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The Royalton At River Oaks: Condominium High-Rise At 3333 Allen Pkwy.


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  • 1 month later...

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2896838

Apartments may become condo units

By NANCY SARNOFF

Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle

A Denver real estate firm is buying 3333 Allen Parkway, a new high-rise apartment building along Buffalo Bayou that it is likely to convert into condominiums.

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BCN Development, which is expected to close on the 33-story building next month, has developed several upscale condo projects in its hometown and is starting to look in other cities.

President Craig Nassi won't talk specifically about his plans for the Houston building, but he said his firm recently began buying rental buildings to convert into condominiums.

"We believe the Houston market is on a very positive upswing," Nassi said.

The purchase price has not been disclosed, but sources say the sale will exceed $225,000 per unit, or $56.7 million.

Located midway between downtown and River Oaks, the 33-story building has 252 apartments. It is about 86 percent leased, according to O'Connor & Associates, a consulting firm. Rents average $2.09 per square foot for units that range in size from 900 square feet to more than 4,000 square feet.

Simmons Vedder & Co. developed the high-rise, which is on the former site of the Gulf Publishing Co. building.

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

I'm sure this is old news, but more than $225,000 per unit seems a little pricey. I hope this works out for them.

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  • 1 month later...

Im surprised it sold for so much! Ill be real curious to see what the price the condos for and how the market accepts it. The problem with this site is that it isnt "walkable" to the neighborhood. In contrast, I think the Museum Tower is a great urban site that would command huge sales per sf.

GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: Condo Converter Takes On Houston Trophy

By Jennifer D. Duell

Last updated: January 6, 2005 09:53am

HOUSTON-BCN Development has finalized plans to convert 3333 Allen Parkway into residential condominiums after beating out 10 other buyers to claim the 32-story, 253-unit apartment complex.

Located just one mile from Downtown, the high-rise complex was built in 2003 by a partnership between local developer, Simmons Vedder Co., and O'Connor Capital Partners of New York City. Industry experts say 3333 Allen Parkway sold to the Denver-based BCN for significantly higher than the city record of $225,000 price per unit, set by locally based Hanover Co. with the sale of the 356-unit 1200 Post Oak to Sentinel Real Estate Corp. for a reported $80 million. The Harris County Appraisal District has 3333 Allen Parkway assessed at $43 million.

BCN Development, under the leadership of Craig Nassi, has never tackled a condo conversion project, but has developed three condominium buildings in its hometown, Craig LaFollette, a senior vice president with CB Richard Ellis Inc., tells GlobeSt.com.

The project marks BCN Development's entrance into the Houston market. "Craig [Nassi] recognizes that Houston is in the infancy of its condo market and the first people to get it are the ones that are successful and make the money," says LaFollette, whose team included Todd Marix and J. Todd Stewart along with Jay Massirman in CBRE's Miami office. "Plus, he fell in love with the building and the location. And finally, there's no competition from existing high rises in the submarket."

According to LaFollette, 3333 Allen Parkway will require little if any renovations. "It's already a luxury property with granite countertops, hardwood floors and stainless steel appliances," he points out. "3333 Allen Parkway is in a triple A location and is a triple A building." BCN financed the acquisition with first-mortgage debt from Chicago-based Corus Bank and mezzanine funding from New York City-based CWCapital. Simmons Vedder development partner Rick Craig and Mark Ehrlich with O'Connor Capital in New York City also helped get the deal to the closing table.

The high-rise's units average 1,674 sf, ranging from 973 sf to 5,161 sf. The tower has 88 one-bedroom units; 139 two-bedroom apartments; 20 three-bedroom layouts; and six penthouses. It is 85% occupied with asking rental rates of $2.08 per sf. However, concessions drop the rate to $1.90 per sf, LaFollette says. BCN Development expects many renters at 3333 Allen Parkway will purchase condos, LaFollette says.

"There's opportunity and demand in the market. Orion is further evidence that Houston is becoming more accustomed to high-rise living," LaFollette says, referring to a $425-million condo tower being developed by a partnership between Asbury Place Development and Tarragon Corp. Orion condos sell from $500 per sf, but pricing for 3333 Allen Parkway's condos has not been determined yet, he says.

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  • 1 month later...

No, NOT 500 a month. This is being converted from rental to purchase condo units. Besides, 500 a month is CHEAP!

Now...at 500 per sq ft, a 1200 sq ft 2/2 would be...600,000!

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The cost is typicall for the Luxury Highrise market.  The Shamrock tower has a much lower price point than this though.

That price is absolutely not typical for Houston. Go check actual sales in the Houston market for the past few years.

The Redstone project at the Houstonian is getting close to $400 per foot which is a record for Houston. If $500 were "typical" everyone in the City would be a condo developer.

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I didn't say $500 psf was typicall for Houston. It is typical for a luxury high-rise development such as Orion. This is price point you see in many metropolitan areas for a luxury condo unit (high end with all the newest technology).

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  • 3 months later...

Well, I'm undercontract, again!!

Does anyone know the real status of The Royalton (aka "3333 The View") conversion from apartments to condominiums?

We've been under contract for 2 months now waiting for a closing date. Our first contract was at the Shamrock Towers. We refuse to the Galleria area to buy into a high-rise condo!

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  • 3 years later...
  • 6 years later...
  • The title was changed to The Royalton At River Oaks: 33-Story High-Rise At 3333 Allen Parkway
  • 1 month later...
2 hours ago, j_cuevas713 said:

No way this stays standing. Time to start thinking about new development for the site. 

If the building is in bad enough shape to need replacement, I'm guessing it will take about 347 years to work through the legal issues, but I may be pessimistic.

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"Residents of a Houston high-rise building won't be allowed back into apartments until inspectors confirm the building is structurally sound, city officials said on Friday."

Finally reported it at 6:18pm.

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/33-story-Houston-high-rise-evacuated-after-pipe-17370591.php

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It’s a question whether the broken pipe caused the structural issues or the structural issues caused the broken pipe.

I had a colleague work here during construction back in 2002 time frame (we are stationary engineers, whom work in high rise buildings performing & supervising maintenance). He had told me during construction a large water pipe burst and flooded down to the lowest floor, but the building was still being built and no finishes we’re even close to going in. I recall he said they used schedule 40 pvc pipe for the water risers. Interesting it happened again with much more dire effects. Again which caused which. Structural failures for a 20 year old building are very alarming.

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This is just awful. :( 
 

But I am so, so glad that they were able to evacuate everyone out safely and this didn’t turn into another Surfside situation. I feel absolutely awful for the people whose belongings are in there, but they are alive and safe and that is what is so important. 
 

Does anyone here live there/know people who do? 


It’s frightening, though- this building is barely 20 years old, isn’t it? I wonder if there’s going to be a structural review of buildings in Houston like what happened in FL? 
 

Edit- there are videos from inside and they are nuts. They’re on Instagram (which I don’t have an account on, but I’m trying to see if I can archive them?)

Edited by BEES?!
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1 hour ago, BEES?! said:

KHOU11 has at least 1 video from the lobby, showing some of the buckling of the floor and the water coming up.

Youtube Link

You can also see huge cracks on the walls. Not good at all.

Yeah that doesn't look good at all. I'm no inspector or engineer but I don't know how you can not only salvage the building but the reputation of the place as well. 

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