Issue link: http://papercitymagazine.uberflip.com/i/579640
HOUSTON IS IN THE MIDST OF A HIGH-RISE BUILDING BOOM, AND IT'S BRINGING TRUE LUXURY LIVING TO THE SKY. G L E A M I N G N E W C O N D O M I N I U M T O W E R S , M A N Y B O A S T I N G SUPERSTAR ARCHITECTS AND DESIGNERS, AND ALMOST ALL OFFERING OPULENT AMENITIES AND EXTRAVAGANT TOUCHES, ARE COMPETING FOR AFFLUENT CONSUMERS WHO ARE READY TO SHED THE MANSION FOR A SIMPLER LIFE — EVEN IF SIMPLER HAPPENS TO BE A $10 MILLION PENTHOUSE WITH JAW-DROPPING VIEWS OF THE CITY. MORE THAN 125,000 NEW PEOPLE MO VE ANNUALLY TO THE HOUSTON AREA , MANY FROM CITIES WHERE HIGH-RISE LIVING IS MORE THE NORM, AND THEY ARE TAKING UP RESIDENCE IN THESE TOWERS, PREFERRING THE EASE OF VERTICAL LIVING. WE LOOK AT 43 LUXURY HIGH-RISES AND MID-RISES IN VARIOUS STAGES OF COMPLETION, COMPARING SQUARE FOOTAGE, AMENITIES, VIEW FROM THE TOP, LUXE FACTOR , W A L K A B I L I T Y, S TA R T I N G P R I C E A N D L I S T I N G D E V E LO P E R , A R C H I T E C T, C O N TA C T S A N D M O R E , F O R THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO HOUSTON'S NEW HIGH-LIFE. S ipping a glass of white wine and sporting stylish gray eyeglasses and a shock of silver hair, architect Alan Ritchie of NY-based Philip Johnson Alan Ritchie Architects (PJAR) leans back in his chair. The Englishman is in a reflective mood, and he flashes a mischievous smile. "It was just a matter of time," he says. Ritchie is talking about the sudden surge of vertical living that's coming to Houston — all the luxury towers in various stages of development across the region. There are more than 40 new high-rise and mid-rise buildings, stretching from The Woodlands (Treviso at Waterway Square) through downtown, midtown, River Oaks, Memorial and the Museum District. Sitting in the brand-new sales center of one of these opulent cloud scrapers (the upcoming 16-story Aurora), ensconced in a glass-walled conference room as a preview party goes on outside the glass, Ritchie and Marko Dasigenis, partner- in-charge of the Houston PJAR office, can see the city changing beyond these translucent walls — and the clutch of well-dressed people enjoying hors d'oeuvres and cocktails as they peruse stunning elevations of the Aurora, developed by Chris Sims of Sims Luxury Builders. "What we're seeing here has been happening in the rest of the world for many, many years," Dasigenis says. "It's such an easy way of life." Dasigenis, who talks just as excitedly about the unique Glass House-inspired tower he designed at 3615 Montrose for developer Michael Carroll of Riverway Properties, believes this shift to vertical living results in a higher quality of life. "There's no need to worry about getting someone to do the yard, no need to worry about where your packages are going, no need to worry about who's going to watch your home when you're on vacation," he notes. "It's true turn-key living. Simple." One man's (or woman's) simple is another's $10 million, 10,000-square-foot penthouse with its own private pool. Legendary Houston developer Robert Bland — whose Pelican Builders is behind one of the new high-rises, the 17-story Wilshire near the city-shifting River Oaks District — says divorcées and widows are prevalent buyers and among the most committed early Houston high-rise adopters. Other upscale homebuyers are quickly catching on, though. Bland is certain the real building onslaught sits on the horizon. "There really are not that many projects right now, especially when you consider the size and sophistication of a city like Houston," he says. "Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States and an ever-increasing international hub for business, shopping and culture. This is only the beginning. There will be luxury high-rises rising in every open and feasibly convertible spot from Shepherd to the bayou before long. It will dramatically change Houston's skyline." The change-to-come is easy to see when sitting in one of the elegant chairs of the lounge area of The River Oaks' über-tech sales center manned by Sudhoff Companies. Outside and overhead, the complete luxury makeover and transformation of the 1960s-era River Oaks Apartments into a high-rise clangs ahead full force, but in here, it's a serene oasis with the future high-rise springing to life in a computer-animation display that uses the same technology as a Hollywood studio. The New York-based developer of The River Oaks — Richard Leibovitch of Arel Capital — has just flown in from Dallas, where he has other projects. But even as By CHRIS BALD WIN he jokes about the storm in Dallas that put him a little behind schedule on this mid- week afternoon in September, it's clear that the repurposing of this Houston building (which notables such as John Wayne used to call home) into a modern-day, high- rise living marvel overlooking the mansions of River Oaks and serving as one of St. John's School's closest neighbors, means something more to him. "This is my baby," Leibovitch says. "We've done a number of buildings in New York and they're great and all, but this is truly special. This is the one where I'm going to come back in 50 years and say, 'We built that.'" This sense of pride in still having the power to transform Houston, and the weight of responsibility that comes with it, seems to be the common thread running through these new projects, big and smaller. Shahin "Sean" Jamea — one of the brothers behind the Oxberry Group, a homegrown Houston-based development company — feels it with his firm's new eight-story luxury condominium project, The Mondrian in the Museum District. "People think it's easy to build anything in Houston because of the (lack of) zoning situation," Jamea says. "But finding the right piece of land to build condos like this one is actually very difficult. We looked for a year and a half, in spots like Rice Village, before we found this perfect piece of land in the Museum District. We're looking at this as a rare chance to hopefully build something of an iconic building for the neighborhood." Jamea views the nearby Asia Society Texas Center as the high bar that The Mondrian must try and approach. That's the way of this high-life push; everyone is reaching for something. No luxury convenience is out of range — just look at The River Oaks' mailroom. That's right, the mailroom. "You think of most apartment mailrooms and they're these dingy, musty places, maybe with fluorescent lights, disgusting really," Leibovitch says, the excitement level rising in his voice. "You wouldn't want to spend any time there. You just want to get your mail and get out. But look at this." He leads me over to one of The River Oaks' life-like, painting-sized renderings on the wall. "Here's our mailroom. It's just as opulent as the rest of the interiors. There are nice couches and places to sit and soft, beautiful lighting. This is a place where you wouldn't mind hanging out. And that's important. You might not go to the fitness center every day. You might not use the dog park or stroll the gardens every day. But you're going to be in that mailroom every day. That's the best mailroom in all of Houston, maybe anywhere." Iconic Houston developer Marvy Finger, who built the pioneering One Park Place high-rise back in 2008, argues that the new ultra-luxe mid-rises are the ones setting a new bar by taking high-rise living and shrinking it down. "These new six- to eight-story mid-rises that have all the niceties of the tall buildings — all the soundproofing and all the good finishes and all the perks — are extravagantly interesting," he says. "We haven't had mid-rises quite like this before. I think they're poised to do wonderfully well." Finger has three such new properties in 500 Crawford, The Susanne and 1900 Yorktown — and plenty of competition in the upscale mid-rise arena. It's all quite a leap from when the 87-year-old Bland developed a pioneering Houston high-rise on Woodway in 1973, and everyone wondered what he possibly could be thinking. Today there are 10 million dollar penthouses, 40-story luxury living towers shooting up over Market Square Park … It's a new high-rise age in Houston, indeed. The River Oaks Olympia at Willowick Park Arabella 6300 Woodway The Monroe 3615 Montrose Belfiore