Hanover Plans 37-Story Rental Tower Within Houston’s BLVD Place

By Anuradha Kher, Online News EditorHouston–The Hanover Co., in partnership with MetLife Inc., has purchased a 1.45-acre site within Wulfe & Co.’s new mixed-use development, BLVD Place. The Hanover Co. plans to build a 37-story, luxury tower on this site and is expected to break ground in fall 2008. Construction is scheduled to be complete by 2011.The project will serve as a key multifamily rental component for BLVD Place, which is now under construction in the heart of Uptown Houston at San Felipe and Post Oak. The 236-unit project features apartments averaging 1,650 sq. ft.In the final planning stages, Solomon Cordwell Buenz, a Chicago-based architecture firm, is designing the building. Located on the southwest corner of BLVD Place’s new pedestrian-friendly and enhanced S. Post Oak Lane entrance at San Felipe, the tower will feature boutique hotel-style amenities and services, including dedicated valet, concierge and bellman; a private resident lounge with catering kitchen; screening room and library; a fitness club; and a 19,000 sq.-ft. rooftop pool terrace.BLVD Place will encompass approximately 500,000 sq. ft. of retail space, an 80,000-sq.-ft. Whole Foods Market urban flagship store, a five-star, high-rise hotel with residences and over 250,000 sq. ft. of office space. “We are pleased to partner with Wulfe & Co. for what we believe is a monumental and state-of-the-art mixed-use development in a location that surpasses all others,” says John Garibaldi, senior vice president of development for The Hanover Co.