ON THE MARKET
Museum District condo to sell its luxury units for the first time.
Tema Development has begun the redevelopment of the Parklane, a 35-story residential tower overlooking Hermann Park, with new amenities and modernized units for purchase as condominiums.
The Houston developer completed the condo project — at the time one of the city’s tallest — in 1983 but has retained ownership of the majority of the building’s 195 units and leased them as luxury rentals. The first phase of the redevelopment of the building, at 1701 Hermann Drive, began in January and spans floors 15 through 25. Those units will hit the market in June after a delay stemming from stay-at-home orders in place during the early phase of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
With prices starting in the mid $300,000s, Tema aims to appeal to a range of potential buyers, including current tenants as well as first-time buyers, real estate investors, second homeowners, empty nesters and others who want to live in the Museum District, near the Texas Medical Center and Rice University.
“With more high-rise living becoming very common and accepted in Houston, we think now is the right time to come to market,” said Nadim Zabaneh, a
Tema vice president. “We think it will be a good value proposition and very competitive in the market.”
Designed by Lloyd Jones Brewer, the contemporary style building has recessed balconies and a curved curtain wall on the corners, which would be expensive to duplicate today, according to Zabaneh. The floor-toceiling windows provide units, which have from one to three balconies each, expansive views of downtown and the medical center.
Mirador Group has been hired as the architect, interior designer and landscape architect for The Parklane.
The building’s 195 units will be upgraded in phases with a choice of three color schemes incorporating a warm yet modern design. The improvements include new hardwood floors, high-end European cabinetry, marble style countertops, recessed lighting, stainless steel appliances, washers and dryers and back-lit mirrors.
Erica Baumgartner, Mirador Group’s lead designer on the project, said a holistic plan will bring a modern lobby with expansive ceilings and new amenities to the third floor. The building will sacrifice one of its two tennis courts to make room for new amenities, including a pool with cabanas, a grilling area, outdoor exercise areas and a new fitness center.
“It desperately needed some life brought back into it,” Baumgartner said. “It’s an awesome building. It had the bones and the structure and the ceiling heights, all of those things were there, they just need to be reconfigured.”
The Parklane contains units sized from 825 square feet to nearly 2,500 square feet with an average of about 1,480 square feet. Monthly condo association dues will be about 61 cents per square foot.
The units will be marketed by Elevated Group at Compass.
Residents of The Parklane will be offered the option to purchase their unit or relocate to a different unit in either phase two on floors 26 through 35, or phase three on floors three through 14, Zabaneh said. Tema is not writing new leases on floors in the initial phase, and has frozen rents at their current levels, which average $2.07 per square foot.
The Parklane sits on a portion of 8.5 acres Tema Development purchased in 1980. The land also contains Tema’s One Hermann Place apartment mid-rise.
Once a construction loan is lined up, Tema will break ground on the 32-story Two Hermann Place apartment tower in partnership with Nitya Capital. The project has been delayed due to the lending climate with COVID-19, Zabaneh said.