Whole Foods to build store between Montrose and Waugh

Development will include apartments, stores

By NANCY SARNOFF
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Whole Foods Market plans to build a store between downtown and River Oaks as part of a 13-acre development that will include apartments and shops.

The Austin-based natural and organic grocery chain will lease the northeast corner of West Dallas and Waugh from the Finger Cos., the firms said Tuesday.

Alongside the market, the Houston-based developer is preparing to build a six-story, 445-unit apartment complex on the property. Construction will start early next year.

"It's a great intersection," president and CEO Marvy Finger said. "It's very exciting."

Plans for the site, along West Dallas between Montrose and Waugh, call for additional retail space and possibly a high-rise residential tower.

AIG complex

Finger said the project will tie into the AIG office complex, to the north of the site.

Real estate in this area, as well as the corridors running along Memorial Drive, Allen Parkway and Washington Avenue, has been transitioning as older properties are redeveloped and vacant parcels filled in.

The Allen House Apartments have been cleared as the owner prepares to build a compact urban-style development of shops, restaurants, offices and residential units there.

And a historic warehouse on Allen Parkway and Montrose was demolished after the property was sold more than a year ago to the Aga Khan Foundation for a Muslim Ismaili center.

There were almost 30 offers for the 688-unit Bayou Park apartment complex on Memorial at Shepherd after it went on the block, according to brokerage firm Apartment Realty Advisors, which marketed the property, anticipating redevelopment of the 15-acre site.

Boston-based multifamily management investment firm Berkshire Property Advisors acquired it.

'Very urban'

"That whole corridor is getting very urban," said Scott Shillings, senior vice president of Staubach Retail.

Area land prices are more than $100 per square foot, according to David Cook of real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield.

"Even if Whole Foods hadn't happened, it's a great location with its proximity to downtown and River Oaks," said Cook, who represented the owner that sold Finger the land for the grocery store and apartments earlier this year.

Though Whole Foods operates another store nearby at West Alabama and Kirby, Westheimer or San Felipe could divide the trade areas, with customers who live to the south shopping at the Kirby store and those on the north supporting the West Dallas location, Shillings said.

At 50,000 square feet, the new market is planned to be larger than the average store size of about 38,000 square feet.

"Since we continue to evolve and experiment, this store will have new features existing stores don't have by the time it opens," spokeswoman Kate Lowery said.

The company hasn't set an opening date.

It announced the new Houston lease during an earnings call Tuesday, in which it said net income in the recently completed quarter fell to $40 million, or 29 cents a share, from $46 million, or 32 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter rose 28 percent to $1.87 billion.

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

Americas Plaza development takes shape

Retail center, residential site planned east of downtown

By KIM JACKSON
Chronicle Correspondent

In a city where the old is often replaced by the new, developer Alan Atkinson is making a statement by using two historic buildings as the centerpiece for the modern, mixed-used Americas Plaza development in the eastern shadow of downtown Houston.

Situated on the corner of the Navigation Boulevard/Canal Street intersection, the 116-year-old former Anson Jones Elementary School building has evolved into the One Americas Plaza office building and reception hall.

Directly across the street, a 58-year-old warehouse, which most recently housed used office furniture and a retail blood bank, is taking shape as Two Americas Plaza — a 28,000-square-foot retail center built around a central plaza.

Atkinson, owner of AVA Limited, purchased seven adjoining properties over a four-year period before launching the Americas Plaza development. The ultimate goal is to add mid-rise and high-rise residential development to the 10-acre mix, Atkinson said.

"We are trying to do things differently. We are not following the traditional development models," Atkinson said. "This part of town has had low development expectations for several years, so all of the spaces are being designed to a high level of finish. We want local residents to take pride in what is happening to the neighborhood."

The Americas Plaza development is similar to the more established mixed-used Midtown district, Atkinson said. He said the two areas are like "bookends" on opposite sides of downtown Houston.

"That area has become a hotbed of life and activity, and that's what I see happening here," Atkinson said. "We are four blocks from the (Minute Maid) baseball stadium, four blocks from the proposed (Dynamo) soccer stadium, and one block from Guadalupe Park and hike-and-bike trails on Brays Bayou."

Atkinson added with the completion of the Alexan Lofts complex and 71 townhomes across Canal, there are about 900 more residents in the neighborhood.



AMERICAS PLAZA

Two historic buildings are being used as the centerpiece for the modern, mixed-used Americas Plaza development east of downtown Houston.

• One Americas Plaza: Situated on the corner of the Navigation Boulevard/Canal Street intersection, the 116-year-old former Anson Jones Elementary School building has evolved into the One Americas Plaza office building and reception hall.

• Two Americas Plaza: A 58-year-old warehouse building, which most recently housed used office furniture and a retail blood bank, is taking shape as Two Americas Plaza — a 28,000-square-foot retail center built around a central plaza.


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Houston to restrict land use near its airports

Posted by the Houston Chronicle
Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle

Houston must institute zoning-type restrictions barring certain types of development around its three airports or risk losing future federal grants, city and Federal Aviation Administration officials say.

To comply, city officials are putting together a plan to prohibit new residential construction on property closest to the airports. Other new development may need soundproofing.

City planners are mapping out... Continue Reading

Lenders giving yellow light to new construction

Houston Business Journal - by Nicole Bradford

Under the threat of an economic recession and with much of the country's real estate market near a grinding halt, financial underwriters in marginally affected Houston say they are now, more than ever, keeping an eye on unsold inventory.

Local commercial real estate experts say they expect Houston's market to slow down slightly from last year but are cautiously optimistic about 2008 (especially in industrial and warehouse projects). But a nationwide subprime mortgage crisis coupled with an economic downturn means even more caution for residential lenders, who are staying focused on move-ups, higher-end homes and the increasingly in-demand urban living projects inside Loop 610.

"We tend to finance custom builders who build 10 to 100 homes per year as opposed to those builders who build several thousand per year," says Joe M. Bailey, chairman of Texas Capital Bank, Houston. "Most of the slowdown I've seen is in the lower-priced housing, so the move-up homes really haven't been affected that much. The type of houses we finance are still selling. A really hot segment right now is older, mature neighborhoods such as Briargrove and West University where you have tear-down houses."

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Pearland Town Center to add 20 new shops

Houston Business Journal

Twenty more retailers and restaurants are being added to the 1.2 million-square-foot Pearland Town Center mixed-use development set to open on July 30.

Those set to open include: Ann Taylor Loft, Coach, Icing, Journey's, Yankee Candle, Select Comfort, Jos. A. Bank, James Avery, Kay Jewelers, Gymboree, New York & Co., Children's Place, Zumiez, A'gaci, Fossil, Learning Express, Express, Cork Wine Bar, Marble Slab Creamery, Gamestop, Vans and Paciugo Gelato, according to development owner CBL & Associates Properties Inc. (NYSE: CBL).

The retailers join anchors Dillard's, Macy's and Barnes & Noble, as well as fashion retailers including Chico's, Brooks Brothers Country Club, Hollister Co., The Buckle and Forever 21.

Pearland Town Center will also have a 110-room, four-story Courtyard by Marriott hotel, office and multifamily residential space above the retail, a 25-acre lake and miles of walking paths and parks.

Austin To Get A 30-story Pelli-designed Tower

(AUSTIN, TX) -- The Austin Museum of Art (AMOA) unveiled a rendering for the new downtown Museum facility and multi-purpose co-development that will be built on the block it owns at Fourth and Guadalupe Streets today. Additionally, a lead gift of $3 million from Bettye H. and William C. Nowlin for this phase of the institution’s capital campaign was announced. The new Museum building will be developed in partnership with international developer Hines and acclaimed architectural firm Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects.

“We’ve chosen to make this additional gift to AMOA, the largest gift we’ve made to any capital campaign, because this project is affordable, achievable, and what’s right for Austin right now,” said Bettye Nowlin, whose decade of philanthropic support for Austin civic and cultural organizations include service as the current president of the AMOA Board of Trustees. “This truly will be Austin’s Museum of Art, featuring the work of local, regional, and national artists and reflecting the diversity and vitality of the area presented in a way that’s uniquely Austin.”

AMOA anticipates a campaign of approximately $23 million to cover hard and soft construction costs, transition expenses, and an increase of $2 million to the operating endowment. Funds already committed for the new project total 60 percent of the goal, and are comprised of donations remaining from the previous campaigns, the sale of the land, the Nowlin’s lead gift, and several anonymous gifts, leaving just over $9 million for AMOA to reach their goal.

“We’ve spent the past five years strengthening our organization, building our audiences, and broadening our base of support in order to strategically position ourselves to succeed with this carefully-planned step forward,” explained Dana Friis-Hansen, AMOA’s Executive Director. “We’re proud of what we’ve achieved downtown in our current facility—great exhibitions with established and emerging artists, the permanent FamilyLab, and innovative education programs for schoolchildren, families and adults—but a larger purpose-built facility will allow us to do so much more.”

The new downtown facility will feature a three-story 40,000-square foot space at Fourth and Guadalupe Streets more than doubling the exhibition and education spaces from the Museum’s present location. This will enable the Museum to increase the size, frequency, and variety of art on view, and expand educational programs.

The currently undeveloped block just south of Republic Square will also be home to Museum Tower, a 30-story, 425,000-square-foot office building that will be the first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)-certified office project in downtown Austin. Both the museum and the tower will be designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects of New Haven, CT, and developed by Hines, the international real estate firm. The Museum’s owner’s representative will be David Stauch, President and Founder of Herndon, Stauch & Associates, an Austin firm specializing in project and construction management. Bart Matheney of Aquila Commercial will be the exclusive leasing agent for Museum Tower.
The lead architect at Pelli Clarke Pelli echoed Nowlin’s assessment. “Austin is a city very close to our hearts,” said senior principal Fred Clarke, a graduate of the UT-Austin School of Architecture. “We have seen it become one of the most vibrant and successful communities in the country. Designing the museum, one of the most progressive programs in the country, as well as designing a new tower for the premier developer in Texas makes this one of the most significant commissions in the city.”

Hines has operated in Austin since the mid-1970s, when it developed one of the city’s first modern office buildings, the Bank of America Tower located at Fifth and Congress. The firm owns and manages 301 Congress, which is four blocks from the new museum site, and has developed office and civic projects around the globe, including the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston Audrey Jones Beck Building designed by Rafael Moneo. Hines recently announced plans to develop a Jean Nouvel-designed mixed-use tower in midtown Manhattan adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) that will include a 50,000-square-foot expansion of the museum’s galleries. The Hines and Pelli Clarke Pelli team was recently selected to develop the Transbay Transit Center and Tower in San Francisco. In addition, the two firms are working together on a major mixed-use project at Boston’s historic South Station.

“Environmental sensitivity and energy efficiency have been distinguishing features of our projects for decades, and we are looking forward to developing the first LEED-certified office building in downtown Austin,” said Hines Vice President Travis Overall. “We are very pleased to partner with AMOA in bringing two important projects to the last undeveloped block in this area of the CBD.”

The new development will add to the strength of the civic and cultural district emerging around Republic Square, including Austin’s City Hall, Ballet Austin Dance Education Center, renovated Austin Music Hall, the growing retail and residential activity along Second Street, and planned Austin City Limits Studio, and future federal courthouse.
“Strong cultural institutions like the Austin Museum of Art provide the backbone for vibrant urban centers,” said Austin Mayor Will Wynn. “The permanent downtown location for AMOA will be one of downtown’s cultural jewels, transforming a surface parking lot into a 21st century museum and a LEED-certified office tower while continuing to build the city’s tax base and bring life to our urban core.”