THIS OK? GREYSTAR CHECKS IN WITH WOODLAND HEIGHTS NEIGHBORS ABOUT SKYLANE REPLACEMENT 
Motivated to avoid some of the same blowback that developers of the Ashby Highrise, Morrison Heights condos and apartments, and 17-story San Felipe office building have received from sign-making neighbors, Greystar has been busy meeting with folks in Woodland Heights to discuss Elan Heights, the 8-story, 276-unit complex that will be replacing the ’60s Skylane on Taylor St. And what are those neighbors worried about? The usual suspects, writes the Houston Chronicle’s Erin Mulvaney: “. . . [S]pecifics of entry and exit at certain streets, plans for sidewalks, availability of bicycle parking, sewage and the preservation of existing oak trees . . . [and] the implications of the traffic analysis required by the city.” A rep explains why Greystar’s doing what it’s doing: “People more than anything else want to be informed and know what’s happening in their community. . . . The reality is that we are not required to do that. . . . We do it because we want to be good neighbors.” Greystar says it will close on the property next month, and the demo of the Skylane will follow in early 2014. [Houston Chronicle ($); previously on Swamplot] Rendering: Meeks + Partners
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Now this is PR 101—this is how you interact with your potential neighbors and in the process create an excellent reputation among your potential customer base–brilliant
Nice dog and pony show. Give the peasants the illusion of choice and inclusion, and do what you were planning all along.
Literally anything would be better than the Skylane Apartments…..so Woodland Heights residence should be jumping for joy. Kudos to the developer for reaching out to the community.
It’s a great PR move and a typical developers gimmick.@commonsense: exactly.
Im not a fan of Greystar after seeing what they did to metropole
Greystar is likely to face a lot less resistance to their development than the developers of the two Alexan developments on Yale and the condo building on Morrison. This will have something to do with the fact that, while the Yale development is replacing warehouses/vacant lots, and the Morrison development is replacing a single-family(ish) property, the Greystar development is replacing what many in the neighborhood consider an eyesore. In this case, “eyesore” translates roughly as “place where poor people live”.
So, while Yale and Morrison are increasing density, Taylor St will probably be about neutral on density, but change the demographics.
I question the choice of the word “blowback” to describe the anti-Ashby antics…wouldn’t “open hostility” or “nuclear resistance” be more appropriate?
Sad to see these apartments go. Where will this guy take his, um, “ground-floor retail” business?
A responsible developer and elimination of a nuisance: win, win. This should quell any organized opposition. Sure, there will be a few NIMBYs, but they will crawl back under their rocks before long.
@ jason C.. really a pic taken in 2011 ??/ dude
@heightsguy : what is a nuisance about the complex ? Other than you don’t like the look..
Most of you are sheer ignorant when pointing to the Skylane(Btw)has not been that since 2012.The complex was bought up , trouble makers were kicked out. you know who the majority of the people who live their now. While 20’something collage students, who want to be close to school with out having to pay 1200 for apt in the loop
@ 2Stan – give it up and start looking for a new apartment. Its over – progress is displacing run down apartments with new ones. It will cost more than $1200/mo to live at the new ones. Everyone who owns property in the area will be much happier with the progress. The only ones who will be unhappy are those few people who will now have to find a new apartment that they can afford. Nobody else will shed a tear to see the Skylane fall.
As someone who actually DOES live in the area (comfortably, in a 1923 bungalow on close to its original footprint), I’m pretty skeptical about this particular development. The perspective on the rendering is WAAAAYYYY off, particularly when one considers that much of the Skylane footprint is in White Oak Bayou floodway (not flood plain, floodway.) There just isn’t any nearby property available to use for flood zone mitigation; instead, it’s cheek to jowl with occupied property and existing parks. Also, TXDoT’s done a terrible job with managing traffic at the Katy/Taylor intersection (we would kill for a couple dedicated right turn lanes on the north side); this isn’t going to help.
That consideration aside, being situated between the freeway and the neighborhood on an existing multi family plot, it is also much more appropriately sited than the Morrison property, or the Ashby fiasco, or even the stuff on San Felipe that has hearts all a-twitter.
@Markum..No one is trying stop any progress, so please don’t talk down to me.. I just pointed out the outdated view some poster have about the resident who live there such as jason C.. dated google photo. And asked Hightguy to expalin his nuisance comment. I get annoyed when people seem to talking out of the side of their mouths based on outdated info.
Honestly, 2stan, I was just looking for the opportunity to link to that Streetview again. It’s almost reflexive at this point. ‘What’s that, did you mention Skyway? Check out this picture of this dude!’
I’m not sad to see skyline going- but I’d always hoped it would get a complete renovation rather than a date with the wrecking ball. There aren’t many small and affordable apartments in the area and I wonder where the lower income families, starving artists and students will live. I guess over on the east end.
that drawing is such a dream. hundreds more people pouring in / out of the heights at rush hour on narrow pot holed streets. developers never fix streets it seems.
Wonder what elem / middle school would this apt be zoned to ?
@ huh ?: Developers build up the tax base so that the City can afford to fix the streets. When they use the money to fund their insanely high pension obligations instead, that’s the fault of long-ago term-limited politicians. (At least we aren’t Detroit.)
The schools nearby will probably end up taking fewer children than they presently are, since the target demographic for new apartments are affluent singles and DINKs with plenty of disposable income.
There must be multiple Skylane Apartments. When I read the title I thought it was the one on North and I-45, with a great view of the skyline. http://skylanedowntown.com/?no_redirect=true
I love to see these NIMBYS whining about everything….
@Joel B – There were various Skylanes, all built in the mid 60s, originally as “housekeeping” apartments (fully furnished, down to the dishes) – a forerunner of what are now corporate apartments. Most are now gone.