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Showing content with the highest reputation on 02/04/2013 in Posts

  1. Idea #1. Let the developer build out the site. Finished with ideas.
    4 points
  2. The McDonalds is officially closed. If you need a burger in the north Post Oak area... God help you. You will have to schlep down to the Jack in the Box on San Felipe. Wah waaaah. Post Oak Park: Retail Center At 4520 San Felipe St.
    1 point
  3. http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/01-31-13-new-midtown-apartment-complex-to-rise-and-its-targeting-hip-young-professionals/
    1 point
  4. Having done financial modeling for a living at one point in my life, I'll chime in briefly. A developer's model backs into the highest dollar amount that they're willing to pay for the land. If a developer decides to take a haircut on a development in order to provide a public good, then they won't be able to pay as much for the land. They'd get outbid by a profit-maximizing developer. Also, people that specialize in multifamily typically are hesitant to venture into retail. Its a totally different business model with its own market dynamics and cost structure. If the retail rents that can be achieved are sufficiently high, then the extra effort and uncertainty may be worth it. The problem is that there are only a very few cases in Houston where the risk-adjusted retail rents exceed apartment rents. Which brings me to my next point: It isn't enough to point out that restaurants at the Post development are busy or that Phoenicia is busy. Many other stores are not busy; that consumers return over and over again to busy stores and witness other consumers doing exactly the same thing probably has a lot more to do with those stores' business models and good management than with their physical plant, but that's easy to forget if you don't go to the places that are suffering for business, which you aren't because otherwise they wouldn't be suffering for business...and besides which, don't tend to last very long anyway. So consumers see other people at the places where consumers are at and figure that everywhere should and could be like that. But the fact is that there are only so many retail prospects out there, and so many fewer still that have viable business models or good management. When rents are being negotiated, landlords are price-takers. They can't necessarily tell whether a store will be successful (although a place like Phoenicia is probably an exception, and in cases like that the TENANT typically holds the cards and the rent is much lower), but whether destined for success or not, the prospective tenant can go down the street and find a landlord that will undercut the other one. Its a competitive market. If the rents aren't obviously high enough or the demand isn't obviously there, then nine times out of ten a multifamily operator isn't going to make the effort to take the risk. The multifamily operator has no doubt that there will be demand for their units, with or without a retail component, and they know that even if the market declines prior to delivery, they can give concessions and fill the units quickly to generate cash flow, cover the note, and make the investment marketable to a third-party buyer. If that retail component sits empty for three or four years before finding an awesome tenant, that's a goddamn long time and there's no cash coming in. One last thing. Having retail at the ground floor can be disruptive to parking designs. It depends a lot on the layout of the site and what the architect can do with it, but any option that requires more concrete to yield less net rentable area skews the model against that option. Mixing uses still requires on-site segregation of those uses for resident convenience and security. So yeah, if its a good model then the model won't break. It'll just indicate a lower land price that can be paid as a maximum bid, and the mixed-use guy gets outbid. There are exceptions, but not many in Houston. Niche, out.
    1 point
  5. 675k for 1300 sq. ft. and next to mcdonalds. I can't believe its not 100% sold already.
    1 point
  6. Got this in an email a while ago, since I was apparently left on the list from Titan...
    1 point
  7. Wow is all I can say. I live down the street from this house and I have to say, it is just about the ONLY house on the street that does NOT fit in w/ the surrounding houses. Most of the houses on the blockface are large and just about every house across the street is a two story - in fact one of them is a 3-story uber-house that must be at least 3,500 square fee. Not to mention that it is right next-door to a hideous apartment building, and I would LOVE to see this house remodeled, as would everyone on our street. We used to call it the Haloween house because the previous owner/tenants painted it black and orange one year... I hope the new owners get their approval for the remodel and addition shortly. Cheers James
    1 point
  8. I think the Nazi and fascist comparisons began in this thread a very long time ago. In fact, the HAHC has now eclipsed passe Nazi references. What we need here is a term to describe capricious and arbitrary rulings, as HAHC just made a ruling, not on the rules in the ordinance, but rather based on "complaints from the neighborhood". Ironically, these complaints were of HAHC's own rulings.
    1 point
  9. Wow. Just, wow. So Council approves an ordinance that basically requires camelbacks. HAHC finds camelbacks distasteful, and refuses to approve. Message: only buy a property with intent to renovate if you don't plan to increase square footage. Good luck with that.
    1 point
  10. What makes you think Regent Square is going to fail or only be one tower? Sure, progress has been slow, but everything I have heard leads me to believe that the Boston-based company is in it for the long haul and that they aren't going to sell land that they have owned for decades so that an ugly parking garage can be built for the Buffalo Bayou. Additionally, why would you want a massive ten story garage hulking over a beautiful new park space? There are plenty of garages downtown that will allow one to access the park. Additionally, there will be street parking in abundance. And, the majority of current park users actually walk, bike, hike, or paddle their way to the area. Isn't that the whole point of adding new pedestrian bridges and trails?
    1 point
  11. They are now up to 25% sold. Signage updated this week.
    1 point
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