Houston Center Redevelopment

[Nate99]

13 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said:

I disagree.

 

20-years ago, the mall was full of decent stores.  There was a brooks brothers, a mid-tier jewelry store (‘corrigans” as I recall), luggage store, men’s shoe store, a fancy candy store and lots more.  How do I know this? 

 

Well..... I bought clothes at brooks brothers for myself.  Johnson and Murphy dress Shoes at the shoe store, pearl earrings at the jewelry store for my wife, an expensive Jack George briefcase at the luggage store, and my friend owned the candy store.  The mall was NOT “lame” since “day one”.... it was quite functional and a place where downtown office people actually shopped.

 

 

 

There was an Oshman's and a Bennigan's that lasted quite a while in there too.  It was a functional mall without an anchor department store, and that model has tailed off everywhere. It may have happened a bit earlier for the Park Shops given their location in the CBD, but the world is sprouting up around it now. It's an interesting space with potential. 

[Elseed]

18 hours ago, UtterlyUrban said:

I disagree.

 

20-years ago, the mall was full of decent stores.  There was a brooks brothers, a mid-tier jewelry store (‘corrigans” as I recall), luggage store, men’s shoe store, a fancy candy store and lots more.  How do I know this? 

 

Well..... I bought clothes at brooks brothers for myself.  Johnson and Murphy dress Shoes at the shoe store, pearl earrings at the jewelry store for my wife, an expensive Jack George briefcase at the luggage store, and my friend owned the candy store.  The mall was NOT “lame” since “day one”.... it was quite functional and a place where downtown office people actually shopped.

 

 

 

Sorry bud, it was and always will be lame.

21 hours ago, swtsig said:

 

hence the reason they're about to undergo a major renovation. 

 

please never stop posting. 

 

You got it brother!

[swtsig]

Brookfield is unveiling their plans for Houston Center 1/15, just FYI

[CaptainJilliams]

Awesome!

[downtownian]

1 hour ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

The Houston Center website has a new look, promising new changes to go with the look of the website.

 

The heart of downtown Houston is changing. Planning is underway for a major redevelopment of Houston Center’s landmark 4.2M square foot office and retail campus. Brookfield Properties is making a significant capital investment that will raise the bar in the total tenant experience. Houston Center will be a modern and dynamic mixed use office campus with the amenities to retain and attract top talent.
 

Please check back in January 2019 for the unveiling of the redevelopment plans.

 

http://houstoncenter.com/

 

 

 

I hope there is a food hall component. Downtown Houston can't get by with only Conservatory, Bravery, Lyric, Finn Hall and Understory plus the planned one at the Post HTX.

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

10 minutes ago, downtownian said:

I hope there is a food hall component. Downtown Houston can't get by with only Conservatory, Bravery, Lyric, Finn Hall and Understory plus the planned one at the Post HTX.

 

 

the east half of the first floor of the Shops is pretty much all restaurants now, but more choices would be good

[Texasota]

It would be cool if it became an actual market hall. There are no food halls yet on the east side of downtown though, so that would work too..

(I'm actually like 75% serious)

[Urbannizer]

http://houstoncenter.com/

[H-Town Man]

19 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

http://houstoncenter.com/

 

Man, you just infuriated Crockpot, who already posted that link above.

 

The images suggest something kind of Austin-y. I hope it doesn't get too weird along McKinney; these are understated, classy buildings deserving of dignity.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by H-Town Man

[UtterlyUrban]

On 12/19/2018 at 1:06 PM, CrockpotandGravel said:

The Houston Center website has a new look, promising new changes to go with the look of the website.

 

The heart of downtown Houston is changing. Planning is underway for a major redevelopment of Houston Center’s landmark 4.2M square foot office and retail campus. Brookfield Properties is making a significant capital investment that will raise the bar in the total tenant experience. Houston Center will be a modern and dynamic mixed use office campus with the amenities to retain and attract top talent.
 

Please check back in January 2019 for the unveiling of the redevelopment plans.

 

http://houstoncenter.com/

 

 

“Retail campus”?

 

hmmmmmm.  I guess the dress barn is about the only store left in the “retail campus” ......

 

sadly, I think that thier vision for the “retail campus” is going to be a food court with liquor.   

[CREguy13]

Looking forward to this announcement.  This is approx. a $100m investment by Brookfield into Houston Center.

[DrLan34]

On 12/19/2018 at 11:49 AM, swtsig said:

Brookfield is unveiling their plans for Houston Center 1/15, just FYI

 

Not sure if this is part of the final plans, but I found this:

 

https://gibranvillalobos.com/gibran-villalobos-architecture/

 

 

 

[UtterlyUrban]

If I had. Nickel for every time a developer used H&M or other store logos on their project, I might be able to buy a condo at Marlowe.

 

Does Greenstreet retail look  like the renderings?  It’s been about 5 years.

 

didnt The Star include H&M specifically in their renderings?  Under the new tower that they didn’t build as I recall.

 

didnt the downtown organization include an H&M in the renderings for Dallas street where Houston has spent millions to attract retail and has gotten none?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[j_cuevas713]

I was hoping they would open it up with more glass and natural light. I like it!

[Houston19514]

They need visible access to the shops from the east end.  I had hoped for exterior escalators on the prior remodel...  surely they'll add something this time?

[DrLan34]

More information:

 

https://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Downtown-s-Houston-Center-prepares-for-makeover-13536779.php 

 

"Construction will begin next month and is expected to take nearly two years to complete."

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by DrLan34

[downtownian]

8 minutes ago, DrLan34 said:

More information:

 

https://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Downtown-s-Houston-Center-prepares-for-makeover-13536779.php 

 

The rendering in the chron article looks even better than the renderings posted above 

[LBC2HTX]

1 minute ago, downtownian said:

 

The rendering in the chron article looks even better than the renderings posted above 

That's a rendering of 2 Houston Center, which is catty corner to the shops. 

[Houston19514]

28 minutes ago, LBC2HTX said:

That's a rendering of 2 Houston Center, which is catty corner to the shops. 

 

In Slide #12 you can catch a glimpse of the Shops building.  As downtownian said, it looks better than the renderings posted above.

 

The presentation is barely mentions the Shops.  The same for their website information about the renovation.  I guess they aren't ready to announce any details on the Shops renovation just yet.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Houston19514

[DrLan34]

Film to watch here:

 

http://houstoncenter.com/ 

 

Brochure:

 

http://houstoncenter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/HC_brochure-01.19.pdf

Edited January 16, 2019 by DrLan34

[Urbannizer]

 

 

 

 

[Luminare]

Great design, honestly. Probably the best possible approach with balancing the need to address ground level and not damage the identity of the building. These buildings come from a completely different idea/era of a different type of city. Its interesting to image just what the mega platform city of Houston Center would have looked like if it would have been built out in its full glory. Without the full development, these buildings have always been awkward. As far as the brick Houston Center building, that one still has a long way to go. Its just plain ugly, but the renovation images for that one also seem to be good ways readdressing ground level. All of this will completely turn this area around. Instead of being unwelcoming, monolithic, and dark, it will be the complete opposite.

Edited January 16, 2019 by Luminare

[mattyt36]

Page 4 of the PDF DrLan posted mentions nothing specific with regard to the Shops, which is strange when combined with lack of renderings.  I would've thought that would be one of the most prominent components given its uniqueness, but maybe they don't see much opportunity there.

 

I can't copy and paste but maybe someone will have better luck than I.  Synopsis:

 

-New central plaza and greenspace

 

-Renovation of LBT and 2 HC lobbies

 

-Reclad pedestrian bridges

 

-"Reshaping the retail and dining experience throughout Houston Center"

 

-New shared space design

 

-Conferencing and co-working venues

[H-Town Man]

The plaza looks pretty crisp. I think though that they are missing an opportunity to add more street-fronting retail along McKinney between Fannin and Austin. At one end of that stretch you have Morton's steakhouse at 1001 McKinney being one of their top performing locations in Texas. At the other end, we all know how successful Phoenicia has been. So give us more than just one new retail space in the three intervening blocks. Remove the covered driveway from 2HC and put something there (you can still have your entrance/exit on McKinney). Put something where the green triangle is at the foot of LyondellBasel Tower. Open up The Shops at Houston Center more, I can't even tell what they're doing to it (do we know if the Villalobos renderings above are part of the project?).

 

Edited January 16, 2019 by H-Town Man

[DrLan34]

This looks like The Shops might have significant changes.

 

 

Edited February 20, 2019 by DrLan34

[mattyt36]

1 hour ago, DrLan34 said:

This looks like The Shops might have significant changes.

 

 

If so, why keep under wraps at the grand unveiling and the initial distribution of the marketing materials? It usually works in the opposite direction.

[swtsig]

the shops/4hc is far trickier - apparently a lot of the MEPs run along the outside of the structure so just "opening it up" isn't really feasible. as of now it's still somewhat of an unknown but it sounds like their preference is to bring in a real grocer... whether or not they can is another story.

 

all in all brookfield and gensler have done a great job, though.

[kbates2]

Real grocer is awesome, putting them right across the street from our only other grocer is less awesome.

[tigereye]

5 hours ago, DrLan34 said:

This looks like The Shops might have significant changes.

 

 

Considering the the amount of leases Brookfield let expire causing closures, I’d say a renovation of the Park Shops is still likely. But I am surprised at the lack of details on this side of the project. Also, in the below render, you can see a sliver of the Park Shops, which looks to be at least reclad in a new material. The squared up design is similar to the renders on the Gibran Villalobos site. 

 

9 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

 

[august948]

I assume the other grocer you're talking about is Phoenicia.  Since they're sort of a specialty store, they could co-exist just fine with a regular grocery store.  It would be convenient to have two complimentary stores next to each other.