Another project rouses from its slumber
Following the path of other builders that have resumed major real estate developments derailed by the downturn, San Diegobased OliverMcMillan is getting close to starting River Oaks District, a 650,000- square- foot retail, office and residential project a half- mile from the Galleria mall.
The developer declined to discuss the project, but the company’s website reveals important details about the proposed complex alongWestheimer at Westcreek.
Here’s what it’s expected to include:
270,000 square feet of high- end shops, finedining restaurants, street cafes and amovie theater.
99,000 square feet of office space in a five- story building.
278 residential units. A site plan shows a series of eight buildings. The tallest appear to be the office building and the residential structures, which are set to have three levels of units above shops or garage space.
Based on the plan, the project is smaller today than when it was proposed, before the recession. It also doesn’t include two four- star hotels originally envisioned.
Open Realty Advisors of Dallas is leasing the retail space, and the Houston office of CBRE is leasing the offices.
Additional information was revealed recently when the group requested a tax rebate from the city.
The company said it would break ground early next year and complete the project by fall 2014. The $ 275 million project, it said, will replace 1960sera apartments on the site.
City Council granted a rebate of up to $ 19 million, assuming stores in the project will generate that much in sales taxes. The developer would be reimbursed for public amenities it agreed to provide as part of the project.
A tenant with heft
The developer of a three- building office complex planned along the Energy Corridor has found a big tenant for the project.
Wood GroupMustang will lease about half the space in theWestgate development, which will be built on 21 acres on the north side of Interstate 10, east of Barker Cypress Road.
The Houston engineering firm with more than 2,800 local employees will occupy 337,882 square feet in two of the buildings. The company is spread out inmultiple buildings, mostly inwest Houston. The new office will consolidate some of that space, but not all. About 1,100 employees will work there.
Westgate is a joint venture between Transwestern andMiller Global Properties, a Denverbased investor and fund manager.
Two of the buildings will open in the third quarter of 2013 and the third in early 2014.
CBRE represented Wood GroupMustang in lease negotiations.
Affordable, but ...
Broadlymeasured, housing in the Houston area is cheap compared to other big cities. But when combined with transportation costs, this market becomes less affordable, a new study shows.
For households earning 50 percent to 100 percent of the median income for their area, greater Houston ranks 17th in overall affordability among the largest metros, according to the National Housing Conference and Center for Housing Policy.
When just looking at housing costs as a share of income, this area ranks eighth.
In Houston, where the studied households earn $ 28,944 to $ 57,888, 60 percent of income goes toward housing and transportation. Of that, 28.5 percent is spent on housing and 31.5 percent on transportation, including car payments, maintenance, insurance and fuel.
Between 2000 and 2010, combined housing and transportation costs were up 40 percent, while nominal incomes grew 24 percent, the report shows.
Washington, Philadelphia and Baltimore were at the top of the overall affordability list.