Jump to content

X Houston: Residential High-Rise At 5501 La Branch St.


Urbannizer

Recommended Posts

On 7/10/2019 at 8:31 AM, Nate99 said:

 

Yep. Up in Kingwood when the plans for the ridiculously overwrought development on the lake came out, everyone was instantly convinced of any and every calamity that they could imagine ruining their lives because of the impact of towers, offices and some shopping.  There were even some high school kids looking to burnish their college applications trying to "organize" the noble opposition. 

 

It's a cultural thing, what will we accept happening around us and what rights will eventually be legally recognized if they are not delayed and harassed out of feasibility.  There are many places in this world where laws are vague and what will be permitted is anyone's guess. This dynamic is on a spectrum, but unless you are that incumbent in a comfortable position or become wildly rich elsewhere and like the scenery,  you don't go anywhere near the least predictable jurisdictions and they stagnate or bifurcate into extremes of luxury and poverty as a result. 

Some of the "rights" to zero traffic increase that people know don't exist ought to be codified just the same:  if you want to pay an absolute ton of money the city to guarantee a super low speed limit placement on your street for 10 years, you can, but if you don't want to, then we're clear that you haven't opted in to a traffic diminishment contract

And if you haven't, then don't go fishing for an expectation of that at the planning commission meetings by threatening to make your world unsafe for density

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...
  • 1 month later...

I'm guessing they paid for its rental up to a certain date. If this doesn't continue it will probably be taken down. It's secured to the ground base and has several tie in's to secure it to the building. They have it in weather vane mode so it points in the direction of the prevailing wind.

I operated tower cranes at shipyards that stood for decades and never had a problem as long as the last operator has it in weather vane mode.

 

  • Like 8
Link to comment
Share on other sites

11 hours ago, pacarlson said:

What's the most likely long-term future outcome for this project?  Demolished?  Completed at originally planned height?  Completed at current abbreviated height?  Left unfinished?

I think @houstontexasjack is correct. I was curious and did some reading and it seems that It's not too uncommon to see high-rise and skyscraper projects that have run into this kind of trouble before. Especially condominium developments. Sometimes they end up as an eyesore while stuff gets sorted out. And then, often, the original developer secures some new funding or some other developer ends up taking over the project and completing it.

Unless the building is found to have construction defects (e.g. Ocean Tower on South Padre Island), acquiring a half-finished building for pennies on the dollar seems to be usually too good to pass up.

I know it isn't the best comparison, but there are multiple very large projects on the Vegas strip, for example, that stalled out due to the original developer running out of funds or some other issues, and then later resumed. Apparently, Miami also had a number of projects that were stalled by the 2008 financial crisis, but ended up resuming within a year or two.

Some other examples:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Vue
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brickell_World_Plaza

What I can't find is any building in the United States achieving anything close to this height and then being demolished because of funding issues. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_voluntarily_demolished_buildings

Edited by aachor
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Another lien affidavit was recorded yesterday, March 15th, against the project (contractor claimed they furnished materials through February 2024, so would be timely if true). 
 

Edit: in reviewing the pleadings of the two lawsuits seeking to foreclose the mechanics lien, the prime contractor Hoar Construction obtained extensions to file its answers to April 3rd. That was back in February. My guess is Hoar is giving the X Company a bit of time to try to get financing to get things paid up. If there’s nothing indicating a realistic path to financing in April, we might see Hoar try to consolidate all claims into one lawsuit, with Hoar also bringing its own claim against the X Company.

Edited by houstontexasjack
  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Both the currently filed lawsuits got non-suited today. I saw an agreement among the pleadings in one case indicating the sub-subcontractor would get paid and the subcontractor got assigned those claims and would agree not to refile until July 1, 2024.

So, July 1st is our new deadline for getting information.

  • Like 7
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...