St. Regis Residences & Future Multifamily On Asbury Pl.

[The Great Hizzy!]

What the person might have been referring to, HD, are the prospects for the second tower going up, but for all practical purposes, tower #1 is about as close to getting underway as you can get.

[danes75]

Well, there are... ahem... several projects that begin "preleasing" and never actually go up. All that's needed is a trailer and rendering. I hate the Mercer... its one of the ugliest new buildings I've ever seen.

[YakuzaIce]

i had an interesting lunch today.  i was told orion is a no go and plans have been put on hold indefinitely.  reasons range from numbers being WAY off to code violations.

anyone?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

That seems hard to believe. Could you tell us in what way this person was connected to Orion? I hope it is still a go. This development seemed to be going in the opposite way of Shamrock.

@danes, yes the mercer is ugly, but regarding orion I believe that excavation had already begun, or was soon to begin.

[Gary]

I went to the building site last Friday and they had the construction fencing up and excavation had begun. The only thing that worries me a little was there were no trucks and no workers present.

[YakuzaIce]

I went to the building site last Friday and they had the construction fencing up and excavation had begun. The only thing that worries me a little was there were no trucks and no workers present.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well this is kind of good info. I am going to try and swing by this weekend and see if there is any work going on. I might ask around at the onsite office. I am sure if it was cancelled they would say it.

[kjb434]

Considering they acutally build the entrance facility as the sales office and it is not a trailer like the Shamrock, I think this project is still a go.

Also, the project (one tower) is definitely built in stages. A clearing contractor is need to prepare the site. Excavations needs to begin. Footings, pilings, or a mass foundation will begin. Anyone of these would take a couple of months to build.

Once the foundation is completed, they elevation of the building will move much faster.

I also got this from the orion sale excutive by email:

*********************************************************************

Thank you for your inquiry. Orion is definitely moving forward and we are just a little over 65% at this point. Sales are doing great and construction is still on schedule.

Please email or call me if you have any further questions.

Thank you,

Kendra Pate

Sales Executive

713.880.1616

*********************************************************************

So I guess it's still moving.

[citykid09]

Good to here they say that the towers will still be built! Now can you write the people building the Shamrock and ask the samething?

[Guest Mastermindbuilder]

65% is a pretty good damn number. I'm glad Orion is moving forward.

To bad for Shamrock. Let us pray.

[houston-development]

That seems hard to believe.

[bcnet]

houston-developement or others,

any new information or updates on this project? Are you still hearing of further delays?

[citykid09]

Hopefully this is not true.

Has anyone heard anthing about that 40 something story building that Florida company is supposed to be building?

[YakuzaIce]

Hopefully this is not true.

Has anyone heard anthing about that 40 something story building that Florida company is supposed to be building?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I am guessing you are talking about the one by turnberry.

Here is the thread.

But I haven't heard anyomore news on it. Though I hope it happens.

[houston-development]

houston-developement or others,

any new information or updates on this project?  Are you still hearing of further delays?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

again, based upon my personal conversations with people i deem reliable, the deal has been put on hold. according to some here, the foundation is being poured or cranes are up or whatever... personally, i dont know because i have not walked the site in some time... i hope it does get built but would think the redstone would be more realistic and feasable, but thats just my humble opinion.

[Gary]

I went by the Orion again on Sunday and the construction fence was open. There was no major equipment there but there were two excavated areas at different levels. There were a cfew trucks inside but knowone was to be found.

The only thing that worried me a little was the last two times I've gone by the entrance drive to the sales office has been blocked by debree.

[kjb434]

The last thing about the Turnberry project was they were looking for land, nothing more. They have tons on renderings for building they'll never build. They can just throw one out when they make proposals.

[Subdude]

Postponed for redesign!

Project is put off for condo redesign

Construction of a $425 million high-rise condominium project planned for a site on Buffalo Bayou near Memorial Drive and Shepherd has been postponed as the developers redesign the building to contain more smaller units.

Chronicle link

[Kirzania]

Postponed for redesign!

Chronicle link

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From that same article:

"We found much more demand for 2,000-square-foot apartments," said William Friedman, chairman of New York-based Tarragon Corp., which is developing the project with Florida developer Robert Day."

Ya think?

[kjb434]

So guess the project is still a go, but delayed because they want more units?

[The Great Hizzy!]

So is it a good thing that both the Monaco and now Orion have accepted the need/desire for more "average joe" type units, be they rental or purchase inside the Loop?

On the one hand, I say yes, on the other... will the markets cannibalize each other? There are a handful of highrise residential proposed, including those in Uptown, the Orion(s), 2727 Kirby, the project on Almeda, the project on W. Alabama, the Riparian, and so forth.

Would it help sales if they were all centralized in one area or does it really make a difference, like the massive townhome construction that's going crazy inside the loop?

[kjb434]

Well, the Riparian and 2727 Kirby still seem to be aiming for the high end market.

I think Orion will still be expensive and high end, just now having some units a little cheaper.

They had 60% of the first tower reserved already. More than enough for them to get financing and building if they turn them into contracts. And the people behind the Orion are not new to the high-rise residential construction business.

[YakuzaIce]

It seems as if demand was so high they just wanted to try and add more to get more bang for the buck, while making them slightly cheaper. I don't think these are going to be for the average joe.

[The Great Hizzy!]

Ah, so I'm reading too much into the article. Okay then.

[H-Town]

Ah, so I'm reading too much into the article. Okay then.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I wouldn't bet on that...it's quite possible they detected a soft spot in the market for the number of ultra-lux units (think Huntingdon) they originally planned for.

It seems to me they're positioning themselves a bit downmarket from their original concept (that's not to say it won't still be an upscale property for rich people ).

I guess time will tell.

[kjb434]

I'm thinking a one bedroom 1500sqft for 300k versus 600k

[YakuzaIce]

Ah, so I'm reading too much into the article. Okay then.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thinking about it my post may have been a little off the mark.

I wouldn't say you are reading to much into it, they just are not making them cheap. Maybe the market was there for the high end, but they felt it would be a safer bet with cheaper units. Perhaps profits were also higher. Has anyone else been getting any emails from them? (I haven't gotten any response yet) The things I am wondering about is how many units will be in the new tower, will the tower change height, and will the design change.

[kjb434]

Within this thread I posted a response I got. It said tower one was over 60% sold and that construction was beginning.

Maybe they are repositioning the 60% and will subdivide some of the 40% to make more units.

[houston-development]

ah-hem...

i had an interesting lunch today.  i was told orion is a no go and plans have been put on hold indefinitely.  reasons range from numbers being WAY off to code violations.

anyone?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

im not saying this to any person in particular. you need to stop listening to the sales people. it doesnt matter if they say the project is X% sold/reserved, ground breaking to occur shortly, we dont have any delays, etc. the sales people are trained to keep momentum going; even by stretching the truth or zero negativity.

additionally, if a poster says that groundbreaking has taken place or that the cranes are up, yet no one else sees this happening, your credibility gets weak. a rumor is a rumor and if you have the need to post it, please do not portray it as fact. there is a difference between "i know such and such WILL happen" and "i heard this or that could happen".

/rant

[The New Juniper]

ah-hem...

im not saying this to any person in particular.  you need to stop listening to the sales people.  it doesnt matter if they say the project is X% sold/reserved, ground breaking to occur shortly, we dont have any delays, etc.  the sales people are trained to keep momentum going; even by stretching the truth or zero negativity.

additionally, if a poster says that groundbreaking has taken place or that the cranes are up, yet no one else sees this happening, your credibility gets weak.  a rumor is a rumor and if you have the need to post it, please do not portray it as fact.  there is a difference between "i know such and such WILL happen" and "i heard this or that could happen".

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Standard disclaimer regarding care taken not to get the public in an uproar, BUT...

This project isn't going anywhere. The partners are fighting and the money guys want out. They are $40MM plus in the hole and have know way out. Standard situation of flawed concept and a group chasing a bad idea with bad money. The eternal hope is that the next million dollars in advertising will spur the needed sales. However, it typically ends the same way: one or all of the inevestors finally puts his/her hands up and says "enough". Chalk it up to a very expensive lesson, but condominium development is NOT as easy as it would seem (see Shamrock).

That building will not be built, at least by this group. PERIOD.

[houston-development]

but.. but.. "they" said it would be built!

there are serveral problems with the project. the proforma is now toast, concrete is up 20-30% since their initial underwriting, and they are now heavily vested in lofts at post oak.

just to expand a bit on juniper's post, sometimes the best deals are the deals you decide to pass on

[citykid09]

For now on, if I here about another highrise building going up in Houston, or any really good devlopment, I won't beleave it anymore. I have lots all faith anything planners say they will be building in Houston.