Bellaire Residents Raise Concerns Over Height of Proposed Loop 610 Towers
Chevron sold this tract in the City of Bellaire. The new owner has a grand plan.
BELLAIRE – (By Michelle Leigh Smith for Realty News Report) – Plans for the 30-acre Bellaire Place development, located on the former Chevron campus along Loop 610, continue to draw close scrutiny from the Bellaire Planning & Zoning Commission.
In October, SLS Properties purchased the site from Chevron, which relocated its roughly 900 Bellaire employees to downtown Houston.
The property—bounded by Loop 610, South Rice Avenue and Fournace Street—includes two existing office buildings and a substantial amount of land zoned for future development.
The commission held a second public hearing Thursday night to review the proposal for 9.6 acres at 5901 S. Rice Avenue, where SLS has requested a Specific Use Permit (SUP) to increase allowable height from 53 feet to 85 feet for use as an indoor theater and a fitness club.
Neighbors and commissioners questioned the potential height of new structures and the shadows they could cast over adjacent residential properties.
Developer Danny Sheena, representing SLS Properties, described plans for a 145,000-square-foot interior building rising to 85 feet. He presented ratio calculations related to height and urged the commission to approve the SUP “as a matter of right.”
“Technically, I could go another 33 feet to 101 feet,” Sheena said. During the hearing he also acknowledged that if the fitness club did not come together, the space could be adapted for a big-box retailer.
Sheena referenced a shading analysis by Kirksey Architecture that examined how a proposed 164-foot parking garage would affect residents on Mayfair Street. He said the study showed impacts to sunlight would be limited to about 30 minutes in December and therefore would have essentially no effect on neighbors.
Resident Thomas Reed countered with his own drawings and photographs showing significant shadowing at different times of day, including periods after sunrise, at noon and after sunset. “In contrast to what he showed you—a confusing collage of olives and pinks—I will actually show you a real shadow,” Reed said. He urged the commission to consider whether the proposal aligns with Bellaire’s Comprehensive Plan.
Reed asked the commission to require protections for adjacent areas, including adequate separation and buffering for the single-family homes on Mayfair Street.
Neighbors say they have been presented with changing versions of the Bellaire Place plans since September 2018.
“Every time we turn around, something is different,” said Bellaire resident Jim Balogh.
Catherine Lewis, a geologist with 30 years of experience, warned that prolonged shadowing would harm vegetation by reducing sunlight and greenspace. She questioned setback assumptions based on line of sight and noted a second parking garage had not been shown in developer materials.
“I call for a moratorium on this project,” resident Lynn McBee said. She emphasized the absence of a final report from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and asked that, if the proposal goes to City Council, Bellaire hire an independent, out-of-town professional consultant to review environmental impacts.
Chairman Ross Gordon requested a complete packet of materials, including environmental studies. “At the last meeting, there were many requests for additional information about traffic and a master plan. How will that new information be shared?” he asked.
Sheena said he has provided a master plan and that city staff are reviewing the materials.
Gordon also asked about the proposed eastern components of the project. Sheena has told some residents he plans to add a hotel and an additional building on the east side of the property, but those elements were not discussed publicly during the hearing.
An Ed Wulfe partnership owns the gas station and some adjoining land at the corner of Loop 610 and Fournace; Mr. Wulfe passed away in July.
Commercial real estate broker Coy Davidson of Colliers International, who represented Houston Methodist, reports that Methodist leased 100,812 square feet of former Chevron office space on the site for administrative use. Methodist will occupy floors 8, 9 and 10 of the ten-story building and expects to move in during the first quarter of 2020.
SLS Properties’ vision for Bellaire Place includes a 300-unit mid-rise residential tower above a new parking garage, a movie theater, a 145,000-square-foot mixed-use building with office space, and several restaurant-suitable pad sites along South Rice Avenue.
