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West-side rendering of the La Colombe d’Or Hotel & Residences.

 Houston-based Hines’ 34-story high-rise underway in Montrose will deliver its first units by the second quarter of 2020, the developer announced April 9. Hines also shared interior renderings of the luxury apartment project, the La Colombe d’Or Hotel & Residences.

The project is a joint venture with Hines, TIAA Global Asset Management and the Zimmerman family, according to a press release.

The La Colombe d’Or, originally built in 1923 as the Fondren Mansion, is a luxury boutique hotel owned by the Zimmerman family.
The hotel and on-site restaurant Cinq closed Dec. 31, 2018 in advance of its own $10 million renovation project.

The apartments will be connected to the almost 100-year-old Texas landmark through outdoor green space, an art gallery and plaza with fireplace.

Lower levels of the 34-story tower will reflect the scale of the mansion next door. As one goes up the tower, the design becomes more modern and contemporary, the Houston Business Journal reported in July 2018.

Other ground-level features include a cigar bar, courtyards with sculptures, fountains and a 14,000-square-foot private park.
A 10th-floor amenity deck will house a resort-style pool, private dining area, display kitchen, private meeting rooms, social lounge with complimentary coffee bar, gym and spa-like relaxation zone, the announcement states.

The residences will offer 24-hour valet and concierge and access to the hotel’s room and poolside service included in monthly rent rates. The tower will have 18 additional hotel rooms on the first two levels. Apartments span from one-bedroom to three-bedroom units, ranging between 740 and 3,100 square feet with 10 penthouses split between the tower’s top two floors.

144-room boutique hotel proposed for prominent Downtown property.

Rental rates for residences range from $2,225 to $5,830 a month, while penthouse rents will be between $7,250 and $11,550.

The project team includes Houston-based architect Muñoz + Albin, Houston-based interior design firm Rottet Studio and Hines affiliate contractor Urban Oaks Builders. Houston-based Robinson & Co. is the landscape architect. Hines declined to disclose how construction was financed.

Urban Oaks Builders filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2018 in Texas after it was sued for alleged construction defects in an Orlando, Florida-area apartment project. Hines developed the Orlando project, and Urban Oaks acted as the general contractor.

Hines recently announced it broke ground on the towering 46-story apartment high-rise known as The Preston downtown. The luxury apartments will be where the old Houston Chronicle parking garage was, at the corner of Preston and Milam, and about a block from the newspaper’s old headquarters, where Hines and Ivanhoe Cambridge are developing the 47-story Texas Tower. Hines is developing The Preston with the Cresset-Diversified QOZ Fund, a fund started by Cresset Partners and Diversified Real Estate Capital in 2018 to invest in qualified Opportunity Zones around the country.

—HOUSTON BUSINESS JOURNAL: Story by Fauzeya Rahman