- 35-Acre Energy Corridor Development Republic Square Put on Hold Amid Oil Rout [Houston Chronicle]
- Hines Partnership Turning 6-Building Office Complex Greenspoint Place Over To Its Lender [Houston Chronicle]
- UT’s Plans for the 300 Acres It Bought in Houston Do Not Include a Full ‘4-Year Campus with a Mascot’ [Houston Chronicle]
- How the Grand Parkway Will Help and Hurt North Houston Retail [HBJ]
- Inside Morgan Group’s New Luxury Pearl Apartments Near CityCentre in Memorial Area [HBJ]
- French-Vietnamese Restaurant Le Colonial Opening in River Oaks District in August [HBJ]
- West U Now the Richest City in Texas with Median Household Income of $207,429, According to 24/7 Wall Street [PaperCity Magazine]
- Houston-Galveston Area Council Bring Back Regional Safety Council To Confront Traffic Safety [Houston Public Media]
Photo: Marc Longoria via Swamplot Flickr Pool
Headlines
Republic Square didn’t make sense even when oil was going strong. A Walmart and generic suburban shopping center is probably more likely in it’s future.
I really think the median income of 207k in West U is low. I’d barely put that as a minimum.
Although West U may have the highest incomes, i’d imagine it’s still a long ways off from being the wealthiest. Most all high income individuals will appear on similar high wealth charts. However, there’s a lower correlation with high wealth individuals appearing on high income charts.
West U’s median income strikes me as correct. I’d like to see the West U. police department income, too. On Buffalo Speedway north of Holcombe, I have to use cruise control to keep from going 31 mph and getting popped.
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BTW, comparison with River Oaks is bogus because RO is not a city.
The “richest city in Texas” author seems to be just regurgitating another article that he doesn’t understand. It’s not surprising that West University Place is the richest city in Texas since it’s an upscale neighborhood that’s an independent city. The author compares it to River Oaks and Preston Hollow, both of which are neighborhoods in Houston and Dallas, respectively. Swamplot linking to it is just clickbait.
@ Brian: Given that the Energy Corridor has (had) some of the higher-rent office space in Houston, and that new apartments are very much of the Class A variety, and that land is hardly inexpensive in the area, I’m not sure I see the justification for your comment, notwithstanding the current state of the market.
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FYI large scale generic suburban retail is difficult in this location due to market size constraints (a large amount of the drive time area is unpopulated flood control reservoir).
I seriously doubt Walmart would have been interested in the Republic Square site. If they thought having an Energy Corridor store was really that important, they could have just converted their abandoned Sam’s Club off Park Row instead of selling the location three years ago.
The West U statistic is misleading because no municipality of its size would ever come close to West U’s level of wealth without being adjacent to (or indeed, an enclave within) a large population center. It is just a wealthy neighborhood that happens to have its own charter. There are plenty of wealthier neighborhoods that do not.
Nobody would ever consider West U, in the league with River Oaks. Please. Like comparing a Bentley to a Buick. It’s Highland Park and Olmos Park that should demand a recount. Both of them are independent enclaves and both are far more impressive than West U. This list seems ridiculous, I don’t even find West U all that nice. It’s below many neighborhoods in Houston but this was measuring cities not neighborhoods. Laughable, really..
Re: West U. 1) Income is not at all the same measurement as wealth. 2) Retired persons may have a limited income, however may also still be quite wealthy. 3) The typical new household formed in West U in 2016 is probably dissimilar from a household that was displaced; the appreciation of a home is not counted toward income and you shouldn’t expect to understand if or whether it accrues toward wealth before reading the footnotes of a survey.
@Jonathan I think you’re mistaking a few sections of River Oaks with River Oaks at large. West U doesn’t have much anywhere near those few sections of obscene wealth, but the rest of West U stacks up nicely against the rest of RO. Most of RO is fairly generic 7k lots with nice 2-3k sq ft houses on them. WU has the same but a better location.
I grew up in River Oaks, so I’m familar. If you think West U has the overall wealth or cache of RO, you’re obviously not from Houston. West U’s largest house is under 10000 square feet. I don’t find it impressive at all. It’s like an inner city Katy. When I was a kid it was a lower middle class dump, it’s hardly Highland Park or Olmos Park. This list is absurd. No way West U is wealthier than Highland Park.
Hey Jonathon, how about this: nobody really gives a sh!t the way that you seem to. I hope you sleep well at night knowing that River Oaks is SOOO TOTALLY SUPERIOR to West U.