Is the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy the busiest intersection in Inner Loop real estate right now? Two months after the opening of the new H-E-B Montrose Market on the former site of the Wilshire Village Apartments on the southwest corner of that intersection, and just a week after developer Marvy Finger’s official announcement of his plans to replace the Fiesta Food Mart on the southeast corner with a 6-to-8-story “Mediterranean” apartment building, there is a report that the 2 apartment complexes on the northeast corner may be next to fall. It may be a bit more than a rumor: While taking these photos yesterday, Swamplot’s Candace Garcia came across workers who appeared to be surveying the site. For what?
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Here’s what’s been communicated to Swamplot: A developer has expressed interest in demolishing the 62-year-old West Alabama Place Apartments at 1648 West Alabama with its grandfathered row of head-in parking spaces along the front:
as well as its Mansard-roof neighbor on the corner at 1660 West Alabama:
The complexes would be replaced with an office building — or a combined office building and bank. At a little more than a half-acre, the combined land area of the 2 apartment properties is considerably smaller than either the H-E-B or the Fiesta property. Together, the 2 lots stretch 215 ft. east along West Alabama, but they don’t back up to Marshall St. on the north: They’re only 150 ft. deep.
Photos: Candace Garcia
Hopefully we’ll get a bank branch, maybe a Chase if we’re lucky.
Something will have to be done about that intersection, it’s already getting more traffic than it can handle.
That intersection and street will become big-city clogged with the University Line on Richmond shrinking that boulevard creating traffic on W. Alabama.
That smaller lot will likely become something bare-bones utilitarian for the new nabe, like a strip center with a wine bar and day spa.
It makes me sad to see all these older, affordable apartments in the inner loop demolished one-by-one. The apartments that were on the HEB site were an exception; mostly abandoned and in disrepair. But these two complex are in decent shape, and provide housing in the area for those who can’t afford the rents of the new corporate-style apartments going up all over town. It’s also degrading the personality of Houston’s neighborhoods. I suppose it’s the way of the world, but it seems those with lower incomes are being forced out of these neighborhoods because the places they could afford are all being demolished to make room for something far less interesting, even if they are in a decent state of repair. I worry that one of Houston’s biggest strengths (cost of living) is about to be a thing of the past, unless you want to live far outside the city center.
“I worry that one of Houston’s biggest strengths (cost of living) is about to be a thing of the past, unless you want to live far outside the city center.”
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One of Houston’s biggest strengths certainly includes the low-income apartments! I know other “world class cities” are just clamoring to figure out how to include more dilapidated properties in their prime districts.
a reader,
I’m afraid it’s become that way all over this country. People are being priced out the city to move to the suburbs. It’s happening in Washington D.C. Rents for the apartments there are outrageous. I would say the same thing that has happened in Europe is happening now in the US. Richer folks in the cities, poorer folks in the suburbs. I’m all for more density. But I wish they had these same developments that are more affordable.
Can we get some developer to buy the Takara-So apartment complex on West Main between Hazard and McDuffie, tear it down and develop the area?
At what point will the City restore Alabama lanes to what they were pre-hwy 59 reconstruction? If more density is being added, and it sounds like that is the direction, the current lane setup isn’t sustainable.
@diggity;
Do you really consider anything below $1,000/month to be “low rent” apartments? There are plenty of small well-kept complexes in the Montrose. Unfortunately, the land they sit on is becoming more valuable than the buildings themselves.
I hope this is going to happen because it would actually reduce the number of people on the property, plus it helps to increase the value of our properties. Next month, the corner of Dunlavy and Westheimer will be cleaned up with a new center on the corner. I welcome the improvements!
What is going in at Dunlavy and Westheimer? I must have missed something. Traffic has gotten worse here since HEB. You can see the issue at Westheimer where a turn lane and signal re-timing are needed. I can’t see it getting better without extra lanes on Dunlavy and West Alabama and I don’t imagine there is room for that.
Geez where will the omnipresent fleet of Hispanics drink beer now? What was a quiet corner is now the epicenter of developer’s greed. Lovely…
The East End is full of low rent and low priced housing. The Inner West End is going uppity…no turning back now.
People want affordable housing in desirable areas, but people don’t like the look of that ‘affordable housing’.
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It’s getting hard to run and operate low cost units in the Montrose area. The land value pushes up property tax which raises rent. The new water tax to multifamily owners raises rent. The Montrose Management district tax causes a raise in rent. All the new habitability codes and red tags raise rent.
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And when an owner finally throws their hands up, a developer is always ready to buy the lot, knock it down, and build a new high end set of condos, office space, class A multifamily, etc.
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Then we wonder “What happened to all those cool older cheap places to live?”. We can’t have it both ways…
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Our cheapest 1bed units in Montrose *start* at $750 and their in some pretty old places (we try to keep them updated, but still). However, even though that’s way more than those would have rented for a few years ago, it’s barley enough to pay all the taxes/fees to run the place. One delinquent tenant or major repair and you’re upside down for the next 6 months (I know, cry cry cry :)
^^ their/they’re. barley/barely
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(no edit :(
@ Charlie:
THe antique store on the corner, the burned building to the left and the warehouse behind the antique store are being torn down in February and a retail center is going in.
Add to the rumoured office space @ Alabama & Dunlavy,and the retail development @ Westheimer & Dunlavy–there’s a new 2 story retail center planned for the NE corner of Alabama & Mandell. Might as well go ahead and declare that section of Alabama a permanent parking lot.
From JD:
At what point will the City restore Alabama lanes to what they were pre-hwy 59 reconstruction? If more density is being added, and it sounds like that is the direction, the current lane setup isn’t sustainable.
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What would you have them do? Not enough room for two lanes each way, so we have a dedicated center/turn lane. And at rush hour, it goes one way outbound.
From SH-snooty:
What would you have them do? Not enough room for two lanes each way, so we have a dedicated center/turn lane. And at rush hour, it goes one way outbound.
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Eliminate the contra-lane and restore it to a dedicated turn lane. Assuming that additional driveways are going to be introduced, people will want to use them during all times of the day. Alabama isn’t a speedway, which is what it has become during the rush hour.
Out with the old and in with the new. New construction is better for my home value and for the “crowd” of my neighborhood. Can someone please go buy out Covenant House now??
The gentrification of Montrose has been going on since the late 1990s when I moved away. I came back in 2005 and hardly recognized the place. Welcome to New Urbanism and the death of neighborhood character. The good news? Give it 20-30 years and it’ll be ghetto-ized all over again. In some parts already, where the original gentrification started, neo-ghettos have already begun to take shape. Gotta love that no-zoning Houston pride.