Swamplot Archives by Category: Renting

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Replacing Richmont Square: The Low Cost, Bohemian Option

Communications director Vance Muse tells the River Oaks Examiner’s Michael Reed that the foundation’s board won’t replace the bargain-rent Richmont Square Apartments in a way that’ll change the character of the Menil campus:

“It’s on our mind that we could, in a low-key Menil way, build a (residential) property along Richmond Avenue,” he said.

Apartments at Richmont Square range from $650 for one-bedroom, one-bath units of 575 square feet to $955 for two-bedroom, two-bath units of 1,064 square feet. Deposits are between $250 and $300.

Asked about the possibility of the Menil plan including dwellings that are priced similarly to what would be replaced, Muse said specifics have not been discussed yet.

“We’d like to keep it bohemian, if at all possible,” he said. “There has always been a commitment (by Menil) to offering a break.”

Photo of Richmont Square parking lot, 1400 Richmond Ave.: River Oaks Examiner

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Monday, July 6, 2009

Houston Rent Deals

   

A broker tells reporter Amy Wolff Sorter that no new multifamily apartments — beyond the 14,000 units currently “in the pipeline” — are likely to be built in the Houston area until 2012. MPF Research says the multifamily occupancy rate for this area is hanging at around 89.7 percent, not too far from where it was last year: “. . . rents continue to hold steady and concessions aren’t being jacked up in response, though they do exist. [MPF's Greg] Willett points out that about 38% of the product on the market today has some sort of concession, with the typical giveaway hovering at a 9% discount, which translates to a little more than one month of free rent. Still, ‘that really hasn’t moved,’ Willett remarks. ‘We’ve been at that 9% figures for awhile.’ Both [Apartment Realty Advisors' Matt] Rotan and [CB Richard Ellis's Craig] LaFollette say that the infill locations are faring better than the outer submarkets, which are giving away up to two months free rent.” [Globe St.]

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Thursday, June 11, 2009

Comment of the Day: Kicking Back on Washington Ave.

   

“I live in the Core (since October 2008), and I’m certain that there are no plans to extend this complex across the street. The Core is a great place to live, but like every other large inner city complex, they’ve been slow to fill vacancies here. With that said, it would be foolish for them to even consider expanding. The last I heard, there were plans to put a small two story shopping strip there similar to the one on the other side of the Core. Still no solid plans though from anyone. By the way, if anyone wants to live here in the Core, put me as a reference and you and i both will get cash back.” [Hector Garcia, commenting on Washington Ave.: Extending The Core?]

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Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Comment of the Day: Inner Loop Rents, Hard and High

   

“I have to disagree with rents being soft in the inner loop. I just relocated here in January and, unless things have changed, I found rents exceedingly high and availability low. Granted, I did not want a cookie cutter apartment, but I was blown away by the prices. I looked at the new Gables property on Kirby and they were $2,500 minimum a month for a two bedroom. The kicker was that they’d only accept a 18 month lease. I thought that was crazy. The Alexean on Westheimer was a little cheaper at $2,000 per month but it didn’t seem well built. I preferred condo’s or houses to apartment complexes and most of them were in the $2,000 plus range. Those under $2,000 that were nice rented almost immediately after coming on the market. I wound up in a two bedroom house in Montrose for $2,600 and everyone I talk to seems to think I got an ok deal. I have to concur that it seems more expensive to rent than buy. I certainly could have bought for less in this market but, being new to town, didn’t want to dive in to home ownership immediately. Anyone that says Houston is cheap hasn’t looked at inner loop real estate.” [Charlie, commenting on Where Rents Have Dropped]

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Monday, June 1, 2009

Comment of the Day: The Upper Limits of Inner Loop Rents

   

“The reason the inner loop is ’soft’ is simple math. A tiny apartment is now something like $1,200 per month. Meanwhile, my mortgage on my inner-loop house is just over $1,300.” [me, commenting on Where Rents Have Dropped]

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Friday, May 29, 2009

Where Rents Have Dropped

   

The latest stats provided to 11 News by Houston-based Apartment Data Services show that at the newest complexes, rents for all size of apartments are now averaging $1,108. That’s 11 percent cheaper than last year. Rents are about the same for complexes built a decade ago, averaging $739 a month. And rents are actually up slightly at older complexes, where they’re averaging $570 a month. ‘I’d say the inner loop is probably the softest,’ said Bruce McClenny of Apartment Data Services. ‘They’re about 40 percent occupied,’ McClenny said of brand-new complexes that traditionally take a year or two to fill up. . . . We’re told rents are holding steady for many apartments in far west Houston, Katy, The Woodlands, Kingwood, and Sugar Land. Demand remains strong in those places. Why? The energy industry, for one. ‘The energy corridor’s taking off again in west Houston. There’s lot of growth, people relocating day in day out,’ according to Shannon Proteau, another agent with Find It Apartment Locators. But, in a twist, Proteau said it’s also because families forced out of homes by foreclosure are attracted by highly-rated suburban school districts.” [11 News]

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Friday, April 24, 2009

Comment of the Day: Apartment Mess Skeptic

   

“. . . There should be grime around the light switch - there is not. There should be a big layer of filth on the blinds - there is not. The blind cord would be filthy - it is not. The walls are very very clean & white. They should be smudgy. In another set of these pictures, the kitchen cabinets are completely clean, no grime at the door knobs, no grime at the drawer pulls. Trust me - in this much filth, you would see that grime. ALSO - the big piles of cigarette butts were obviously dumped there. When you put out a cigarette, there is a smashing action. You don’t just throw a still burning cigarette on top of a giant pile of other cigarettes. MAYBE this person worked in a bar & collected a weeks worth of cigarettes & dumped them throughout the house……maybe….. But the whole thing looks staged to me - big time.” [KW, commenting on Inside the Messiest Apartment in Houston. Ever.]

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Wednesday, October 1, 2008

More Photos of the Messiest Apartment in Houston

Bedroom of Extremely Messy Apartment in North Houston

Swamplot’s story last week on that extremely dirty apartment in North Houston left out a few photos the photographer originally posted in the Houston-Imports forum. Our photo editing choices were meant to highlight the more “artistic” qualities of the display. And really, how much filth do you need to see?

More than we showed, apparently. The story was one of the most popular ever posted on this site. Who are we to prevent smut-hungry readers from viewing the trash they so obviously want to see?

So here they are, fresh from the . . . uh, cutting-room floor: 11 more photos of the messiest apartment in Houston. Ever. We hope.

A word of warning to the easily nauseated: Yes, there are a few images of the bathroom. No, it is not pretty.

Continue Reading This Story >

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Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Inside the Messiest Apartment in Houston. Ever.

Interior of Messy Apartment in North Houston

Note: Updated below.

A tenant in a north Houston apartment complex has an overdue payment for more than a month. No one can get in touch with her. Eventually the bookkeeper goes inside to leave a note. And finds . . . this:

Continue Reading This Story >

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Thursday, July 31, 2008

Inspectors Will Visit Many More Multifamily Apartment Complexes

   

Hundreds of multifamily apartments in Houston lack certificates of occupancy or compliance — documents which indicate the facility complies with the city’s basic building and safety standards.The city wants all properties to submit to an occupancy inspection and obtain a certificate, while also correcting any immediate structural, electrical or other problems inspectors identify. Those that do not respond to the city’s efforts to get a certificate or make repairs could face closure, [Mayor] White said.” [Houston Chronicle]

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Monday, January 21, 2008

Free Eighties Furniture at Colonial House!

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The brave work of Southwest Houston and Houston Apartment Renaissance scholars has been rewarded — a second mid-1980s Colonial House TV commercial is now available on YouTube!

No it’s not quite as iconic and over-the-top as the one with the VCR in the pool, but look at that fabulous indoor-outdoor furniture! Almost a quarter century later, we know Michael Pollack is alive and well, but does anyone know where that living-room mandala and dining-room set ended up?

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Monday, December 10, 2007

Beautiful Southwest Houston: The Golden Age of Apartment Living

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This charming period piece from the abortive early-’80s Southwest Houston apartment renaissance surfaced on YouTube late last month, to the great acclaim of chief Michael Pollack fan Lou Minatti, who has hosted an online shrine to the iconic and once high-profile Houston developer on his website for several years. Why was Pollack such a big deal?

What Gallery Furniture’s “We really will save you moneyyyyyyy!” was to the north side of town, the VCR in the Pool was to the southwest.

And really, who can forget the charms of Colonial House, at the corner of Chimney Rock and Gulfton? Writes Minatti:

Built in the late 1960s, Colonial House was in terrible shape.

Gangs and prostitutes had moved in, while basic amenities such as air conditioning had quit working. Pollack moved in and the gangs moved out. Pollack’s crew gutted and rebuilt each of the 1,800 units in just three months. But after all that hard work, Pollack had an even bigger task ahead: How was our suave, sophisticated hero going to fill those apartments? That’s where his infamous TV ads came in.

Here’s a question: Doesn’t the bench-pressing dude on the Nautilus about five seconds in look a bit . . . familiar?

After the jump: Pollack claims it was all an act! Plus, what he’s up to these days — with pix!

Continue Reading This Story >

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Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Mood in Former Hospital on Former Cemetery: Not So Lofty

Elder Street Artist Lofts in the Former Old Jefferson Davis HospitalSome residents of the new Elder St. Artist Lofts (formerly the Old Jefferson Davis Hospital) in the First Ward are upset with the building’s management:

“To me it’s not an artist loft anymore,” says one resident who’s been there since the beginning. “We receive the newsletters from ArtSpace in Minneapolis and we see the artist live-work spaces that are opening up in Buffalo, New York and in San Francisco and other parts of the country, and they’re active and they’re artist-run and they’ve got the support of the city, they’ve got the support of the community and they’re vibrant. And we’re not on that level, and I don’t know if we ever will be.”

Current and former tenants gripe to the Houston Press that the resident managers play favorites and will only rent month-to-month, and that there aren’t enough artists in the building.

Photo of Elder St. Artists Lofts: Greater Houston Preservation Alliance

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Thursday, April 12, 2007

When It’s Better To Rent

New York Times Rent-or-Buy CalculatorIt’s hard to stop playing with the New York Times’s wizzy new rent vs. buy calculator, a freebie thrown in with a story urging (maybe a little late?) caution to would-be NYC condo or co-op buyers. Of course, the market’s different here, which is why the somewhat hidden settings on the calculator are appreciated: Click on the little question mark next to the words “Monthly Rent” at the top left, and you’ll unearth a secret tab where you can select average Houston data. Or plug in all the numbers from your recent decision, and see what horrible assumptions you made. Addictive!

(Via Tom at Houston’s Clear Thinkers, who points to some analysis of the calculator by Felix Salmon.)

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