Golf out, lounging in at renovated Greenway Plaza Sky Terrace
Phoenix Tower’s Sky Terrace has gotten a makeover as part of Parkway Property Investments’ strategy to provide places for tenants to gather and interact.
A former Jack Nicklausdesigned, nine-hole putting green, installed by a previous building owner in 2006, has been replaced with an expansive lawn to create a space for lounging with city views.
The three-month renovation, on nearly half an acre on the ninth floor of the tower at 3200 Southwest Freeway at Buffalo Speedway, included a new epoxy coating for the reflection pool, artificial turf, new seating areas with assorted lawn games and the addition of Adirondack chairs. The terrace is accessed through the interior Sky Lobby, which has a café for tenants.
An eight-story, 247,000-square-foot garage annex at Phoenix Tower is slated for completion in late 2019. The addition will provide parking for 600 as well as covered access to The Hub, the restaurant and amenity core of the Greenway Plaza complex
Houston home price gains surpass LA, Boston, Miami
Houston-area home price gains lagged the nation and most other Texas cities in May as low interest rates strengthened the market nationwide, a new CoreLogic report showed.
Nationally, home prices increased by 3.6 percent from May 2018, according to CoreLogic, a global property information and analytics firm based in Irvine, Calif. That compares with a gain of 3 percent in the Houston market during the period.
“Interest rates on fixedrate mortgages fell by nearly one percentage point between November 2018 and this May,” CoreLogic Chief Economist Frank Nothaft said in an announcement. “This has been a shot in the arm for home sales. Sales gained momentum in May and annual home-price growth accelerated for the first time since March 2018.”
Among Texas cities, Fort Worth gained most at 5.1 percent year over year in May, followed by Austin at 4.7 percent and San Antonio at 3.8 percent. The Dallas market posted a 2.1 percent yearover-year gain.
Houston’s annual gain in May topped several other large metros: Los Angeles (2.6 percent), Boston (2.4 percent) Miami (1.9 percent), Chicago (1.9 percent), San Francisco (0.6 percent) and New Jersey (0.6 percent). The nation’s big gainers included Las Vegas (7.1 percent), Denver (4.0 percent), and Washington, D.C (3.4 percent.)
Looking ahead, U.S. home prices are projected to increase by 5.6 percent from May 2019 to May 2020, CoreLogic said.
JLL completes merger to acquire HFF of Dallas
Jones Lang LaSalle ( JLL) has completed the acquisition of the Dallas company HFF in a deal that JLL said strengthens its capital markets services business.
The merger, completed last Monday, gives Chicago-based JLL a global team of more than 3,700 capital markets professionals across 47 countries, according to an announcement. HFF employed about 1,050 people and had revenue of more than $650 million in 2018.
When the $1.8 billion deal was announced in March, HFF had 25 local brokers and JLL had about 400 employees and 55 licensed brokers in Houston, the companies said.
Mark Gibson, former CEO of HFF, joins JLL as CEO, Capital Markets, Americas and co-chair of its Global Capital Markets Board.
JLL expects the combination to save $60 million over two to three years. Certain subsidiaries of HFF, now wholly owned by JLL, will do business as JLL.
New construction projects in Houston dropped in May
The value of construction projects started in Greater Houston fell sharply across both the residential and nonresidential sectors in May, according to a new report.
Area construction totaled $1.1 billion in May, down 42 percent from the $1.8 billion the year earlier, according to Dodge Data & Analytics.
Residential construction fell 27 percent to $797.8 million, while nonresidential activity fell 61 percent to $305.7 million. Dodge did not provide an explanation for the drop.
For the 12-month period ending in May, construction starts totaled $19.6 billion, up 9.8 percent from the $17.9 billion for the comparable period in 2018, according to a Greater Houston Partnership report based on the Dodge Data.
Local design studio gets recognition for work on 2 projects
MaRS, Mayfield and Ragni Studio has been recognized by AIA Houston for its work on two projects.
The Houston-based interior architecture studio, which was founded by Kelie Mayfield and Erick Ragni, earned a 2019 AIA Houston Design Award for interior architecture for creating a sophisticated space with bright whites, large-scale furnishings and a rotating art collection at Dancie Perugini Ware Public Relations office in the Post Oak Hotel at Uptown Houston.
MaRS received a “Renovation/Restoratio” award for transforming a set of 1960s buildings in the Greenway Plaza area into a modern headquarters for Gulf Coast Pavers. The project incorporated original brick, orange clay tile, raw concrete and terrazzo flooring materials with new glazing complementary wood, steel and felt.
Houston-based Gulf Coast Pavers designs and installs interlocking pavers, permeable paver systems, roof deck paver systems, retaining walls and synthetic turf.