THE LEGENDS OF REAL ESTATE AWARDS 2016 – Ralph Bivins, editor of Realty News Report, has highlighted the most notable people, projects, deals and ideas shaping Houston’s real estate market in 2016. These selections are not necessarily the biggest or the first, but they point to emerging trends, promising opportunities and noteworthy accomplishments that could influence the market going forward.
LEGEND: RESIDENTIAL PROJECT OF THE YEAR – Marlowe condominiums by Randall Davis with DC Partners. Houston developer Randall Davis has a long track record of spotting opportunities ahead of the mainstream. While downtown Houston is seeing a wave of new residential inventory, most new supply has been rental apartments. Marlowe stands out as a rare for-sale condominium project in that downtown surge: a 20-story building with 95 units developed by Randall Davis Co. and DC Partners. Davis believes there is sufficient demand for ownership condos downtown, pricing units from about $375,000 up to $1.5 million. The project also used the EB-5 investment program to attract foreign capital.
Davis was an early mover in Houston’s loft-conversion movement. Years ago he showed me a historic brick warehouse north of Buffalo Bayou he was converting into lofts. The building’s interior structure featured massive wooden beams—old-timber trunks squared off for structural use—that gave the units strong character.
Known for an edgy personal style, Davis has a keen sense for branding and marketing residential projects. One of his developments featured an avant-garde lobby adorned with a striking photograph of Mick Jagger and Tina Turner sharing a champagne moment—an example of the bold aesthetic choices he’s used to create memorable spaces.
With experience and ambition, Davis later took on one of Houston’s most daunting historic redevelopments: the Rice Hotel. Once the city’s grand hotel, the Rice had been closed and neglected for decades. Many developers considered it too difficult to revive. Closed in 1977, the building fell into disrepair and became a symbol of urban decline. Sitting across from the Houston Chronicle on Texas Avenue and built in 1913 on the site of the former Capitol of the Republic of Texas, the Rice carried deep historical significance—President Kennedy had stayed there the night before his assassination.
In 1995 Davis secured control of the Rice, partnered with Post Properties to rehabilitate the building, and reopened it in 1998 as the 300-unit Rice Lofts. That redevelopment helped alter local perceptions about downtown living and historic preservation.
Since the Rice project, Davis has completed several other adaptive-reuse and new residential developments within Houston’s Inner Loop, and has expanded his work to markets including Las Vegas, Galveston and South Padre Island.
For his work on Marlowe, for the transformational Rice Hotel redevelopment, and for his influence on Houston’s urban multifamily landscape, Randall Davis is awarded Realty News Report’s Legend of Real Estate Award.
Coming Monday: Realty News Report’s Legends of Real Estate Award for Retailer of the Year.
Dec. 30, 2016 Realty News Report Copyright 2016