Jump to content

Houston19514

Subscriber
 View Profile  See their activity

  • Posts

    8,942

  • Joined

  • Last visited

  • Days Won

    31

 Content Type 

Everything posted by Houston19514

  1. Houston19514
    TexasStar is being a little, oh, shall we say... disingenuous??? We have previously discussed the installation of the crane...and how it will apparently be used for the construction of the very large parking garage currently under construction adjacent to the tower structure, and presumably will stay in place for the construction of the tower, which will, we are told, begin sometime this fall. Just to complete the record, here is what TexasStar posted on the DFW forum along with the pic of the tower crane:
  2. Houston19514
    Are these recent transactions you speak of? Much of the land around/near Toyota Center has been owned for quite some time by a company that has not previously been interested in selling to ANYone.
  3. Houston19514
    No. 2 (Morton's Steakhouse) is completed and open.
  4. Houston19514
    No. 2 (Morton's Steakhouse) is completed and open.
  5. Houston19514
    Where did you find that image and description?
  6. Houston19514
    I'll ask again. Do you mean to say they are at least a year away from starting construction? If so, why do you say that?
  7. Houston19514
    According to the linked article from February 2005, UH only leased (or leases) some space at the former Schlumberger property. It was neither given to UH nor purchased by UH. The property is now called University Business Park. University Business Park
  8. Houston19514
    Zillow is a decent starting point, but only a starting point. As has been mentioned by others, it does not take into account things that only a visual inspection can show, such as comparables being in a run-down neighborhood, the subject house having been extensively updated, etc. There was an article in Wednesday's Wall Street Journal (I think it's only available to subscribers, so no link) titled "How Good Are Zillow's Estimates?" The Journal analysed 1,000 recent home sales in seven states, comparing sales prices with pre-sale Zillow estimates. The median difference between the Zillow estimate and the sale price was only 7.8%. The estimates were about equally split between ones that were too high and those that were too low. Further, Zillow came within 5% of the price in 1/3 of the transactions. It was more than 25% off in 11% of the transactions. In 34 of the 1,000 transactions, Zillow was off by more than 50%. "Zillow tends to work best for midrange homes in areas where there are a lot of comparable houses... Even where there are numerous apparent comps, Zillow can stumble when vital information is missing. Data fed into computers, for instance, may not reflect the fact that a house has just been remodeled, destroyed by fire or put into foreclosure. Reported prices can be misleading, too. Sometimes homes are sold between family members for a token price, or sellers offer incentives to buyers, such as help with closing costs, that aren't reflected in the recorded price." As to Texas, indeed "Texas does not provide public records showing housing transaction prices. To improve its performance in Texas, Zillow last month began tapping sales data from MLS."
  9. Houston19514
    It's in the southeast quadrant of the I-10 (Katy Freeway) intersection with Sam Houston Tollway (Beltway 8). A little west of Memorial City Mall
  10. Houston19514
    Yes, it's been talked about for quite some time. But this is the first news that it is actually happening and is under construction. And they've confirmed some of the previously mentioned tenants and added to the list.
  11. Houston19514
    Patience, Grasshopper. :-) The project will include 500,000 square feet of office space; 400,000 square feet of retail, restaurant and entertainment space; a 217-room luxury hotel topped with 16 condominiums; 375 apartments; 250 urban lofts; 40 brownstones and a 140,000-square-foot fitness facility. CityCentre will be able to boast several "firsts" for the Houston area when it opens in 2008. Houston-based Valencia Group will build its first hotel in the Bayou City in a joint venture with Midway. Restaurants Eddie V's, Z Tejas and Brio Tuscan Grille will open their first Houston locations in CityCentre. Minnesota-based Lifetime Fitness is building its first urban concept in the country there -- a three-story, 140,000-square-foot fitness center. And Dallas-based Studio Movie Grill will build its first ground-up location in Houston featuring first-run films and a full menu. Houston Business Journal has the scoop. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention, it says they started construction last month.
  12. Houston19514
    Globe Street.com has a "Glimpse of Stories to Come" section. One of this afternoon's "Glimpses" is in Houston: "$500M Mixed-Use Project Gets Under Way" BLVD Place, perhaps? Houston Pavilions has previously been billed as a $200 million project, so it's not that . . . unless they've got some big surprises for us. Just found some more information: Looks like it's referring to City Centre (the former location of Town & Country Mall).
  13. Houston19514
    ???? Ya, my "taunting" post of show me a picture was all about questioning whether the tower portion is being worked on. That is all I have been questioning. I have not been questioning whether the tower will be built. (Maybe you should go back and read my previous post again. It could not have been much clearer.) As I said earlier, the best information I have found indicates construction will begin this fall. (But you may need to prepare yourself for some slippage on that schedule.) Let me remind you, this discussion started when I asked whether in fact the tower portion was under construction. Several posters said it was and posted the pictures showing the parking structure end of the site. You then came in and stated rather emphatically that the tower structure was indeed under construction, assuring us that you had seen them installing piers on the entire site... A statement that has since been contradicted by yourself and others who have seen the site. Color me skeptical that an inability to figure out what to do with the W's valet parking is what is holding up the tower construction. I have faith that Hillwood has things planned out a little better than that. If that is truly the case, I'm guessing the parking structure will be complete before they start work on the tower. Something tells me it's more about getting some pre-sales in the condominiums and getting some office leases ready for signing. (And by the way, a quick look at the renderings shows that the northern most edge of the site is not where the tower and garage will come together. The northern most edge of the site is where the tower is located, next to Olive Street... I guess you meant to say the northern most edge of the current construction site... thus, at long last impliedly admitting to what I have been saying all along... to-wit: the tower is not currently under construction.
  14. Houston19514
    Ya, I saw what jsoto said. In fact, allow me to quote: "Sometimes the garage is constructed first because the architects/owner decide to locate some of the main building's major mechanical/electrical/plumbing systems and equipment in it, which they would like to get connected and up and running well before the main building is finished." All jsoto has done is to give one possible reason that the garage might be under construction while the tower is not... in direct response to NDtexan's question of why the developer would build the garage first, rather than simultaneously. NObody has said that the tower will not be built, or that they are not preparing to build the tower. A point you seem to repeatedly miss. All that people have said (and while they may or may not be in the building industry, they apparently have eyes) is that the tower is not currently under construction. Here's another quote from a Dallasite who presumably has eyes, a poster named Maconahey: "Yeah, plus they still need to dig up most of the land where the tower will go." Sounds to me like a building that is not yet under construction. I know you think that the discussion of whether or not the tower is under construction has gotten worn, but if anything has gotten worn, it is your denial of the increasingly obvious.
  15. Houston19514
    From a member named "DFW" on the dallasmetropolis forum: "Yes, I saw the lower part of the crane in place late this afternoon, but don’t be alarmed it's for the construction of the parking garage the south section of the tower which will go up first. Eventually this crane will be used for some of the construction of the tower later this late Summer or early fall." And from a member named "Mephis Gooseberry", responding to the question posed by "NDtexan" on the dallasmetropolis forum: Originally Posted by NDtexan "I'm just curious, but how do you know the garage is being constructed first? And why is it being constructed before the tower instead of during the overall construction?" Response post by Mephis Gooseberry: "Its pretty obvious if you go to the site and look." __________________
  16. Houston19514
    Sure would be nice to see Exxon consolidate their offices downtown the way Chevron is doing (and move their HQ to Houston where it belongs while they are at it)
  17. Houston19514
  18. Houston19514
    ???? That has to be one of the more bizarre statements I've ever seen on this forum. Who exactly is forcing you to place your cursor on the words "Port of Dallas" and then click? The whole point of the thread was to make a little fun of Dallas boosters who take themselves a bit too seriously, and 5 pages later, you guys continue reinforcing the joke.
  19. Houston19514
    Good points. But I had thought perhaps a well-maintained and operated 9-hole course could draw as much or more use as the (apparently) poorly maintained and operated 18-hole course. With the benefit of using half the land and thus making room for the soccer complex. If my theory is correct, the end result would be a maximized usage of the entire park. I hope they don't make these decisions on nothing more than assumptions about potential usage of various amenities.
  20. Houston19514
    Why would they never consider retaining part of the course?
  21. Houston19514
    It's a standard-sized downtown block.
  22. Houston19514
    A year out from starting construction?
  23. Houston19514
    Sounds like Texaco. There used to be a REALLY decrepit ugly building there... I don't remember excatly what. When they started to rehab the Texaco building a couple of years ago (into what was initially planned to be a Ritz-Carlton, and then was to be a Renassaince) they tore down the old structure on the northwest corner. The plan was to build an addition, with meeting space, the main entrance and some other stuff as part of the planned hotel/residential development. I would still love to see the hotel/condo combo, preferably with Ritz-Carlton back in the game.
  24. Houston19514
    Well, only residents from other areas and every office market research/reporting service known to man. They all consider Uptown/Victory to be a separate market from downtown Dallas.
  25. Houston19514
    Yes, originally, it was to be a Ritz-Carlton. Then it was going to be a Renassaince Hotel, and construction on that project actually started, and then quietly stopped. Both hotel projects included some residential as well.
×
×
  • Create New...