TMC Helix Park: Texas Medical Center Bio Research Campus

[Lux]

BCM signs as anchor tenant at Dynamic One Building at TMC Helix Park

“As an anchor tenant of Dynamic One, Baylor College of Medicine will lease 114,000 square-feet of lab and office space, increasing the depth and breadth of its research capacity.”

Edited January 10, 2023 by Lux

[CREguy13]

This is excellent news. Hopefully this gets the ball rolling for more private companies to start signing leases..

[bobruss]

I was driving down OST this afternoon at Scott heading towards the med center and the new One Discovery Way has broken the skyline.

[Highrise Tower]

TMC3!! wow!!

One Discovery Way:

Unknown street, leading to the McNair campus next door?

Collaborative Building:

Helix Park, 1st section:

Helix Park, 2nd section:

Helix Park, 3rd section:

Helix Park, 4th section:

Mixed-Use Garage getting near topping out:

[Paco Jones]

Parcel H

A 25-story Hotel and 18-story residential tower on top of a 4-story podium structure that includes a convention center and retail space.  The roof terrace and pool deck is approximately 95,000 SF.  The residential tower includes a rooftop pool deck that is +/-15,000 SF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Big E]

3 hours ago, Paco Jones said:

Parcel H

A 25-story Hotel and 18-story residential tower on top of a 4-story podium structure that includes a convention center and retail space.  The roof terrace and pool deck is approximately 95,000 SF.  The residential tower includes a rooftop pool deck that is +/-15,000 SF.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are they finally starting on this? Bout time. This is the largest piece of phase one and it hasn't started yet.

[toxtethogrady]

We shoulda known. North is to the left...

[Lux]

MeetingsNet writer Rob Carey reports that the soon to be constructed 521 room hotel will be operated by an “upper-upscale” or “luxury” hotel brand not yet chosen.  The STR Chain Scales document names 114 such hotels currently operating in the US market.

Edited January 19, 2023 by Lux

[monarch]

 

^^^ thank you @Paco Jones  for we have been eagerly awaiting this wonderful news.  hopefully, one of the below flags shall fly above this newest star of the TMC-3 development.

 

 

 

[Big E]

On 1/19/2023 at 11:22 AM, Lux said:

MeetingsNet writer Rob Carey reports that the soon to be constructed 521 room hotel will be operated by an “upper-upscale” or “luxury” hotel brand not yet chosen.  The STR Chain Scales document names 114 such hotels currently operating in the US market.

"Upper upscale" or "luxury" is it? That narrows the field quite a bit.

Well, when it comes to Marriott International, Houston already has a JW Marriott and a St. Regis, so it can't be one of those. It could be a W Hotels, but there were already plans to build a W Hotel next to the convention center over the Houston Partnership building, if I'm not mistaken (though we haven't heard about that project for awhile). A Ritz-Carlton is also a possibility as is a Bulgari Hotel. It could be a part of The Luxury Collection, or an Edition Hotels hotel. It could also be part of the Design Hotels or the Autograph Collection, though these are less likely.

If they go for Hilton Worldwide, that limits the luxury options to Waldorf-Historia, Conrad Hotels, and LXR Hotels, while the upper upscale options would be Hilton, Canopy, Embassy Suites, Signia, and The Curio Collection. All of the Upper Upscale brands already have hotels in Houston (the Curio Collection actually has two, C. Baldwin and The Sam Houston), so that leaves only the three luxury brands as likely candidates).

If you consider Hyatt Hotels, That leaves you primarily with Hyatt Regency, Park Hyatt, and Grand Hyatt. Houston already has a Hyatt Regency, which is their top tier brand, and I consider the other Hyatt brands less likely. As for their independent collections, their Destination Hotels collection used to include Hotel Derek, but I don't see them reopening a new hotel here. Their Joie de Vivre collection is mainly made up of boutique hotels, not big ones like this one. It could be part of the Unbound collection I guess. As for their Boundless portfolio of Hotel brands, Houston is already getting a Thompson Hotel via the Allen (if it ever finishes), and I don't see them opening any of their other brands here anytime soon.

If we consider Accor, the most likely candidate would be a Fairmont Hotel, of which there is already a prominent one in Austin. A Raffles Hotel is unlikely.

If they go with an IHG Hotel, it could be a Regent Hotel, InterContinental, or Kimpton Hotel (which recently had a canceled hotel development in Midtown; Houston is the only one of the top five largest cities in Texas that lacks a Kimpton). Hotel Indigo are small boutique hotels, so unlikely this will be one. As for the Premium Collection hotels, Houston already has a Crowne Plaza, Voco doesn't operate in the U.S., and I doubt its an Even Hotel, of which there are only 20.

If we look at Wyndham Hotels, Dolce only manages historical properties, and while Houston lacks a Wyndham Grand, I don't see a chain that minor being a premier brand to put here.

For independent chains, Houston already has a Four Seasons and an Omni Hotel, and there is already a hotel in Houston that is part of The Leading Hotels of the World (Hotel Granduca Houston), and there were plans, at one time, to build a Hard Rock Hotel. It could be a Mandarin Oriental.

Edited January 21, 2023 by Big E

[LBC2HTX]

Fairmont, Proper, or Kimpton.

[toxtethogrady]

Did Kempinski disappear off the face of the Earth?

[asubrt]

Grand Hyatt is my rather uneducated guess, with Fairmont a close second. Kempinski has a total of zero hotels in the US so I don't think that's very likely. I would be flabbergasted (but extremely happy!) if it was a Mandarin Oriental.

[Big E]

3 hours ago, asubrt said:

Grand Hyatt is my rather uneducated guess, with Fairmont a close second. Kempinski has a total of zero hotels in the US so I don't think that's very likely. I would be flabbergasted (but extremely happy!) if it was a Mandarin Oriental.

Unlikely to be a Hyatt. Houston already has multiple Hyatt Hotels, including four Hyatt Regencies, along with multiple Hyatt Places, and Hyatt Houses. Not impossible, but Hyatt is pretty well represented in Houston.

In the same vein I mentioned the Autograph Collection in my previous comment. But this being one of those is also unlikely. The Autograph Collection already has two hotels in Houston, The Hotel ICON, and The Laura. Unlikely they will put another one of those here. You also probably won't see a Tribute Portfolio hotel for the same reason; Houston already has one, the Magnolia Hotel.

I figure that Fairmont is a reasonable guess.

Edited January 22, 2023 by Big E

[LosFeliz]

Here's what currently exists in the Medical Center market off the top of my head...

Westin, Marriott, InterContinental, Doubletree by Hilton, Hilton, Blossom, Home2Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Spring Hill Suites, Courtyard by Marriott, Hampton Inn, and Extended Stay.

What isn't in the market but is in Houston or Texas would be my guess. Hyatt. Omni. Fairmont. W. Kimpton. I'd love to see a Mandarin or Ritz but I just can't see it since this will be a work/medical conference/patient family hotel. Not enough high end leisure. If it were on the north side of the TMC I could see it because it would front Hermann Park and could be marketed as a museum district hotel as well since Houston does see some high end arts travelers. 

Edited January 22, 2023 by LosFeliz

[Houston19514]

11 hours ago, Big E said:

Unlikely to be a Hyatt. Houston already has multiple Hyatt Hotels, including four Hyatt Regencies, along with multiple Hyatt Places, and Hyatt Houses. Not impossible, but Hyatt is pretty well represented in Houston.

In the same vein I mentioned the Autograph Collection in my previous comment. But this being one of those is also unlikely. The Autograph Collection already has two hotels in Houston, The Hotel ICON, and The Laura. Unlikely they will put another one of those here. You also probably won't see a Tribute Portfolio hotel for the same reason; Houston already has one, the Magnolia Hotel.

I figure that Fairmont is a reasonable guess.

Fifth and Sixth Hyatt Regencies are opening soon (Baytown and Conroe).  Unlikely to be a Hyatt Place or Hyatt House because it's not planned to be that type of hotel.  It could still be a Hyatt Regency.  No reason a city of 7+ million people is limited to six Hyatt Regencies.  Nevertheless, among Hyatt brands, it seems Grand Hyatt might be the most likely. (And Hyatt is far less well-represented in Houston (and everywhere else for that matter) than Hilton or Marriott.)

Similarly, a city of 7+ million people is not limited to only 2 Autograph Collection hotels (We actually already have 3 in the metro - Grand Galvez is now flying the Autograph flag).  But for other reasons this is very unlikely to be an Autograph Collection.  Same applies to Tribute Portfolio - just having two (also Tremont House) already doesn't make it impossible or even unlikely we would get another.  But for other reasons, very unlikely to fly that flag. Similarly, the fact that we already have a JW Marriott (actually we already have 2), doesn't exclude that flag from consideration.  In fact, I would consider JW Marriott to be a pretty strong contender. W doesn't seem likely - to me W seems like kind of a tired brand anyway, but it doesn't really seem like the vibe a Medical Center conference hotel would be going for.

Also from the earlier post, InterContinental seems like one of the least likely, as they already have a location in the Medical Center. Kimpton is unlikely as it's just not that kind of hotel. Hilton and Embassy Suites are not upper upscale.  Among the Hilton brands, the most likely flags would be Waldorf-Astoria and Conrad.

 

 

 

 

[HOUCAJUN]

10 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

Fifth and Sixth Hyatt Regencies are opening soon (Baytown and Conroe).  Unlikely to be a Hyatt Place or Hyatt House because it's not planned to be that type of hotel.  It could still be a Hyatt Regency.  No reason a city of 7+ million people is limited to six Hyatt Regencies.  Nevertheless, among Hyatt brands, it seems Grand Hyatt might be the most likely. (And Hyatt is far less well-represented in Houston (and everywhere else for that matter) than Hilton or Marriott.)

Similarly, a city of 7+ million people is not limited to only 2 Autograph Collection hotels (We actually already have 3 in the metro - Grand Galvez is now flying the Autograph flag).  But for other reasons this is very unlikely to be an Autograph Collection.  Same applies to Tribute Portfolio - just having two (also Tremont House) already doesn't make it impossible or even unlikely we would get another.  But for other reasons, very unlikely to fly that flag. Similarly, the fact that we already have a JW Marriott (actually we already have 2), doesn't exclude that flag from consideration.  In fact, I would consider JW Marriott to be a pretty strong contender. W doesn't seem likely - to me W seems like kind of a tired brand anyway, but it doesn't really seem like the vibe a Medical Center conference hotel would be going for.

Also from the earlier post, InterContinental seems like one of the least likely, as they already have a location in the Medical Center. Kimpton is unlikely as it's just not that kind of hotel. Hilton and Embassy Suites are not upper upscale.  Among the Hilton brands, the most likely flags would be Waldorf-Astoria and Conrad.

 

 

 

 

A Waldorf Astoria would be great! Do you really think the W Hotel brand has lost its luster?

[Big E]

5 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

Fifth and Sixth Hyatt Regencies are opening soon (Baytown and Conroe).  Unlikely to be a Hyatt Place or Hyatt House because it's not planned to be that type of hotel.  It could still be a Hyatt Regency.  No reason a city of 7+ million people is limited to six Hyatt Regencies.  Nevertheless, among Hyatt brands, it seems Grand Hyatt might be the most likely. (And Hyatt is far less well-represented in Houston (and everywhere else for that matter) than Hilton or Marriott.)

Similarly, a city of 7+ million people is not limited to only 2 Autograph Collection hotels (We actually already have 3 in the metro - Grand Galvez is now flying the Autograph flag).  But for other reasons this is very unlikely to be an Autograph Collection.  Same applies to Tribute Portfolio - just having two (also Tremont House) already doesn't make it impossible or even unlikely we would get another.  But for other reasons, very unlikely to fly that flag. Similarly, the fact that we already have a JW Marriott (actually we already have 2), doesn't exclude that flag from consideration.  In fact, I would consider JW Marriott to be a pretty strong contender. W doesn't seem likely - to me W seems like kind of a tired brand anyway, but it doesn't really seem like the vibe a Medical Center conference hotel would be going for.

That's why I hedge my bets and put "probably" in front of my predictions. I know its not impossible for most brands to have more than one hotel in a metro. but I figured that existing upper upscale brands, being already represented, are probably unlikely to put another hotel of the same brand in the same city and cannibalize sales from existing hotels unless there is a real need. Houston isn't the most happening market in this segment, so I would consider a major hotel like this attracting a brand that isn't already present because that will draw more immediate interest.

I would consider JW Marriott more likely than not. I only discount W because there's one already planned and its yet to get off the ground. I'm actually curious why you see W Hotels as a tired brand, other than the simple fact that Marriott already has similar hotels in that market segment. Among Marriott brands, I'm pulling for a Ritz-Carlton, though.

As for Luxury brands, you generally only ever see one of those in a city, unless its a really large and world class metro area. You won't find two St. Regis Hotels in one city generally, so, its unlikely this is a second St. Regis, for instance. Houston lacks five star hotels in general as there are only five: Hotel Granduca, The Post Oak, The St. Regis, La Colombe d'Or, and the Four Seasons. That's pretty pathetic for a metro area of this size, compared to metros like Greater Miami, Greater L.A., Greater Chicago, and Greater New York. So, if they are shooting for that market segment, they have room to do so, but it won't be under a brand that's already here.

Hyatt Regency is possible because, outside of downtown, all the other Hyatt Hotels are in West Houston or North Houston, so Hyatt underserves the area. But this isn't that far away from downtown or the Galleria area, which are served by Hyatt Hotels, including Hyatt Regencies. Hyatt may not see a point in pointing one here. In terms of the major hotel companies, though, I do agree that Hyatt is actually quite underrepresented in Houston, though that is probably by Hyatt's choice. They lack the shear number of brands Marriott International, for instance, has.

 

5 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

Also from the earlier post, InterContinental seems like one of the least likely, as they already have a location in the Medical Center.

Yeah, I forgot that Houston's one InterContinental is already in the area.

 

5 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

Kimpton is unlikely as it's just not that kind of hotel.

Explain.

5 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

Among the Hilton brands, the most likely flags would be Waldorf-Astoria and Conrad.

If it is a Hilton brand, I'm hedging my bets its one of these. I think a Waldorf-Astoria, in particular, would be a huge boon for Houston. Those are status hotels that will bring in a lot of attention to a city that "doesn't get tourists" as we so often hear.

9 hours ago, LosFeliz said:

I'd love to see a Mandarin or Ritz but I just can't see it since this will be a work/medical conference/patient family hotel. Not enough high end leisure. If it were on the north side of the TMC I could see it because it would front Hermann Park and could be marketed as a museum district hotel as well since Houston does see some high end arts travelers. 

Considering the rest of the project, I figure that this hotel will be pulling in the rich doctor and researcher clientele. People who bring in a lot of money in the healthcare and medical research segment. That's why they are focusing on Luxury and upper upscale brands. Thus, I wouldn't put a Ritz or Mandarin completely out of the running. I do agree that a Fairmont or Kimpton are probably more likely though.

Edited January 23, 2023 by Big E

[LosFeliz]

The main reason I rule out a Ritz is 531 rooms is very large. I've stayed in the Ritz in Boston and Denver. Boston has 193 rooms. Denver 202. I was curious so here's what I found;

444 rooms in Atlanta

434 in Chicago

336 in San Francisco

301 in Philadelphia

299 in St Louis

253 NY Central Park

251 in Portland (hotel opens this summer)

218 in Dallas

206 in Cleveland

202 in Denver

193 in Boston

146 in Charlotte

123 in Los Angeles

No way Houston can support 531 rooms if this is what other cities have. I expect we will eventually get a Ritz but it will be a mix of condos and hotel rooms. I'd love to see it Downtown but it will most likely end up along Post Oak/Galleria area.

 

 

Edited January 23, 2023 by LosFeliz

[MidCenturyMoldy]

4 hours ago, LosFeliz said:

I expect we will eventually get a Ritz but it will be a mix of condos and hotel rooms. I'd love to see it Downtown but it will most likely end up along Post Oak/Galleria area.

The St. Regis started off as a Ritz-Carlton. I don’t remember how long it remained a Ritz-Carlton.

[Highrise Tower]

One Discovery Way:

Unknown Street:

Two Discovery Way:

Helix Park, section 1:

Helix Park, section 2:

Helix Park, section 3:

Helix Park, section 4:

Mixed-Use Garage:

Parcel H:

Collaborative Building:

[Houston19514]

17 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

Kimpton is unlikely as it's just not that kind of hotel. 

 

12 hours ago, Big E said:

Explain.

Kimpton hotels are boutique hotels, not major conference hotels, a this is slated to be.  (Kimpton hotels average a little less than 200 rooms.  I don't know for sure, but I'd be surprised if there are any as large as 500 rooms.)

Edited January 23, 2023 by Houston19514

[Big E]

8 hours ago, MidCenturyMoldy said:

The St. Regis started off as a Ritz-Carlton. I don’t remember how long it remained a Ritz-Carlton.

Ah, I see. That must have been the infamous Ritz-Carlton Houston that was one of the four hotels to lose the use of the Ritz-Carlton name in 1997.

[Houston19514]

8 hours ago, MidCenturyMoldy said:

The St. Regis started off as a Ritz-Carlton. I don’t remember how long it remained a Ritz-Carlton.

 

29 minutes ago, Big E said:

Ah, I see. That must have been the infamous Ritz-Carlton Houston that was one of the four hotels to lose the use of the Ritz-Carlton name in 1997.

Yes, the Ritz-Carlton was one of the four to lose the Ritz-Carlton name in 1997.  (It subsequently was sold to Sheraton, was re-uprgraded and became the Luxury Collection Hotel. Then after Starwood bought Sheraton they gave it the St Regis name.  It was the third extension of the St. Regis brand beyond the original in Manhattan.)

The hotel did not start off as a Ritz-Carlton.  It was built in 1982 and was originally The Remington and was managed by Rosewood.  It became a Ritz-Carlton in 1986.

[MidCenturyMoldy]

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

The hotel did not start off as a Ritz-Carlton.  It was built in 1982 and was originally The Remington and was managed by Rosewood.  It became a Ritz-Carlton in 1986.

Remington (Rosewood)… Ritz… Regis. I sense a pattern.

Edited January 23, 2023 by MidCenturyMoldy

[Houston19514]

17 minutes ago, MidCenturyMoldy said:

Remington (Rosewood)… Ritz… Regis. I sense a pattern.

If it ever goes seriously downhill, I guess it could become a Ramada.

[MidCenturyMoldy]

Rodeway Inn

[Big E]

On 1/22/2023 at 9:59 PM, LosFeliz said:

The main reason I rule out a Ritz is 531 rooms is very large. I've stayed in the Ritz in Boston and Denver. Boston has 193 rooms. Denver 202. I was curious so here's what I found;

444 rooms in Atlanta

434 in Chicago

336 in San Francisco

301 in Philadelphia

299 in St Louis

253 NY Central Park

251 in Portland (hotel opens this summer)

218 in Dallas

206 in Cleveland

202 in Denver

193 in Boston

146 in Charlotte

123 in Los Angeles

No way Houston can support 531 rooms if this is what other cities have. I expect we will eventually get a Ritz but it will be a mix of condos and hotel rooms. I'd love to see it Downtown but it will most likely end up along Post Oak/Galleria area.

 

 

They could do what they did at L.A. Live and split the building between two hotels; half the rooms would got to the Ritz-Carlton, the other half to another hotel, like a J.W. Marriott.

[hindesky]

[Highrise Tower]

A plan review permit was pulled yesterday for Two Discovery Way, Parcel D Tower B. This is fantastic news!!