La Colombe d’Or plans to add apartment tower
Boutique hotel La Colombe d’Or will add a 34-story residential tower in a show of strength for city economy
Steve Zimmerman, owner of the hotel, and the real estate development firm Hines plan a 34-story tower on the property called the Residences at La Colombe d’Or.
MORE than three decades ago, a New Orleans native who had been practicing law in Houston turned a stately mansion on Montrose Boulevard into an exclusive boutique hotel modeled after a small inn and restaurant in the south of France.
With Old World charm and five guest suites, some with sitting areas and private dining rooms, La Colombe d’Or has hosted celebrities, politicians and international figures. In the mid-1990s, the owner built a ballroom next to the mansion that he lined in 300-year-old oak panels from a French chateau for weddings and elaborate corporate affairs.
Now the hotel is expanding with a more modern bent: a luxury residential tower.
Steve Zimmerman, the hotel’s longtime owner, and real estate development firm Hines said Monday they will partner on what will be a 34-story building to be called the Residences at La Colombe d’Or.
With 285 high-end apartments, the building is scheduled to break ground during the second quarter of next year.
“La Colombe d’Or is one of those unique Houston gems that make our city so special,” Hines founder and chairman Gerald Hines said in a statement.
The tower is being planned for a site just behind the original mansion in place of a parking lot and the ballroom, which Zimmerman says will be replaced on another site
nearby at some point in the future. The owner plans to save the existing wood paneling and fixtures to reuse in the new ballroom. The hotel will remain in place.
Global investment manager TIAA Global Asset Management has signed on as a financial partner in the project, a show of strength for an economy that has chilled among stubbornly low oil prices and mass layoffs in the upstream energy industry.
More sophisticated city
Despite the current slowdown, Houston’s economic appeal has grown over the years as it has evolved into a more sophisticated city with multiple economic drivers, Hines senior managing director Kevin Batchelor said, adding that the project will be a long-term investment for the partners involved.
“The economy is not as dependent on oil and gas as it used to be,” Batchelor said. “We’re seeing more resilience.”
Still, the Houston apartment market has been one of the hardest-hit sectors of commercial real estate since the downturn began.
Thousands of new units are opening over the next couple of years and landlords are scrambling for tenants as the once-hot job market has stopped producing the high-paying energy positions it was spawning when oil was at $100 per barrel.
Hines is betting that when the tower opens in 2020, the current glut of units will have been filled and there will be little new supply to compete with.
“That was one of the compelling drivers for us,” Batchelor said. “The fact that there was very limited supply coming into the market.”
Even so, concerns remain as no one knows how deep the local economy will be affected by the oil rout.
“It’s just that question of how much has the economy rebounded at that point,” said Greg Willett, chief economist of RealPage, a software maker for the rental housing industry.
Rents in the area where the tower is proposed have fallen about 6 percent from a year ago and Willett said they are expected to drop another 10 percent through the end of 2017. Occupancy has fallen to 91.8 percent, down from 94.3 percent a year ago, a “fairly sizable drop,” he said.
Zimmerman said he shares Hines’ vision and he wants to create a legacy for his family.
“It was very important for me to keep the Colombe d’Or brand alive because it is something special for Houston,” he said.
Built in 1923
The historic mansion at 3410 Montrose was built in 1923 as a private residence for W.W. Fondren, one of the founders of Humble Oil, a predecessor to what is now Exxon Mobil.
As part of the development, the hotel and restaurant will undergo a $10 million renovation and expansion.
The high-rise will connect to the hotel through a series of amenity areas, including an art gallery and outdoor plaza with fireplace. Another 14,000-square-foot outdoor green space is planned for the northernmost portion of the site.
With a design by the Munoz + Albin architecture firm, the new building will also have 17 additional luxury rooms for guests of the hotel.
“There are no multifamily assets of this quality slated to compete with the opening of La Colombe d’Or, and the timing of this luxury development takes full advantage of that,” Tom Melody of commercial real estate firm JLL said in a statement. JLL represented Hines and the Zimmerman family in arranging the joint-venture equity with TIAA.
Earlier this year, when the New York Times picked Houston to feature in its “36 Hours in ... ” travel series, it cited Zimmerman’s hotel, along with white-tablecloth restaurants, renowned museums and other attractions nearby.
Zimmerman and Batchelor were quick to point to that national recognition Monday.
“This is probably one of the most exciting projects, in spite of everything,” Zimmerman said.