The River Oaks Examiner‘s Cynthia Lescalleet says her recent tour of West Ave at the corner of Kirby and Westheimer “felt a bit like a campus visit for a really, really, ritzy college.” But wait, there’s more:
Rising seven-stories, West Ave. is hard to miss. The project by Gables Urban is massive and ambitious, and that’s only the first phase. The two-acre lot behind it, now used as a construction staging area, will be Phase II. Some day. It may spend the interim as overflow parking.
Further details about that Upper Kirby campus:
***
West Ave. has two stories of retail and five stories of living space, which includes not only the luxury apartments but the cushy common areas: a theater, game room, pet salon, rooftop pool with outdoor kitchen (and a mighty fine view of downtown), business center, fitness center and wine storage venue with tasting room.
Also, Gables Residential is now calling that second-story retail space “flexible space,” meaning it might house small office spaces or even more apartments if retail tenants can’t be found.
Construction still has a ways to go, but residents started moving in a month ago:
About 50 people currently lease units on the third or fourth floors of the first building, fronting Kirby.
Depending on the size of the unit, they’re paying $1,400 to $3,000 a month, which is about $2 psf.
. . . the units have slab floors and walls to cut noise. Thick doors and heavy carpeting also muffle the presence of others passing down the long, long hall.
- Kirby’s instant community may take time [River Oaks Examiner]
- West Ave: Going South? [Swamplot]
- West Ave coverage [Swamplot]
Photos: Alexander Steffler (license)
I’m glad some life has started moving into the place.
I would never pay that much for an apartment though unless the housing market was something to priced way out of.
There goes the neighborhood.
I live a few hundred yards away. I see that Gables permits dogs. There is nowhere to walk dogs around here! Was there any mention of a “poop” park for the potential
100-200 dogs to be imported into this heavily paved (much by Gables) area? How about on the undeveloped back acreage?
Believe me, we already have a steady stream
of poopers with jerk owners who won’t follow
the ordinance. Gables should accomodate
their renters needs if they choose to be mutt-friendly. You cause it, you control it. Informative article – thanks!
Before you demand of one group, you need to realize that Gables represents only a chunk of new people that could be moving to the area.
What about the massive apartments going up on the site of the old Oak Lane Apt behind Berryhill? That a whole lot more potential people with dogs.
What about the new mid-rise apartments just west of West Ave on Westheimer?
It’s not Gables fault. Why not work with the neighborhood or especially the Upper Kirby District to have dog stations installed? It works in other neighborhoods. The stations are simple poles every couple of hundred feet of sidewalk that can dispense free bags and some even have a bin to dispose of the waste. The Upper Kirby District should have no problem helping with this.
Dogs still need grass, pooper scooper or not. They don’t like to and often won’t poop on concrete. People need green too. It puts off oxygen and people don’t like to and won’t breathe without it. Greening should not be a burden to developers, it should be both the cost of doing business and added value to the development.
My dog goes on concrete/asphalt quite easily. As long as their diet is good, their poop is easy and clean to pick up.
And I’m not against greening. Much of this project’s site was solid concrete to begin with. At least it’s getting some use versus being virtually empty most of the time except for a restaurant and a gas station on the Kirby side.
Also, yesterday was the first time I drove it completed, the stretch of Kirby south of Rice Village to Brays Bayou is finished. It now has a center median. The tree planting is identical to the Kirby project from Westheimer to Richmond. Tree plantings on both sides of the road and in the median. The bonus of the Westheimer to Richmond section is that all the power lines will be underground. So the trees will be able to grow freely unlike the ones that were removed!
Well KJB, of course he does…he’s a robot dog.
HAHA!
I wish, then I could turn him off when want a break.
No, he’s just a very happy little long haired chihuahua.
kjb – You seem to think if something is true for you it must be globally true.
Dogs who poop on the sidewalk have low self esteem.
I my dog has low self esteem, then someone needs to notify him of that because he hasn’t gotten the message.
Also, I don’t let him poop on public paving. I take care of that in the corner of my patio, then it’s off to walking!
Chihuahuas have large egos, not high self esteem. Ego is based on false pride and self esteem is based on humility.
Having said that, I love my two chihuahuas, ego or not and the long haired chihuahuas are beyond adorable.
Emme, if we took out all of the comments where we make the assumption that our opinions are also ascribed to by other members of our neighborhood, social group etc etc then the site would be a barren wasteland :)
I don’t know that to be true, it would certainly not be as snarky and therefore less fun.
If everyone owned Chihuahuas the dog waste issue would be much smaller. Not everyone’s dog is trained or smart or domesticated. Many poeple who live there will have medium-large dogs and not think before buying/leasing. The density of cars in that area will be insane, the corner has been a busy one since the 60s and will one to be avoided.
BTW, I love dogs… a lot.
From Brad:
Not everyone’s dog is trained or smart or domesticated.
==================================
The same could be said about a lot of their owners!
RWB, no kidding.
Why don’t you go talk about your dogs at the Starbucks on Shepherd?? I just wasted two minutes of my life reading through this thread that has nothing to do with West Ave.
I think Gables is a very capable developer and see this as a great contribution to Houston. This group is investing, which has to be well north of $100 million, in Houston. The jobs it has created and the business and the jobs it will create seem to me a little more important than where the dog poops. My stab at a positive spin. Emme, you dog whisperer,you, nice theory, never met a success that did not have both ego and high self esteem, but was always tempered with humility, but I am not a human whisperer.
West Ave is constructing a dog park on the 7th level of their parking structure. It will have both grass and concrete–so every dog can poo regardless of preference.
Astrid:
That is splendid news!
Good God! Neighborhood awareness from an apartment developer!!! Assuming this goes through and is maintained for all residents, then Gables, you did a wonderful thing.
Kudos, and I will recommend your development.
As noted, I live only a few hundred yards away in a house with a yard. It’s defiled daily by my single-family neighbors’ spoiled mutts/lazy owners-just too tempting for these law-breaking bad neighbors. Now, I don’t have to deal with hundreds of new dogs – a real live, looming shitstorm.
Please follow through on this one! Excellent!
Can’t wait to move in :)