George R. Brown Convention Center Redevelopment, Office Building & W Hotel

[indy2houston]

Wasn’t a previous building proposed for the same site?

[mattyt36]

This from 2014 associates 15 stories with the 400 rooms.  So that above the 10-story building makes 25, 5 shorter than the Marquis.  ~35 rooms a floor with that footprint (assuming 2 floors for lobby and conference rooms)?  I guess that works.  The Marquis has 1,000 rooms in 2 towers and is 30 stories tall.  I guess the conference and support facilities take up a heck of a lot of space.

 

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/real-estate/08-13-14-boutique-hotel-is-the-latest-addition-to-downtown-houston-building-boom/

[Houston19514]

45 minutes ago, mattyt36 said:

This from 2014 associates 15 stories with the 400 rooms.  So that above the 10-story building makes 25, 5 shorter than the Marquis.  ~35 rooms a floor with that footprint (assuming 2 floors for lobby and conference rooms)?  I guess that works.  The Marquis has 1,000 rooms in 2 towers and is 30 stories tall.  I guess the conference and support facilities take up a heck of a lot of space.

 

http://houston.culturemap.com/news/real-estate/08-13-14-boutique-hotel-is-the-latest-addition-to-downtown-houston-building-boom/

 

It seems unlikely it would have 400 rooms.  That would be unusually large for a W Hotel (or any "boutique" hotel).  But hopefully, it will also have some condos on top. My understanding from the original RFP is that the base structure was built to be able to handle a hotel "up to" 400 rooms and "up to" 15 stories. 

Edited February 15, 2018 by Houston19514

[mattyt36]

44 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

 

It seems unlikely it would have 400 rooms.  That would be unusually large for a W Hotel (or any "boutique" hotel).  But hopefully, it will also have some condos on top. My understanding from the original RFP is that the base structure was built to be able to handle a hotel "up to" 400 rooms and "up to" 15 stories. 

 

And you are right, at least as far as other Texas hotels.

 

W Austin--251 rooms, 159 condos, 37 stories

 

W Victory Dallas--252 rooms, 50 condos, 32 stories

 

The Le Meridien Houston is 255 rooms

 

Westin is 250 rooms

 

JW Marriott is 270 rooms

 

Seems to suggest some "sweet spot" around 250 rooms.

 

W Midtown Atlanta, conversely, is 466 rooms.

 

Regardless, I'm still not sure how 400 rooms can be crammed into a 15-story tower.

[nate4l1f3]

15 story tower? Far cry from the cool renderings we saw in uptown.  I’m really down on the W at this location. I really hope the renderings suggest more than just a 15 story tower plopped on top of a building.

[tigereye]

On 2/14/2018 at 4:14 PM, Naviguessor said:

I'm sure it is too early to make much of it.  But, there is a rendering....

 

Awww man, you mean the W Hotel won’t be 102 stories tall with a spire on top? 

 

Disappointed 

[hindesky]

When the current building was being built an engineer I talked to said it was built and designed to have another tower atop the building. If I recall it was Vaughn Construction who built it and he was a Vaughn employee who graduated from A & M

[Reporter]

Only 15 floors! This is an outrage! Whenever I go to visit a 5 star hotel, the first thing I check out is the floor count of the building. I won't stay at a hotel that is only 15 stories! EVER! Service, location and accommodation are irrelevant. What people really care about is how many rooms and how many floors their hotel has. A W Hotel with only 15 floors is completely pointless and no one will ever stay there. All the convention business will go to other cities, where they build taller hotels and cater to a more sophisticated population. Houston will never live down this shame. It's worse than being snubbed by Amazon!

 

And no, the fact that it is 15 floors sitting on top of 10 floors that are already built - making the total floor count 25 doesn't count. It has to be at least 30 floors or else we suck! PATHETIC! 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Reporter

[gene]

Also one note is that more and more this area is becoming a destination to hang and play and relax...I think the Hilton started the trend of this area no longer just being for convention hotels and the Marriott sealed the deal for making it a vacation and staycation spot and now the W Hotel would add to that! 

 

[mattyt36]

 

58 minutes ago, Reporter said:

Only 15 floors! This is an outrage! Whenever I go to visit a 5 star hotel, the first thing I check out is the floor count of the building. I won't stay at a hotel that is only 15 stories! EVER! Service, location and accommodation are irrelevant. What people really care about is how many rooms and how many floors their hotel has. A W Hotel with only 15 floors is completely pointless and no one will ever stay there. All the convention business will go to other cities, where they build taller hotels and cater to a more sophisticated population. Houston will never live down this shame. It's worse than being snubbed by Amazon!

 

And no, the fact that it is 15 floors sitting on top of 10 floors that are already built - making the total floor count 25 doesn't count. It has to be at least 30 floors or else we suck! PATHETIC! 

 

I personally don't care how tall it is.  I am more interested, from a layman's perspective, in how 400 rooms can fit in that footprint at that height.  Midtown NYC boutique hotel room-sized, I guess.

 

I also don't see why having a W Downtown precludes one in Uptown.  I'd think the markets are pretty distinct.  

 

I also must say I'm not the biggest fan of the W chain . . . but I am strongly "for" every new hotel development downtown to support the convention business.  That becoming successful would have knock-on implications to so many other sectors . . . gives a base for the food and retail outlets downtown, encourages more residential, and would inevitably lead to air traffic growth and the beginnings of a real tourism sector.  

[102IAHexpress]

23 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

 

It seems unlikely it would have 400 rooms.  That would be unusually large for a W Hotel (or any "boutique" hotel).  But hopefully, it will also have some condos on top. My understanding from the original RFP is that the base structure was built to be able to handle a hotel "up to" 400 rooms and "up to" 15 stories. 

 

 

I snapped a picture of the W outside my apartment window. W Lakeshore Chicago. It's actually 520 rooms.

Perhaps, 300+ rooms are the norm for new-construction W's? I don't know. Anyways, the one outside my window has a parking garage as its base. So W's with a base have been done before. Interesting proposed location in downtown. I'm not sure a W would fit with downtown Houston's business culture. 

 

 

[Naviguessor]

That's a rebranded Holiday Inn, by the looks of it, not unlike our own holiday Inn/Days Inn in south downtown. Not a small property at all. There have been several W's that have done this. Notably, the former W in NOLA cbd, which was a Holiday Inn Crown Plaza in its former life. 

 

I also, think that we should stop calling W Hotels, Five Star. They are not. They are generally pretty standard Four Star properties.  The market pitch for this proposal has been a little over-the-top, imo.  

 

Edited February 16, 2018 by Naviguessor

[mattyt36]

17 minutes ago, 102IAHexpress said:

 

 

I snapped a picture of the W outside my apartment window. W Lakeshore Chicago. It's actually 520 rooms.

Perhaps, 300+ rooms are the norm for new-construction W's? I don't know. Anyways, the one outside my window has a parking garage as its base. So W's with a base have been done before. Interesting proposed location in downtown. I'm not sure a W would fit with downtown Houston's business culture. 

 

 

 

That's also a rehab, so I imagine the economics are a bit different.  The W Austin and Dallas hotels are different economics as well, with the residential component.

 

Again, I'm a layman, but if you're able to achieve a 70% occupancy downtown every night at reasonable rates, I'm not sure how much the branding has to do with it.  Some people will prefer W, others the Hilton, others the Sam, many will still book the W because it's right next to the GRB, or because that's where their organization booked a block of rooms or simply because it's there.  That's how a mature hotel market should work.

Edited February 16, 2018 by mattyt36

[mattyt36]

3 minutes ago, Naviguessor said:

That's a rebranded Holiday Inn, by the looks of it, not unlike our own holiday Inn/Days Inn in south downtown. Not a small property at all. There have been several W's that have done this. Notably, the former W in NOLA cbd, which was a Holiday Inn Crown Plaza in its former life. 

 

I also, think that we should stop calling W Hotels, Five Star. They are not. They are generally pretty standard Four Star properties.  The market pitch for this proposal has been a little over-the-top, imo.  

 

 

I've been in that one in NOLA, certainly a much different vibe than the French Quarter, but it appears that the one in the CBD has been rebranded as a Le Meridien.

 

https://foursquare.com/v/w-new-orleans/4aa2e20ff964a520674220e3

 

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridien/property/overview/index.html?propertyID=2030&language=en_US

[nate4l1f3]

1 hour ago, Reporter said:

Only 15 floors! This is an outrage! Whenever I go to visit a 5 star hotel, the first thing I check out is the floor count of the building. I won't stay at a hotel that is only 15 stories! EVER! Service, location and accommodation are irrelevant. What people really care about is how many rooms and how many floors their hotel has. A W Hotel with only 15 floors is completely pointless and no one will ever stay there. All the convention business will go to other cities, where they build taller hotels and cater to a more sophisticated population. Houston will never live down this shame. It's worse than being snubbed by Amazon!

 

And no, the fact that it is 15 floors sitting on top of 10 floors that are already built - making the total floor count 25 doesn't count. It has to be at least 30 floors or else we suck! PATHETIC! 

My disappointment comes in the fact that we’ve been anticipating a W forever here on this site. Going from seeing several crazy, cool, out-of-the-box renderings in the past to what from the looks of it  (I acknowledge it’s VERY early) is a 15 story box, forgive me if I’m not head over heals. I have a ton of civic pride so I want the best of everything for us, and I definitely want our stuff to be as or more impressive than our sister cities stuff. And to respond to your comment of ignoring the fact that it’s being built on top of 10 story building (making it 25 stories), my main complaint about that was I want to wait and see if it changes street interaction/presence or if it creates a new feel to the area. 

[gene]

Oh i want to add that I have stayed at every W Hotel in New York city and while I will admit I got the best priced room, the rooms were super tiny...think cruise ship sized haha! 

So yes they can probably fit 400 rooms in a 15 story building if not a 5 story building if they wanted to ha! 

 

Edited February 16, 2018 by gene

[102IAHexpress]

15 minutes ago, Naviguessor said:

That's a rebranded Holiday Inn, by the looks of it, not unlike our own holiday Inn/Days Inn in south downtown. Not a small property at all. There have been several W's that have done this. Notably, the former W in NOLA cbd, which was a Holiday Inn Crown Plaza in its former life. 

 

Gotcha. You're right.

 

16 minutes ago, Naviguessor said:

I also, think that we should stop calling W Hotels, Five Star. They are not. They are generally pretty standard Four Star properties.  The market pitch for this proposal has been a little over-the-top, imo.  

 

 

Yeah I stayed at this property a couple months ago. Four star at best. 

[BeerNut]

I haven't stayed at many W hotels but by far my favorite was the W in Hong Kong.  Somewhere that can accommodate business travelers and also people wanting a fun place to stay in Houston.   

[treblelino]

Lolol, I told y'all that it wouldn't be taller than 25 floors. 

[nate4l1f3]

Bigger pic from Reddit

[treblelino]

That is the shortest W hotel I've ever seen. It should have a lowercase w on the building. That has to be the shortest in the world. Even Dallas's W is over 30 stories. Wow!

[Twinsanity02]

Let's all be grateful it is a "W" hotel and not a "D" hotel. That would be a bit much.

[Reporter]

2 hours ago, treblelino said:

 That has to be the shortest in the world.

I'm guessing you hear that a lot.

[EllenOlenska]

I'm gonna go ahead and say that I like it. 25-in-total gleaming there will add a lot of dynamism to the skyline. 

Edited February 17, 2018 by EllenOlenska

[pablog]

Yeah I was gonna say that I’m actually a big fan of the design! It’s simple, clean, and fits in with the district. 

[CREguy13]

Agreed, it would be a great addition.  I'm still not convinced that another W Hotel won't be built in Galleria, River Oaks District, or Upper Kirby at some point.

[mattyt36]

4 hours ago, treblelino said:

That is the shortest W hotel I've ever seen. It should have a lowercase w on the building. That has to be the shortest in the world. Even Dallas's W is over 30 stories. Wow!

 

WRONG!  This is the shortest W!

 

https://www.starwoodhotels.com/whotels/property/photos/index.html?propertyID=1585

[monarch]

^^^..... for we all knew that sooner or later... something was going to appear on top of this PARTNERSHIP TOWER... right?  however, it is a true testament to the many HAIFER'S that patronize this cool forum... that we all wanted our very first W HOTEL to be utterly spectacular!  JUST BREATH everyone!  for when all is hereby said and done, if it's designed and constructed accordingly to scope and scale... this prospective W HOTEL could be the catalyst along with our amazing MARRIOTT MARQUIS... that catapults downtown houston up into the stratosphere.  just think about it everyone, the powers that be... shall design and build this particular first W for houston to be gorgeous!  no stone shall be left unturned here... you can bet on it... for the PARTNERSHIP'S reputation shall be at stake here.  this prospective W shall sit atop the PARTNERSHIP'S headquarters building.  additionally, although, i do not harbor the exact facts here... i am almost certain that they are indeed designing and contemplating as we speak... about the W HOTEL for UPTOWN HOUSTON.  this particular 44 floor edifice may just end up directly across the street from the UPTOWN WHOLE FOODS store on POST OAK BLVD.  that's right everyone, at long last... houston just may end up like atlanta... with two W HOTELS to boot.  now go ahead... relax... smile... and breathe.....

 

 

[Luminare]

4 hours ago, treblelino said:

That is the shortest W hotel I've ever seen. It should have a lowercase w on the building. That has to be the shortest in the world. Even Dallas's W is over 30 stories. Wow!

 

Lets just be grateful that we are getting one at all. Second, why are you putting so much investment on how tall its suppose to be? What is your perceived height in your utopian world that would be acceptable to you? Are buildings a dick measuring contest? Are we at war with Dallas or something? I'm genuinely curious what is "the W Hotel" that is in your vision that this can't possibly satisfy you.

 

While I'm pulling your quote this also goes to others talking about the height of it. Y'all sound like a group of silly girls talking about men.

 

Why can't we talk about the hotel itself as it relates to Houston's context or how amazing it is that Houston First's vision of putting a hotel on top of their building (which seemed farfetched in the beginning) is actually happening. That's some amazing persuasive powers and deal making that I didn't think was possible in this town. Glad to see some good ole Houston Hustle.

Edited February 17, 2018 by Luminare

[Reporter]

I suppose when Houston finally gets an In'N'Out Burger there will be some people at this forum complaining that every In'N'Out Burger on the planet has bigger, thicker meat and tighter, tastier buns than Houston's. 

 

Look at it like this - Houston already has the shortest W in the world. It is 0 stories tall. So anything higher than 0 would be an improvement. Plus, Houston's W will be at least a dozen years newer and shinier than the one in Dallas if that makes you feel any better about your size inadequacies.