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SkyHouse Houston II: Multifamily At 1044 Jefferson St.


lockmat

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Per the November 8th downtown management agenda, they may be authorizing a project on block 350, which the agenda says is part of the TIRZ #3 downtown living chapter 380 program. However, according to this map, block 350 is on Pease between Main and Fannin, which to my knowledge is not within the project parameters. Anything know something about this? It would be cool to get some residential on this side of town, although near DG might create more synergy and the vibrancy they're looking for.

http://www.downtowndistrict.org/Home/Meetings/Overview1/default.asp

block numbers map http://www.downtownhouston.org/resource/maps/

project parameters http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2012/09/07/are-developers-interested-in-downtown.html?s=image_gallery

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Completely serious. I believe the land has already changed hands.

I wouldn't doubt that there will be a new residential highrise announced soon in the downtown area, and I think I know who's behind it. I'm a little bit surprised that this is a likely site, though. It isn't exactly anchored by anything the least bit attractive.

FWIW, I'm not finding any relevant courthouse filings by the prospective seller. Either it's a very recent transaction or it's still under contract while the prospective buyer does their due diligence.

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I guess if anyone has the time, the meeting is at noon Thursday downtown.

Thursday, November 8, 2012, at Noon in 2 Houston Center, 909 Fannin, Suite 1650

If you are interested in attending, please RSVP to Edith Tejada at 713.650.3022 or receptionist@downtowndistrict.org

Edited by lockmat
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I wouldn't doubt that there will be a new residential highrise announced soon in the downtown area, and I think I know who's behind it. I'm a little bit surprised that this is a likely site, though. It isn't exactly anchored by anything the least bit attractive.

FWIW, I'm not finding any relevant courthouse filings by the prospective seller. Either it's a very recent transaction or it's still under contract while the prospective buyer does their due diligence.

I suppose it's possible that the LLC was sold. (No need to record a sale of the land in that case.)

Edited by Houston19514
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looks like this was it. could break ground as early as 2013.

http://www.bizjourna...-group-inc.html

SkyHouse%20web%20edit*280.jpg?v=1

the article mentions they have done basically the same project in Atanta, so this rendering may not even be of Houston. The article doesn't say. I'm not sure if the first three to four floors in this rendering are enough for a parking garage, are they?

Edited by lockmat
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looks like this was it. could break ground as early as 2013.

http://www.bizjourna...-group-inc.html

SkyHouse%20web%20edit*280.jpg?v=1

the article mentions they have done basically the same project in Atanta, so this rendering may not even be of Houston. The article doesn't say. I'm not sure if the first three to four floors in this rendering are enough for a parking garage, are they?

You are correct in assuming that rendering isn't for a Houston building. I saw on another website where I think Austin was having this group develop a building using this same rendering. Another poster in that thread said that the image used there (which is the same image here) was used for the Atlanta version of the tower. Either way, I would expect the building to look a lot like this one if that is who is developing it.

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Very interesting, would be thrilled if anything of the sort was built there!

It is in kind of a "dead zone" between midtown and DG but I think it is smart for a large scale project to bridge the gap between these two places. Should make it easier for smaller scale apartments, retail ect to fill in between! But what do I know, just and engineer here going off my intuition!

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Another high-rise alternative to 2016 Main and Houston House would be nice.

@lockmat

The smaller structure adjacent could be the parking garage. Assuming a garage serving 400 units, the parking could fit in a 6-8 story standalone garage depending on the footprint - some above and some below grade parking.

Would like to see the retail wrap more of the block, though. For example, it's commendable that One Park Place included a Phoenicia.

Looking forward to the site specific renderings.

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Any thoughts on this location? I ask because I lived in the Houston House for a year while in law school and am glad to see this area getting developed. It was just the Good Year and lots of parking lots. It was really nice when the HP opened up as it gave us options of things to do w/o having to go to Midtown.

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Any thoughts on this location? I ask because I lived in the Houston House for a year while in law school and am glad to see this area getting developed. It was just the Good Year and lots of parking lots. It was really nice when the HP opened up as it gave us options of things to do w/o having to go to Midtown.

Niche's comment #7 is a good one. I'm really interested in their logic in building at this location. It is one block away from rail and there are other residential buildings close by.

Relative to Houston, the DG area is far, but I just came back from a NYC vacation and this was about the same distance it was from our hotel to Times Square, which we walked every day. It took about 15 minutes to get there.

Still, is the average renter going to justify the likely prices for this location? Although on the rail, this must be much cheaper that the N/NE area of downtown.

I'm curious if they purchased this before or after the 380 announcement. Block 350 E&E LLC has owned this since 2005. I wonder if this is them?

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I live in a condo building in Atlanta also developed by Novare (the developer for this proposed building in downtown Houston). The SkyHouse apartment building that Novare is finishing up here sits a few blocks from my building and is just a "Plain Jane" tower with an adjacent garage.

NO LIE - they broke ground on this thing in FEBRUARY 2012 and its is almost completely finished (10-12 month construction schedule!) In fact, the apartment building itself has one of the smallest footprints I've ever seen for any tower so thats how it went up so fast and they pretty much worked 6-7 days a week. Please note that Novare does things "on the cheap".

They did at least include an oval roof top in the final design which differed from the same original rendering here, however the building and garage have VERY LIMITED retail and the garage design particularly has been completely degraded by bloggers on the Atlanta Construction Forum http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=166320&page=268.

Nevertheless, this would still be a boost with getting more residents living in downtown Houston - so I really hope it gets off the ground!!

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Speed of construction does not necessarily mean a building is poorly built. I know a development company that does a very good job with its residential buildings (not the best, but certainly way above average) that did a 49-story building in 13 months, plus two months for the interior.

It's all about how much money you're willing to spend on extra people, extra planning, and extra work days.

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Speed of construction does not necessarily mean a building is poorly built. I know a development company that does a very good job with its residential buildings (not the best, but certainly way above average) that did a 49-story building in 13 months, plus two months for the interior.

It's all about how much money you're willing to spend on extra people, extra planning, and extra work days.

This is most certainly true. High rise construction is dependent on several things.

Theres no way to tell unless youre on the project management team how many work-hours or pre-planning went into that high rise construction.

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Speed of construction does not necessarily mean a building is poorly built. I know a development company that does a very good job with its residential buildings (not the best, but certainly way above average) that did a 49-story building in 13 months, plus two months for the interior.

It's all about how much money you're willing to spend on extra people, extra planning, and extra work days.

To be clear, my comments on Novare's aggressive construction schedule and that they do things "on the cheap" were in no way intended to imply that I believe their buildings are poorly built, simply that we should not expect this building to take long to come to fruition NEITHER should we expect anything extravagant from this developer on this particular project.

Prior to the last couple of years, my occupation was in the construction field, specifically a project manager for a top homebuilder/developer. Many times customers would "complain" that we were building their homes too fast and it appeared we were just throwing the house together. Ironically, it has always been my experience that the homes that go up the fastest are generally the best built because fewer major mistakes were made that needed extra time to correct! Additionally, when we adhere to a robust schedule, it limits the amount of time that construction materials are exposed to the elements.

7 years ago I personally bought a condo built by Novare here in Atlanta and I have not had any issues regarding construction quality, in fact I'm quite pleased - and this coming from a construction guy!

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Where exactly is block 350? The amount of projects going up right now is INSANE! Does this rival the 80s anybody?

NM, I see the OP has put a link to block numbers. Thanks OP!

Not even close. The late 70s and early 80s completely built the skyline that we see today. The infill that projects like this represent is great, but Houston will never see the concentration of large projects that the Boomtown years produced again. The combination of explosive oil exploration and easy money from savings and loans was unprecedented. The ensuing collapse of both oil and S&Ls created the worst real estate collapse in Houston history, and fairly permanently tempered Houston developers' taste for spec highrises.

However, the Houston metro is more than twice the size now as it was then. While percentage wise the construction may be smaller today, our sheer size means that more overall construction will take place in a normal economy.

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