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Aris At Market Square: 32-Story High-Rise At 409 Travis St.


Mab

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This cycle was awesome,  we got some nice infill. This and 609 Main are two of my favorites and both are from Hines. 

 

And it going up on a surface lot makes it so much better.

 

Can't Wait To See What Goes Up Next cycle. Its going to be tough to beat this on the residential department and even tougher to beat 609 Main in the commercial department.  

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8 hours ago, Texasota said:

Um, I don't think those classrooms are going anywhere.

 

Oh hey, there's a standalone garage with retail. And it's terrible. 

 

Um, they will if the land value increases enough. UH-Downtown will sell and move them someplace else. Concept of highest and best use, principle of substitution.

 

I don't understand the second line of your post. Whose voice are you mimicking?

 

 

Edited by H-Town Man
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35 minutes ago, Texasota said:

I wasn't mimicking anybody - I was referencing the Lyric Center garage thread.

 

And no, I don't really see UH Downtown selling - that building is not very old and their location is increasingly going to be marketable to students for them. 

 

Not sure what I said in the Lyric Center thread to draw your ire. I am not a fan of parking garages and hope this one goes away. The comment on parking garages driving new construction in downtown retail was an ironic observation, not an endorsement of parking garages.

 

A classroom building will only sit on land that is worth so much. When value of the land as vacant, minus demolition cost, exceeds the value of the improved parcel, it is usually just a matter of time. Lots of industrial operators probably liked their sites near Washington Avenue, but when land values skyrocketed in that area, guess what they did? God knows the Chronicle probably liked Texas Avenue. I'd say that, assuming downtown continues to develop in popularity, the over/under on this is about ten years.

Edited by H-Town Man
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UHD's footprint is more likely to keep expanding than to contract as it gains more recognition as an institution.

 

Public educational institutions tend to be pretty stable landowners, not given to selling off chunks just because they're now worth more than before (HCC notwithstanding).

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No ire dude. I just happened to notice the garage in that picture right after posting in the other thread.

 

But speaking to mollusk's point, a school is very different from an industrial operator. Why did HSPVA *just* start building downtown despite the high cost of land? Why are there any public schools in any CBDs anywhere? I'm not going to say that UHD absolutely won't sell this lot, but I would be very surprised. 

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2 minutes ago, Texasota said:

No ire dude. I just happened to notice the garage in that picture right after posting in the other thread.

 

But speaking to mollusk's point, a school is very different from an industrial operator. Why did HSPVA *just* start building downtown despite the high cost of land? Why are there any public schools in any CBDs anywhere? I'm not going to say that UHD absolutely won't sell this lot, but I would be very surprised. 

 

To mollusk, no one said contract. Shift elsewhere. Yes, there can be a school presence in downtown areas. There are no absolutes. If UHD is really wedded to this location and the land value goes up, they can ground lease it to a developer who will demo the existing building and build a multi-use high rise, with the stipulation of leasing back a portion of it to the school (which then has really great views to sell prospective students on). The point is, a 3 or 4 story classroom-only building is not going to remain at a key corner site like that if values continue to go up.

 

I know of a church in College Station that really loves their site on Church Street. But a portion of that site appraised for $50/SF. So they are going to ground lease that for a high rise with GFR, and the income stream will help them fund their ambitious new sanctuary. It's about getting what you can out of what you have, and responding to change.

 

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Most likely that garage isn't going anywhere.  The top two stories are individually deeded parking spots that are owned by Bayou Lofts Residents.  A parking lot company owns the contract spots on the first two stories, and a separate person owns the retail where the bail-bonds place is now.  The AIA Houston Chapter owns the retail space on the other side of the block that is integrated into the garage. Thats literally over 100 people that would need to agree to the terms of the sale.  

 

On the plus side, AIA (which just purchased the ground-floor retail across Commerce from Spaghetti Warehouse) has some really fantastic things it is going to do to the exterior of the garage to improve it's appearance.  I also doubt the Bail Bondsman will be able to stay there through another lease cycle - but that's pure speculation.    

Edited by adr
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