This 4-story glass and stucco box dubbed Miabella got pulled from the agenda before Houston’s city planning commission could take a look at it yesterday, but renderings of it are still floating around the interwebs. It’s planned to go up on 3 currently vacant home lots at the corner of Fox St. and N. Nagle St., putting it 3 blocks north of Navigation Blvd. in the Second Ward. The straight-shot rending above shows where its grade-level garage will let out onto N. Nagle.
Its Fox-St.-side will also provide access to parking:
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When it goes up, the new building will be the only non-single-family structure within a multi-block radius of its digs.
Renderings: Houston Planning Commission
Second Ward
The city could use hundreds of these types of buildings. Hopefully they go condo.
Not really “the middle” of the neighborhood as much as the north-eastern edge. Townhomes are going up all around there.
I realize there’s a need for buildings of this size, but do they have to make them all so damned ugly?
I like it, as long as it’s a buyer and not a seller and doesn’t sell out to the non cultural, destroy everything and build a bland box everywhere type of people and we’re stright (: also if it’s affordable housing? That’s a plus.
Not everyone who wants to live close to work is a single 20-something. Eventually we’ll need housing for families at a higher level of dwelling units per acre than townhouses. Currently, if you want three bedrooms in a central location and you have less than $500k to spend, you need to buy a 3-story townhouse, probably in the 2500-3500 s.f. range. And one of your three bedrooms is going to be 2 flights of stairs away from the other two (not great for raising kids).
Even in very desirable neighborhoods, it should be possible to build buildings like this (3-5 floors of apartments) with very nicely appointed 1500 s.f. 3-BR units at a price point of $400-500k
But where’s the groundfloor retail?
This is really solid. 21st-century dingbats for the 21st century.