yaga Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 Mostly Good News about the status of Houston Condo Projects from the HBJ.One condominium developer has taken a luxury property off the market at a time when Houston's appetite for high-rise condominiums seems to be continuing to grow. InnerLoopCondos.com Inc. has halted sales at the proposed Monaco high-rise condominium tower, and may scrap the project altogether. The developer is considering converting the upscale project near Post Oak and the West Loop into a property with moderately priced condos, which the firm is having some success selling in other projects around town. InnerLoopCondos executives say sales are sluggish for luxury condos. "The market for luxury condos is not very strong," says Andre Julien, InnerLoopCondos' project director. "The luxury condo demand is very weak compared to the affordable (properties)." But other professionals in the market segment disagree. Edith Personette of Personette & Associates, who has specialized in selling high-rise condominiums since the mid-1980s, says local sales of midrise and high-rise condos are higher than ever, reaching $205 million in 2004 in the Houston area. "The demand is much higher now than it used to be," Personette says. "There are a lot of people who are really considering moving to luxury high-rise buildings," says Steve Lerner, an executive vice president with Redstone Cos., which plans to build a condominium tower. "Houston is becoming a city where there will be more urban living. It's a lifestyle choice." R. Scott Ziegler of Ziegler Cooper Architects who designs mid- and high-rise projects, says Houston is actually behind some other cities in building units for the growing number of empty-nesters. "We're behind the curve. We're still in our infancy," he says. "There's a baby boomer supply for the next 15 years to 20 years." Grass is greener Indeed, more people seem to be interested in trading in their back yards for balconies. The demand is fueling some new projects and igniting sales at others. Successes at the Villa d'Este and Montebello in Uptown Park have been credited with starting the latest wave of luxury condo development. The Montebello, the second of the two towers developed by the Interfin Cos., is roughly 85 percent sold. In what could become one of the most high-profile properties in Houston, Turnberry Associates is planning to construct a 42-story condominium tower near the Galleria. Details have not been revealed about the local project, but a Turnberry magazine reports that the 180 units will go on sale soon. Turnberry, which has a portfolio of more than $5 billion in commercial and residential properties, is also currently building the residences at MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Meanwhile, the Mercer will begin pre-sales in the next couple of weeks on a second condominium tower. Only about eight of the 54 units in the original 30-story building at Richmond and Sage are still available. The second 30-story building will also have 54 units, priced from the low $400,000s to more than $1 million for a penthouse. And Houston developer Randall Davis will break ground in April on the 70-unit Empire, a condominium project next to the completed Manhattan condos that has garnered 47 reservations. Prices for the units at Post Oak and Hidalgo range from the $300,000s to $1 million. Sales are steady at the Orion, which will consist of 338 units in two 37-story towers near Memorial Park. A total of 110 units in the first building are spoken for, representing $100 million in sales, says developer Robert Day. Demolition work is expected to begin within the week to make room for the first building. Prices range from $500,000 to $5 million. Day, who has also developed condo projects in Florida, says a greater number of residents versus investors have purchased in Orion than is typical. He says that in Florida, 60 percent to 65 percent of the buyers on in the front-end of the project are typically investors who buy the property to take advantage of pre-sale prices, but don't intend to live there. On the other hand, in the first half of sales at Orion, only 20 percent to 25 percent of the buyers were investors, he says. The same is true at the Redstone, a 65-unit condominium tower planned on the 25-acre campus of The Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa. All of the reservations that are now being converted to contracts are with people who want to live in the condos, says Redstone's Lerner. Lerner will not reveal how many units have been reserved so far, but says Redstone is close to selling the 22 condos required to begin construction. The firm will open a 5,000-square-foot sales center March 1 in the Redstone office building to showcase the 28-story condo project that was first announced last July. Prices range from $925,000 to $2.6 million. Meanwhile, The Royalton at River Oaks, formerly known as 3333 Allen Parkway, has sold close to half of its units since being purchased and converted from apartments to condos, according to the new owner. Craig Nassi, co-owner of the Royalton, gave an exclusive buying opportunity to current residents during the last month. "We gave everyone in the building a discount because they were a resident and they were living in that unit," says Nassi, a principal of Denver-based BCN Development. "We anticipate within the next 60 days, we'll have 60 percent of the building sold." The tower's 252 units, priced from $350,000 to $1.7 million, will go on sale to the general public Feb. 14. Air of change Despite the frenzy of activity, the Monaco is not the only tall tower that has not evolved as planned. A 28-story residential project near Rice Village has reportedly been shelved. Atlanta-based Wood Partners, which was planning to build either apartments or condos on the site, could not be reached for comment. And construction has yet to begin on the proposed Shamrock Tower, a 32-story condo tower planned downtown on Main Street, between Texas and Capitol. Sales information was not readily available on the condos, which were originally priced from $168,800 to $1.2 million, but a representative says reservations are being converted into contracts. Julien, with InnerLoopCondos, says between 20 and 25 people had reserved units in the Monaco, but that was not enough. Their money has been returned while the company reassesses the project. While sales weren't strong for the Monaco's condos, which were priced from $350,000 to $1 million, the firm's lower-priced projects are moving forward. InnerLoopCondos broke ground last month on the Vistas at Midtown, a four-story condo project at 1919 Mason. The 72 units are selling from $140,000 to $282,000. The company also was scheduled to close this week on roughly half an acre at 2203 Dorrington St. for a 48-unit condo project near the Texas Medical Center. Tom Cervone of Camelot Realty Group represented both buyer and seller -- Dorrington Partners. Julien says high demand for lower-priced products could ultimately affect the Monaco's redesign. "We're probably going to stick with the Monaco as it is today," Julien says. "We just want to make sure that that's the right type of product to put there." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yaga Posted February 14, 2005 Author Share Posted February 14, 2005 Redstone - 28 st Mercer East Tower - 30 st The Orion Towers - 30 st Empire - 7 st Turnberry - 42 st Pavillion Residential Tower - ?? Vistas Midtown - 4 st Shamrock?? - 32 st Monaco?? - 30 ish st Pretty Impressive list! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The New Juniper Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 This is good news. The market has a way of weeding out the weaker developers and inferior product. Glad to see the City is not losing confidence in luxury condo living. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted February 14, 2005 Share Posted February 14, 2005 Love the report. I feel that Houston will eventually tap out the Luxury market and start a trend towards an affordable priced high-rise living. Maybe the Monaco could be the first one if they get their act together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Nice. I'd like to see more moderately priced condos. I'd trade in the monaco for several new medium priced condos, and a bit of perspective.If anything, I'd like to see this moved downwards a bit into midrise, or mixed use. Maybe something like the Mondrian in Dallas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YakuzaIce Posted February 15, 2005 Share Posted February 15, 2005 Redstone - 28 stMercer East Tower - 30 st The Orion Towers - 30 st Empire - 7 st Turnberry - 42 st Pavillion Residential Tower - ?? Vistas Midtown - 4 st Shamrock?? - 32 st Monaco?? - 30 ish st Pretty Impressive list! <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Orion - 37 Monaco - 31 I think it is good news about the Monaco getting lower priced condos. I just hope that they don't change the outside design, it looks alot better than Villa d'Este and Montebello. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Can anyone confirm that the Monaco is back in business?http://www.lsrmanagement.com/saleusa.htmlhttp://www.monacocondo.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 Can anyone confirm that the Monaco is back in business?http://www.lsrmanagement.com/saleusa.htmlhttp://www.monacocondo.com/I can't confirm that LSR's Monaco is back in business, but it can't be denied either because (according to them) it was never out of business. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted February 2, 2008 Share Posted February 2, 2008 My guess is we'll be hearing more about it soon, again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lniekamp Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 My guess is we'll be hearing more about it soon, again.Monaco is still on hold, but if you're looking for an affordable high-rise then the Mosaic should be on top of your list with homes starting in the low $200s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggity Posted August 7, 2008 Share Posted August 7, 2008 are we bumping threads from half a year ago now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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