Developers have unveiled more details about a $500 million mixed-use project planned near Buffalo Bayou Park.
Tianqing Real Estate Development LLC — the U.S. subsidiary of Tianqing Group Real Estate Co. Ltd., one of the largest real estate developers in China — has partnered with Houston-based DC Partners to develop the massive project, which would rise on 6 acres at the southeast corner of Allen Parkway and Gillette Street. The joint venture purchased the property from HTX Real Estate Partners in May for an undisclosed price.
Plans for the mixed-use project are still in the works, said Acho Azuike, COO and managing director of DC Partners, a local real estate investment and development firm that specializes in foreign investors.
The joint partnership is meeting with several architects, including Gensler, Powers Brown Architecture and HOK, to develop a master plan for the project. However, Azuike outlined preliminary plans for the unnamed mixed-use project:
Luxury hotel, which will have between 150 and 180 hotel rooms. The joint venture is now negotiating with boutique hotel operators. Office tower: The building would have 200,000 to 250,000 square feet of Class A office space Retail: square footage has not been determined Residential condo/apartment tower, or a mixed-use hotel-condo-apartment tower: This tower would have between 80 and 100 condo units and more than 100 apartment units.The possible mixed-use hotel-condo-apartment tower would be the second such tower planned by DC Partners. The developer unveiled plans earlier this year to build a 21-story Thompson Hotel and condo project along the Riverwalk in San Antonio. Several developers are also planning hotel-condominium towers in Houston, including Tilman Fertitta's The Post Oak and Simon Property Group's Galleria Mall expansion.
“It’s a good use because the condo residents get to take advantage of the hotel amenities,” Azuike said. “Your living room for your condo is the hotel lobby. It’s something that’s popular in other parts of the country that we’ll see more of in Houston.”
Tianqing and DC Partners are planning to start construction on the mixed-use project in late 2017 or early 2018, Azuike said.
The mixed-use project is Tianqing’s first U.S. project and DC Partners’ largest project to date. The project will be financed partially with Tianqing and DC Partners’ capital, EB5 funding and a construction loan — details of which are still being worked out. EB5 is a federal program that allows foreign investors to invest money in U.S. projects and create jobs in exchange for a Green Card. DC Partners is a “regional center” for EB-5 investors in Houston and recently moved its 12-employee China office from Beijing to Shanghai.
“This project is huge for Houston,” Azuike said. “ We’ve spent a lot of time opening up Houston as a place for international investment.”