Tag: Townhomes

Buildings for Sale
07/19/10 10:56am

Swamplot Price Adjuster: Some Unfinished EaDo Business

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East Downtown, Foreclosures, Land for Sale, Price Adjuster, Townhomes
26 Comments

The Swamplot Price Adjuster runs on 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: 2312 Sperber Ln., East Downtown
Details: 3 bedroom, 3 1/2-bath, 2,006-sq.-ft. unfinished townhome on a 1,400-sq.-ft. lot
Price: $151,700
History: Current listing up since mid-April

For your consideration: this special property, just over the tracks from EaDo. Submitted by a reader, who comments:

Here’s another one from the Waterhill debacle. There’s a set of 3 townhouses in the corner of this EaDo neighborhood that all appear to be in tear down condition.  HAR description states “Great opportunity for investor or builder to purchase 3 partially completed townhomes, never lived in.” HA!  I beg to differ!  I bet homeless people have been living there off and on for the last 2 years! HAR lists this stand-alone unit for $151,700.  Is it really worth that?

Then . . . well, what is it worth?

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Homes for Sale
06/28/10 2:41pm

North Post Oak Courtyard Mod: When Townhome Didn’t Mean Stairs

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Houston Architects, Lafayette Place, Memorial, Townhomes
13 Comments

Tucked into the Memorial townhome ghetto in the upper left armpit of the West Loop and I-10, you’ll find this 1970 number designed by Preston Bolton. Bolton, who believed in tall ceilings way back when they were stuck in last place and nobody thought they had a chance, stuffed 3 courtyards into this 2,616-sq.-ft. single-story townhouse plan, and placed it on a street where everybody knew his name. The home went on the market last week, listed at $325,000. Interested in a brief tour?

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Construction Problems
05/14/10 11:31pm

The Heights Townhome That Came Back from the Dismantled

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Demolitions, Houston Heights, New Construction, Redevelopment, Townhomes
18 Comments

First it was up, then it sat unfinished for a good long time, then it was down, and now it’s been . . . resurrected! Viula from the Heights Life blog sends in the latest photo of the corner townhouse unit in the former Waterhill Homes development at 8th St. and Nicholson in the Heights (where 8th Avenue Elementary School used to be):

Remember the one they were breaking down on the end? Well, they built it back up again. My husband thinks the ground floor (garage) is the same but I disagree.

Real progress doesn’t always follow a straight-line path, no? Last time we studied this well-weathered unit, you’ll remember, it was indeed on its way down:

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Comments
04/20/10 12:55pm

Comment of the Day: Your Houston Townhouse in 2050

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Construction Problems, Quicklink, Townhomes
21 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: YOUR HOUSTON TOWNHOUSE IN 2050 “. . . Imagine your typical 100 x 100 ft lot, shared driveway down the middle, with 3 fee-simple townhouse units on each side. Now, imagine them 40 years from now, when the post-tensiooned slabs have failed, roofs are worn out, window/roof leaks have caused rot, etc. It is hard to imagine the scenario in which one of the middle units could be replaced with something new. It is going to be very difficult. So somewhere down the road, it may be necessary for a new entity to come in and buy all six units and replat them for the land to find some other productive use. And that doesn’t sound all that easy, does it? This doesn’t seem to be a problem that afflicts every townhouse project, but the ones with the internal shared drives, party walls and continuous slabs sure seem vulnerable. I see the potential for future slums.” [Mies, commenting on Up and Down in Hyde Park]

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Construction Materials
03/22/10 12:42pm

Heights Home Composting: The Amazing Disappearing Waterhill Townhomes

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Construction Problems, Demolitions, Houston Heights, New Construction, Townhomes
20 Comments

Okay, tell us what was the plan for that block south of W. 8th St. along the new Heights Hike-and-Bike Trail, between Nicholson and Waverly?

This large, open space will be available for community gardens, both cultivated and natural, think edible weeds. Small animal husbandry, such as goats, chickens and rats could also be sustained. Compost houses flank the development to show clientele how their homes will indeed return to their natural state a lá the second law of thermodynamics, or something like that. Between the back row of Compost Homes are the E-condos. These models reflect real world living as they do not have plumbing or electricity.

Huh? Well, it’s not even a year since Houston Indymedia reporter Keefski tried to explain it all . . . but the Waterhill Homes at the Heights development is at last seeing some action!

What kind of action?

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Buying and Selling
03/16/10 10:54am

Train Coming in for Those Heights Blvd. Track-Side Townhomes?

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Homes for Sale, Real Estate Marketing, Townhomes, Washington Corridor
9 Comments

A reader writes in to share the exciting news that one of those Northgate Custom Homes townhouses on Heights Blvd. that’s snuggled up next to the train tracks and just behind the recycling center on Center St. is now listed as “option pending” on MLS. Readers chose the complex as the city’s Best Vacancy in the Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate just a few months ago. Is someone buying right next to the tracks?

Well, not exactly. 114 Heights Blvd. Unit B, priced at $309,000, is the one that’s now listed as option pending. It’s shielded from those noisy trains by the full 20-or-so-ft. width of the adjacent townhome, Unit A. And here’s the featured view from one of its balconies:

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Apartments
02/17/10 2:43pm

Comment of the Day: Look Out for Those Tweaked Townhomes!

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Comments, Home Design, Quicklink, Townhomes, Washington Corridor
4 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: LOOK OUT FOR THOSE TWEAKED TOWNHOMES! “. . . My reason for staying away from those townhomes…Any one of those townhomes could be easily tweaked in the future to be 2 apartments. Pair that with the common driveways and you could easily have alot of people sharing a pretty small area.” [justguessin, commenting on Comment of the Day: Here Come the Almeda Promoters]

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Briar Hollow
01/15/10 2:18pm

Office Escape: A Townhouse with a Real Briar Hollow Feel

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Homes for Sale, Townhomes
9 Comments

Here’s a real slice of Houston: A shiny new just-redone vintage 1975 townhouse with underground garage and glass elevator, tucked into the pride of this city in the 1970s: the hidden-away-in-the-middle-of-it-all Briar Hollow ’hood.

Any problem with heat gain through those giant west-facing windows? Not at all, because the 12-story office tower across the street acts as a convenient sunshade:

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Home Design
11/13/09 12:08pm

Patio Home of the Futurama

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Homes for Sale, Townhomes, Vermont Commons
5 Comments

Over on Lovely Listing, readers are noting the resemblance of this shiny new yet-to-be-manufactured residence planned by On Point Custom Homes for 1517 Driscoll St. to a certain alcohol-guzzling teevee robot.

Both do feature state-of-the-art home automation systems.

The posting’s author begs:

Oh please oh please oh please someone buy this house and paint it silver and put your TV antenna on top please please please

How about a view of that shiny metal backside?

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Construction Materials
11/10/09 12:54pm

Pitching In: An Architect Helps Out with That Floating Stone Chimney

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Home Design, Homebuilders, Houston Architects, Houston Heights, New Construction: Residential, Townhomes
9 Comments

Note: Story updated below. Stand by for . . . the turret!

One of the nicest things about Swamplot is that we all care about our neighbors! So when one reader sends in a photo of a unique garage-chimney configuration balanced carefully on a townhome near the corner of Ashland and 16th St. in the Heights, it’s only natural that others in our community will want to volunteer their talents and services to help the situation.

The problem: The obvious allures of lick-and-stick stone facing have left a Heights homebuilder with a street face that’s a little . . . attention-getting?

The solution: It’s nothing an architect can’t fix — with a fresh copy of Photoshop and a toolkit of contemporary design favorites! Here’s the completed rendering that was sent into us:

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Development Strategies
10/26/09 1:42pm

Dilick: How About We Throw Up Some Townhomes Where Wilshire Village Was?

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Lancaster Place, Neighborhood Disputes, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Townhomes
3 Comments

The purported owner of the Wilshire Village complex at the corner of West Alabama and Dunlavy, who managed to stay out of the media spotlight while the 69-year-old 8-acre complex was emptied and then torn down after a sequence of peculiar events earlier this year, appears at the end of Nancy Sarnoff’s phone line to make a few pronouncements about the property.

First, that big Commerce Equities sign on the property that says “Available”? Well, here’s what it really means:

“We would consider an outright sale if the appropriate user was identified,” owner Matt Dilick of Commerce Equities said.

That’s right: Dilick might wanna do a little creatin’ there himself!

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Foreclosures
10/14/09 11:31pm

What You Can Get with Bad Credit: West Main Foreclosure Second Chance

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Home Design, Homes for Sale, Townhomes, Upper Kirby
10 Comments

A reader accustomed to shaking his head when he drives along Greenbriar just north of Richmond informs us that the recently built “big, expensive monstrosity” for sale on that corner is now advertising its bank pedigree:

This long-on-the-market house/thingy now has large for-sale-by-bank sign slapped all over the very nice fence. This has all sort of ridiculous written over it: four car garages, pool, etc.

If a 7,976-sq.-ft. villa with 4-car garage for less than a million in that location sounds cheap, it’s because the building is actually 2 separate “townhomes” — each roughly half that size — with a “common element.” The $959K price tag is for the foreclosed unit at 2201 W. Main.

After a year-long run on MLS, that front unit is now listed as “pending continue to show.” Which in light of the ready-to-loan listing copy maybe isn’t so surprising:

FORECLOSURE!!BANK WILL FINANCE FOR 4.5% WITH 10% DOWN(BAD CREDIT OK)

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Cherryhurst
09/25/09 3:51pm

Comment of the Day: The Townhome Effect

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Comments, Home Prices, Quicklink, Townhomes
31 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: THE TOWNHOME EFFECT “A lot of people would think twice with the townhome next door, I know I did. Cherryhurst is a nice area but has evidently let whatever deed restrictions it had slide. This will hurt prices there in the long run as older homes are replaced with townhomes. Apart from the aesthetic, which is subjective, great neighborhoods aren’t build round townhomes. It probably already has hurt this seller.” [sidegate, commenting on Swamplot Price Adjuster: Your Cherryhurst Neighbors]

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Homes for Sale
09/09/09 12:07pm

Track-Side Townhomes for Less: Heights Blvd. Railroad Perches Now Even Cheaper!

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Price Reductions, Real Estate Marketing, Townhomes, Washington Corridor
17 Comments

A reader notes that a few of those new Villas at the Heights townhouses from Northgate Custom Homes, built “right on the railroad tracks on Heights Blvd, backing up to the recycling center” are now sporting new — and much lower — asking prices:

The most extreme price reduction on one went from $365k to $299k. There are now 5 units for sale with prices ranging from $289k to $309k. They are getting there, only another $40k to go before someone might actually look at them!

Front-row train-side Unit M — featured in Dave McC’s famous video below — seems to have taken a break from MLS, but it’s still listed on the Northgate website for just $299,900!

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Apartments
08/18/09 11:37am

Redeveloping Kennedy Place

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Fifth Ward, Proposed Developments, Public Housing, Redevelopment
20 Comments

Right on time for tonight’s public meeting, Swamplot’s “Bottom” of the Fifth Ward correspondent Vaughn Mueller sends in a bit of information about the proposed redevelopment of the Houston Housing Authority’s Kennedy Place apartments:

It is located in lower fifth ward, bounded by Bayou, Gillespie, Meadow and Baron streets. According to the HHA, it was built in 1982 but in its current condition, it looks reminiscent of a 1950-1960 1-story development. There is currently no central AC or heat in any of its 60 units.

In mid July a sign was put up out front describing the construction. Soon after, we received a notice of public meeting in the mail also describing the construction. The meeting is set for August 18th. The new development will contain 108 new apartments, 88 of which are going to be government assisted while 20 are going to be market rate.

The proposed site plan:

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