HOUSTON-The 394-unit Houston House, a 31-story, 40-year-old landmark, has gone on the block for $28 million. With a $200-million, mixed-use neighbor on the horizon, the time has finally come to end an 11-year hold, the owner's broker says.
Houston House, located at 1617 Fannin St., will be marketed exclusively to condominium converters. "Everyone in town has been trying to get hold of this building for years, mainly because the area is booming and it's across the street from what's likely to become a retail-and-office complex," William Forrest, senior investment adviser in Houston for Sperry Van Ness, tells GlobeSt.com. "The location is likely to generate a lot of demand from the residential side, from people who will want to walk to work and their entertainment."
Just recently, William Denton of California and Geoffrey Jones, a local developer and broker, paid more than $20 million for three blocks of buildings to develop Houston Pavilions, a 360,000-sf project with high-end retail, entertainment, condominium and office space. The development site is bordered by Main, Caroline, Dallas and Polk streets. As a result, demand is booming for residential properties in the neighborhood.
"There aren't many 30-story residential properties in Downtown Houston. Most of them are loft conversions," says Forrest, who with Sperry Van Ness' Bruce Ripper, is representing Houston House's seller. "Basically, whoever gets this and converts it will make a mint."
Forrest says Houston House's owner, H.H. Paseo, a local general partnership led by Larry Hill, purchased the property in 1985 for a long-time hold. "Right now, they're in a position to sell it," he says, citing the difference in its marketability from a few years ago. Not only has the Houston Pavilions' plan made the 86%-leased multifamily complex a hot property, but several of its owners are ready to retire from real estate investment, according to Forrest.
Houston House, situated on a little more than a half acre, is a mix of 40 efficiencies, 257 one-bedroom units and 57 two-bedroom apartments. Units range from 428 sf to a 4,150-sf loft. Monthly rents go from $750 to $4,150.
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