POST: Mixed-Use Development At 401 Franklin St.

[springcityparts]

This reminds me of POST

[ZRFkris]

I’ll try and upload some photos from Rufus 🤙🏽

[j_cuevas713]

I think what was really cool is I saw one of those double decker city tour buses filled up with people the day I went. We def made a good impression on visitors with so many people walking around to check out POST and the energy of everything. 

Edited November 17, 2021 by j_cuevas713

[freundb]

2 hours ago, emmanume said:

This reminds me of POST

LOL. 100%

[Luminare]

I'll be honest. I've never seen a stairs configured in this way. Definitely going to walk this next time I'm in town. Have any of you seen Inception? Its like that moment when Joseph Gorden-Levitt's character was showing Ellen Page...Elliot Page...ugh...whatever anyway, the Penrose Steps or infinite staircase, but then the illusion was broken to show that its all a trick and the stairs then separate. Pretty neat. 

[BeerNut]

From u/Metaljoetx on Reddit.  713 Music Hall

 

 

[BigFootsSocks]

10 hours ago, Luminare said:

I'll be honest. I've never seen a stairs configured in this way. Definitely going to walk this next time I'm in town. Have any of you seen Inception? Its like that moment when Joseph Gorden-Levitt's character was showing Ellen Page...Elliot Page...ugh...whatever anyway, the Penrose Steps or infinite staircase, but then the illusion was broken to show that its all a trick and the stairs then separate. Pretty neat. 

It is Elliot Page, he changed it this year I believe.

[freundb]

11 hours ago, Luminare said:

I'll be honest. I've never seen a stairs configured in this way. Definitely going to walk this next time I'm in town. Have any of you seen Inception? Its like that moment when Joseph Gorden-Levitt's character was showing Ellen Page...Elliot Page...ugh...whatever anyway, the Penrose Steps or infinite staircase, but then the illusion was broken to show that its all a trick and the stairs then separate. Pretty neat. 

They are cool. They look even more like an illusion from the second floor like @tigereye posted in his twitter pics. 

[gene]

On 11/17/2021 at 8:50 AM, BigFootsSocks said:

It is Elliot Page, he changed it this year I believe.

I wonder what or how they will handle that fact on The Umbrella Academy? i love that show! 

[BeerNut]

21 minutes ago, gene said:

I wonder what or how they will handle that fact on The Umbrella Academy? i love that show! 

I believe he is a producer on that show,  I would think there would be some consistency in character.

[Andrew Ewert]

On 11/17/2021 at 8:50 AM, BigFootsSocks said:

It is Elliot Page, he changed it this year I believe.

They know that, they're just taking the opportunity to take a dig at trans people regardless of how off-topic it is.

[BEES?!]

I’m hoping to get back soon to POST since they had their grand opening. Anyone been back? How’s it looking like on non-opening weekend?

I can’t wait to get back and try some of the places that’ve opened up! (I’m a bit ramen fan, so Ramen Moto is one I’m really looking forward to)

[samagon]

I went during lunch on black Friday, it was busy.

Food was passable at the place I ate, view was stunning.

 

maybe it was just me, but the inside felt like a mall with no retail moved in, and all of the food court open. 

Edited December 2, 2021 by samagon

[BEES?!]

1 hour ago, samagon said:

I went during lunch on black Friday, it was busy.

Food was passable at the place I ate, view was stunning.

 

maybe it was just me, but the inside felt like a mall with no retail moved in, and all of the food court open. 

Nice pic samagon!

Yeah, when we went for the soft opening, I definitely got that impression, too. (Though there were a lot less of the restaurants open- I think only like half) 

I saw what looked like someone moving stuff into one of the office spaces in the Z-stairway area. I wonder if POST is having to compete with ION for tenants for their office space. 

In any case, I’m excited, and very curious, to see what they’ll do with the space in the next phases. What a unique project- I can’t wait to get back and check it out again!

[Texasota]

I was there on Sunday and it was pretty full with a surprising (to me at least - it was very windy) number of people just hanging out on the roof.

All the food I tried was excellent, and apparently the vendors are having issues with having under-ordered for the demand they've been getting. 

[samagon]

spot on review:

https://www.houstonpress.com/restaurants/popping-in-at-post-houston-12461354

after reading that, I have to agree, I wasn't disappointed in the food, I was disappointed in the food for the price I was charged. I suspect the prices they pay for those stalls is hefty, along with the CAM, so it gets passed on down the line.

[nate4l1f3]

It really is a wasted opportunity not to have some sort of rooftop bar/beer garden. I’d be more willing to pay $15 for a drink if that’s the case. 

[samagon]

17 hours ago, nate4l1f3 said:

It really is a wasted opportunity not to have some sort of rooftop bar/beer garden. I’d be more willing to pay $15 for a drink if that’s the case. 

someone had mentioned that it looked like they had leasable space on the roof deck. my guess is that the vision is that a bar is going to option that, but for the premium they are asking none have bitten yet.

I think it's interesting they bill it as a park, and it is, but at the end of the day, it's an amenity of a business. in that HP article, you can see clearly in the photo of the couple that got engaged they were drinking some sparkling liquid poured from a wine like container. I mean, that was a special type thing, but if you allow someone to bring a bottle of wine up there to make an engagement that much more memorable, then what about someone just doing a date night? what about someone doing some casual drinking with friends? where is that acceptability line drawn?

I can't recall if I saw a sign that said 'no outside food or drink' but I would suspect that this is going to be a quick addition, unless I just missed the signs.

[sapo2367]

17 hours ago, nate4l1f3 said:

It really is a wasted opportunity not to have some sort of rooftop bar/beer garden. I’d be more willing to pay $15 for a drink if that’s the case. 

IIRC there are plans for TWO rooftop bars eventually. But I can't recall now where I read that so don't believe everything you see on the internet.

[H-Town Man]

I guess the big question now is whether the attraction of the rooftop deck can continue to draw enough people to provide business to support the food court tenants, whose rent in turn supports the maintenance of the rooftop deck. Unless they can get some other things going.

 

[j_cuevas713]

 

55 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

I guess the big question now is whether the attraction of the rooftop deck can continue to draw enough people to provide business to support the food court tenants, whose rent in turn supports the maintenance of the rooftop deck. Unless they can get some other things going.

 

The concert venue is also going to help draw people constantly. When I was in SF and Seattle, both of their markets weren't always busy. It was usually big events that drew crowds but otherwise the amount of people was sparse. 

[H-Town Man]

1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

 

The concert venue is also going to help draw people constantly. When I was in SF and Seattle, both of their markets weren't always busy. It was usually big events that drew crowds but otherwise the amount of people was sparse. 

How often are concerts though?

 

[samagon]

when I was in Seattle, Pike Place Market was packed. it was a Saturday morning so weekend made a difference I'm sure, but it was very busy.

Post401 (and those hoping that Houston becomes a tourist destination) could only hope to be as successful as Pike Place.

Edited December 9, 2021 by samagon

[j_cuevas713]

12 minutes ago, samagon said:

when I was in Seattle, Pike Place Market was packed. it was a Saturday morning so weekend made a difference I'm sure, but it was very busy.

Post401 (and those hoping that Houston becomes a tourist destination) could only hope to be as successful as Pike Place.

Oh yeah for sure. I think with time it will. They will continue to add tenants. Future additions to the building will happen as well. 

 

15 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

How often are concerts though?

 

Pretty damn often. We aren't just talking about big names either. I'm sure it will host an array of artists continually. That's the whole reason they built it was to have a constant stream of people visiting the site and as an anchor to draw tenants. 

[hindesky]

There seems to be 3-5 per month so far till May. I bet they schedule more too.

https://www.713musichall.com/events

Edited December 9, 2021 by hindesky

[H-Town Man]

This was the featured article on Costar yesterday, at least for Texas-area subscribers (my subscription is through Dallas). So everyone in the Texas real estate world saw a nice big picture of the center atrium. The article was fairly in depth but not much that we didn't already know.

Leasing the office will be challenging... they are asking $32/SF NNN. Compare that to Pennzoil Place at $28.50/SF NNN, the Gulf Building at $24.00/SF NNN, or for the history lover, a nice old gem like 917 Franklin for $24.00/SF Full Service (~$15.00/SF NNN). Where would you rather be?

The article's focus on the Lius was something different from other articles I've read:

Unlikely Duo

When local Taiwanese-American developer Frank Liu, with Lovett Commercial, purchased the high-profile site in 2015, it drew some initial concern because his company is mostly known for building shopping centers and townhouses that are “neither ugly nor distinctive” and are “mostly inconspicuous despite their large numbers,” according to Texas Architect Magazine.

Indeed, OMA’s partnership with Lovett Commercial is a bit like the fictional Homer Simpson character from "The Simpsons" marrying a super model, said Kirby Liu, director of development at Lovett Commercial and Frank Liu's son, at Post Houston’s grand opening in November. OMA’s international adaptive reuse projects include turning a Soviet-era restaurant into a contemporary art museum in Moscow and converting a distillery into a museum for Prada in Milan.

Lovett Commercial beat out some bids from developers that wanted to demolish the project and start from scratch for the high-profile site.

“This site after all stands alone as the key to unlock the urban potential of downtown. So perhaps there was a little disappointment when this once-in-a-generation opportunity fell into the hands of a developer whose primarily known for townhouses and strip centers and perhaps that disappointment was magnified when it became known that we wanted to preserve virtually the entirety of the complex,” said Kirby Liu.

An interior shot of a the post office sorting room where letters served as locators in the warehouse. (OMA)

Lovett Commercial bought the site at a time when global oil prices were collapsing and sending the commercial real estate market that tended to rely on energy tenants into a tailspin, with oil and gas companies shedding office space and fleeing pricey downtown leases. Two years later, Hurricane Harvey crashed into the city, flooding underground pipes that overwhelmed the former post office's sump pumps, flooding basements and destroying much of the building’s infrastructure, Kirby Liu said in an email to CoStar News.

“To be honest, we were not immune from mounting public incredulity that we were chasing what seemed to be a project with all the odds stacked against it and inexperienced leadership at that," Kirby Liu said at the ceremony. "This is a manifestation of our collective hope in that true architecture is for everyone from every walk of life.”

[BEES?!]

Don’t Pennzoil and the Gulf building both suffer from pretty high vacancy rates? I’d be curious to see how much POST is asking for lines up with similar projects. Probably not something like Texas Tower, but a low or mid-rise new construction office building/ mixed use concept inside the loop? How much are asking rates for, say, Montrose Collective? 
 

I’m not an expert on any of this stuff by any stretch of the imagination, to be sure (nor do i play one on tv :P ) but I’d imagine someone who wants to lease office space in POST/one of the trendier new low/midrise buildings might be a different clientele than the people looking to rent in one of the towers in downtown/uptown/etc. 

[freundb]

I really liked how the empty office looked lit up in orange during the grand opening. I know it would be one very expensive art installation, but I'm ok with it. 

[H-Town Man]

2 hours ago, BEES?! said:

Don’t Pennzoil and the Gulf building both suffer from pretty high vacancy rates? I’d be curious to see how much POST is asking for lines up with similar projects. Probably not something like Texas Tower, but a low or mid-rise new construction office building/ mixed use concept inside the loop? How much are asking rates for, say, Montrose Collective? 
 

I’m not an expert on any of this stuff by any stretch of the imagination, to be sure (nor do i play one on tv :P ) but I’d imagine someone who wants to lease office space in POST/one of the trendier new low/midrise buildings might be a different clientele than the people looking to rent in one of the towers in downtown/uptown/etc. 

Pennzoil and Gulf both have fairly good occupancy for downtown - Gulf is high 70's and Pennzoil is in the 60's%. Montrose Collective is $37-45/SF NNN but that is new construction, hard to compare. Ion might be a better comparison at $33-37/SF NNN.

Different clientele, yes, to a point. A prospective tenant at POST gets a great view, a food hall, a sense of history, a downtown vibe. A prospective tenant at the Gulf building gets a great view, a food hall, a sense of history, a downtown vibe. Some differences remain... POST may be more of a blank slate for something offbeat, while at Gulf there is more the traditional office feel with lots of bank employees around you. Parking and traffic are big issues... maybe POST is easier to get in and out of for someone driving in on Washington?

Edited December 17, 2021 by H-Town Man

[arche_757]

What sense of history are you remotely referring to?