Developer Pencils Fall Start for $35M, 224-Unit Condo Project

HOUSTON-A $35-million condo development will break ground in the fall on a 2.9-acre infill tract with a gateway positioning to a residential neighborhood at the edge of the Medical Center District. The 224-unit Gramercy Park has been on the drawing board two years.

The Houston-based team behind the plan is Tree Top Development, general partner of a development group, Gramercy Park Condo LP, along with Hoff Architects, Irvine Team and GT Leach Construction. Chris Kay, Irvine’s senior vice president, tells GlobeSt.com that the development group bought the land at 2600 Gramercy Park two years ago from an owner with a similar plan for land that takes up two corners at the intersection of Kirby Drive and Gramercy Park. The plan is to raise the project in sync with the city’s upcoming street construction and lighting project, part of a revitalization program for the vintage neighborhood.

Kay says the twin five-story buildings will rise simultaneously on the corner tracts. Delivery is penciled for early 2006.

The condos will range from 780 sf to 1,600 sf. But, Kay says, the prices have yet to be set. “It will be market-driven pricing,” he explains, adding demand to date has been running high. Roger Hoffine of Keller Williams Realty will kick off pre-sales by yearendAccording to Kay, Gramercy Park will be the only condo development in the immediate area for the professional and support workers of the 24/7 hospital hub. The Tuscan-style project, targeting medical professionals, is laid out with one-, two- and three-bedroom units. Gramercy Park is elevated on a concrete podium, with parking on lower levels, and downtown views on the upper levels.