Globe St.’s Amy Wolff Sorter says the buyer of the foreclosed Greenbriar Park North apartments near Greenspoint has “a strong track record” of rehabbing complexes. That should help:
Wade Schmitz with Hendricks & Partners’ Houston office tells GlobeSt.com that CNC Investments was the former owner and like many owners during the mid-2000s, had bought too much with too much debt that couldn’t be refinanced. Schmitz, who marketed the asset for Bank of America adds that the 1980s complex at 818 Richcrest Dr. attracted a great deal of interest. . . .
“There were down units that needed to be brought back online,†Schmitz says. “The property had been neglected, and needed someone to take care of it.â€
How neglected? Of 400 units in the complex, only around 60 are occupied.
Don’t want to miss out on all the foreclosed-apartment-complex rehab fun? Be patient, more is coming:
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Schmitz suggests that Greenbriar Park North is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to distressed multifamily product. As servicers and banks are getting a better handle on pricing, more of these distressed assets will hit the market in the coming months in Houston.
- Houston Buyer Takes On 400 Foreclosed Units [Globe St.]
- Greenbriar Park North [LoopNet]
Photo of Greenbriar Park North: LoopNet
I lived at 818 Richcrest in 1986! I’d never have guessed that a fairly large complex like this one was mostly empty & in disrepair.
Back in the day, I ran my A/C like there was no tomorrow! Couldn’t believe how hot and humid Houston was. Ah yes, I was newly married & worked in the area. Every Thursday evening before “LA Law†came on, hubby did groceries while I did laundry. Coached the boy across the courtyard in drafting. Changed the oil in my Trooper out in the parking lot. Those were the days… jk
Just this month, I was in the Greenspoint area & was pleased to see how good it looked: mature landscaping, bayou jogging path in use, Metro running & even the “Appletree†(now another grocery brand) had shoppers.
The area has transitioned from Singles Haven (IAH had just opened) to a lower-income family structure, and, there are a couple streets of newish single family homes a block away. In ’86 that same empty grid of 70’s, over-built concrete attracted drag racers and subsequent police actions.
Years later I heard guys waxing poetic over “Goodnight Trail:†THE PLACE to drag…
But from this pic the pool at 818 looks great! better than I remember. Good luck to Hendricks & Partners.
@movocelot: Thanks for sharing the memories! Globe St. lists the new owner as Aldine Greenbriar Apartments LLC.
According to franchise tax records, the registered agent is Harvey Giddens of Flower Mound, TX. In 2003 he had a $175,000 fine levied against him–the second largest penalty ever imposed by the Texas Commission on Licensing and Regulations–for failing to pay state inspection fees on boilers servicing three federally-subsidized apartment complexes for over a decade, in spite of 177 notices sent to him. In 2006, $346,764 were de-allocated by the federal government from his apartments.
This complex was upon many I’ve toured throughout my relocation to several places in the North Houston area (I’m now in my 6th place since I moved here from Chicago 3 years ago with my now ex partner)
Looks can be deceiving. When I first passed by this place upon my many ventures through Greenspoint with my best friend, the Greenspoint Celebrity (aka 5-7-9 Girl), it looked promising, like an apartment complex that wasn’t going to swallow you whole, like the CityView properties that line Greens Road.
It was about early last year and my best friend and I were living at the Days Inn Greenspoint (Ironically renamed Knights Inn recently) a little after my ex and I parted ways. It finally got to the point where she was moving to Huntsville to live with her boyfriend, and I was deciding to get a place of my own. I went to the leasing office the first time, but for some reason they had no apartments ready for show. I was told to come back on a weekday and they would have a couple of units ready.
I returned on a Tuesday afternoon. The truth came out.
A Harris County Sheriff’s squad car was parked out front. I was guessing an eviction, but it could have been a disturbance of some sort. There were now two ladies working in the leasing office. One of which was afraid of being arrested for outstanding warrants, and the other afraid of being jumped in the parking lot while on the way to show me the shabby one bedroom apartment. We were accompanied by the maintenance man. They were unaware that I’m fluent in Spanish, and were pretty much saying to themselves (in Spanish) that I was crazy if I were to move there. Needless to say, I had to agree with them, but I’m the type of person who needs to look at all the details before I’m completely convinced.
The gates don’t work, so I returned at night, just to see if it’s as bad as it seemed that afternoon. Parts of the parking lots were dark and abandoned. There were buildings that were completely empty, and only a few cars parked at the buildings that had residents. The rent was cheap. Even less than other apartment complexes in the area.
I elected to move to Champions and give up the Greenspoint Glory. Best friend vacated the Days Inn Greenspoint (Sidenote: She’s also originally from Chicago. We grew up only a few blocks away from each other, and met her through a mutual friend after I graduated high school almost 10 years ago. She’s now the second person I’ve dragged down here, not inlcuding my ex.) shortly after I did.
I still pass Greenbriar Park North every once in a while on my way to FedEx to drop off last minute overnight packages from work. It looked like a renovation process of some sort had started and remained at a standstill. Many units are just boarded up, even ones that face Richcrest Drive.
It’s still somewhat of a nice area, and with a good renovation, it’ll be back to being a decent place to live.