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


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  • 2 months later...
14 minutes ago, CaptainJilliams said:

 

Is that deal still moving forward despite the COVID-19? I know they had approved things before everything went south, but I haven't head anything since then.

 

No way W Hotel is moving forward until the hotel sector recovers. Most of these companies have had to do mass layoffs due to the current environment so trying to fund a new project doesn't make any sense right now. Now, it is recovering but based on the current charts, it may not reach previous levels (to the previous Great Recession) until later this year, which is still not the greatest number to be at:

 

HotelMay282020.PNG

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30 minutes ago, LBC2HTX said:

It's at least a 1.5 year build-out. And if the franchisee of the W already obtained financing then you might as well start now, especially since the city likely attached a time-frame to the tax incentives. 

 

Plus very low interest rates that make the project MORE feasible!

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20 hours ago, shasta said:

 

Plus very low interest rates that make the project MORE feasible!

 

Highly doubtful interest rates for a hotel development (whose business is predicated on conventions, no less) at this point are lower than what they were at the beginning of the year due to widening of credit spreads.  It's a common misconception that just because the Fed Funds rate is low doesn't mean it translates 1-for-1 to borrowers, or that borrowers can get credit in the first place.  

Edited by mattyt36
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  • 5 months later...
  • The title was changed to GRB Must Be Destroyed (Or Redone)
  • 1 month later...
1 hour ago, Amlaham said:

https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/construction-development/houston-needs-skilled-construction-workers-so-badly-one-developer-is-building-its-own-trade-school-112368

 

This article suggests the W Hotel will start construction later this year 🥳, who knows how accurate that is but its some kind of update! 

440810784_ScreenShot2022-03-24at9_53_49PM.png.dafc107eb233bc1a04885a151484fc78.png

It really depends on the company, location, portfolio, and access to labor and resources. Some are doing better than others, but what is being said in this statement is very real. Some are probably willing to kick off projects soon because they are tired of waiting, and have to many pending projects on their portfolios and need to satisfy investors or they will lose money, and at the same time their is a real possibility that we might fall into a full blown recession in the next 6-8 months, so time is ticking for many. Project budgets in bid are going through the roof right now because of shortage of labor, lead times on materials, and material shortages. The only reason why construction is still do pretty well is because of the backlog of projects that would have started in 2020 and 2021 now being activated. Of course I don't know everything that is going on, especially in Houston, but this is from my own observations over time. If anyone else has further knowledge or corrections please feel free to comment. In general people should be happy any projects get built right now period. I don't ever like to sound bleak, as its certainly not my default or my reputation both in life or on this forum, but the economic situation is very real.

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  • 9 months later...
3 hours ago, Lux said:

Has anyone heard any updates regarding the downtown W Hotel development?  I haven’t seen a thing from Horizon and HoustonFirst since the spring 2022 BisNOW article.

This hotel thing going on in Houston has to be the most frustrating topic for me on this site. No updates. No news. No hope. Nothing should take this long. As you can see, I'm very impatient with this.

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Downtown Houston hotel occupancy is a little more than 50%. There are a couple active hotel developments as it is. RevPAR isn’t anything to write home about. Not sure where the frustration comes from. The project is not proceeding now for very obvious reasons. You don’t issue a monthly press release that says “Now is not the time, but we’ll keep you posted.”

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9 hours ago, Andrew Ewert said:

What... is happening in this topic

Things you don't expect to read in an architecture forum for 400, please.

 

Let's stop the personal discussion here for now. There's no news on this development.

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Remember when this project was the one we were all hoping would go up years ago, and now we have all nearly forgot about it? When I noticed this thread again, I was like...oh yeah that one, cool. If you don't mind I'm going to go look at the BIG project some more, bye.

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17 hours ago, Luminare said:

Remember when this project was the one we were all hoping would go up years ago, and now we have all nearly forgot about it? When I noticed this thread again, I was like...oh yeah that one, cool. If you don't mind I'm going to go look at the BIG project some more, bye.

It's been so many years that W Hotels don't even have the same hype anymore. Plus the renderings were a boring glass box, of which our skyline desperately needs. 

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32 minutes ago, Montrose1100 said:

It's been so many years that W Hotels don't even have the same hype anymore. Plus the renderings were a boring glass box, of which our skyline desperately needs. 

I feel like W Hotels were overrated from Day 1.  As far as I'm concerned, getting a W here would just send the message we are 10 years behind.

I may be wrong, maybe there is a refreshed W concept that would be better, but the original one, just plasticky kitsch. 

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  • 1 month later...
7 minutes ago, Caribomoa said:

I saw on Construction Journal that the W Hotel expects to break ground this coming June. Anyone have any info on this? I figured it was a matter of time for this leading into the 2026 World Cup.

https://www.constructionjournal.com/projects/details/d462eda1bba046efa4b70f91e376b3d6.html

^^^ possibly positioning for the WORLD CUP HOUSTON...

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2 hours ago, Caribomoa said:

I saw on Construction Journal that the W Hotel expects to break ground this coming June. Anyone have any info on this? I figured it was a matter of time for this leading into the 2026 World Cup.

https://www.constructionjournal.com/projects/details/d462eda1bba046efa4b70f91e376b3d6.html

Interesting, but note that it was posted on Construction Journal in September 2022, and also says: "As of September 12, 2022, a firm construction timeline has not been determined." I don't think this has come up in any Houston First meetings or City Council meetings, so a June 2023 seems pretty unlikely.

Edited by Houston19514
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  • 3 weeks later...
On 3/25/2023 at 10:51 AM, Caribomoa said:

I saw on Construction Journal that the W Hotel expects to break ground this coming June. Anyone have any info on this? I figured it was a matter of time for this leading into the 2026 World Cup.

https://www.constructionjournal.com/projects/details/d462eda1bba046efa4b70f91e376b3d6.html

Just realized that this update came out just a couple of months after the World Cup roster was unveiled. Personally, I don’t think this was a coincidence.

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