Shamrock Tower At 617 Main St.

[yaga]

err, from Roger Hoffine. Not sure how much I can disclose atm (at the moment).

I'm sort of close to the development community here in houston.  Yall might here more from me soon 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Who is Roger Hoffine?

[kjb434]

the website is nice, but didn't see anything on the shamrock,

[RandyTaylor]

umm, Roger is the director of sales? not exactly sure. We met him in the sales trailer.

and no, the Shamrock isn't on the site. thats why we met

[kjb434]

Ok, cool,

I think his name is Roger Huffines. The Shamrock's website on its own is fairly impressive. The addition to your website would be great.

[houston-development]

it's roger huffine and he's with keller williams.

Paper: HOUSTON CHRONICLE

Date: SUN 01/09/05

Section: BUSINESS

Page: 3

Edition: 2 STAR

Central City fights parking plans / Medical Centergarage puts crime, pollution in area, activist group says

By NANCY SARNOFF

Staff

.....

But for those not in Orion's economically elite set, there's the Shamrock Tower downtown. Or is there?

It's still unclear when construction will begin on the 32-story building planned on a prime Main Street block catty-corner from the Rice Lofts.

Realtor Roger Huffine said he's in the process of converting more than 100 reservations into hard sales contracts.

Nearly 70 percent of the 264 units have been reserved, he said, and 30 contracts were in the title company as of last week.

Prices started around $170,000.

[kjb434]

Lets hope they move those reservations to contracts quickly. As soon as the financing company sees enough contracts the go ahead will take place.

[houston-development]

Lets hope they move those reservations to contracts quickly.  As soon as the financing company sees enough contracts the go ahead will take place.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

there is more to it than just getting the reservations converted into contracts. for example, the developer still needs to come up with the equity required to close the loan. considering tracy almost got his home foreclosed on, it may be difficult to come up with $x in equity.

just for conversational purposes only, say cost is $200k/unit. at 280 units that equals $56,000,000. perhaps he can get a loan (including a mezz piece) at 95%, that means he will need $2,800,000 cash to close.

it could be more or it could be less; heck, he may have to put down 10% considering his current situation i honestly don't know.

this was just to give y'all an idea

[Trophy Property]

there is more to it than just getting the reservations converted into contracts.  for example, the developer still needs to come up with the equity required to close the loan.  considering tracy almost got his home foreclosed on, it may be difficult to come up with $x in equity.

just for conversational purposes only, say cost is $200k/unit.  at 280 units that equals $56,000,000.  perhaps he can get a loan (including a mezz piece) at 95%, that means he will need $2,800,000 cash to close.

it could be more or it could be less; heck, he may have to put down 10% considering his current situation    i honestly don't know.

this was just to give y'all an idea 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Even with the best of credit, there is no way this deal get financed with only 5-10% down. I would hope that the lenders learned their lessons from the 80's.

[kjb434]

Could the earnest money contracts be used to supplement the closing costs?

The other part is that most of the information on this project has been in a closed loop. Not much is released or know about the status other one person heard something from someone over here about the project.

Other projects (generally the more organized ones) seem to release news bits when they hit milestone in the project and at least publish some timeline or schedule.

Orion and other projects by people like Randal Davis seam to gladly release information to the press always giving us something to talk about.

I really just want this project to move forward. If mosts the reservations hold out to be buyers and this project is finished, it will be the best new addition to downtown. Not necessarily from an architecture point of view, but from the side that more residents would be living in the downtown area.

[The New Juniper]

Even with the best of credit, there is no way this deal get financed with only 5-10% down. I would hope that the lenders learned their lessons from the 80's.

Respectfully disagree on this point. We see numerous participating mezzanine lenders that will take the loan to cost up to 90 and 95%. However, we are a bit more polished than Tracy IMO.

And, to the question in the post that followed, the earnest money contracts cannot be used as Sponsor Equity. These earnest money contracts can serve as collateral, which is to say the personal recourse will burn off as more contracts come in. Lastly, most banks won't even make the loan at all unless and until 40% of the units have specific performance purchase contracts.

[houstonsemipro]

I just found out the reason why they haven't start building on the Shamrock Towers. The building is so large they need a permit from city of houston, and now they're waiting on that permit. When they get the permit that's when the construction will start.

[h-townrep]

When did they find this out? I work with Permits and when a developer or whoever wants to build something, they put in an application to build and sense this building is downtown, the only thing that this did was switch from Commercial to mix-use. Then this generates a worksheet that will generate a permit card and lastly a sign permit card. This doesn't take long sense there was already something else on the lot. The Permit should have beenm the 1st thing done before McDonalds came down.

[kjb434]

Good point h-townrep, but remember that the guys that appear to be moving forward with the Shamrock don't appear to be that organized.

Also, the city could be backed up. In general most permits that I had to move through the city for construction have moved quickly, but the last one I did for a project at work was one year ago.

It think it is more of Shamrock's lack of organization. Also, it just could be another excuse from the sales reps at the sight.

[Gary]

When did they find this out? I work with Permits and when a developer or whoever wants to build something, they put in an application to build and sense this building is downtown, the only thing that this did was switch from Commercial to mix-use. Then this generates a worksheet that will generate a permit card and lastly a sign permit card. This doesn't take long sense there was already something else on the lot. The Permit should have beenm the 1st thing done before McDonalds came down.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I got the same story from one of the sales reps in January. When I was in the sales office they seemed almost lethargic about the tower. It was very strange.

Oh and by the way, he told me it would be just a few weeks before groundbreaking. Unfortunately this comment seemed pretty consistant with the rest of the posts since last year.

[houstonsemipro]

City of Houston is slow on doing things. My dad's company was waiting on money from the city. You know how long it took my dad's company to receive the money? It took 6 months to a year to receive the money. So, I beleive Shamrock Towers on waiting this long for a permit.

[kjb434]

That sucks.

[houston-development]

City of Houston is slow on doing things. My dad's company was waiting on money from the city. You know how long it took my dad's company to receive the money? It took 6 months to a year to receive the money. So, I beleive Shamrock Towers on waiting this long for a permit.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

you are talking about two different waiting lines. the difference being shamrock isn't getting any money from the city; only permits (allegedly). when you are dealing with a refund/reimbursment/kickback from the city, you ALWAYS front the cash and wait, and wait, and wait, and wait.....

developers that made improvements to white oak bayou's infrasturcture are still technically waiting; even though that money has already been written off the books.

let's not compare apples to oranges

[Guest KOKON Steel]

Yeah watch them build a dry cleaner, a strip club, seven-eleven,and a taqueria on the site with a dumpster pad. Maybe the kids from the northside can ride there bikes there to buy some bubble gum. That will really spruce up downtown.

I swear if they end up building a suburban style mcdonalds back on that site I'm going to change my major back to sheep herding with a minor in basket weaving bc I give up. Is this city that pathetic that they have no authority to get anything done. I mean they are building 15+ of these type of towers in the galleria area. WTF

Officlial press release from The KOKONdom-kingdom

[kjb434]

I don't think the city should be attacked for the Shamrock taking forever. It is not the cities job to promote the building of residential towers. If they would they would be paying the developers with taxpayer money. I don't want that.

[houston-development]

I don't think the city should be attacked for the Shamrock taking forever.  It is not the cities job to promote the building of residential towers.  If they would they would be paying the developers with taxpayer money.  I don't want that.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

only semipro is implying its the city's fault. knowing the city would love to have this built sooner rather than later due to an increase in tax base, you would think the city would fast track this process, if it were the case.

to make a long story short, i don't buy it.

[Talbot]

Let's hope it's true, but Im not holding my breath on it, probably just another excuse from the company to drag this thing out.

[houstonsemipro]

Everything houston is slow. That's why all the other proposed projects failed, or never build.

[kzseattle]

Everything houston is slow. That's why all the other proposed projects failed, or never build.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

"EVERYTHING" in Houston is slow and "ALL" of the proposed projects failed? I see just a tad bit of exaggeration here.

[Talbot]

Yeah semipro is pretty good at that.

[houston-development]

yeah, yeah... that's the ticket... it's the city's fault.. not the developer's inability to raise equity nor convert reservations into contracts.

and i'm also morgan fairchild's secret lover too

[N Judah]

In some parts of the country a project like this could take half a decade to start construction.

[The New Juniper]

In some parts of the country a project like this could take half a decade to start construction.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In some parts of the country, there are strict zoning and height restrictions also. Some parts of the country have tremendously strict City managers and building officials. Some parts of the country have mayors not interested in the redevelopment of their CBD.

Truth is, this is not true of THIS part of the country. Any attempt to lay off delay, etc. on the City is obsurd and totally without merit. The City bends over backwards to help downtown development (and I know this personally). HUGE equity players have tried to buy this from the current owner to get it moving and it has yet to be sold.

Don't be misled. Delay on this project is attributable to the developer and his team.

[houstonsemipro]

"EVERYTHING" in Houston is slow and "ALL" of the proposed projects failed? I see just a tad bit of exaggeration here.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Everytime I say something it comes true. Check this article out on Channel 11 news.

Downtown development meets delays, roadblocks

10:07 AM CDT on Thursday, April 7, 2005

By Jeremy Desel / 11 News

Click to watch video

Has Houston's downtown development been slower than expected? It seems as though the big plans to make it a happening hotspot have ground to a halt.

KHOU-TV

Some downtown areas have been under development for several years. What has caused the slowdown?

With all the excitement of a brand new baseball season, the soulful song of a trumpet-playing street performer seems out of place -- unless you are talking about development.

"I saw one bar coming down here but that was about it," says downtown visitor Marisa Ramos.

"Between here and Main Street it's a little bit dead right now," Heidi Sherman says.

The Downtown Diamond came with promise of major development and plenty of traffic, not just on game days.

Developments been slowing coming. Ballpark Place, for example, has been "coming soon" for years.

"Our hopes were five years. When we said that, no one could have anticipated within literally months of each other 9/11 and what has happened on the employment side," says Downtown District's Bob Eury.

Add to that the collapse of the merchant energy trading sector, Enron and other job losses, plus major construction all around downtown and what do you get?

"It looks basically the same. But in comparison to five years ago it looks much better," says Astros fan Heather Giebels.

The Astros year after year have continued to spruce up the park itself by adding a baseball themed park and other accents.

"We are looking a couple of things that we are trying to kick around to improve the ballpark. Maybe a museum-type space, again, which would make it more attractive during the day," says Astros VP Rob Matwick.

Privately, developers say some property owners have held up things by asking prices that are way too high for land around the park.

City planners again say that patience will be rewarded.

"I would think really, in the next three to five years is when you are going to see it," says Eury.

Wednesday evening at the park, the musician seems to mirror development. He is moving a few steps, but playing the same soulful tune.

Planners say the most important thing is to give people a reason to be downtown when there is no game at the ballpark.

They're now looking at a different place to spur activity, and that's toward the south, near the Hilton Hotel. It's slated to become a Super Park, and they hope that is the key to the area's development.

[kjb434]

As usual the news media has to take the glass is half empty side. This doesn't mean they have to lie and be all happy that everything is going to be great. They should just put it in a realistic light.

The issue with the landowners asking too much is a problem. This may lead to a situation that has happened in several cities where eminent domain was used and the landowners were paid the appraised price and not the asking price. They still made a profit on the land, just not as much as they wanted. Property owner were so excited of the prospects for new development they priced the land out of the market. The drawback for using eminent domain is that it can get into the courts. A real easy way is to turn the areas where they want development to happen is to create a redevelopment district and condemn the land they want to use. Sounds underhanded, but often urban revitalization is done this way.

[The Great Hizzy!]

The simple fact is that when you advertise that doing something will lead to a "boom" or "expansion" or what have you of something, people expect that boom or expansion to happen virtually right away, and when it doesn't, people start seeing doom.

The Rail line opened just 15-plus months ago. Toyota Center is not even two years old, and there are several street projects STILL ongoing. Meanwhile, people forget that there's been a growth in retail downtown, an expansion of hotels, a handful of loft conversions and several exciting projects in their aggressive planning and development stages.

Patience is very important but it's difficult to preach this while at the same time wowing people with tales of future delights. You're only making them that much more eager. I admit that I'll be becoming more and more anxious about the Pavillions project since it is situated on land that I've long ago thought would be an excellent spot for a high-profile development. I'm anxious to see its impact.

In any case, it's likely that someone's going to have to buck up and pay a little more for some of this vacant downtown land (or properties) to get things moving on the residential front. Many of these current landholders have been holding on to their properties for a long time, which suggests that they're more than willing to wait developers out (some for a decade or more).

I also like that METRO is looking into being proactive with some of the property it already owns. As a rule, I'm not a big fan of public entities being commercial entities but in this case, METRO can on a smaller scale help develop the overall market for the private sector (and consumer) as well. Kind of like selling ad space on buses or trains.

In the end, people simply need to be patient. In 1999, for example, there was virtually NOTHING to distinguish downtown Houston from its appearance in 1986. Thirteen years of blatant stagnation. Now, six years later, you have the makings of a real, multi-faceted downtown. A city of its own. It just needs to flex its muscles a little more so that it can adequately compete with Houston's other cities within a city.

That said, the Ballpark Place fiasco is a constant annoyance for me. Like Subdude often mentioned, that area would be a great place for several 6-8 story urban dwellings, making it a sort of baseball-related urban neighborhood.

I'll have to wait it out, though!!!