One Park Place: Multifamily At 1400 McKinney St.

[Houston Texan]

haha...just wanted to emphasize how close of a view they have. lucky ducks----it'll be like you're working from a resort. well, probably not really, but it beats having a view of a parking garage.

why is it noted that the picture is taken without zoom?

[photolitherland]

Photos from yesterday. I talked with one of the guys that works there and he said its about 40% full at this point. There were 2 families moving in when I was there.

[kdog08]

Good to see some lights on inside the building.

[totheskies]

Just more FYI on the GROCERY STORE...

I called and got a little more info (talked to a manager this time). It is now projected to open in 6-8 months.

They still haven closed the deal on it yet, but I was informed that they've narrowed it down to 1 prospective client. No word on when we'll find out who. The manager confirmed that it is a specialty store "along the lines of Whole Foods, Rice Epicurean, etc."

The restaurant is "technically a separate deal, but most likely will be run by the same company".

[bachanon]

a second hubbell & hudson ya think?

[photolitherland]

^^^

Where is this grocery store going in at? At the bottom of OPP?

[lockmat]

^^^

Where is this grocery store going in at? At the bottom of OPP?

yeah, i believe on the west side

[JWW]

http://commerce.uli.org/AM/Conference/Conf...nferenceID=4936

Marvy Finger is coming to talk about the development of One Park Place at 630 today at One Park Place (530 starts checkin)

You do not have to be a ULI member to attend- rare chance to meet and listen to this guy.

[lockmat]

http://search.sys-con.com/node/1338614

To showcase that certain indelible style and sophistication that comes with city living, three local interior designers will participate in a unique design competition highlighting the innovative and luxurious style of urban living. Set at One Park Place, a 37-story, luxury, rental high-rise in the heart of downtown Houston, the designers will each design a one-bedroom, one bath unit with a study.

Is this factual?

...One Park Place, a "Houston Luxury Apartment" pays homage to New York City's Plaza Hotel...

And I just noticed the redid their website. It looks much nicer.

http://www.oneparkplacehouston.com/

[HtownWxBoy]

Phonecia Specialty Store will open on the ground floor of One Park Place in December.

Phonecia Specilty Store

[kdog08]

Great news and good luck to the new grocery store.

[ricco67]

I think it'll do quite well, Between all the hotels in the area and a few people trickling in from the nearby offices, it'll get quite a bit of business.

It will just all depend on how it's managed. I think it might do well on staples, though.

[LTAWACS]

This is good news.

[Jax]

Sounds interesting. And since it's a specialty store, hopefully it will draw people from surrounding hoods in. I know if they carry Peruvian spices I'll be going there for sure because right now the only place I know to get Peruvian stuff is way outside the loop on Dairy Ashford (they said on their website they have Chilean stuff so that's close). I hope they carry enough general groceries to make it useful to residents as well. Has anybody ever been to their other store?

[DrLan34]

<br />Sounds interesting. And since it's a specialty store, hopefully it will draw people from surrounding hoods in. I know if they carry Peruvian spices I'll  be going there for sure because right now the only place I know to get Peruvian stuff is way outside the loop on Dairy Ashford (they said on their website they have Chilean stuff so that's close). I hope they carry enough general groceries to make it useful to residents as well. Has anybody ever been to their other store?<br />

<br /><br /><br />http://culturemap.com/newsdetail/05-03-10-a-downtown-grocer-at-last-phoenicia-heading-to-one-park-place/ cool video on Phoenicia moving to downtown

[lockmat]

I drove by the west side of this building this weekend and noticed the sidewalk is very skinny. I am surprised they didn't move the building over a few feet to the east for this; I think the west side has a fairly big sidewalk, I'm not for sure. But it doesn't look like people will have room to pass eachother with grocerties in each hand, not that it'll happen very often right now.

[bachanon]

houston magazine reports that 284 of 346 units in one park place are leased. is demand for this type of downtown residential such that similar developments could be in the works? are the remaining units considered a large number to absorb? i wonder if people are still signing on to live there?

[ricco67]

Well, I saw movers unloading this morning, so you can add at least one to that number.

[roadrunner]

houston magazine reports that 284 of 346 units in one park place are leased. is demand for this type of downtown residential such that similar developments could be in the works? are the remaining units considered a large number to absorb? i wonder if people are still signing on to live there?

I think so, although not anytime soon. It is great that it has been such a success along with DG in general.

If I had loads of money and didn't care about the economy right now, I would put up the same thing in the empty lot in front of the newly renovated Market Square.

[TheNiche]

houston magazine reports that 284 of 346 units in one park place are leased. is demand for this type of downtown residential such that similar developments could be in the works? are the remaining units considered a large number to absorb? i wonder if people are still signing on to live there?

The remaining vacant units, by themselves, would not be difficult to absorb. The challenge here is that stabilizing a new apartment property is ideally a two-year two-phase process, where the first phase is filling the property with heavy lease-up concessions, and the second phase is reducing the concessions and re-signing or re-leasing the property at stabilized market rates.

One Park Place opened its doors in March 2009, so in 17 months, it has filled 284 units (16.7 units per month). No doubt their target absorption would've been closer to 25 or 30 units per month, which would have allowed them to more or less fill the property before the first lease renewals began. Finger is on track to wrap up phase one about eight months late. It could get worse still, depending on how much turnover they're having, and even with lease-up concessions still being offered, it might be significant.

I would be hesitant to say that Finger has done anything less than a brilliant job, however. They had received construction financing in the summer of 2007, the very peak of the market. The economic collapse could not have been foreseen at the time. And to me, it seems that they've adapted well enough. ...my praise probably comes as little consolation to the equity investors, though, whose expected profits have been quashed by higher cap rates.

[KinkaidAlum]

The thing is, what kind of lease terms are they getting. Last time I checked, the rents at One Park Place were shattering records for the Houston market that were set by another Finger property, The Museum Tower. The Museum Tower, One Park Place, and Hanover's Riverway hirise rental have set the gold standard for luxury rental rates in this market.

I'd bet that Fingers Corp. is quite pleased, especially now that they've finally managed to lure in a market for the commercial space. I'd wager that we'll see a Two Park Place (Finger has reportedly already secured an adjacent site) within 5 years.

[TheNiche]

The thing is, what kind of lease terms are they getting. Last time I checked, the rents at One Park Place were shattering records for the Houston market that were set by another Finger property, The Museum Tower. The Museum Tower, One Park Place, and Hanover's Riverway hirise rental have set the gold standard for luxury rental rates in this market.

I'd bet that Fingers Corp. is quite pleased, especially now that they've finally managed to lure in a market for the commercial space. I'd wager that we'll see a Two Park Place (Finger has reportedly already secured an adjacent site) within 5 years.

I would not say that it is impossible, but there are a lot of caveats. The financial infrastructure has to exist; it does not at present. The capital markets must regain confidence and put downward pressure on cap rates. Local economic growth must occur. The downtown office submarket has to perform well; the relocation of Continental and any other source of negative office absorption has to be overcome.

It would be good if Asiatic demand for construction materials were to lighten up, but it would probably also signal slower growth or lower demand for energy. So that's a wash.

Houston has been relatively resilient, but we've still got a ways to go before new highrise residential construction will be viable again.

EDIT: Oh, and of course, whatever arrangement that Finger had on the adjacent site would have to still be in place. If it is an option, then I'd bet that it isn't one that they'd want to exercise; land prices have fallen since 2007.

[lockmat]

I took this the other day. It's from the south side. A construction worker said they're expected to be ready and open by March or April. The same guy was perplexed as how they were going to fit a balcony level inside. It gets taller as you go north, but he's right, there wasn't much room to put that balcony in. Will be interesting to see how it looks.

[houstontiger]

Article in the Chron today about Phoenicia

Most interesting is the quote at the end from Finger... total speculation, but nice to hear nonetheless

Either The Finger Companies or another developer will announce a new residential tower within a year given the increased activity in east downtown, he predicted.

"If you look south of here, there are so many parking lots that could be developed. I want everyone to send me a thank you note when they start building here," he joked.

[fatesdisastr]

Article in the Chron today about Phoenicia

Most interesting is the quote at the end from Finger... total speculation, but nice to hear nonetheless

Either The Finger Companies or another developer will announce a new residential tower within a year given the increased activity in east downtown, he predicted.

"If you look south of here, there are so many parking lots that could be developed. I want everyone to send me a thank you note when they start building here," he joked

That would be great news if he is right. Just need to hold our breath and wait now.

[roadrunner]

That would be great news if he is right. Just need to hold our breath and wait now.

Ha. Right

I think the most encouraging part of that article is that the tower is 91% leased.

[shasta]

Ha. Right

I think the most encouraging part of that article is that the tower is 91% leased.

So, I'm guessing One Park Place is doing well proving there is a demand for residential downtown.

This may actually be our best bet because there may be a glut in downtown office towers the next 5-10 years. It would be nice to see residential towers pick up the pace downtown because with residential comes new needs- retail, restaurants, and other people places. Downtown has the chance to make tremendous growth if it does it right!

[DrLan34]

So, I'm guessing One Park Place is doing well proving there is a demand for residential downtown.

This may actually be our best bet because there may be a glut in downtown office towers the next 5-10 years. It would be nice to see residential towers pick up the pace downtown because with residential comes new needs- retail, restaurants, and other people places. Downtown has the chance to make tremendous growth if it does it right!

Agreed, I'd take two 20 story residential towers over one 50 story office building any day. Let's see if this new gorcery can make downtown more of a "sustainable residential neighborhood"...

When is it openning again, April?

[Houstonian4Life]

I think it opens around may 15th.

[LTAWACS]

The more the better.