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Ivy Lofts: Condominium High-Rise At 2604 Leeland St.


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It brings to my mind the brutalist communist housing we always saw in the 80s, but with a little less concrete.

 

Not in a bad way though, I really like it.

 

And then there's the ghostly apparition of the woman in the bathing suit, someone's celebrating Halloween.

Edited by samagon
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I've traveled in Siberia.  Calling these soviet architecture is a bit of a stretch.  The communist apartment buildings are pathetic made with almost no consideration to quality. Our Russian friends were reticent to show them to us.  Many had a Pruitt-Igoe appearance without the sense of criminal menace. One hopes no builder could possibly make this junk here in the USA.

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I've traveled in Siberia.  Calling these soviet architecture is a bit of a stretch.  The communist apartment buildings are pathetic made with almost no consideration to quality. Our Russian friends were reticent to show them to us.  Many had a Pruitt-Igoe appearance without the sense of criminal menace. One hopes no builder could possibly make this junk here in the USA.

 

sorry, I was meaning, that to me they evoke the thought in my mind, I am in no way suggesting that the quality of craftsmanship would be the same.

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The first thing that came to mind for me was the cramped midrises you find in the Bronx and Queens. Will they really sell here?

Maybe things are changing, but when I graduated and came to Houston most of the apartment dwellers in midtown were in their young 20's, non-committal, and paying back loans. When they did have some money saved up or were ready to settle down, they moved on to bigger places either in the neighborhood or close by. As of late unfortunately many of my friends have been fleeing to the suburbs (30's now with kids thinking about schools). I guess we'll have to see what the price point is, but when you can get townhomes in the 300's close by, wouldn't the majority rent an apartment or just go for the space and better resale ops with a townhome?

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The first thing that came to mind for me was the cramped midrises you find in the Bronx and Queens. Will they really sell here?

Maybe things are changing, but when I graduated and came to Houston most of the apartment dwellers in midtown were in their young 20's, non-committal, and paying back loans. When they did have some money saved up or were ready to settle down, they moved on to bigger places either in the neighborhood or close by. As of late unfortunately many of my friends have been fleeing to the suburbs (30's now with kids thinking about schools). I guess we'll have to see what the price point is, but when you can get townhomes in the 300's close by, wouldn't the majority rent an apartment or just go for the space and better resale ops with a townhome?

 

Agreed.  To be honest, the more I look at it the more this seems like kind of an odd, isolated spot for something like this - yes, I realize this will change in the coming years but there are other denser, more walkable areas that already exist.  If you work downtown it's not impossible to walk, but it's not particularly convenient or safe.  It's also not near the rail line.  This is just an assumption on my part but I would think people willing to live in smaller units would do so in order to be right in the middle of the action (downtown or maybe midtown).  Or maybe there is just a segment of the population out there that really want to live in a condo for some reason but that can't afford the new ones going up in downtown and uptown

 

That said, I did see that they are sponsoring Houston Whatever Fest:

 

http://houstonwhateverfest.com/sponsorship

 

and given the Facebook, Instagram, and website are now all up and running hopefully we will find out some more soon

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I still don't get it...

 

 

 

Micro-units are typically less than 500 square feet and are geared toward a younger, single person. To make up for the small square-footage, the units have built-in storage space and are traditionally located in highly sought-after areas in the city.

 

East of downtown, desirable, sure... but mostly due to it's affordability and proximity to downtown.  This project would make a lot more sense in uptown, downtown, med-center, etc. places that aren't quite affordable to their target demographic. 

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I still don't get it...

East of downtown, desirable, sure... but mostly due to it's affordability and proximity to downtown. This project would make a lot more sense in uptown, downtown, med-center, etc. places that aren't quite affordable to their target demographic.

Probably because prices are too high in those sectors. While high itself, the EaDo and East End sectors are quite a bargain compared to most areas within inner loop west.

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Probably because prices are too high in those sectors. While high itself, the EaDo and East End sectors are quite a bargain compared to most areas within inner loop west.

 

But the idea behind microunits - less than 500 sq ft - is to be able to afford a place in THE area you want to be in.  Just a quick look at some listings, condos in converted buildings are going for $250/sq ft, while freestanding houses in EaDo are going for more like $188/sq ft.

 

I do wonder how well these will do - and if they are actually sub 500 sq ft

 

Edit:

Ironically, I noticed my picture changed to "condominium" when I posted this

Edited by cspwal
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150k - 350k you all think?

 

considering units in the Herrin lofts (the lofts right next to the soccer stadium) are going for around 150k for the 800sf units, I'd be shocked if they were asking that much.

 

if they truly are 500sf, if they ask over 100-120 they're sinking themselves.

 

This area may not be desirable at the moment today, but 2-3 years when this thing is built? I bet this will be a smart place to be. If you have a car, even more so. With pierce elevated going away, access to freeways from the west side of downtown is going to be rough. With entrances to 45/59 being less than 2 blocks from this development, getting to any freeway is going to be a piece of cake from the east side of downtown. People with cars that want to live close to downtown, but work somewhere other than downtown, this is going to be the side of downtown they want to live on. keep a bike in the condo and you are wherever you need to be in a 3 mile radius faster than you would be in a car.

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I don't think micro-units cater to the $psf crowd - more so for people that care about overall price.

 

It's extremely difficult to find new product inside the loop in the $100s. Keep in mind, they still have to provide parking, which costs $20k-$30k/space in a structured garage. It's much easier to amortize that cost in larger units than these micro-units.

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