Skanska Starts Leasing at Prime Montrose Corner, Market briefs

In Houston, After almost five years of hibernation, a pulse has been detected at the most prominent corner in Houston’s Montrose area.

A rendering of a 31-story apartment tower with 30,000 SF of retail has been distributed on behalf of Skanska, the developer who owns the prime parcel.

In the summer of 2020, Skanska paid $27 million, for the 2.86-acre tract at the southwest corner of Westheimer and Montrose Boulevard. Skanska bought the site, the epicenter of the diverse Montrose neighborhood, from a partnership controlled by the Madison Marquette, which once held a grand vision for a multi-use development there.

An old 40,000-SF retail center on the site, anchored by Spec’s liquor store and a Halt Price Books, was demolished.

Since then, activity of the block, bounded by Westheimer, Montrose, Lovett and Yoakum Blvd., has been limited to some weekend farmer’s market vendors, food trucks and the like.

About a year ago, the deep-freeze in the hibernation cave got even colder. At Skanska’s parent company headquarters in Stockholm, the company took a took a 2 billion krona ($195 million) asset writedown due to weak markets, primarily in its US portfolio, Bloomberg reported.

Then in January 2024 webcast, Skanska Executive Vice President Claes Larsson said: “In the near future, we will be very, very cautious and postpone further growth of the business in the U.S.”

But it appears the Skanska’s Montrose site has gained a degree of traction.

Last week, a Houston spokesman pointed out that Skanska has not placed a timeline on its Montrose development, which has been named “Starling.”

The Starling tower would be the first residential project in Texas for Skanska, which has completed office projects in downtown and the Energy Corridor.

Skanska has retained a Colliers retail team led by Wade Greene and Hannah (Tosch) Schiro to begin leasing restaurant and retail space at the Montrose project.

“We are thrilled to join Skanska’s team in the development efforts of such an iconic location, the corner of Montrose Blvd. and Westheimer Road.,” said Schiro of Colliers. “This neighborhood has been a magnet for locals and visitors for decades and with such limited inventory in this high-demand area, opportunities to continue to add more destination-worthy retail have become rare and highly sought after.”

More details on the Starling will be released at a later date, a project spokesman said.

When will Skanska break ground in Montrose? That date remains unknown.