HoustonIsHome Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 With the new building looking so illuminated I hope thus will spur some more interesting lighting on the older buildings. Otherwise this and Hines will stick out like sore thumbs.I am not talking about gaudy light shows like some cities put on, but something a little prettier than the somber glow we normally have. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wxman Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 I love this building! I don't think it's a great location tho. I feel like the western and northern view of the skyline is the most photogenic and most temperate and I hate for buildings to be added that would become nothing more than a zit on a pretty face....not that this building is ugly but I'm not sure it would be a good fit for the northern face skyline. Anybody following me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 I'm following you like cold air follows rain, weatherman. I like the building too and also hopes it gets built. This with the new Hines tower will reshape the view of the skyline from the north however. It will add dimension and character to the view. My problem with it is more microcosmic. Market Square is a small jewel in. This building will lord over the public space in a very domineering way. I'd like to see a highrise here, but perhaps something a lit more residential and interactive rather than something as Corporate, 9-5, M-F. The awful Parking structure to the NW is unfortunate enough. I'm not complaining about the Essex Tower , I'd just rather see something more as I described. I recognize that this is Houston. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BayouCityMan Posted December 14, 2013 Share Posted December 14, 2013 Between this and the Hines residential project, Market Square will be "lorded over" on 2 sides. Will definitely affect the views and environs accordingly but wil also bring new activity to the square should both be built. I am cautiously optimistic about this one getting built but like everyone else, I see the impending glut of space available in downtown within the next 3 years. Hopefully that doesn't sway Stream from doing this, but going multi-use may not be a bad idea. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZKB9 Posted December 17, 2013 Share Posted December 17, 2013 Going mixed-use would be ideal IMO. adding a hotel or residential component would bring some life into the square, as Naviguessor mentioned. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LTAWACS Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 If the rumors about Chevron canceling their newly proposed tower and moving way up north are true, then the chances for this baby just got a whole lot better! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 If the rumors about Chevron canceling their newly proposed tower and moving way up north are true, then the chances for this baby just got a whole lot better!a ) the rumors for Chevron moving north are just that.. rumors. even if they are true, the tower is very much still happening.. b ) even if the tower was being canceled, it wouldnt affect this tower at all because that one was completely filled by its owner, not taking other tenants away from this tower. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Where did you get this rumor? The city an state already gave Chevron tax abatements and is still under design. Over and over again construction starts in March. What does this have to do with Steam/Essex? I think this project is dead, or on hold.   Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nate Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 If the rumors about Chevron canceling their newly proposed tower and moving way up north are true, then the chances for this baby just got a whole lot better! Why on earth would you think that? If Chevron did move out of downtown, 1400 Smith and 1500 Louisiana would be vacated and add ~2,000,000 square feet of vacant space to the market. Pretty sure that would be bad for the Stream/Essex building. In any event, I think it is highly, highly unlikely that Chevron leaves downtown. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brijonmang Posted December 18, 2013 Share Posted December 18, 2013 Why on earth would you think that? If Chevron did move out of downtown, 1400 Smith and 1500 Louisiana would be vacated and add ~2,000,000 square feet of vacant space to the market. Pretty sure that would be bad for the Stream/Essex building. In any event, I think it is highly, highly unlikely that Chevron leaves downtown.Don't feed the troll!! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Posted December 19, 2013 Share Posted December 19, 2013 Don't feed the troll!!AMEN! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elseed Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Any new updates on the International Tower? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Don't get your hopes up for this one.. Unless they line up some secret tenant we don't know about it seems unlikely this go round with all the other construction soon to be underway (capital, Hines, maybe 6hc) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Naviguessor Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 This one could still get a jump on Capitol and the Hines. No demolition needed. I doubt it... But, still possbile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arche_757 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 ^Doubtful. This is Hines' town, would be tough for anyone to challenge them. I've wonderd (in this thread none the less) why Steam/Essex doesn't pursue a 20 floor commercial/20 floor residential split for this? Seems like high-rise residential would do well enough? I know mixed-use towers are a tough sell...particularly in Houston, but seems like if any one area would be ripe for one then Market Square would be. They could even market 24 floors of office, 10 residential floors and find some willing hotel for the top 10-17 floors? Would be a game changer if they could do that, but my guess is with all the available land no one (developer or potential tenant) would want to do that. Does anyone here with more connections with the finance industry want to explain why something like this (scaled up/down) wouldn't fly? Or rather is it just because developers in Houston are overly cautious when developing mixed-use? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elseed Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I really hope this goes up preferably before Feb 2017(SB)....and then hopefully we can start getting some Res. high-rises and Office buildings in Midtown that way connecting the Med ctr to DT skyline.... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cloud713 Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 (edited) ^Doubtful. This is Hines' town, would be tough for anyone to challenge them. I've wonderd (in this thread none the less) why Steam/Essex doesn't pursue a 20 floor commercial/20 floor residential split for this? Seems like high-rise residential would do well enough? I know mixed-use towers are a tough sell...particularly in Houston, but seems like if any one area would be ripe for one then Market Square would be. They could even market 24 floors of office, 10 residential floors and find some willing hotel for the top 10-17 floors? Would be a game changer if they could do that, but my guess is with all the available land no one (developer or potential tenant) would want to do that.yeah i doubt it too. though they have already taken soil samples.. things have just been too quiet for something to pop up in the next month..and i think i speculated that with you in this thread because ive wondered that too.. (btw International Tower is partially parking garage) but i think an office/hotel combination would be great in this location. or all hotel (maybe they could pull that Ritz since they were apparently scouting for a location in downtown?) IMO that area is probably good on residential towers between Hines 33 story and the 40 story on the west side.. but the location seems great for a hotel since its only a block from the light rail line, right in the heart of the historic/Market Square district, and less than 2 blocks from the theater district. and i dont think there are many other hotels in that area to compete with?the elevator banks for the office workers could be in the basement since its connected to the tunnel system (or would be), and the hotel could have the first floor for the front lobby entrance area to the hotel. or have half of the first floor be hotel lobby (most likely the side facing Market Square), and the other side could be the office/corporate entrance, which could be open to the tunnel level kind of like Capital Tower. idk, now im just rambling.. Edited February 14, 2014 by cloud713 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
democide Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Things have been quiet, but I'm sure things are moving behind the scenes. I mean the brochure for this building was released so the intent to build it is there. Also, don't forget that this building does not have to be 100% pre-leased before it is constructed. Typically, you only need about 50% to move forward; that's the threshold. You also need a good sales team to lure in a tenant or two to move in, and I just heard that Occidental Petroleum is splitting and moving its headquarters to Houston! Just out of nowhere, this happens! This is a great corporation and opportunity to lure them into downtown. Right now, they have their offices at Greenway Plaza, and they may decide to stay there, which is fine. But still, the company may be evaluating their HQ location in Houston as they plan to split and relocate from California, you never know.  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 I feel Hines got their lease at 609 Main since it is U/C and they want LEED Platinum certification. It has been very quiet, Los Angeles will reel form this. We have Exxon and Chevron next. The factors are low taxes. Affordable cost of living, and we will have 2 International Airports. United has more non-stops internationally than any city in the south. Delta could be equal but their hubs are in small cities. American has no presence in Asia but huge in Latin American. We will see who will lease 609 Main. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swtsig Posted February 15, 2014 Share Posted February 15, 2014 Don't think it's occidental at Hines - they've been gobbling space at greenway. At one point rumor had another major coastal o&g firm moving into 609 but I don't think that had any legs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nativehoustonion Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 You're most likely correct. I know somebody has rented space at 609 Main. The International Tower is dead for now, since Pennzoil Place has 500,000 square feet for lease. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avossos Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 So here is the trend we are seeing - Companies are willing to pay a premium for top of the line space. Hines has a good record. This new building is likely to be impressive and will showcase a company rather well. The older buildings are faced with some issues: 1. become a cheaper more affordable option for tennants looking for DT space2. Invest heavily in renovations The issue with buildings that have 'space come available'. the building can not truly be rennovated in it's entirety. It will have to be piece by piece - which just isnt ideal when compared to a 609 Main option (for the same price per sq foot). This tower will most likely be stalled until someone is serious about renting alot of space. Our worries that downtown may have tons of space unrented --- To this I say the buildings that will suffer will be the older ones with space available that have not rennovated. This is a trend and quite possibly a good one that will lead to more investment into our downtown properties. We might be seeing space available shift around different buildings, but i dont believe it will be anything that will hinder growth of downtown office growth in the next few years. Next decade may be a different story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 You're most likely correct. I know somebody has rented space at 609 Main. The International Tower is dead for now, since Pennzoil Place has 500,000 square feet for lease.I can't seem to find the image that shows which floors in downtown Houston are vacant (maybe it was on Biz Journals?), but Pennzoil Place is in one of the worst shapes when it comes to its occupancy rate. I believe it is around a 65% occupancy rate? I thought we had a rumor that Transwestern was going to renovate Pennzoil Place...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I can't seem to find the image that shows which floors in downtown Houston are vacant (maybe it was on Biz Journals?), but Pennzoil Place is in one of the worst shapes when it comes to its occupancy rate. I believe it is around a 65% occupancy rate? I thought we had a rumor that Transwestern was going to renovate Pennzoil Place...? Pennzoil Place has 1.4 Million square feet, 406,000 square feet of which is available. So, about 71% occupancy. The "rumor" about renovations was nothing more than idle speculation. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 You're most likely correct. I know somebody has rented space at 609 Main. The International Tower is dead for now, since Pennzoil Place has 500,000 square feet for lease. I think your declaration of death for International Tower is a bit premature, especially with it being based on the availability of space at Pennzoil. Everyone in the business has known about the space coming available in Pennzoil Place for quite some time. If that was enough to kill an office project, the International Tower project would not have gotten as far as it has. As has always been the case for this project (and many other office projects), the International Tower will happen if and when they get lease commitments for a substantial portion of the space. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
democide Posted February 18, 2014 Share Posted February 18, 2014 I can't seem to find the image that shows which floors in downtown Houston are vacant (maybe it was on Biz Journals?), but Pennzoil Place is in one of the worst shapes when it comes to its occupancy rate. I believe it is around a 65% occupancy rate? I thought we had a rumor that Transwestern was going to renovate Pennzoil Place...?  I believe you're referring to this article, correct?  All things considered, it's not bad enough to keep this one from finding a tenant and going up.  It will be a while though, like 3 years, for this one to be completed if they start now; that's one downside. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted February 19, 2014 Author Share Posted February 19, 2014 Interesting that their Waugh project has a project page but not this one http://www.streamrealty.com/property/Houston/Twenty-Two-Waugh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Triton Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 I believe you're referring to this article, correct?  All things considered, it's not bad enough to keep this one from finding a tenant and going up.  It will be a while though, like 3 years, for this one to be completed if they start now; that's one downside. Thank you, that's it! It's a shame that reporter doesn't work for Biz Journals anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swtsig Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Pennzoil Place has 1.4 Million square feet, 406,000 square feet of which is available. So, about 71% occupancy. The "rumor" about renovations was nothing more than idle speculation.  a large chunk of that pennzoil space has been leased. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryDierker Posted February 19, 2014 Share Posted February 19, 2014 Bam! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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