King Owl Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 new rendering? (relax, just kidding!) 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 A tower of Syn. (As in Synthetic Stucco - EIFS). 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate4l1f3 Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 I was never a fan of the capiotl tower design to begin with. Just kind of another glass box. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 So a downsize from 423,000 to between 200,000 and 250,000. Not exactly a homerun for downtown. They would likely be paying higher rent since it's new construction, although with worse views, and a less "signature" building to put their name on, whatever that's worth to them (they do seem to like having signature buildings). Agreed with nate, it's very Woodlands Waterway. Better than what's there now though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 On 9/29/2015 at 3:58 PM, Triton said: Although the Houston economy is certainly declining (over 3,000 construction jobs in Houston lost I read in a report this week), there are still certainly large corporations outside of oil that are looking for space. I know for instance that CBRE is expanding its office space to the Memorial Herman Tower in Memorial City. There are financial corporations that can certainly take advantage of this newer space and leave an older tower. I'm sure someone like Houston19514 has the info on when the leases are up for some of these big businesses. (Quote above is from 2015) Yea, although office demand collapsed for oil related companies, there's always been this demand from other sectors such as finance, real estate, and others, due to the overall US economy. And sure enough, we see interest in Capitol Tower from BOA and, as far as I've heard, from others as well. I honestly think that for the near term, that's the only way this tower is going to get off the ground... demand from companies outside of oil. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstontexasjack Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 3 hours ago, H-Town Man said: So a downsize from 423,000 to between 200,000 and 250,000. Not exactly a homerun for downtown. They would likely be paying higher rent since it's new construction, although with worse views, and a less "signature" building to put their name on, whatever that's worth to them (they do seem to like having signature buildings). Agreed with nate, it's very Woodlands Waterway. Better than what's there now though. They'd have the least prominent place in the skyline with respect to Wells Fargo, Chase, and BoA. Capitol Tower would probably have better amenities from a day-to-day office standpoint, such as more individualized control of room temperatures. As UtterlyUrban alluded to, this feels like another play, a la Bracewell, to get more leverage negotiating with their current landlord. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted January 9, 2017 Share Posted January 9, 2017 From the Chronicle: Bank of America reportedly is in talks to move out of its namesake building downtown and into a flashy new tower to be constructed a block away. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank is negotiating to become the anchor tenant in Capitol Tower, a 35-story building slated for the former site of the Houston Club building, the Houston Business Journal reported late Friday, citing anonymous sources. The bank's longtime home, Bank of America Center, is one of downtown's most iconic buildings. The neo-Gothic tower soars 56 stories and its gabled roofline is a familiar feature on the city skyline. Bank of America, which declined to comment Friday, leases 423,614 square feet in the building, according to Houston-based Enriched Data, a research and data firm. Bank of America Center, 700 Louisiana, was developed by the Hines real estate firm and designed by Philip Johnson and John Burgee. It opened in 1983. Skanska USA Commercial Development is the developer of Capitol Tower. After Skanska bought the site and the Houston Club building was demolished, the company built a garage on the southern half of the block and poured the foundation for the tower. The property is bounded by Capitol, Rusk, Milam and Travis streets. Skanska has said it would not begin construction on the building until it found a tenant to prelease a significant portion of the space. Skanska could not be reached. CBRE, the real estate brokerage leasing the building, declined to comment late Friday. The Gensler architecture firm designed Capitol Tower, a soaring glass and stone building set to include 750,000 square feet and a tunnel-level lobby visible to pedestrians on the streets above it. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 On 1/7/2017 at 2:34 PM, KinkaidAlum said: On one hand it would cover up that awful garage that Skanska built. On the other, it would put as much as 750,000 square feet of office space on the market (the rest of the tower and in the current BOA). I guess I lean towards option one because at least I know BOA is hurting. Why people continue to bank at that evil monster is beyond me. Skanska should be ashamed of themselves for building that garage. I can't believe it looks like they're going to keep it that way even once the tower is complete. Someone please tell me I'm wrong. That's a Class F garage. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CREguy13 Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 1 hour ago, lockmat said: Skanska should be ashamed of themselves for building that garage. I can't believe it looks like they're going to keep it that way even once the tower is complete. Someone please tell me I'm wrong. That's a Class F garage. You're wrong. Clearly they will put a glass face on it, it's a class A LEED Platinum trophy tower. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post tangledwoods Posted January 10, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted January 10, 2017 The negativity here is really quite confusing. This site started as an un-leasable old crappy building. The developer was confident in the market and started construction without ANY LEASING. When the market started to retract they pulled back and finished just the garage. Now the market is turning, they might have an anchor tenant and they are going to wrap that pig of a garage with shinny glass and a tall office building. This project was NEVER about being a signature tall office tower. It is an INFILL project with 5 tunnel connections, a huge lobby that opens up the mole people to the sun and makes a once shitty block into something good. Is it a Hines caliber building? No, but it sure as hell beats the alternative.... 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timoric Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 (edited) - Edited July 11, 2019 by Timoric 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mollusk Posted January 10, 2017 Share Posted January 10, 2017 2 hours ago, tangledwoods said: a huge lobby that opens up the mole people to the sun... AIEEEEEEEE!!! The sun!!!! oh no, so shiny and bright... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post KinkaidAlum Posted January 10, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted January 10, 2017 Not sure how tearing down an existed structure and replacing it with another is infill when downtown has dozens of entirely empty parcels. The Houston Club wasn't great, but it was an example of mid 1900s architecture which we lack in this town. 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UtterlyUrban Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 12 hours ago, KinkaidAlum said: Not sure how tearing down an existed structure and replacing it with another is infill when downtown has dozens of entirely empty parcels. The Houston Club wasn't great, but it was an example of mid 1900s architecture which we lack in this town. Spot on. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timoric Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 (edited) - Edited July 11, 2019 by Timoric 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 The old HC building would have needed a ton of enthusiastically creative attention to turn it into something that wasn't tenant repellent; I suppose that didn't show up in time. The tunnel connectivity/location of the property probably ultimately doomed the old structure since a shiny new tower with those attributes will eventually be a good investment, or at least that's what Skanska seems to think. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tangledwoods Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 Potential leaseable office space prior to demolition, not exactly class a..... 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chi-Char-Hou-Dal Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 it was beautiful waaaaaaaa waaaaaa 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brijonmang Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 6 hours ago, tangledwoods said: Potential leaseable office space prior to demolition, not exactly class a..... Cold war eastern Europe is so hot right now! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 We may have been hasty in giving cold war Eastern Europe a bad rap, if they have whataburger, it can't be all bad. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j_cuevas713 Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 23 hours ago, KinkaidAlum said: Not sure how tearing down an existed structure and replacing it with another is infill when downtown has dozens of entirely empty parcels. The Houston Club wasn't great, but it was an example of mid 1900s architecture which we lack in this town. The building was falling apart from reports. How much of that is true idk, but if they were having serious issues then I can see where the building wasn't worth saving. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted January 11, 2017 Share Posted January 11, 2017 There was a modern pattern painted onto the southeast side walls today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 Every building is falling apart if you don't take care of it. My house was a 1920s English that hadn't been lived in in over 8 years. It had Hurricane Ike damage which included a massive hole in the roof that exposed the first floor to the sun. However, the foundation was solid and I rebuilt the old beauty putting a modern house inside of the old structure. The Houston Club would have never worked as an office tower, but if someone with vision had gotten a hold of it, it could have made a really nice apartment tower or even a cool hotel. The windows alone were worth it (they were operable originally). 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustonIsHome Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 I understand the "new and upgraded easier to sell" mantra but I don't get " the building was falling apart" mantra. Buildings are falling apart all over the world, but people do remodel buildings in far worse shape. That building can't have been in worse shape than the Days in or even Central Square or the federal building. The federal building was leaking water for years. The other two were taken over by homeless and plagued worth filth and fire. I hate the falling apart excuse. Just say what it is. The owner wanted commercial and what sells right now for commercial is easier to accomplish with new construction. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samagon Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 "Look, it's falling apart!!!" *swings sledge hammer at wall "See!!!" 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
H-Town Man Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 24 minutes ago, samagon said: "Look, it's falling apart!!!" *swings sledge hammer at wall "See!!!" I'd challenge anyone to swing a sledge hammer full strength at one of those concrete columns. I would even throw in the Excedrin. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted January 12, 2017 Share Posted January 12, 2017 I used to have meetings there back in the day and it was always nice, but a little dusty and dated. I always thought the Houston Club had a great design - very urban. Along with the Gulf Building that block on Travis was one of my favorites in Houston. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post Nate99 Posted January 13, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted January 13, 2017 Took the pic below today. The folks painting it gave me the card of the artist, Reginald Adams. Check him out... www.reginaldadams.com 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinkaidAlum Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 Amazing artists. P.O.S. canvas. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nate99 Posted January 13, 2017 Share Posted January 13, 2017 If the tower goes forward, they should keep the mural visible with clear glass in the curtain wall on that corner. That would be kind of neat. If it was always assumed to be temporary, they could refresh it with new art every now and again. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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