houstontexasjack Posted December 4, 2017 Share Posted December 4, 2017 (edited) http://www.chron.com/business/retail/article/Brookfield-closes-on-mega-downtown-deal-12399379.php Brookfield's acquisition of the Houston Center creates an opportunity to control the spigot on the introduction of some of the proposed office space into Downtown. I suspect it not only keeps this project in carbon freeze, but turns it into Jabba the Hutt's coffee table for the foreseeable future. I'm hopeful Brookfield's acquisition could result in a nice redesign of the Houston Center similar to what we've seen from the Allen Center actually coming to fruition. On another note, I wonder if the long-dormant 5 Allen Center might take priority over 6 Houston Center in the longer term given the opportunity for superior views and higher tenant prices that might come out of an eventual 5 Allen Center. Edit: In giving the article a closer read, it appears 5 HC was not part of the deal. I therefore am not sure if the proposed 6 HC site would have been part of the deal. Edited December 4, 2017 by houstontexasjack 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 I came across this sign 2 weekends ago, not sure how long it's been up. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timoric Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 (edited) - Edited July 12, 2019 by Timoric 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinsanity02 Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 These are like end of the world signs. Numerous and Tiresome but eventually it will happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangledwoods Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Quote Edit: In giving the article a closer read, it appears 5 HC was not part of the deal. I therefore am not sure if the proposed 6 HC site would have been part of the deal. Six Houston was NOT part of the brookfield deal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate4l1f3 Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 My most hated project in the last 5 years! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 Between this, Capitol Tower, 609 Main and the other tower Hines just built (the one with the slanted roof), we could have put up a new super-tall. Why they keep building these crappy 30-something story buildings is beyond me. Clearly somebody thinks there's room for more office space and they're being leased or they wouldn't come out of the ground. Is there an unwritten law that nothing over 40 something stories can be built downtown any longer? It's kind of annoying... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post bobruss Posted December 5, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted December 5, 2017 Theres plenty of open space for more supertalls in the future. The shorter 30 -40 story buildings do wonders for the infill and give the city a much denser feel. We'll get those supertalls in another cycle. It would certainly help for the energy market to heat back up and if Houston is going to continue to grow and be one of the global player in the distant future were going to have to get the energy companies to diversify a little more and start buying up some of the alternative energy commodities of the future. They need to face reality. Even if we don't run out of fossil fuels the world is continuing to change their energy commodities. 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CREguy13 Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 1 hour ago, wxman said: Between this, Capitol Tower, 609 Main and the other tower Hines just built (the one with the slanted roof), we could have put up a new super-tall. Why they keep building these crappy 30-something story buildings is beyond me. Clearly somebody thinks there's room for more office space and they're being leased or they wouldn't come out of the ground. Is there an unwritten law that nothing over 40 something stories can be built downtown any longer? It's kind of annoying... Not that I don't wish we would build another supertall, but major players are not only focused on building height, but quality, sustainability and return for investors. Especially not Skanska and Hines. We should not criticize these developers that continue to provide our city with A+ assets, even though they are not 1000+ feet tall. Capitol Tower and 609 Main were great additions to our skyline. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted December 5, 2017 Share Posted December 5, 2017 1 hour ago, wxman said: Between this, Capitol Tower, 609 Main and the other tower Hines just built (the one with the slanted roof), we could have put up a new super-tall. Why they keep building these crappy 30-something story buildings is beyond me. Clearly somebody thinks there's room for more office space and they're being leased or they wouldn't come out of the ground. Is there an unwritten law that nothing over 40 something stories can be built downtown any longer? It's kind of annoying... As I understand it, construction costs above a certain height increase exponentially. That's why it's generally cheaper to build two 40-story towers rather than one 80-story tower despite the extra land costs. Additionally, one 80-story tower will have to devote more space out of potential floor plates to elevators to move folks between floors. The good news is that, as empty lots become less available Downtown, the incentives to build taller should start to arise as land costs rise and increased desirability of building in dense Downtown makes higher construction costs more palatable. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinsanity02 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 I don't have problems with 30 to 50 story buildings. Agree with the infill statement. Only complaint has to do with the style of this building. Seems a shruken version of the BG building. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
urbanize713 Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 (edited) On 12/5/2017 at 3:02 PM, wxman said: Between this, Capitol Tower, 609 Main and the other tower Hines just built (the one with the slanted roof), we could have put up a new super-tall. Why they keep building these crappy 30-something story buildings is beyond me. Clearly somebody thinks there's room for more office space and they're being leased or they wouldn't come out of the ground. Is there an unwritten law that nothing over 40 something stories can be built downtown any longer? It's kind of annoying... Not to be critical but this is factually incorrect. BG Place 2011 46 Stories 609 Main 2017 48 Stories. The truer statement would be nothing over 50 Stories has been built in some time. Some, many years ago, would have said we would never see residential towers be built in downtown again.... By my count we have 5 new towers, one conversion, and 2-3 in the pipeline. The super-tall will come its just a matter of when. Who knows maybe Hines has one last gift for us on the chronicle site? Edited December 6, 2017 by urbanize713 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangledwoods Posted December 6, 2017 Share Posted December 6, 2017 before Chevron got put on hold it was going to be 55 ish floors. The master plan even included a second matching tower, no one has appetite to go much higher when you have so much un-developed real estate. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Urbannizer Posted January 2, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted January 2, 2020 Hmmm... https://www.lifang.us/portfolio/exterior 19 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twinsanity02 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Me thoughts this was in the grave yard of undone things. 11 minutes ago, Urbannizer said: Hmmm... https://www.lifang.us/portfolio/exterior 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 (edited) 48 minutes ago, Urbannizer said: Hmmm... https://www.lifang.us/portfolio/exterior Hmmm indeed. This looks a lot better than the old design. Looks ready to cannibalize some older, larger buildings with tenants who will downsize to smaller, newer spaces. Also looks like some nice GFR just waiting for the next food hall. We can date this rendering fairly well based on the fact that the new BoA building is about halfway up and the Market Square Tower garage is under construction. Without looking at those threads, I am guessing some time in 2018 for the source photo, although the rendering could have been done more recently. Edited January 2, 2020 by H-Town Man 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 2 hours ago, Urbannizer said: Hmmm... https://www.lifang.us/portfolio/exterior Now it appears to copy BoA tower (the new one / Capitol Tower)... instead of the mini-hines version it once was. I don't understand why they are spending money on new designs if they aren't willing to build it. An anchor tenant may want to see some action before they can trust the project kicks off. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Maybe this is all part of a major overhaul that they are now working on. Top it off with a new building. That would be nice. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 This block is now owned separately from Houston Center, IIRC. I think this would be the last thing that Brookfield wants here, poaching tenants from Houston Center. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate4l1f3 Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 I like it 10x better than the original design 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 Wow! Me likes 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacarlson Posted January 4, 2020 Share Posted January 4, 2020 Looks like a 400 footer +/-? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luminare Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 (edited) I like this new design much more than the older one. Has a more classic feel, and kinda feels like a natural evolution or contemporary update of its sister towers in the original Houston Center. The previous design was just too trendy and not in a good way. That era in Houston for skyscrapers from 2000-2010 was very big into, what I would call "the bite" or a portion of the building that looked like someone bit into it and then replaced that section with a weird loggia or wrap around porch. Its just an awkward look on a building that high. This updated version will age a lot better than the previous design. Edited January 5, 2020 by Luminare 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zaphod Posted January 5, 2020 Share Posted January 5, 2020 Realistically, what are the chances of this happening? Anyways, I also really like the design. It is more classic, sort of like the current crop of new towers going up in Chicago. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mls1202 Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 One trend I'm happy to see growing is the use of landscaping on elevated portions of the building, whether it be on the roof of a mid rise building or on the walls of a taller one. I lived in Singapore for a couple of years and "green" buildings were everywhere. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted January 6, 2020 Share Posted January 6, 2020 18 hours ago, zaphod said: Realistically, what are the chances of this happening? Anyways, I also really like the design. It is more classic, sort of like the current crop of new towers going up in Chicago. The design was done in the last year or so and looks more serious than the concept renderings we sometimes see. It shows the landowner (I think Crescent Real Estate) is looking seriously at building here and may be looking for an anchor tenant to sign. Whether they can find one may depend on oil prices, right now lukewarm at $63/bbl but getting warmer with the Iran conflict and progress towards a China trade deal. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Urbannizer Posted January 8, 2020 Popular Post Share Posted January 8, 2020 https://realtynewsreport.com/2020/01/06/the-2020-outlook-for-houstons-office-market-qa-with-chip-colvill-of-colvill-office/ Realty News Report: Also, there’s the Marathon Oil build-to-suit underway next to CityCentre on the Katy Freeway. Otherwise, do you expect to see other new office projects started in 2020? Chip Colvill: Yes, I do anticipate more new development activity will occur in areas like the Galleria, along Allen Parkway, in Midtown, and along I-10. Tenants are looking all over the city now at various emerging areas to be near where their employees want to be. You might even see another new building get kicked off downtown at some point in the future as there continues to be strong tenant interest in moving downtown with all of the multi-family apartment development, restaurant and hotel activity making downtown highly desirable. 22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted January 9, 2020 Share Posted January 9, 2020 I’d think Block 43 would get built before this site based on its more desirable location. Not sure if the current developer has the wherewithal to see it through, however. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobruss Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 They do have the podium all ready to build upon. On 1/8/2020 at 7:38 PM, houstontexasjack said: I’d think Block 43 would get built before this site based on its more desirable location. Not sure if the current developer has the wherewithal to see it through, however. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 4 hours ago, bobruss said: They do have the podium all ready to build upon. Didn’t think the foundation had been poured to the north. Just the garage on Block 43. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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