Hark! Ye down there, amidst the freewayishness and — what? Some sort of dirt hill? A bit of earthwork and foundation pouring appears to have begun on the new 193-unit apartment complex M-M Properties is developing along the southbound 288 feeder road between the misaligned block-long stretches of Hermann Dr. and MacGregor Way. The 2.1-acre site was forged by merging a drainage-friendly never-been-built-on swath that cuts diagonally through the site with a bit of extra feeder-road frontage to the north. The view, sent in by a Swamplot reader, is taken from high above in the northern Mosaic condo tower. Almeda Dr. extends along the left side of the photo; the new complex will have a 5745 Almeda address. The Amalfi at Hermann Park apartments are at the far left.
- Deal of the Week: Firm to add 193 units to city’s apartment mix [Houston Chronicle]
Photo: Swamplot inbox
I heard these were going to be called The Heights at River Oaks
Actually there are going to be called the Hermann Park Plaza Apartments, but adr’s comment was much funnier!
Isn’t that little green triangle officially in the SW corner called a MacGregor Way park by the city? I always remember laughing at the sign when I lived at the Amalfi. A small patch of grass shouldn’t constitute a park. The builder should have bought that little corner from the city to fill out the space.
@ adr lol I was thinking Park Heights……hey that actually sounds good
Saw this work the other weekend and was wondering what was going up. Now if we could only get the tower around the corner to break ground!
@adr. Love it!
It’s amazing what a difference a (289) freeway will make. We have apartment buildings JUST on the other side of the tracks and the rent is dirt cheap compared to just 1/2 mile away. I’m talking about $600 2 bedroom apartments that would be $1200 If just across the “street”.
.
Oh well. I can wait. Developments like this will really improve the whole area.
@Cody – I have a house near your two Southmore properties, and continue to roll my eyes when I see listing after listing on HAR demand a $300k premium for the exact same property types just across the freeway, not even a quarter mile away. Eventually this area will be discovered and prices will skyrocket, but people have to be willing to go across an overpass first.
Cody-Superdave:
288 is like the Hudson River. Hobeken, NJ is closer to the West Village and Chelsea than most locations actually in Manhattan. Hobeken has better skyline views than any place not on Central Park. Hoboken has faster rail service to the Financial District too.
Anybody’s guess when this neighborhood will get a supermarket? How much density is needed–800 units at amalfi/esplanade, etc…
The likelihood of a grocery store opening is this area are basically zero.
If you look west of this site, there is a HUGE block of land occupied by Herman Park, the Med Center and Rice U. There are virtually no customers living here. Anything beyond here is well served by grocers further west.
If you look south, there’s a bunch of apartments, which is good, but west of that all of Reliant Park has no customers and east of there is lots of industrial (no customers).
To the north is Museum Park, but there’s not enough there to justify a grocer. Further north, Midtown is well served by the Montrose grocers.
To the east, the demographics are bad.
On TOP of all that, land prices are very high.
Thanks Bernard. Would this be changed by the 2 new towers also rumored or under development on Hermann Park Drive and inside Museum Park? And is land along Almeda more expensive (adjusted for inflation) than what HEB paid on Alabama? To consider your earlier comment, I really am not up on Hoboken, but Brooklyn happened.
There is an HEB – yes, an actual, relatively recently-built HEB – east of here, on OST at Scott. But I’m sure many of the posters on here would discount that because the “right people” don’t shop there.
Rule of thumb in suburban areas is bare minimum 8,000 middle-income residents (usually at least 3,000 households) to support a full-size grocery store. That’s assuming a large share of the households have school-aged children, which is probably not applicable in east Hermann Park. It would take a LOT of high-density housing popping up to support a grocery store in Museum Park, even if the residents are increasingly affluent.
Also, the Midtown Fiesta is really pretty close. But again, the “right people” problem.
That small/old Kroger on Old Spanish Trail in the med center serves this neighborhood.
Knowing a lot of med students and people living in the Museum District and around TMC, nobody I know really goes to the Kroger off OST/Cambridge, the Fiesta off Wheeler, or the HEB off OST/Scott. A lot of it has to do with perception and the “right people” that has been commented previously.
I view the Fiesta up the street as a quick and easy shopping experience when we are in the midst of preparing a meal and need an ingredient. I go there on a semi regular basis.
I’ve been to the HEB off OST/Scott once when I moved here and saw an employee running outside the store after a shoplifter. Didn’t return.
At the Kroger off OST/Cambridge, I’ve found quality of produce to be lacking, so I don’t venture there either.
Besides, I can easily get to the HEBs off Alabama and Buffalo Speedway, Trader Joes, Whole Foods etc. in just as little time (except comparing against Fiesta) and the shopping experience is nicer and has the products I’m looking for.
@Cody/Superdave: The logic could be applied as you go further west. Move from the Museum District to Boulevard Oaks or West U and watch the price get jacked up a few $100K (for a similar structure). My children aren’t in school yet, but the impression many have given me is that the quality of schools east of 288 don’t compare with that which is west of 288.
The “right people” comments crack me up. You mean “white people” I assume. Just say it. Or in other words, you’re assuming people are racist if they don’t shop at a place? So the ONLY reason people don’t like a given store (Fiesta in this case) is too many non-whites vs. simply not liking Fiesta?
.
I shop at the store that’s closest to me. For me, that’s HEB (or Central Market, or Joes). I don’t shop at the Midtown Fiesta because I don’t like Fiesta. I didn’t shop at the Montrose Fiesta when it was there either. Hope that doesn’t make me racist? I’d assume not as I’d guess that the Montrose Fiesta was pretty — uh — pale.
.
That said, I assume people shop at the store that’s closest and/or most convenient that stocks what they want. If a store doesn’t have the “right people” that would suggest — simply — that it’s reflective of the near by population it’s in. If I lived by the Midtown Fiesta I’d go there all the time. wtf do I care who is shopping there?
I have zero actual statistics to back this up, but it does seem to me that your average white folks, even those living in the middle of town, tend to avoid shopping locations dominated by lower income black or brown folks. I would posit that this has been partly behind the decline of several malls, for example. I have seen written comments from folks who said they “didn’t feel comfortable” going to West Oaks mall, for example, because it was dominated by non-Anglos from Alief and Mission Bend. And several people have told me personally that they avoid going to Willowbrook Mall on Friday evenings and weekend days for a similar reason (I’ve seen mention of similar feelings about Deebrook Mall though not directly in conversation with me). The Meyer Park and Bellaire / Hwy 6 Walmarts too. This even though those who made such statements having to drive much farther from their home to another location. I would imagine it’s not that different for grocery stores, such as the ones mentioned here. Not that perceived differences in quality of products or service don’t also play into it as well sometimes, I acknowledge that, but I’ve heard the other reason directly referred to numerous times.
Isn’t 288 the dividing line between Lamar and Yates High School zones?
The Fiesta is fine, but doesnt always have what I need (but on occasion has things i cant find anywhere else). The Kroger is okay as well but older and doesnt have the quality of the newer ones. The HEB is straight up shady. The demographics arent too drastic from the other two, but the shadiness is.
It would be great to see some renderings of this project if anyone has a connection or can snoop it out. Thanks everyone!
If you select “Job Address” and enter 5755 Almeda you will get a list of permits thats have been applied for. I’m not well versed in reading them. Can anyone with some more expertise shed some light on what is being built – or how to use this information to find that out?
http://www.cohtora.houstontx.gov/ibi_apps/WFServlet?IBIF_ex=online_permit_start
A drawing appears on the M-M website:http://www.mmprop.com/featured-properties/current-investments/hermann-park-plaza/.
This is the slowest project ever. Does anyone know what is going on with this?