the tallest building west of the Mississippi River. At one time the top two floors of the building were the home of the Petroleum Club, a place where thousands of oil and gas plays were discussed and deals were struck. 

The large scale of the Exxon tower raises the opportunity for placing a significant amount of retail or restaurants in the lower levels of the building, located between Milam and Travis. The old Exxon parking garage, located nearby, comes with the deal. A number of surface parking lots, owned by others, are located in the area, carrying the potential for new development in the neighborhood.  

In 2013, Shorenstein Properties of San Francisco paid about $50 million to acquire the Exxon building, for a redevelopment. As part of the deal, Exxon Mobil, agreed to lease back the entire building until 2015, when it relocated its employees to its new 385-acre corporate campus in northern Harris County. 

When Shorenstein bought the Exxon building, Houston’s office market was soaring because fracking created a surge in the oil business. But oil prices took a nosedive in 2015 and Houston office vacancy escalated at a frightening pace. 

Shorenstein hired the Transwestern firm to lease the Exxon building. Ziegler Cooper Architects, a Houston firm led by Scott Ziegler, won a design competition, earning the opportunity to design the transformation for Shorenstein.  

But Houston’s office vacancy persisted. Covid hit. Downtown office vacancy is now approaching 26 percent, according to Jones Lang LaSalle. The hopes of revitalizing the Exxon building as office space faded. 

So last year, Shorenstein retained JLL Capital Markets’ Jeff Hollinden and Rick Goings to sell the property. In 2021, Hollinden and Goings had handled the sale of Shorenstein’s 28-story Five Post Oak Park office tower in Houston’s Inner Loop. The Exxon building’s sales price could not be determined over the MLK holiday weekend, but there has been speculation that the eventual price of 800 Bell would come in around $25 million, or about half of what Shorenstein paid for it years ago.  

Importantly, the Exxon building is located about five blocks north of the Pierce Elevated freeway. The Pierce Elevated freeway is expected to be re-routed and removed someday, according to the controversial Texas Department of Transportation plan for Interstate 45 and the downtown freeway network. Both projects – the removal of the Pierce Elevated and the 800 Bell redo - would provide significant momentum in the southern end of downtown.

[Naviguessor]

The Best of News!  I want a unit already.  

[MidCenturyMoldy]

Somebody tell Ralph it's 44 stories, not 45. And it was completed in 1963, not '62. I mean, really! 😉😄

Edited January 17, 2023 by MidCenturyMoldy

[mollusk]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:46 PM, mkultra25 said:

Ran across a Mold-A-Rama history site containing some scans of an interesting period article about the building when it first opened. For those who aren't aware, the building originally had a coin-operated Mold-A-Rama machine installed on the floor that was publicly accessible as an observation deck, from which you could obtain your own plastic injection-molded replica of the building.

Humble Oil Building

If I could only find the one I had... that probably failed to survive some move or another decades ago. 🤷‍♂️

[mkultra25]

14 minutes ago, mollusk said:

If I could only find the one I had... that probably failed to survive some move or another decades ago. 🤷‍♂️

Likewise. Unfortunately, that particular model is highly sought after by Mold-A-Rama collectors due to its apparent scarcity. Some years ago I thought I'd replace my long-lost one, and figured it would be easy to locate one for cheap on eBay. I was mistaken. I've only seen two there in probably the last ten years, and the last one sold for over $100. 

You'd think there'd be more of them around, given the thousands of people that passed through that observation deck, but as I recall they weren't exactly inexpensive. At a time when coin-op candy/gum machines were usually a penny, even a quarter had a non-trivial amount of purchasing power, and I think the Mold-A-Rama replicas were closer to a dollar than a quarter. 

[CREguy13]

I really hope this developer has the expertise, able to source the necessary capital, and receives a substantial credit from CHI to produce a very quality MF conversion.  This building has a lottt of issues, but the opportunity is so huge for this area if they do it right.  If Chevron moves their HQ and starts construction on a new building, along with this, that'd put a lot of eyes on an area RIPE for major development.  If KBR were to move out of 601 Jefferson and that was also converted? Goosebumps

[MidCenturyMoldy]

On 1/13/2023 at 3:46 PM, mkultra25 said:

Ran across a Mold-A-Rama history site containing some scans of an interesting period article about the building when it first opened. For those who aren't aware, the building originally had a coin-operated Mold-A-Rama machine installed on the floor that was publicly accessible as an observation deck, from which you could obtain your own plastic injection-molded replica of the building.

Humble Oil Building

My dad worked in that building when it first opened. While visiting him to see the building, we went up to the top (Oooh! Ear-popping elevator!) and I got a Mold-A-Rama Humble Building. What I really wanted was a Mold-A-Rama Domed Stadium. 😡

Edited January 17, 2023 by MidCenturyMoldy

[toxtethogrady]

The original thread disappeared, but this is now looking like it will happen. 800 Bell is being converted to residences.
Exxon Skyscraper Sold for Apartment Conversion

[ChannelTwoNews]

2 minutes ago, toxtethogrady said:

The original thread disappeared, but this is now looking like it will happen. 800 Bell is being converted to residences.
Exxon Skyscraper Sold for Apartment Conversion

This is the thread you mentioned.

 

[ChannelTwoNews]

I kept thinking I had heard the buzz about the photos taken by a fan of this tower from this site first, late last year. Guess not.

https://magazine.texasarchitects.org/2022/11/07/800-bell-reconsidering-an-iconic-midcentury-tower/

https://apalmanac.com/potw/check-out-the-passion-project-of-photographer-leonid-furmansky-as-he-photographs-800-bell-over-two-years-179187

https://www.ricedesignalliance.org/800bell-lf - Which briefly quotes the HAI entry on the tower to boot... 

 

The photographer's section on this tower: http://leonidfurmansky.com/800-bell-st-george-pierce-abel-b-pierce-and-wilson-morris-crane-anderson

Edited January 20, 2023 by ChannelTwoNews
link edited

[cloud713]

Any idea when a conversion is planned to start? This building will be a big part of my view this semester.

Hoping they retain the design and don’t try to reclad it like shorestein wanted to do.. wish those fins were structural enough to put glass walled balconies on.

[Ross]

2 hours ago, cloud713 said:

Any idea when a conversion is planned to start? This building will be a big part of my view this semester.

Hoping they retain the design and don’t try to reclad it like shorestein wanted to do.. wish those fins were structural enough to put glass walled balconies on.

I think it will be months before any real conversion work is done. The building needs to be gutted first, and all of the asbestos removed. I know the walls were designed to be easily moves, so that may be simpler than for other buildings.

The building has a basic floor size of 28,000+ sq ft, so it should be fairly easy to get 10-20 units per floor. I haven't seen any real diagrams of proposed layouts.

[hindesky]

I used this once for the easiest Bike Tag ever if you are willing to ride up 8 floors of parking garage.

[mattyt36]

On 1/20/2023 at 2:43 PM, cloud713 said:

Hoping they retain the design and don’t try to reclad it like shorestein wanted to do.. 

AMEN

On 1/20/2023 at 2:43 PM, cloud713 said:

Any idea when a conversion is planned to start? 

Well, if I had to guess, the building was just sold. Seems like they’re waiting on the new legislation to pass Council (which seems in the pretty early stages), then they have to design it, then get the financing. I’d be shocked if anything visible happened within six months, but what do I know?

[hindesky]