Galleria Tower Cancelled by Turnberry LTD.

Turnberry Ltd. confirmed this week that it no longer plans to build a 34-story luxury condo tower by the Galleria Mall that had been in the works for more than three years.
The 184 proposed condo units, priced from $1 million to more than $3.5 million, were to be located west of Post Oak Boulevard, between Hidalgo and W. Alabama.
Buyers were notified of the developer’s decision last week, and have been refunded their deposits plus interest accrued on the money, according to Turnberry.
Jim Cohen, a vice president of sales for the prolific development firm, said in a statement released this week that the project was cancelled because the firm could not get a construction loan during the current financial crisis.
“With great reluctance we have decided to suspend development operations for Turnberry Tower, Residences at the Galleria,” Cohen said in the statement. “This is the first project Turnberry has had to discontinue in more than 40 years in the real estate development business.”
The Aventura, Fla.-based company has developed more than $7 billion in commercial and residential property, including 20 million square feet of retail space, 7,000 apartments and condo units, 1.5 million square feet of office space and 2,000 hotel and resort rooms.
Turnberry’s splashy marketing effort in Houston began in September 2007 with the unveiling of a 12,000-square-foot, multimillion-dollar sales center/model home near the development site.
The sales center closed last week, and the developer has not decided what it will do with the property. For more information see www.houstonrealtyadvisors.com or www.houstonrealtyadvisors.net