The Uptown real estate market is decidedly better off than it was just a few months ago, thanks to the addition of two new office towers.
17Seventeen McKinney and Saint Ann Court are latest additions to Uptown Houston’s already bustling office market. Located just a few blocks away from one another, both towers are a fine example of the value of building in Houston’s Uptown district. The Uptown real estate market, which is rebounding nicely after the fiasco of 2009, is becoming the hot spot for business and commerce – and the developers of 17Seventeen McKinney and Saint Ann Court are counting on it.
The doors of both of these buildings have opened, yet some construction does still remain. Builders of both projects expect the construction’s finishing touches to be wrapped up in just a few weeks.
17Seventeen McKinney
Work began on 17Seventeen McKinney, which is a 361,000-square-foot building, nearly two years ago, when the economy and the real estate market were booming. Although the developer plans to fill up this building rather quickly with tenants, 17Seventeen McKinney will certainly be one of the last projects for some time in Uptown due to tight credit restrictions.
17Seventeen McKinney, which was designed by Dallas architectural firm Good Fulton & Farrell, is a striking high-rise tower which boasts a concrete, steel and glass exterior. The ground floor of the building features a beautiful interior of polished wood and stone, and decorated works of art by local artists line the walls.
One of the most impressive spaces in the building, however, is seven floors off the ground. The seventh-floor, one-acre garden connects the office tower to the apartment building next door, thereby providing an “oasis in the sky” for the tenants of the building and the residents of the neighboring apartment building.
Saint Ann Court
Saint Ann Court, which is the product of developer Harwood International, is now at 70 percent capacity. This 26-story office tower is now the tallest office in Uptown. Some of the current tenants include: the Boston Consulting Group, McGuire, Craddock & Struther, Francis Enterprises and Daniel Sheehan & Associates.
Some of the impressive amenities of Saint Ann Court include a glass-floored lounge, a concierge desk and striking, vintage, Japanese samurai art covering the walls.
The end-of-the-year numbers for office space in Houston were quite dismal. CB Richard Ellis, in fact, recently reported that Houston’s office market ended with 2.74 million square feet of negative net absorption. In other words, there were nearly three million square feet less office space leased in 2009 than 2008.