Hines to Build 46-Story Luxury Apartment Tower in Downtown Houston
The former Houston Chronicle parking garage near Market Square in downtown Houston will be torn down to make way for a 46-story apartment tower by Hines. Photo: Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report. Copyright 2019
HOUSTON — Hines is preparing to break ground on a 46-story residential tower at the site of the former Houston Chronicle parking garage. The project will contain 373 units and is scheduled for completion in August 2021. The building is designed by Houston-based architecture firm House + Partners.
The parking garage, used for decades by Chronicle employees, occupies roughly three-quarters of an acre on Block 42, bounded by Preston, Milam and Prairie streets. Realty News Report covered the early plans for this Hines apartment development last year, and the developer has recently submitted permit applications to advance the project.
Directly across the corner from the apartment site, Hines — in partnership with Ivanhoe Cambridge — is developing a 47-story office tower at the former Houston Chronicle building site at 801 Texas. A Hines-led group purchased the full-block Chronicle building and the adjacent half-block garage in 2015. The newspaper has since moved its operations to the former Houston Post property along the Southwest Freeway near Loop 610.
The new apartment tower on the old garage parcel will give Hines two residential high-rises near Market Square Park. Hines recently completed another downtown rental tower nearby, the 32-story Aris Market Square Apartments, designed by Ziegler Cooper.
Market Square Tower, which has a rooftop swimming pool extending over the edge of the building, is located across the street from the former Houston Chronicle garage. Photo credit: Ralph Bivins, Realty News Report. Copyright 2019
The project, to be called 414 Milam, is expected to become the tallest apartment building in the city. It will stand across the street from Woodbranch Investments’ 40-story Market Square Tower, known for its glass-bottomed pool that extends about ten feet beyond the building’s edge.
Downtown Houston has seen a wave of residential development in recent years. For example, Camden Property Trust is building a $140 million, 20-story tower with 275 units next to the Toyota Center.
The Inner Loop, including downtown, has become a favored location for residential towers because they reduce commute times for people working at major job centers such as Downtown, Uptown Houston and the Texas Medical Center.
Hines is also developing a high-rise apartment building on Montrose Boulevard just south of Westheimer Road. The company declined to comment on the downtown project, which could be officially announced in the first quarter.
Downtown residential growth was supported by the city’s Downtown Living Initiative, which offered developers tax incentives of $15,000 per unit. That program is now fully subscribed and no longer available. Approximately 3,000 downtown units have been completed or are currently under construction.
