A Block of Midrise Apartments for a Vacant Block in the Southeast Part of Downtown

Proposed Block 365 Apartments, Austin at Pease St., Downtown Houston

Here’s a drawing of the new apartment block Dallas architecture firm Hensley Lamkin Rachel is designing for a Dallas developer on the block surrounded by Caroline, Austin, Pease, and Jefferson streets downtown, a few blocks southwest of the Toyota Center. There’s a surface parking lot with a few shade structures on the lot now. Leon Capital Group is hoping to get a piece of the city’s $15,000-per-unit tax rebate program for the 220 units in the 6-story structure. A note on the company’s website says the project “is planned to begin” at the end of this year.

Rendering: Hensley Lamkin Rachel

Block 365

10 Comment

  • These complexes are pretty much “cut-and-paste” at this point.

  • uhmm, I guess a small midtown by toyota center is ok, hmmm.

  • That does resemble Midtown midrise mission creep but it’s a great block for a gaggle of wannabe walkabillies. I don’t see a parking garage in the rendering though.

  • Not a very innovative design, but anything is better than a surface lot, right?

  • where are we going to park when we go to concerts at Toyota Center if they keep changing all the parking lots into apartment/condo/hotel/office buildings????

  • I’m still not so sure about the $15,000 per-unit tax rebate for building new apartments near downtown. I guess it’s good because it helps steer developers away from suburban sites where apartments may not have staying power; while helping add density at our City’s core. But part of me wishes they would replace it with a 2% bonus for developers who use low income housing tax credits to rehab or reconstruct existing housing (instead of using LIHTC to build on virgin land). This would have a much wider effect, both geographic and socio economic.
    .
    Maybe we could do both?

  • That HAIF link shows several other residental projects on adjacent blocks. Add to that those high rises to the west that are being converted and we’ll have a real nabe over there. I have a name for it already….NOPE (N of Pierrce Elevated) ….ducks…….

  • I am struggling to understand why the Mayor thinks it’s reasonable to spend millions of dollars attracting deep pocketed developers to Downtown when we have streets suitable for a third world country in some parts of town, water mains leak with regularity, and we are having trouble paying for municipal employee pension costs. Who cares if Downtown is a residential area? It just doesn’t matter.

  • I would love if one of these property developers adopted as their slogan “Better than a surface lot”

  • Uhh, where will they park? lol