Subdude Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 According to the sales office this afternoon, requests for construction permits for the Shamrock have been submitted, although groundbreaking is not anticipated for another 6-8 weeks. The work done on the lot earlier was taking "core samples" in connection with the foundation design. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 We'll have to wait and see.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111486 Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 Like I said before, I give up on statements like this. Why can't more be like Orion. They went under construction out of nowhere. It almost seemed to quick, atleast to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 I agree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 I have purposely resisted commenting on this subject, because I represented clients who had investment interests in seing this project happen. As I am now no longer representing clients looking to buy in Shamrock Tower, I can now say that I am highly skeptical of its feasibility.Keller Williams did, in fact, drop the listing, forcing the listing agent to seek representation by another broker. Their reasons for doing this are their own. I will not speculate as to why dropping tens of millions of dollars worth of listings makes better business sense than seeing them through to sales. You can make your own determination. I can only say that in every case I've ever been involved with, Keller Williams has shown itself to be of the highest standards of integrity. Their exit from this can in no way send a positive message about the project. I lost faith in the developer's listing agents a long time ago, but was hopeful for something good to come of this. At that time, they were Keller Williams agents. Losing this mark of credibility was the final strike, in my opinion.I am no longer a Realtor, nor am I affiliated with Keller Williams in any way. The last bit of information I got on the project was that converting the reservations to contracts was still going on, though many reservations were falling out. Last I heard, they were nowhere near breaking ground on the tower. This, in itself, should be troubling, since the development team, in telling us on several occasions to expect groundbreaking in June, July, November and December has been shown to be unreliable.Based on the scant numbers of reservations that I speculate are being converted to contracts, it seems that the only people who believe in this project are the listing agents. Like I said, I stopped seeing eye-to-eye with those guys a long time ago.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Woah... I knew it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Judah Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 If the Shamrock didn't go up, I don't think Houston would necessarily be missing out. I was actually kind of worried that the Shamrock would absorb too much of the demand for downtown/midtown living. I'd rather see 30 low-rise buildings spring up all along the LRT corridor, each with interesting street-level retail, than one single monolith downtown with a McDonald's on the ground floor.Not that I know anything about how real estate works, but that was my thought process.Plus -and I didn't want to say this earlier because I wanted to stay positive- the building is, imho, remarkably unattractive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texasboy Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 If the Shamrock didn't go up, I don't think Houston would necessarily be missing out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 Orion didn't put out a bunch of early speculation and remained under wraps. The advertising for possible buyers went to select people. Only recently they publicly advertised.The shamrock group probably wanted to start earlier in the year, but govn't bureacracy can get in the way. Also, remember that the sales people are not always abrest of most of the information about construction. Sounds crazy, but it's possible that the sales people are just clueless exept for putting on a sales pitch and filling some forms for new buyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shasta Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 Sorry, I must be a different Shasta then the one you are thinking of. But.. I did receive a response from the Shamrock and they indicated that the project is progressing. They are currently meeting with the Houston Planning Department and have submitted permits. They are finalizing the construction documents and are planning on starting construction in April. They have almost met their requirement in order to get the title from the bank. Remember if the developer is taking out a substantial loan from the bank- the bank owns the project and not the developer which could delay things.And if anyone here knows anything about the process required(design, engineering, bidding, permits, finacial, marketing, etc.) to get a project of this size you would realize they are actually progressing quickly. When did they offically announce this project- wasn't it near the Super Bowl (Jan. 2004)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111486 Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 They are finalizing the construction documents and are planning on starting construction in April. They have almost met their requirement in order to get the title from the bank. Remember if the developer is taking out a substantial loan from the bank- the bank owns the project and not the developer which could delay things.And if anyone here knows anything about the process required(design, engineering, bidding, permits, finacial, marketing, etc.) to get a project of this size you would realize they are actually progressing quickly. When did they offically announce this project- wasn't it near the Super Bowl (Jan. 2004)?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>We have heard this from summer 2004 to December. What makes it different now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houston-development Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 They have almost met their requirement in order to get the title from the bank. Remember if the developer is taking out a substantial loan from the bank- the bank owns the project and not the developer which could delay things. sorry if i come across as rude but.... huh?!?! And if anyone here knows anything about the process required(design, engineering, bidding, permits, finacial, marketing, etc.) to get a project of this size you would realize they are actually progressing quickly.that is not the case.... a turtle progresses more quickly than this project When did they offically announce this project- wasn't it near the Super Bowl (Jan. 2004)? <{POST_SNAPBACK}> actually, it was announced +/- sep of '03. they had a majority of their reservations (not pre-sales) during the super bowl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yaga Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 A new pic posted on the EDI website. Here is the old rendering In the old rendering it looks like the building would have taken up a whole downtown city block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lowbrow Posted February 21, 2005 Share Posted February 21, 2005 thats an old pic... may be new to that site though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YakuzaIce Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 Considering land prices downtown, I would not expect to see a ton of low rises, it just would not be as profitable as a taller building. I am no real estate expert so I can't say I'm for sure on this assumption, but it makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
111486 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I never saw this rendering. Which looks a whole lot better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YakuzaIce Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I wonder if (if it is ever built) it is going to turn out that white/light beige in real life. It may not be as ugly as the darker stone, but it kind of clashes with some of the historical buildings near it IMO. Plus I just feel like that color is more appropriate in Uptown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 If the Shamrock didn't go up, I don't think Houston would necessarily be missing out. I was actually kind of worried that the Shamrock would absorb too much of the demand for downtown/midtown living. I'd rather see 30 low-rise buildings spring up all along the LRT corridor, each with interesting street-level retail, than one single monolith downtown with a McDonald's on the ground floor.Good point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 It's hard to say how accurate the color is in a CGI rendering. I'm no big fan of the design overall, but in this case I do think the beige or sandstone color is spot on. It echoes what was for years almost the default coloring of downtown buildings. You still see it in, among others, the Gulf, Esperson, Houston Club, Melrose, Commerce, City Natl. Bank, County Court, Sterling, and Keystone buildings, and also at one point the Lamar Hotel, San Jacinto building, and Kirby building. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
citykid09 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 I like they old one better, because it was bigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77017 Posted February 22, 2005 Share Posted February 22, 2005 How much you think they're paying a month for the rent-a-fence? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Judah Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Strange that it started out so big, but now they're having a hard time filling up slots in the smaller one. Was this a case of some rotten market research, or has there been a basic shift in demand for downtown living (maybe something related to the economy)? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dalparadise Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Strange that it started out so big, but now they're having a hard time filling up slots in the smaller one. Was this a case of some rotten market research, or has there been a basic shift in demand for downtown living (maybe something related to the economy)?<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Nah...bad management of the project. The demand was never in question and is still there. Rudeness and unprofessionalism can turn off even the most determined buyers and worse...even the most accomodating vendors, contractors and financial providors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Theres no advertisement for it, how do they expect to sell at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Montrose1100 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Atleast they tore down THAT HORRIBLE McDonalds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 ^^^^^ what do you mean? ^^^^^ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houston-development Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 for once, i have to agree with montrose seen anything on tv? what about the sunday paper? or anything what so ever? they had some free pub from the MSM during the super bowl but other than that, the trailer has been their only advertising that i'm aware of. they could be doing ads, but ive never seen them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Surprisingly, even with the lack of advertising the group has gotten the majority of the units reserved. If they are currently in the process of turning these reservations into contracts, the timeline could be way off for construction start. The financing arms of the project won't hand over the go ahead for construction until a certain percentage of the reservations are turn into contracts which could take a while.Also, Orion didn't start televised ads until they started clearing and early stages of foundation work. The television advertisments are just to possibly finish selling units. The most effective form of advertising for high-rises is through a realtor and print advertisement. The potential residents of these facilities probably doin't watch much TV to begin with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjb434 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 It's going to go back. McDonalds will have one of the ground floor retail spaces in the tower. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77017 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 I heard abercrobie and fitch was looking into 1 of the retail slots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
77017 Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Ok that was a joke. I'm sorry, it just sounded right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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