It only took 3 days for a 13th floor condo unit with 2 slate terraces in Inwood Manor to go under contract — after being listed last week with a $995,000 asking price. Those who missed out have a few smaller options to consider elsewhere in the 16-floor beehive building of 110 units (top). A cast concrete tower designed by architect Harwood Taylor, the property has loomed over River Oaks and its hinterlands since 1962. A neighboring 13th floor 1-bedroom unit, furnished, is up for grabs as a lease starting April 1. And a couple smaller units on lower floors are still lingering, including one fitted as an office (above) by Houston interior design legend Herbert Wells, who died in 2010.
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Wells’s Unit 3E displays some fun with its finishes. Faux-painted Q*bert-inspired flooring extends from entry hall to the floor-to-ceiling view of River Oaks the King of Khaki offered his clients. Changes in the kitchen brought an over-counter peek into the combo-living and dining area that’s currently fitted as a waiting area and office. The unit was briefly under contract last summer, when the initial listing sought a $225,000 asking price. That listing expired in September 2013. The agent relisted the property in November 2013, revising the price tag to $198,000, where it remains. There’s also a $855 monthly maintenance fee.
The 904-sq.-ft. unit has one bedroom that’s all business . . .
and an executive wash room, also updated:
Meanwhile, Unit 8E gets the same view and floor plan, but a different interpretation of the space, here slightly smaller at 893 sq. ft. This unit was last on the market in 2011, when it sold for $129,500. The current round began in July 2013, with an initial asking price of $194,000. In November, that dropped to $187,500, its current asking price. Monthly maintenance fee? $866.
The unit appears to retain many early flourishes, such as the parquet floors:
And the lease unit? HAR’s listing includes no photos and only the briefest of descriptions. Unit 13D , according to the listing, had ceiling raised and walls moved during a to-the-studs remodeling. The floor plan has 1 bedroom and a study and 2 bathrooms. A $7,500 per month rental rate includes the furnishings, utilities, and basic TV and insurance. No pets, though, and additional renters insurance is required. Meanwhile, all units share the building’s common areas, grounds, and 2-lane porte-cochère:
As for Mad Menesque I prefer The River Oaks, it’s a much cooler looking building in a preferable location.
And unless you can right off the lease, why just throw 7500 down the drain every month, if you have that kind of money, buy! a condo at least then you’ll have equity and won’t have flushed over 80000 down the drain in a year with zero to show for it–
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Love that garden. Shades of Last Year at Marienbad.
Buy vs. Rent is not a simple answer, many times it makes more financial sense to rent especial.y if you’r not staying longer than 5-7 years. For that time you’re not really building any equity (you’re paying mostly interest) and maintenance, taxes, selling commissions will negate any benefit of buying.
That place is a hive of little old blue hairs. Apparently they have $$$s.