38-Story High-Rise & Office Building At 2811 Kirby Dr.

[ChannelTwoNews]

3 hours ago, hindesky said:

Exciting news!!!

When I talked with the demolition workers, I asked them if they knew what was going to built on this property. They said a 40 story apartment project. I told them no it was going to be a 5 story medical building and showed them the rendering. Turns out they were 100% correct. Just went by after getting my car washed at Mr Car Wash and I spot a sign for "Southern Land Communities" a division of Southern Land Company (not to be confused with Southernland Communities, which sells farm and ranch properties). They are out of Nashville, Tenn and are a developer & construction company

Southern Land Communities does indeed develop high rise apartments.

https://southernland.com

https://www.instagram.com/southernlandcompany/

Based on the ownership address from the HCAD data that you posted on 4/26, it definitely is a match for Southern.

[kennyc05]

I hate that another building is gonna cover 2727 I like looking at that building driving down Kirby 😵‍💫

[KirbyDriveKid]

Amazing! As with Colombe d'Or and the Montrose Hanover, though, it is bizarre to me that in a city as sprawling/unzoned as Houston developers place high rises immediately next to one another... Still very excited, though! As the name suggests, I have always been a Kirby stan, and the medical office building was such a disappointing addition to a block with a ton of densifying potential. 

I also wonder whether/hope they will site the residential portion toward the east/back of the lot to avoid directly blocking both building's views  (somewhat like what the Colombe d'Or did).  

Edited May 11, 2023 by KirbyDriveKid

[j_cuevas713]

I'll take a street lined with mid/high-rises all day. Hopefully more properties along Kirby will continue to redevelop, I'm personally waiting for HEB to make a move

[houstontexasjack]

28 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I'll take a street lined with mid/high-rises all day. Hopefully more properties along Kirby will continue to redevelop, I'm personally waiting for HEB to make a move

H-E-B on the ground floor topped with a “super midrise” form factor. Develop Kirby into an urban canyon.

[hindesky]

As I told the story once before, one of my co-workers who lives and works in Baytown came to visit a distant relative's restaurant at the Arrive complex across the street. When I asked him later where it was located he said it was downtown not realizing that Kirby street isn't actually downtown. All suburbanites consider anything inside the loop as downtown.

This will make it seem more like downtown.

[astrohip]

On 2/16/2022 at 9:13 AM, astrohip said:

When we were looking at condos in 2018, we looked at 2727 Kirby. We weren't fans of the building, so it didn't matter, but one of the things our realtor warned us about was this little square of land. He said something will be built one day, and you may not like it next door to your condo.

Five stories isn't bad, I think the units start above that.

Makes my realtor look pretty smart in hindsight!

One of the things we love about our current condo bldg is the lack of developable land around it. It's rare to find a building that is unlikely to have much built directly around it.

[wilcal]

Wowowowow. 

Very exciting!

[hindesky]

7 hours ago, kennyc05 said:

I hate that another building is gonna cover 2727 I like looking at that building driving down Kirby 😵‍💫

Edited May 12, 2023 by hindesky

[strickn]

15 hours ago, houstontexasjack said:

H-E-B on the ground floor topped with a “super midrise” form factor. Develop Kirby into an urban canyon.

Or at least the local version of Los Angeles' Wilshire Boulevard.

[strickn]

No height filings in the past 60 days on this area that I can see, though I haven't run an FAA radius search for prior documents.  Either the approval is more than 60 days old, or Southern is flying under the radar, or they're not planning to start construction immediately.

[Houston19514]

2 hours ago, strickn said:

No height filings in the past 60 days on this area that I can see, though I haven't run an FAA radius search for prior documents.  Either the approval is more than 60 days old, or Southern is flying under the radar, or they're not planning to start construction immediately.

I don't know of any reason to think construction would be starting immediately.  I can't find any building permit applications either.

[editor]

17 hours ago, hindesky said:

All suburbanites consider anything inside the loop as downtown.

Heck, even people not from the suburbs don't know where downtown is.

I know someone who lives in Rice Military, and thinks she lives downtown.  She says, "I love living downtown because of my view."  To which I ask, "What is your view of?"  "Oh, the downtown skyline."   When I told her that if she can see the downtown skyline she doesn't live downtown she got unhappy. 

4 hours ago, strickn said:

Or at least the local version of Los Angeles' Wilshire Boulevard.

Not a bad goal.  It assuages the car fans, and scratches the density itch at the same time.

[kennyc05]

On 5/11/2023 at 6:05 PM, hindesky said:

As I told the story once before, one of my co-workers who lives and works in Baytown came to visit a distant relative's restaurant at the Arrive complex across the street. When I asked him later where it was located he said it was downtown not realizing that Kirby street isn't actually downtown. All suburbanites consider anything inside the loop as downtown.

This will make it seem more like downtown.

No it's mostly people who live in those East side suburbs that say anything inside of loop is downtown man a lot of those people are dumb as hell 🤦🏽‍♂️

Edited May 13, 2023 by kennyc05

[bobruss]

I dont think the east side has the market on dumb. Thats a little snarky.

[strickn]

20 hours ago, editor said:

Heck, even people not from the suburbs don't know where downtown is.

I know someone who lives in Rice Military, and thinks she lives downtown.  She says, "I love living downtown because of my view."  To which I ask, "What is your view of?"  "Oh, the downtown skyline."   When I told her that if she can see the downtown skyline she doesn't live downtown she got unhappy. 

Not a bad goal.  It assuages the car fans, and scratches the density itch at the same time.

Or put another way, linear density ticks the checkboxes for investor appetite, experiential walkability, and getting a breather from the vertical without walking more than a few blocks away 

[aachor]

On 5/11/2023 at 2:35 PM, kennyc05 said:

I hate that another building is gonna cover 2727 I like looking at that building driving down Kirby 😵‍💫

I've always thought 2727 was one of the uglier high rises in the city. 

To each his own, I guess... 👍

[hindesky]

Excavator is gone, I guess they will wait to remove the concrete parking lot.

[Twinsanity02]

On 5/11/2023 at 6:05 PM, hindesky said:

As I told the story once before, one of my co-workers who lives and works in Baytown came to visit a distant relative's restaurant at the Arrive complex across the street. When I asked him later where it was located he said it was downtown not realizing that Kirby street isn't actually downtown. All suburbanites consider anything inside the loop as downtown.

This will make it seem more like downtown.

Unfortunately you are correct. I've lived in the suburbs of Houston >40 years. Most folks think anything in the Loop is downtown including TMC. As a former worker at the TMC I found it irritating. When even my children use the suburban terminology after numerous times of correcting them, I've given up. I think what may add to the confusion are the numerous clusters of highrises within (and just outside) the loop. 

[Texasota]

Eh, in some ways it's a convenient shorthand for knowing what a person's context/perspective is, especially if they give you a blank look when you try to be more specific (Rice Village, Montrose, "Downtown" Downtown).

I do think there's value in talking about the city proper/inside the loop + uptown/the historic city/whatever as a distinct thing, and Downtown is easier for people than even "inside the loop" (which is maybe too restrictive anyway).

It's annoying, but I understand why it happens and I'm not sure what the best alternative would be. 

 

[strickn]

I guess, Texasota, that if one of the TIFs like Third Ward really cared about it, then ...

 

...they could launch a brand campaign with a public mapping identity advertisement aspect.  Maybe play up the 3 and a stylish triangle with Midtown, TMC, and TSU/UH at its corners?  
 

The success of transit maps like London, Boston, Chicago, Atlanta and Montréal at associating certain neighborhoods with certain rail lines would be a psychogeography wayfinding precedent for the effort here.

[cityliving]

This view might give you an idea on the height of a 40-story building and how it would look next to this current building.

[Texasota]

Just keep marching them south on Kirby until you hit the village. 

[houstontexasjack]

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

Just keep marching them south on Kirby until you hit the village. 

Get a parallel canyon going down Montrose.

[texan]

2 hours ago, houstontexasjack said:

Get a parallel canyon going down Montrose.

These will both complement the inevitable Buffalo Bayou Park canyon that'll be the granddaddy of them all so nicely!

[houstontexasjack]

17 hours ago, texan said:

These will both complement the inevitable Buffalo Bayou Park canyon that'll be the granddaddy of them all so nicely!

Think of the Grand Canyon with its tributary canyons.

[hindesky]

Southern Land Communities finished building this 48 story The Laurel condominium building in Philadelphia in '22. Hopefully we can get something like this here.

https://thelaurelrittenhouse.com

 

[Urbannizer]

Those are renderings, the final product is OK. It’s height and immediate surroundings are the only factors that make it stand out.

The Laurel is designed by Solomon Cordwell Buenz - same architect Hanover uses all over town. Hoping they use a different firm here.

 

[Twinsanity02]

I see two Helmut Jahn buildings in the top photo. Sadly, we missed the opportunity to have one in the 80's as the Bank of the Southwest bank building. 

[hindesky]

Crew is doing something with a mini excavator, roll off dumpster and a trailer.