Even more apartments are going up inside the Loop: This development from Mill Creek Residential is underway behind the St. Regis Hotel on San Felipe and E. Briar Hollow Ln. The complex, south of Memorial Park, appears to provide residents a view of that Welcome W. Wilson, Sr. beautification strip there along the Union Pacific railroad tracks. Developer Jeb Cox says that there will be 317 units and a parking garage, the construction of which began in August.
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A Swamplot reader has heard Liberty Kitchen will be operating inside the complex, which Cox says should be completed in early 2014.
Meanwhile, here are some photos taken recently of the progress:
Cox says that there’s no website for the development yet.
- Our Communities in Texas [Mill Creek Residential Trust]
Images: Mill Creek Residential (renderings), Jeb Cox (parking garage), Louie Lancaster (others)
Que? “Welcome Wilson beautification strip?”
This is the first time in months that I’ve heard the phrase, “luxury apartments” and actually believed it.
who financed this deal? I don’t get it.
Gasp – someone’s building apartments and nobody’s complaining! By the logic of the people who are mad at the Ashby “NIMBY’s” this shouldn’t happen. No matter what you do, neighbors will complain, right?
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Not so. Mill Creek Residential not only did their due diligence in determining an appropriate site from a financial aspect – they took an additional step in choosing a site that would not disrupt a single family neighborhood. In fact, they could have made their building much taller than they did. The 28 story Amegy Bank building is two doors down. The St Regis Hotel is 12 stories tall, so there is local precedence for them.
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Developers are in it primarily for the money. But sensitivity to neighborhoods and the urban fabric is part of what distinguishes the good developers : the ones who make money AND will be remembered for improving our city and urban life.
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That said, these apartments could be better. I’m not so sure about that setback along San Felipe. Is there an easement that forces it? It’d be nicer if there were some street level retail going on.
The traffic doesnt bother me as much as the question of who is going to bail out all of the apartment developers?? WAY WAY WAY overbuilding apartments inside the loop imo.
that post is so loaded with dirty insinuations ZAW that i certainly found it quite amusing. thanks for that.
Benny, what overbuilding? The demand is there right now and vacant units are hard to find where the building is happening. Should we not build because some time in the future there may be less people in the area?
Benny: it certainly does seem like they are overbuilding. Only time will tell if that’s the case. If it is, it’s going to be a replay of 1982-3. The developers who got in the game early will have sold their complexes and moved on to the next hot market. The guys left holding complexes when the market crashes will lose their shirts.
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There won’t be a bailout. But a bunch of complexes will fall into bankruptcy. Rents will crash. Real estate values and tax revenue will plummet. Any semblance of maintenance, security, and tenant screening will fly out the window. Oh, and their might be a few half finished complexes that just sit there for a few years gathering graffiti and vagrants.
my opinion is that “luxury apts” (say $2 per sf per month) are being overbuilt and there is nothing available for mid level type renters. The $800 one bedroom apartment is gone. Everyone has sticker shock and I think it will crash in another year or two.
Twice as tall would be ok with me.
Yeah, let’s just build all new multi-story buildings in locations where there’s no single family nearby. Like industrial districts, they’re just screaming out for a residential mid-rise. /sarcasm off
The idea that you can’t have multi-story buildings (residential or otherwise) next to single family is poppycock and should not factor into any development regulation in Houston (apart from the unfortunate regulation that’s already been passed.) Furthermore, site-specific complaints about traffic from multifamily are also largely ridiculous, at least when you compare it to office or retail uses, which have a much much bigger site-specific impact.
With the new Gables complex nearby, this area is screaming for more ground level retail. Look at all the nearby hotels, apartments, townhomes and commercial businesses…those folks have virtually no walkable options. And yes, we would walk if the opportunity was there…
No matter where you locate (in Melcher strip or new apartments), please hurry Liberty Kitchen…we need you.
People may have sticker shock, but the new apartments hitting the market right now are being leased in record time.
In the past, a new complex lease up rate of 30 units a month was considered a sign of a good product, correctly priced, that was being well received by the market.
The are new projects inside the Loop right now that are leasing 20 units a WEEK, even with the new stepped up rents.
The Gables complex is literally across the street from a retail strip center.
Planner: define “nearby”
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There’s single family residential less than a half mile away from Mill Creek Residential’s project. Only the train tracks and a low-rise complex separate them. It’s not a problem because it’s not directly abutting the single family neighborhood.
I live in that “low-rise complex” (condos, not apartments) on the other side of the tracks from this project. While I don’t object to the new complex, it’s already blocking the view from my patio. I’ll have to dig out my binoculars because I’ll certainly be able to see into their windows ;) I hope the residents like trains, ‘cuz they’ll see/hear/feel about 30/day.
One big problem: residents there will not be able to turn left onto San Felipe because of the pylons in the middle of the road that keep people from going around the RR arms. That should be fun.
Everyone seems to want new these days. I live in a Gables property that’s over 30 years old (but very well managed and maintained), and even with slightly lower rents the large number of vacancies here is alarming.
No impact on single family residential with these tall apartments? HA!! Martin Fein is blocking out our view of blue sky with his 8 story tower right smack in the middle of our quiet tree lined Lynn Park neighborhood (near Central Market and the Highland Village Shopping Center). Over 700 units and no new traffic– try 1000 cars a day on our limited streets. It is development like this that gives the developer community here such a black eye. Greed prevails over quality of life for neighbors. Fein’s “arborist” must be sleeping– 6 75 year old oak trees on the curbside have already been chopped down even tho the promise was to protect them.