NO, YOU CAN’T SEE KEN AND LINDA LAY’S RENAISSANCE-Y HIGHRISE CONDO The storied full-floor unit on the 33rd floor of the Huntingdon at 2121 Kirby is at long last on the market . . . for $12.8 Million: “The condo sale is being handled privately by Beau Herrold, Linda Lay’s son from her first marriage. Tours are by invitation only . . . When a Chronicle reporter expressed interest in seeing the condo, so as to best to describe the Italian renaissance decor and ‘villa-style living’ touted in a real estate flier, Herrold had only one comment. ‘I bet you would.’” [Houston Chronicle]
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Condos for Sale
Ah, the single life! This one-bedroom, 625-sq.-ft. take at 2016 Main appears to have every necessity in place, down to that single toothbrush artfully placed next to stainless-steel counter bowl. Ax the giveaway Downtown and Midtown views, and wouldn’t this have made an excellent candidate for Swamplot’s weekly Neighborhood Guessing Game?
Asking $129,750 — since mid-ish July. Maintenance fee is $510 a month.
Sure, we all want to know how well the condos at the newly completed 30-story 2727 Kirby tower have been selling. But a couple of dedicated readers decided to investigate on their own:
[We] have been musing that 2727 Kirby looks awfully dark for a building for which the Chronicle proffers “all but 18 units have been soldâ€
Well, we put on our trench coats and went parking garage climbing to find out exactly how many souls live in that wraithlike monument to a bygone era.
These scary night pictures were taken on a Tuesday evening at around 8 pm. This was a prime time for at least a sampling of residents to be at home among their new Imported Stone Flooring and European Cabinetry. The night photos were taken from atop the parking garage on West Alabama that is the home of Fleming’s and from the Parking lot on Westheimer that serves Taco Milagro/Downing Street.
And they show . . . ?
The Swamplot Price Adjuster needs your nominations! Found a property you think is poorly priced? Send an email to Swamplot, and be sure to include a link to the listing or photos. Tell us about the property, and explain why you think it deserves a price adjustment. Then tell us what you think a better price would be. Unless requested otherwise, all submissions to the Swamplot Price Adjuster will be kept anonymous.
Location: 1 Waterway Ct., Unit 4-E, The Woodlands Town Center
Details: 3 bedrooms, 3 1/2 baths; 4,314 sq. ft. in One Waterway Lofts
Price: $1,990,000
History: Just listed over the weekend.
The nominator of this property writes:
Who says the real-estate bubble is long gone? Right on the Woodlands Waterway, here’s a faux Venetian condo in the Waterway Lofts. Can’t you just feel the theme-home synergy? Anyway, it looks like there are some great views of a lot of new office buildings from the windows, and if you look down you can see the Waterway and pool.
Is all that wine included? That might help explain the price tag. That and the fact that the county tax assessment for the loft just about doubled between 2007 and 2008. Montgomery CAD has it at about $1.56 million, which still seems too high.
To be fair though, there are several other overpriced lofts currently for sale in the same building.
In a just world, this condo would rent for maybe just twice its $2,062 monthly maintenance fee, all those Disneytalian finishes would peel off, and you could return all the fixtures to Expo for a refund.
So . . . what would be a better price?
Sales have been “a little slow” at that 2727 Kirby condo tower, the developer tells the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff. The 30-story tower across from West Ave near Westheimer should be complete by mid-September. Only 8 out of 78 units have closed so far.
Jerry Brown of MDA Holdings tells Sarnoff that “all but 18 units in the building have been sold” — but that “just a few units have fallen out of contract.” The wording makes it a little difficult to determine how many more than those 18 units have no deposits on them.
- Tower nears completion [Houston Chronicle]
Photo of 2727 Kirby: Ziegler Cooper
What happens when an investor who owns 200 out of 500 units in a north Houston condo complex defaults on his loan, leaving many of his properties vacant? Reporter Allison Triarsi visits Pine Village North, just south of Hamill Rd., west east of the Eastex Fwy.:
“It’s just an open house for gang members to come. Anybody can come,” said homeowner Ann Loyd.
Walk inside any one of the open units and you could find anything from gang graffiti and dead roaches, to the bones of animals.
“I don’t know if what I’m standing in [is] some kind of mice droppings or rat droppings,” said Loyd, while escorting 11 News through a vacant unit.
In addition to debris, there were pink pills on a counter, and clothing and blankets on the floor where people have either left them behind or kept them there in case they needed a free place to sleep.
Why would a couple of Bellaire Realtors want to build new hangar condos out by the Houston-Southwest Airport in Arcola? Because the hangar rental market there sucks, apparently.
With an option on a 60-year ground lease with the airport — near the intersection of Almeda and Highway 6 in Fort Bend County — owners Curtis Lawson and Ryan Dodds of CityLife Realty are now marketing 27 units in the Southwest Executive Hangars, featuring “75,000 square feet of hangarage” in 2 box-shaped buildings.
But this place isn’t just for storage and maintenance. There’s also that hangar condo lifestyle:
COMMENT OF THE DAY: LIVING THE WILDLIFE AT MOSAIC “It’s a Damn shame about those nesting rare birds but look on the bright side, if these condos keep selling like they have there will only be rare birds living there and trees growing up through the lobby anyway!” [james cianci, commenting on Mosaic Avoids Foreclosure, Files for Bankruptcy]
The developer of the Mosaic highrise overlooking Hermann Park — a limited partnership between Phillips Development & Realty and publicity-shy Florida Capital Real Estate Group — declared bankruptcy earlier this week to avoid foreclosure on a $71 million loan from Chicago lender Corus Bankshares. Florida Capital, originally the equity partner, will be taking over as the general partner.
The bankruptcy covers just the first Mosaic tower. The second tower, rebranded the Montage, has not yet defaulted on its separate $71 million Corus loan.
So how have sales been going at the Mosaic? It depends, the Houston Business Journal‘s Jennifer Dawson learns, who you ask:
A reader from the Heights writes in to ask what’s going on with the condos on the southwest corner of Heights Blvd. and 15th St.:
I am curious about a development project that seems to have fallen prey to the recent US mortgage debacle. The place looks abandoned and unfinished.
Two condos in the 20-unit Melrose Park Condominium development are listed for sale on HAR. All but one of the units appear to have the same owner. Can anyone fill our reader in on the latest?
- 1449 Heights Blvd., Units 112 and 229 [HAR]
- Melrose Park Condominium [iCityCondo.com]
- iCityCondo Units, Intersection of Heights Blvd and 15th Street [HAIF]
Photo of 1447 and 1449 Heights Blvd.: HAR
What delights await you in this Westbury Gardens condo? The video choreographs the entrance sequence beautifully.
Under the romantic entry arch, through the peaceful courtyard, past the double doors, up the stairs . . . what’s next?
