Camden McGowen Station & Midtown Park At 2727 Travis St.

[arche_757]

I count 7 floors.

[H-Town Man]

Weren't they going to break ground this spring? And before that, last year? And before that, eight years or so ago?

LargeTX is right, this thing is a disappointment on multiple levels... maybe 7 or 8 levels.

[urbanize713]

It's better than what was/is there but would have preferred taller and more park. I think my dream scenario would have been a OPP style complex at one end with the rest as a park. Then let other developers build high rises around like a mini Central Park but I digress. I look forward to seeing the development unfold and getting more infill. The high rises will come.....I hope

Edited May 8, 2014 by urbanize713

[Triton]

Can't wait!

 

[Avossos]

 Thats what I meant. Not 8 floors like they are saying...

 

I count 7 floors.

 

[Triton]

Maybe there is a below ground garage floor.

[Avossos]

Maybe there is a below ground garage floor.

 

boo - that shouldnt count. oh well.

[HoustonIsHome]

Maybe they will do like they did downtown. Scrap the lowrise plans and announce a hirise

Edited May 8, 2014 by HoustonIsHome

[swtsig]

It's better than what was/is there but would have preferred taller and more park. I think my dream scenario would have been a OPP style complex at one end with the rest as a park. Then let other developers build high rises around like a mini Central Park but I digress. I look forward to seeing the development unfold and getting more infill. The high rises will come.....I hope

 

do you know how absolutely out of place 30+ story tower would look in the middle of midtown? i get that everyone wants supertall highrises on every lot everywhere but let's get serious here - an 8 (or 7 as we may have here  ) complex fits in perfectly with the surrounding neighborhood and provides the sort of density Houston needs.

 

i will admit that while nice the architecture leaves a little to be desired and the fact that Camden apparently refused to put in any retail is frustrating - Campo is one of the city's biggest champions for more urban development but seeminly will put retail in just about every project but here.

[HoustonIsHome]

do you know how absolutely out of place 30+ story tower would look in the middle of midtown? i get that everyone wants supertall highrises on every lot everywhere but let's get serious here - an 8 (or 7 as we may have here ) complex fits in perfectly with the surrounding neighborhood and provides the sort of density Houston needs.

i will admit that while nice the architecture leaves a little to be desired and the fact that Camden apparently refused to put in any retail is frustrating - Campo is one of the city's biggest champions for more urban development but seeminly will put retail in just about every project but here.

I wouldn't say absolutely out off place.

The HCC building is a block or two to the south and 2016 main and the central bank building are about three too 5 blocks to the north.

A 30 story building might be pushing it, but a nice 10 to 15 would add height without being obnoxious. And maybe the increase in height would spur the development of taller buildings.

My preference is complexes taller than 8 floors. They look better to me than the 4-6 floor buildings popping up around midtown

Edited May 9, 2014 by HoustonIsHome

[Texasota]

We have vacant blocks to fill. Lots of them. Leave the towers to Downtown.

[HoustonIsHome]

We have vacant blocks to fill. Lots of them. Leave the towers to Downtown.

We can do both.

This building could easily be taller and slimmer leaving more foot print for the park

[Moore713]

A tower along main would not look out of places.. Un fact I have always thought main street leaned itself to to highrise towers by virtue of it design .imagine main lined with residential towerss.. Even a mix of residential and office tower s.. The beauty is that if they sit on main they won't interfer with the rest of midtown

[bachanon]

the economics of a project determines how many units and how tall it will be; it isn't a random choice the developer makes ("uhhhh, i think we'll go 8 stories"). it's fun to consider what would look great on any particular lot but when it comes down to it, it's business.  how little can the developer spend in exchange for the most return.  aesthetics and urban planning are usually not their biggest concern (if at all).

when i see a development that disappoints, like the mediocrity that camden produces, i know it's just business.  that said, there are developers who are concerned about aesthetics and urban planning and will forego or delay return on investment in exchange for a better urban fabric.  houston has not been the epicenter for this sort of developers but hopefully this is changing.

 

[largeTEXAS]

the economics of a project determines how many units and how tall it will be; it isn't a random choice the developer makes ("uhhhh, i think we'll go 8 stories"). it's fun to consider what would look great on any particular lot but when it comes down to it, it's business.  how little can the developer spend in exchange for the most return.  aesthetics and urban planning are usually not their biggest concern (if at all).

when i see a development that disappoints, like the mediocrity that camden produces, i know it's just business.  that said, there are developers who are concerned about aesthetics and urban planning and will forego or delay return on investment in exchange for a better urban fabric.  houston has not been the epicenter for this sort of developers but hopefully this is changing.

 

 

You are dead-on, unfortunately. For developers such as Camden, Alliance, Morgan Group, and Trammel Crow, just to name a few, returns are pretty much the only thing that matters. They are the reason I think we need government-imposed building standards such as urban setbacks, wider sidewalks, pedestrian-level enhancements, and mixed-use in certain specified areas. To these developers, building community and creating better neighborhoods aren't even part of the conversation. Most of these developers are investment vehicles, REITs, so they are beholden to hundreds, sometimes thousands of investors that might not ever see the final product, but sure do care about that darn return. 

 

I might be crazy, but I think developers that are based in Houston should at least put a little extra effort in, though. To me, this is why Camden is such an utter disappointment, especially with Ric Campo being Chairman of an organization who claims: "We are leading the effort to have Houston recognized as one of the great cities of the world." Yeah, Ric? Put your money where your mouth is!

[Luminare]

From what it seems it looks like all the things you stated above are going to fall onto the laps of each district in Houston. Upper Kirby is an example of a community which knows what they want and have set out to try and get it.

 

I've said this in another post. Rome wasn't built in a day. It's going to take quite a while for Houston to get the uber-super-cool architecture. You need a good influx of people first. Unless you are the King of Dubai with lots of money to throw around then you aren't really going to attract high class architects/developers to produce "signature" architecture. Not to mention its not the developers job (although you would wish they would consider it) to think always about the community. They are here to make money. What moves the needle is the client, how much he can spend, the city, the district, and the citizens who live there.

 

Lets just watch the infill grow and then everything that has been stated above will work its way in. It would be awesome if we could master plan all of this before had, but you have to have a market for it first! Now trust me I get disappointed by some of these exact things that you have discussed and have been discussed in this thread, but that doesn't mean it can't change in the future or we ourselves as citizens can't take action ourselves.

[bachanon]

http://www.kirksey.com/project/central_library_master_plan

 

....this says that a central library building is going in "on" midtown superblock; surely they mean bordering the superblock.  is this an old library proposal?  i've searched several threads and cannot find anything.

[Houston19514]

http://www.kirksey.com/project/central_library_master_plan

 

....this says that a central library building is going in "on" midtown superblock; surely they mean bordering the superblock.  is this an old library proposal?  i've searched several threads and cannot find anything.

 

Yes, a very old proposal and long ago abandoned.

[bachanon]

Yes, a very old proposal and long ago abandoned.

 

thanks.  i get disoriented on architecture websites and lose track of past, present, future...

[houparent]

Any new developments here?  

 

As I understand:

 

--Camden has said in connection with a prior earnings call that it’s a go and it will be started by end of this year 2014

 

--the Midtown Redevelopment Authority is saying it will be completed by end 2016 in communications to possible restaurant tenants in the Park

 

--and out of curiosity I called the Midtown Mgmt District – they say it is a definite go and will be totally completed by end 2016/before Super Bowl. 

 

Just wondering if anyone else has heard anything different, or that confirms these timeframes.

[houparent]

I guess this Hou Chronicle article is another reference to the Superblock getting started this year (?) ...and if so, "fall" is soon...

 

 

In Building Boom, Construction Workers Gain The Upper Hand

By Nancy Sarnoff

August 22, 2014 | Updated: August 22, 2014 5:39pm

 

On a conference call earlier this month, the president of Houston-based developer Camden Property Trust described what it's like building apartments in markets where construction is booming and skilled workers are in short supply. "It's a catfight to get subcontractors to fully staff at your jobs," said D. Keith Oden. He added, "It's hand-to-hand combat." The labor shortage has become so severe that the company recently started putting guards on job sites to keep its workers from being poached by competitors willing to pay more. "We've had specific instances where people would come on site and try to round up workers," Camden's chief executive Ric Campo said in an interview. "During the World Cup, we actually put big screens on our sites to get people to stay." Camden, which builds luxury apartments across the country, has staffed security guards at construction sites in Austin and Denver. When it starts a project here in Midtown this fall, the company plans to have onsite protection, as well.

 

 

 

[Luminare]

That's simply one of the side effects of a boom. Construction companies get the ability to pick projects they want to work on or the ones they think they will make the most money. Sometimes even after a project gets it's GMP sub's can still walk away from a job to a better job because unlike a general contractor they aren't bound by contract. So sometimes it's both low labor or the fact that there is so much building going on that crews choose whats best for them which is different from a low market where crews will take whatever they can get. All of this means that some projects get delayed or pushed back to wait until there is more available labor. I think that's why we have seen a few downtown projects get delayed/pushed back is because of situations such as these.

[houparent]

Agree ...and glad we are in a boom.... I'm new to area and was have been trying to get some sense of when this Superblock may actually start ...it seems based on what I continue to see and hear (ie, my 2 posts above)  that it is now actually starting in the next couple of months... good news for Midtown

 

Edited August 24, 2014 by houparent

[Howard Huge]

I used to follow this project with hope and anticipation of a groundbreaking, in fact for years upon years at this point......

Now I find it much more enjoyable and bearable watching paint dry, then after that watching grass grow, then after that watching glaciers move a few hundred feet.

[HoustonIsHome]

I agree with HH such prime property should have been racing skyward in this construction boom.

[Howard Huge]

I just don't get it at this point.

Its not like the current boom is ever going to get any "boomier", I mean, what is Ric Campo waiting for, Jesus to come back?

Make hay while the sun still shines, right?

[HoustonIsHome]

I just don't get it at this point.

Its not like the current boom is ever going to get any "boomier", I mean, what is Ric Campo waiting for, Jesus to come back?

Make hay while the sun still shines, right?

I agree, he is sleeping on the one downtown too. I know there are delays and stuff but some projects seem to get going without much hoopla, while others drag on for ten years.

To make it worse after the ten years the results are still disappointing. I rather the skyhouse model. They are like hey, this is my average looking hi rise. I will break ground a month from announcing this, it will top off five months after that, and be ready to move in within a year.

[houparent]

A friend just forwarded me a note that an update on this/Superblock will be provided at the Midtown Redevelopment Authority meeting tomorrow (Thursday) starting at 12:30pm. It is open to the public. I cannot attend - if anyone goes, please update if possible. Thanks.

[lithiumaneurysm]

A friend just forwarded me a note that an update on this/Superblock will be provided at the Midtown Redevelopment Authority meeting tomorrow (Thursday) starting at 12:30pm. It is open to the public. I cannot attend - if anyone goes, please update if possible. Thanks.

 

I hope this yields some good news. This project is taking forever.

[Howard Huge]

I hope this yields some good news. This project is taking forever.

They are going to announce the cancelation of this project.

Ric Campo recently said he fails to see the viability of this project in this economy and feels the lot would be better suited (read more profitable) as the largest paid parking lot in midtown, because of its central location.

Demo permitting is currently under way to tear down the old Escobar/thien an strip center, then they will begin paving the entire super block.