Uptown And Galleria Area Real Estate

[Subdude]

Galleria offices slated

The Galleria area may have an abundance of vacant space in its office buildings, but that doesn't seem to bother Midway Cos., which is planning to build one more. But this building won't house huge law firms or oil and gas conglomerates that most big landlords drool over.

For one thing, they wouldn't fit.

Midway's office building is going to be only four stories tall with 50,000 square feet. That's about the size of one major tenant in a building like Williams Tower.

The low-key location and high-end design sell a different kind of experience.

The property is being built on Wynden, a tree-lined street tucked away from the cluster of high-rises and bumper-to-bumper traffic on Post Oak Boulevard.

And it's adjacent to Tanglewood, one of the priciest neighborhoods in town.

"A lot of the potential tenants we get are either heads of companies or doctors that live in Tanglewood or Memorial, and they want the convenience of having their office close to their home," said Jonathan Brinsden, executive vice president of Midway.

Other developers feel the same way.

Don Hand is developing a 90,000-square-foot four-story building on Cypresswood near the Hewlett-Packard campus.

It's also next to the Champion Forest neighborhood, which has million-dollar mansions overlooking the Raveneaux Country Club. Hand developed that neighborhood as well.

Tenants have committed to lease about 40 percent of the upscale building, and it's still under construction.

"There's a real demand for quality office space in the suburbs, and people will pay a premium to get it," said Brenda Pennington of Pennington Commercial Real Estate, which is leasing the building.

Indeed, space there is going for $22 per square foot, Pennington said. Those are top rents for that area.

And the owners of The Woodlands are planning to build a seven-story, 105,000-square-foot building with retail space along its Waterway.

The Woodlands Development Co. is considering moving into the building.

These developers weren't the first to recognize a growing demand for smaller, high-class office buildings near silk-stocking suburbs.

In the late 1990s, Redstone Cos. purchased undeveloped land adjacent to the Houstonian Hotel and developed a six-story office building on the site.

"They filled that building very quickly at high rents," said Midway's Brinsden.

And the link.

[Talbot]

Will this one have retail or any distinguishing architectual qualities that stand out or will it be one of those office park type buildings?

[KinkaidAlum]

The latter.

The first two buildings she speaks of are very suburban looking. Heck, the one going up in Tanglewood is located in a neighborhood that used to be 100% residential.

In fact, the only one that looks "urban" at all is the one in The Woodlands. Go figure...

[Talbot]

That's a disappointment, that's where the NIMBY's should be stepping in. It's like reverse progress.

[citykid09]

Wouldn't a Dense Area in Uptown be Cool?

Shopping, Living, Working, Walking!!!

Some one should think of that. That would be cool. Maybe something like the little downtown Sugarland is working on, but more dense with taller buildings.

Someone should develope something like this for Houston's Uptown. They could make millions. Everyone would want to live in that area. Then have the light rail run through (I say in a subway.)

If I had the money to I would do this. JUst think it you had Bill Gates money what you could do for your city. If I had the money I would build a subway Uptown (with my own money) make a very dense area, with out of this world attractions. Houston woould be where everyone would want to come and vacation. I would buy out Richmond ave, nock down everything and in place make Houston's version of Bourbon St.

I would by out Greenway Plaza move all of thouse business to downtown, and turn greenway in to an area where people live.

I would fix Montrose up by making more buildings walkable and I would add street cars to this area, and they would go all the way into downtown.

What would you do????

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[kzseattle]

I would leech off your generosity...

oh, and it's Bourbon, not Burbin

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Some interesting facts about Uptown Houston:

- It is about the size of downtown Atlanta, Denver and Los Angeles!

- Per capita income in Uptown of $65,000 is higher than Beverley Hills and Costa Mesa, California

- Williams Towers is the tallest building in the world outside of a CBD (claim is disputed though)

- Galleria is the fifth largest mall in America in term of retail space, second largest in term of number stores and largest in terms prestige and luxury.

- There are 30 high-rise apartment buildings in the vicinity of Uptown

- Uptown hosts 20 millions visitors a year.

Source - Wikipedia

[citykid09]

I would also have a Times Square type setup in Uptown, Kind of like what they are doing in Dallas. And I would pick one of the streets in Uptown and line it with walkable clubs, and pubs. Another thing I would do is keep adding to the Galleria, but make the newer parts walkable from the outside only.

And I don't care what any of you have to say about this. I WANT A SUBWAY IN HOUSTON!!!!

There is something about a subway thats more urban than street lightrail.

[UrbaNerd]

Blech, I would not like a times square type of thing in Uptown. keep uptown rich, not plastered in tacky, over-colorful overcommercializtion.

[111486]

I don't even think downtown would look like that. Well not anytime soon.

[citykid09]

You never know, some developer may plan to make it all happen.

[pwright1]

Blech, I would not like a times square type of thing in Uptown.  keep uptown rich, not plastered in tacky, over-colorful overcommercializtion.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Rich? Please!! Yeah just keep it 80's tacky, tired and bland.

[Sooner&RiceGrad]

Not only is Uptown wealthier than Beverly Hilsl itself, but the nation's wealthiest zip code is in downtown Houston. I think that justifies d'town AND uptown's claim as very "rich".

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[kzseattle]

I think that's almost a trick-statement. Is there a real demographic downtown to take a concensus of? I just have a hard time believing that our Downtown hosts the richest of the rich in this whole nation, much less this state.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I believe he is referring to River Oaks. It is indeed one of the wealthiest regions in the country although I am not sure if is the wealthiest. I did read it someplace that Memorial is the fourth wealthiest zip code in the country and we know River Oaks is wealthier than Memorial.

[UrbaNerd]

He meant income. There is this ONE zip code in Downtown Houston where the average income is like 700,000. This is because some rich dude or something lives in one of the lofts there. Also, the homes in River Oaks may be more expensive, but when they rate it by wealth, that part of memorial may have a higher median value, because many homes in the river Oaks area are relatively inexpensive (under 500,000) and this may cancel out the UBER expensive homes. The median for Piney Point is around 700,000 something.

[KinkaidAlum]

Actually, the wealthiest zip code in the nation is in fact 77010. However, most of downtown is 77002.

77010 is the zip code for the Houston Center. The only residents there live atop the Four Seasons Hotel in either rental apts or the new condos on the top 5 floors.

River Oaks' zip code is 77019. It is very wealthy but it also includes more than River Oaks, stretching East of Shepherd into what many consider parts of Montrose all the way to the old 4th ward.

[MidtownCoog]

I am currently working in London (Strand) for three weeks. This "density" thing can really be over rated IMHO.

Kinda makes me miss my sprawl.

Seriously

Proper land use is one thing, but living like a rat is quite another.

[jt16]

I agree MidtownCoog. I lived in NYC, and you do indeed have to put up with a lot of inconvenience. Density sounds sounds appealing mostly to those who haven't lived it.

[citykid09]

I have been there I know. It's like your traped in a sea of buildings and can't get out. It kind of makes you sick. But it's kinda cool and diffrent from normal life, in average cities.

[yall_are_nutty]

Density particularly sounds unappealing when you have small children.

[MidtownCoog]

On a related note, some of the trains and tubes get so busy that you still encounter a "rush hour". Many of my coworkers here in London take an hour to an hour 1/2 to get to work via a combination of car, train and tube.

I don't see how that's any better than an hour commute in Houston, expcept for the pollution from our cars.

Think about it.

[MidtownCoog]

But if by "dense" you mean a pedestrian zone like Leistcher Square, Picadilly Circus, etc. that would be cool.

But in Texas, the equilivant of that is a shopping mall.

[citykid09]

All of those places are copy cats of our Times Square.

[MidtownCoog]

maybe, but with no cars allowed

[citykid09]

I see cars in the picture.

[kzseattle]

I see cars in the picture.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Yes but I think Leistcher Square and its alleys are mostly pedestrain-oriented. London is indeed very dense because of extensive street-level retail and narrow roads. The buildings are tightly packed and streets are filled with people. I always enjoyed walking into a random alley and gazing at the buildings as each building is unique. It is tough to say which city is more dense/lively: New York or London. They both come pretty close.

[tw2ntyse7en]

...

[kzseattle]

Why are we arguing about London?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

because these days MidtownCoog is LondonCoog

Seriously, though, there is always something to be learnt from other cities. Talking about urban density, London has some ideas of its own.

[tw2ntyse7en]

...