Energy Tower II Office Building At 11720 Katy Fwy.

[ricco67]

Article in the Chronicle that Technip USA going to build a new tower out there.

Here's da' link.

apparently, they are interested in consolidating all the workers that are up and down I-10.....at least that will reduce SOME traffic.

I've always wondered what would have happened if those buildings would have been put in Downtown instead. not that 17 story's is a big building...but I would imagine it would have been bigger if it was built in DT.

[Serrano]

Yes their is a lot of room to build in DT especially in the back of GRB.

[editor]

Yes their is a lot of room to build in DT especially in the back of GRB.

Midtown could use an office building about that size. It would help anchor some of the residents and bring in a touch more retail. It's nice that so many people who live in Midtown can commute to Downtown, but for some a moderately sized office building in Midtown would be the best of both worlds.

[TheNiche]

Its difficult to justify much more than what downtown already has in the pipe; the Energy Corridor in contrast can use about anything that it can get. Downtown was never really in the running anyway, as Technip has been in the Energy Corridor for a long time and most of its employees have settled in the western part of our metro area.

[Boris]

Looks like tower II and the new hotel will be built in this empty lot:

from google earth:

from windows live local:

[KinkaidAlum]

Yeah, this project (Energy Plaza Office Park) calls for a 14 story, 216 room hotel, and TWIN 17 story office towers (Energy Tower II and Energy Tower III).

[Boris]

I counted tower I at 14 or 15 stories, so Tower II will be a bit taller.

[The Great Hizzy!]

I've been waiting for ten years for that parcel of land to fill. At one time, they were digging that section up for months at a time but it turn out that they were working on the pipelines in the area (I assume those leading from the building to the city pipes).

[ChannelTwoNews]

Here's the rendering of the proposed building from today's paper.

Edited October 27, 2007 by ChannelTwoNews

[Trae]

Nothing special. Just another nice office tower for West Houston.

[pm91]

the rendering isnt showing. can you give a link?

[TheNiche]

Here's the rendering of the proposed building from today's paper.

It may not be particularly exciting, but it very easily is an improvement over the first building, which is a bastardization of design. I'd rather have boring than ugly.

[jgriff]

Its difficult to justify much more than what downtown already has in the pipe; the Energy Corridor in contrast can use about anything that it can get. Downtown was never really in the running anyway, as Technip has been in the Energy Corridor for a long time and most of its employees have settled in the western part of our metro area.

You're right. I work for one of Technip's competitors. There's just no compelling reason to be in downtown for a petrochem engineering company. These are usually people who do not want to live or work downtown ,they mostly drive in from Katy, Sugarland and The Woodlands. To them downtown is a place they have to go to pay speeding tickets or get someone out of jail.

[lockmat]

From globest. this morning. The link isn't working right now though.

$85M Construction Loan Clears for Office Tower

By Amy Wolff Sorter

HOUSTON-Mac Haik Development gets an interest-only, floating-rate loan to jump-start work on the 428,979-sf Energy Tower II, which is nearly 80% committed to one tenant. read more >

[LTAWACS]

Cool

[Boris]

Looks like they're prepping the land for this development. I guess the used car lot at the corner is going to stay.

[ChannelTwoNews]

Drove by the site this afternoon. Looks like they have part of the ground floor fleshed out and the base of a tower crane has been set next to the foundation...

[hldjhn987]

The crane is now up and working!!

[Boris]

Drove by here today and notice that they seem to be digging out the base area for a second building just to the west of the one currently under construction.

Also, they have emptied out the used car lot.

[H-Town Man]

Every building built in the energy corridor is a building lost.

[Jeebus]

Every building built in the energy corridor is a building lost.

Lost to downtown? Couldn't you say the same of Greenspoint, Sharpstown, Greenway, Uptown, or the Medical Center?

[TheNiche]

Lost to downtown? Couldn't you say the same of Greenspoint, Sharpstown, Greenway, Uptown, or the Medical Center?

And if all the office spaces were downtown, wouldn't that be kind of...hellish...as far as transportation goes? People think the Katy Freeway is big now...

I'd think that the preservationists would probably be really pissed off about it, too.

[Pumapayam]

Every building built in the energy corridor is a building lost.

It's Houston, we have Edge Cities. Lack of zoning in Houston contributes to this. Land values in DT is likely a reason it was built here. As Jeebus mentioned, we have tons of building clusters, with the Medical Center and Uptown the most impressive and Greenway not far behind. The Energy Corridor is pretty spread out, but with Memorial City Mall developments and City Centre, west Houston around BW-8 and I-10 is filling out nicely.

All of these buildings should be taller than the existing one, which I count is around 12 or 13 stories.

Edited June 4, 2008 by Pumapayam

[TheNiche]

Lack of zoning in Houston contributes to this. Land values in DT is likely a reason it was built here.

Most cities are much smaller, geographically, than is Houston. The smaller suburban municipalities will actually compete amongst each other to attract office developers. Think of the Dallas area; zoning throughout many cities over a huge geographical area, but they are far more spread out than we are.

Land values and higher costs associated with tall highrises are part of the broader Edge City trend, but where the Energy Corridor is concerned, it is all about tapping into a highly specialized and concentrated labor market.

[Boris]

Here's a Houston Biz Jour story on what just broke groung. 14 story Embassy Suites:

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...ml?ana=from_rss

[livincinco]

Here's a Houston Biz Jour story on what just broke groung. 14 story Embassy Suites:

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories...ml?ana=from_rss

Good to hear that Energy Tower III is still in the works also.

[H-Town Man]

It's Houston, we have Edge Cities. Lack of zoning in Houston contributes to this. Land values in DT is likely a reason it was built here. As Jeebus mentioned, we have tons of building clusters, with the Medical Center and Uptown the most impressive and Greenway not far behind. The Energy Corridor is pretty spread out, but with Memorial City Mall developments and City Centre, west Houston around BW-8 and I-10 is filling out nicely.

All of these buildings should be taller than the existing one, which I count is around 12 or 13 stories.

Thanks Pumapayam, I was aware that we have edge cities, and I understand why we have them and their practical value. But a building out on the Katy Freeway does not do synergistically for the city what a building downtown does. That's all.

Lost to downtown? Couldn't you say the same of Greenspoint, Sharpstown, Greenway, Uptown, or the Medical Center?

Lost to the urban core. Yes (to Niche), I realize that having all the buildings clustered poses transportation problems (although it makes mass transit more viable). I'm just an urbanist.

[TheNiche]

I'm just an urbanist.

So am I. But there's more than one way to skin a cat.

[Boris]

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/busine...te/5823541.html

[jc281]

drove by today, looking good. for some reason i thought it'd be a clone of the current technip building, but it is much thinner