Tag: Apartments

Apartments
04/30/12 11:35am

Highrise Replacing Allen House Remnant? The Latest Rumblings Around Regent Square

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Demolitions, Highrises, North Montrose, Proposed Developments
18 Comments

Here’s a late addition to the demolition of the Allen House Apartments, the first portions of which went down in 2007, in anticipation of the giant Regent Square mixed-use development in North Montrose that never happened — or rather, hasn’t yet. The smashing of one Allen House’s 2 remaining buildings is now taking place across West Dallas from Teala’s Mexican Restaurant, just beyond the back windows of the Piedmont at River Oaks condos on Rosine St. A Swamplot reader sent us the above photo last Friday. Does this mean the long-dormant Regent Square is at long last ready to stir?

The North Montrose Civic Association announced in a recent newsletter that a “big announcement” about Regent Square is due in May: “Rumors are that a high rise residential [tower is] being planned as [the] first building.” Separately, Regent Square developer GID Development has promised additional details in May or June about this 21-story highrise apartment building, called the Sovereign, which happens to feature a large number of dog-friendly amenities, including canine wash/dry facilities, a pet grooming room, and a private doggie park:

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Boulevard Oaks
04/26/12 11:49am

A List of Gentle Ashby Highrise Protest Methods

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Highrises, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Southampton
105 Comments

A LIST OF GENTLE ASHBY HIGHRISE PROTEST METHODS A settlement of its lawsuit with the city earlier this year guarantees that developers of the 21-story residential highrise planned for the corner of Ashby and Bissonnet (at right) next to Southampton will be able to receive building permits. But Culturemap editor Clifford Pugh reports that neighbors still opposed to the project have approved and sent a letter to the developers of the highrise at 1717 Bissonnet that includes a laundry list of the proposed tactics they plan to take to stop the project from being built — or to make things difficult for the company, Buckhead Investment Partners, if it proceeds with the project. Among them: filing their own lawsuit against the developers; appearing at the businesses and homes of the project’s investors and lenders (“as soon as we can identify [them]”), contractors, and other service providers to demonstrate opposition; monitoring and reporting construction violations; picketing the building’s leasing office whenever it is open; sending regular communications to tenants “to let them know that they are not welcome in our neighborhood”; challenging the permits of the building’s restaurant tenant; boycotting the restaurant and — if it’s a chain — all of its other locations; appearing at the homes of the restaurant’s owners, investors, and chef to demonstrate opposition; and (possibly worst of all:) posting “unfavorable reviews” of the restaurant online. [Culturemap; more from the West University Examiner; previously on Swamplot] Photo: Candace Garcia Update, 10 pm: The most recent draft of the “open letter” has been toned down a bit, reports the Chronicle‘s Nancy Sarnoff. The new draft makes no mention of the homes of the project’s investors, lenders, contractors, and service providers, or its restaurant’s owners, investors, or chef; says the leasing office will be picketed only “regularly”; and (most notably) drops any suggestion that area residents might post negative restaurant reviews online.

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Apartments
04/17/12 1:57pm

Finger Going After Finger’s Ben Milam Hotel Downtown

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Daily Demolition Report, Demolitions, Downtown, Hotels, Houston History, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment
27 Comments

Already busy with 3 local apartment projects, including one just beginning construction next to the new Whole Foods on Waugh, a 399-unit development to replace the Montrose Fiesta on Dunlavy, and another on the site of the old Art Institute of Houston building at 1900 Yorktown, developer Marvy Finger says he’s planning to build Downtown as well, reports Real Estate Bisnow‘s Catie Dixon. In the works: an 8-story midrise at the corner of Texas and Crawford St. Yes, that’s the site of the 1926 Ben Milam Hotel, a long-vacant 10-story building remembered as the first Houston hotel ever to feature air conditioning.

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Apartments
03/16/12 12:24pm

Peeling Off a Corner Near 22nd and Yale

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Construction Problems, Houston Heights
2 Comments

Repair work on the exterior of the 2125 Yale apartments in the Heights, built 4 years ago on the site of Kaplan’s Ben Hur, has been taking place all week. Gone already: the aluminum panels on the building’s northwest corner, facing 22nd St. But: Couldn’t find any explanation of what’s going on in the complex’s newsletter for residents, a neighbor reports.

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Apartments
03/13/12 11:35am

Ashby Highrise Agreement Is Final, Mayor Says

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Boulevard Oaks, Development Regulations, Development Restrictions, Highrises, Lawsuits, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Southampton
82 Comments

Neighborhood residents hoping to weigh in on the details of the proposed settlement announced 2 weeks ago in the lawsuit filed against the city of Houston by the developers of the proposed Ashby Highrise were greeted at last night’s meeting with Mayor Parker with news that the agreement had already been finalized. The settlement requires the city to approve and permit a 21-story mixed-use tower at 1717 Bissonnet St., as long as the predicted traffic it generates meets a few prescribed limits. The agreement also puts a few restrictions on traffic flows in and out of the building on separate driveways facing Bissonnet and Ashby St., and requires developers to build an 8-ft. fence and camouflage the 5-story parking garage behind it with greenery where the building backs up against homes on its south and east sides. Also included: some lighting and noise-mitigation requirements, and a free morning and afternoon weekday shuttle service for the project’s future residents to and from the Med Center.

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Comments
03/09/12 11:44pm

Comment of the Day: The Rare Montrose Block

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Montrose, Quicklink, Redevelopment
11 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE RARE MONTROSE BLOCK “Whatever happens to this property will be of little consequence to the rest of Westhiemer in Montrose. As noted above, this lot is a rare bird for Westheimer as, with the exception of the JITBox pad, it encompasses the entire block. Almost very other lot from Shep to midtown on Westheimer is split with residential lots behind the commercial lots that front Westheimer. Unless you can buy out a block of single family homeowners, you will never have another chance to build on a complete block like on this lot. Thus, whether it is a high rise, mid rise, or low rise mixed use or Walmart, it will not mean that the rest of the neighborhood will be likely to follow suit. I do not think that a high rise will go in because the capital markets are still risk adverse and would prefer something that will go up faster and provide a safer and faster return. Look for another 4-6 story apartment complex, hopefully with some ground floor retail. If the JITBox is an issue, it may end up staying a strip mall. There are plenty of people in town who could make a quick buck by sprucing it up and filling it with the usual junk. This is Houston afterall. Expect the worst, hope for something slightly better.” [Old School, commenting on Big Block on the Corner of Westheimer and Montrose Goes Up for Sale]

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Apartments
03/07/12 11:43pm

Comment of the Day: The Lure of the Not So Complex Apartment

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Comments, Montrose, Quicklink
No Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE LURE OF THE NOT SO COMPLEX APARTMENT “I’ve personally lived in all types of Montrose apartments — funky one-bedrooms, duplexes, town homes, and anthills. While the charm is nice, the real amenity older stock apartments offer is proximity to the street. Many of the big complexes are difficult to navigate and make it almost impossible for visitors to get to you. I would gladly live in a big complex if it took the same amount of time to get from my door to the street as my current place.” [paulbtucker, commenting on Comment of the Day: Funky Montrose Apartments Are in High Demand]

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Apartments
03/06/12 11:06pm

Comment of the Day: Funky Montrose Apartments Are in High Demand

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Comments, Leasing, Montrose, Quicklink
18 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: FUNKY MONTROSE APARTMENTS ARE IN HIGH DEMAND “Here’s what I am seeing in Montrose this year and last year: Every nice garage apartment, side-by-side duplex, fourplex, etc brings on multiple applicants. (Sometimes renting for more than the stated price.) With several to choose from, the Landlord’s pick will have excellent credit and high income — a lot higher than you would expect for say a garage apartment. These tenants could afford to live in those shiny new apartment complexes. Easily. But they don’t want to. They want to live in the neighborhood, on a residential street. This doesn’t apply to every tenant — obviously there are more who want to live in the beehive. But the demand for funky old Montrose housing isn’t diminishing — It is tighter than ever.” [Harold Mandell, commenting on The Coming Flood of New River Oaks-Area Apartments in Montrose]

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Apartments
03/05/12 12:18pm

The Coming Flood of New River Oaks-Area Apartments in Montrose

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Montrose, Quicklink, River Oaks
18 Comments

THE COMING FLOOD OF NEW RIVER OAKS-AREA APARTMENTS IN MONTROSE Some local stats from research firm Axiometrics: 32 new apartment properties, holding a total of 8,700 units, are currently under construction in Houston. Of that total, 15 of them — accounting for 4,300 apartments — are in the “Montrose-River Oaks” area. Occupancy rates for similar existing properties in the same neighborhoods are currently in the mid-90-percent range; rents have been increasing at an annual rate of 9.1 percent as of January. [Real Estate Bisnow]

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Apartments
02/23/12 1:14pm

Post Properties Says It’s Ready To Build Those Richmond Ave Apartments

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First Montrose Commons, Midtown, Proposed Developments
16 Comments

A mere four-and-a-half years after it first announced the project, Atlanta REIT Post Properties says it’s just about ready to begin construction on a somewhat revised 5-story, 242-unit apartment building on Richmond Ave, just west of the Downtown Spur. The latest First Montrose Commons Newsletter features these black-and-white images of the project, along with a few more details that were announced to the neighborhood organization last month. Unlike the Post Midtown, this building on the 5-sided block surrounded by Richmond, Jack, Colquitt, Garrott, and Milam won’t include any retail space. A parking garage tucked into the structure will have 1 1/2 spaces per bedroom and point driveways toward Richmond and Colquitt. The Wheeler light-rail station sits 3 blocks east of the construction site, on the other side of Spur 527.

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Apartments
02/22/12 10:14pm

Comment of the Day: About That 35-Story Tower About To Go Up Down the Street

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Comments, Highland Village, Highrises, Proposed Developments, Quicklink
15 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: ABOUT THAT 35-STORY TOWER ABOUT TO GO UP DOWN THE STREET “I need some opinions. A friend of mine owns a patio home on W Alabama next to this site. Will this help or hurt her property value? There’s a one acre tract between this development and hers, and we don’t know what it’s going to be. I figure it might help her value because it will be near retail and probably a restaurant or two, but who knows?” [Bill, commenting on First Sign of the 35-Story Apartment Tower Coming to Weslayan and West Alabama]

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Apartments
02/21/12 11:17am

First Sign of the 35-Story Apartment Tower Coming to Weslayan and West Alabama

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Highland Village, Highrises, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Retail
34 Comments

Here’s the sign that’s gone up on the northeast corner of Weslayan and West Alabama, where PM Realty plans to start construction later this year on the 35-story apartment tower it announced last year. The tower, PM Realty’s first in Houston, will have 12,500 sq. ft. of retail space on the first or second floor, 250 apartments, and a 3,000-sq.-ft. fitness center, according to a Houston Business Journal report last year. On the 2.6-acre site, which the company bought from Interfin last August: the remains of the State Grille restaurant. New on-the-scene blog Going Up! City has these pix of the site:

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Apartments
02/17/12 1:11pm

What the Promenade Cullen Park Was Warning Its Residents About

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Crime, Cullen Park, Lawsuits, Leasing
8 Comments

According to an attorney for a woman who was raped and sodomized for more than 12 hours in her second-floor apartment in the Promenade Cullen Park 3 years ago, managers of the apartment complex just west of the Addicks Reservoir had in fact sent out a notice to residents after a through-the-balcony break-in of the unit next door to her 2 weeks earlier. However, it was “the same warning that they would send out if a bicycle was stolen off a balcony or a TV was stolen out of an apartment,” attorney Troy Chandler tells the Houston Chronicle. “The notice failed to mention that a burglary occurred, that the assailant waited inside, that a tenant was attacked and that there had been an attempted rape.” After that incident but before she was raped, the woman renewed her lease on the apartment — without being informed about the nature of the attack, according to her attorneys.

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Apartments
02/15/12 9:08pm

Nixing Milhaus Retail: Why These New Midtown Apartments Won’t Have Shops on the Ground Floor

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Midtown, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Investing
28 Comments

A real-estate firm out of Indianapolis with a keen interest in developing mixed-use projects plans to build a midrise apartment complex on 2 vacant blocks in Midtown, just south of the Pierce Elevated and 4 blocks east of the light rail line running down Main St. Like almost every other recent residential development in the area built before or after the Post Midtown Square about a dozen blocks to the west, though, the Milhaus Midtown won’t include any lease spaces for stores or restaurants. If you’re wondering why not, the company has a detailed explanation ready.

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Apartments
02/03/12 11:33pm

Comment of the Day: The Clue They’ll Be Tearing It Down

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Comments, Development Strategies, Leasing, Quicklink
6 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE CLUE THEY’LL BE TEARING IT DOWN “The standard Texas Apartment Association lease does not give the owner the right to cancel the lease in the event of a sale. If the land value is approaching the as-built value, however, a smart landlord is going to put a clause in the lease that allows for a 30-day termination. At the complex I listed above, that was exactly what happened. The landlord had a cancellation clause in the lease for years before the property was sold to a developer. Some tenants may be turned off by it. It may have some affect on the rental rates. You have to weigh the pros and cons. Every situation is different.” [Bernard, commenting on New Owner Orders Everybody Out of the Greenbriar Chateau Apartments]

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