Where All the New Apartments Are Going Up in Houston

The Chronicle’s Erin Mulvaney has thrown data from Apartment Data Services into this interactive Google map — to give you a zoomable picture of where all the new apartments are heading in Houston. The green pins show the 19,923 units (in 72 projects) that have opened recently; the red dots show the 23,781 (in 85 complexes) that are currently under construction; and the yellow dots indicate the additional 18,065 apartments (in 61 new developments) that are proposed — or at least the ones the data company is aware of.

Map: Erin Mulvaney/Houston Chronicle

Mapping New Construction

31 Comment

  • A number of new projects around UH are not shown. I suppose these are considered dormitories and not multi-family, but they still contribute to the overall housing stock.

  • What is the deal with the slow pace “Le Palais” construction on West Gray?

  • There is a distinct line of apartments going up through Midtown, down Richmond and up Post Oak. Why has no one proposed running a rail line there?

  • Many of the map pins are not in the right place at all.

  • This is pretty awesome. She missed a ton of proposals though. The other market square tower is already under construction. Broadstone skyline has already closed down a revenue generating surface lot and fenced it up. Neither is on the map. (Others too, I just noticed those two instantly.

  • @Joe: Not sure if you’re being facetious…

  • This is data from Apartment Data Services. There are several companies that track apartment market data, and where construction is concerned they tend to have similar overall numbers; however, each company knows about projects that the other company does not. The gap gets reconciled pretty quickly once each project hits the tax rolls and each company takes notice, but the forward-looking construction data tends to understate what is actually going on in the market.

  • Does anyone have any info on the Drake Downtown that is just west of downtown? Appears to take another parking lot.

  • The pattern follows the desirable areas almost to a T. You can glean that the vast majority of new development is aimed at highly successful young professionals. You really can’t blame developers for almost exclusively targeting this group, however you have to wonder where the teachers, nurses, salespeople etc in this area are expected to live. I guess they’ll need a fuel conscious old Honda since Culbertson has torpedoed rail on the Westside and who knows how long it will be before the light rail extends to the suburbs where these people more than likely will be forced to live. Houston has gotten very expensive very fast, no way could I afford to buy my house today, I’m stunned every year at the skyrocket in appraisal, which would be great if I wanted to see, but I don’t.

  • There is a black hole east of 288.

  • All of the multi-family apartment complex development (many of which are upscale) creates a transient residential population that will be an intriguing buying force once homeownership is desired. Even if you assume only half of these residents a.) stay in Houston and b.) seek to buy a home, that’s going to be a serious catalyst for Houston’s property values, particularly in and around the loop. Housing supply is behind the demand curve by at least half a decade. Not to mention, the Super Bowl in 2017 will bring incremental attention from investors/speculators/prospective residents. If you think Houston housing prices are ridiculous today, just wait about 5 years – they’ll be astronomical.

  • In addition to missing things in third ward, It’s also missing at least two developments in the Northside.

  • I really don’t think the Super Bowl? is going to drive demand for high end apartments and upscale townhomes in Montrose. I’ve head of the NFL’s PR firm telling some tall tales about the revenue streams that come from a Super Bowl, but this is the tallest. Shell, Chevron forget it! We have the Super Bowl!

  • @rob, what two developments in the Northside? Avenue Station and something else?

  • Yeah, Shannon – apartment developers do seem to like to make a mess in one part of town,and then write that part of town off in the next boom because it’s got messy apartments in it. You didn’t quite say it that way, but it’s what happened.
    .
    I guess I’m the only one to be concerned about where they’re building. Inside the Loop I can live with the volume of construction they’re doing. There are already plenty of large office buildings and more under construction – there will be a steady demand for decent Inner Loop apartments even if he economy takes a hit. But the apartments out I-10 are isolated. The offices on the West Beltway and Highway 6 won’t help them: they’re too hard to get to. Commuting just about anywhere else is a major pain, and you can buy a house for a reasonable price in the area. When the local economy heads south, those apartments along the I-10 corridor are at serious risk of crashing hard. Worst case scenario: it’s another Alief out there.
    .
    Then the multifamily developers in the 2035 apartment boom will completely ignore the mess they made on I-10 and develop somewhere else….

  • What’s that? The east end isn’t getting a ton of these flash in the pan so-called upscale housing? I’m good with that, no really.

  • @triton: Cypress got hurricane relief funds to have mixed income units as part of their hardy yards development. They are shutting down the Hernandez Tunnel this month to have Burnet connect to North Main. There is also someone looking at building something at the Reid Memorial Church site on Fulton and Avenue is trying to build a second senior housing complex by Moody Park (I’m not sure if senior housing is counted in this data service).

  • Gotta agree with ZAW. I see all those apartments being built, think of Michael Pollock and shudder.

    Yours truly, a resident of Sharpstown.

  • I suspect that the south part of Katy, near the Grand Parkway at the Westpark Toll Road, might be oversubscribed. By contrast, the I-10 corridor seems like a solid play, given the amount of office construction all along it. There’s a lot of new supply, but it makes sense that it should be there.

    The level of interest in Spring around FM 1960 seems suspect. The Exxon campus is a big deal, but most of the 10,000 people that will be working there are only moving up the road from Greenspoint and are unlikely to change their living arrangements. More is being made of the Exxon deal than is warranted. Developers are milking it too hard, and some of them are going to get burned.

    The image of central Houston as being a perennially resilient location ignores its history. Even a minor bust in an overbuilt period, such as occurred with Enron, could result in a lengthy period of major concessions and set it back by quite a few years. A commodity price correction or a constraint on financing some of the more speculative new energy projects (I’m looking at you, junk bonds!) could catch a lot of people totally off guard.

  • Wow. No love for the place we’ve been investing the most in. East of 288, inside the loop, south of downtown. I mean the 288 literally makes a “no building here” dividing line.

  • i think what’s most impressive about this map is all the apartment blocks that aren’t even captured as development has yet to be started, but we all know full well are just around the corner. lots of more inventory on the way that’s not even hinted at here.

  • Wow, with so few apartments being built, it totally makes sense that City Council handed out $75M to developers downtown. (sarcasm)

  • Hey there brothers. It seems to me that all these apartments are just too many in numbers. All Class A too. Someone needs to be build Class B product with a twist. Don’t get it twisted tho, I took an enormous dump in the parking lot of Delta Airlines the other day. Looked like 2 coke cans with an apple on top. Stay Safe.

    Thanks
    JtP

  • ^^ Uh. mods??

  • As someone who just had to back out of a contract on a house this map depresses me. I almost escaped the feeling of impending doom these maps give me. I currently rent in Montrose, and I like it, but I know it wont last. I want to get over to the east side, but its already insanely priced, to the point people try to sell complete garbage at high markups hoping you don’t get a good inspector. So what do I do? Wait for the 3rd ward to come in? Who knows how long that will be. These apartments will have all come in by then and then some. It may drive down some of the rental prices, sure, but it will also make living/commuting over here a complete hell. I’m having a real hard time loving Houston these last weeks. I know this is tacky to say, but I make too much money to be having this hard a time finding a home.

  • Wow, crappy over priced apartment developments are so exciting. It’s Michael Pollack’s Houston all over again.

  • @Mr. Erection: Rent in the East End, explore it, get comfortable with it up close and personal, and then start making unsolicited offers. There are a lot of nice little pockets that you can find and get comfortable with where inexperienced buyers usually won’t go.

    If I had to come back to Houston, I’d probably end up somewhere in or around Magnolia Park. About crime, the foremost concern for most people, I’ve observed that the folks that don’t make themselves a target for crime generally aren’t the victims. There are exceptions, but those exceptions are all over.

  • @TheNiche
    .
    Yeah, that’s probably what I will do tbh. House rental prices over there seem to be around 1.1-1.4k/mo, which is (sort of) reasonable.

  • If it were me, I’d find a split-level duplex, a four-plex, or a garage apartment if and save money for later.

  • So how can i get in contact with these offices to rebt