Trammell Crow, Co. has announced that their project at the former HISD Headquarters at 3830 Richmond Ave. will start immediately, just short of a year after the demolition. The project, called "Greenway Commons," includes a 164,000 square foot Costco to be topped with an LA Fitness health club.

Three years ago, HISD accepted Trammel Crow's bid of about $38 million for the site, which included the administration building, annex, and Will Rogers Elementary. We were then told that an urban mixed-use project from Hermes Architects called "Paseo," would take its place, but that was quickly tabled. While the new project is anchored with the big-box Sam's Club kin, the developers still want us to believe this is "a 'rare' 24-acre urban infill site," and have added Morgan Group, Inc. to the roster to build a 526-unit apartment complex on the site at the end of the year.

"Neither of us knew what to do with 24 acres, but we both knew we wanted to be in this location so we decided to go in together on a project," Morgan COO Stan Levy tells GlobeSt.com.
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Craig Cheney, TCC's managing director of retail development, says the high land cost forced the developer to take the unusual step of going vertical on a big box-anchored center. "Given the scarcity of inner loop sites, this represented a unique opportunity for Costco and LA Fitness to secure full-size facilities in an area that is almost impenetrable for users of their size," he says. "Increasing the density by stacking them one on top of the other was the only way to make a retail center economically feasible, which led us to a very urban development plan."

Expect to be able to shop at Costco next summer and rent the apartments around December of 2008.