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midtownguy

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Everything posted by midtownguy

  1. midtownguy
    SO true! And toss in a full bar with a couple of tv screens to watch sports, and you'd only really need one or two buildings tops. Ugh. This is getting ridiculus. While it's great that there is "development," how many banks, bars, dry cleaners and drug stores does one neighborhood need?
  2. midtownguy
    So now the sign is saying that it's coming in 2007???? LOL. This project is toast. Not gonna happen. As much as I love midtown, the area hasn't evolved to the point where a $300,000 condo (a glorified apartment, basically) is worth it.
  3. midtownguy
    The Kroger at River Oaks Shopping Center was a dump. Then, they remodled. They had a grand "reopening" about four or five months ago, and now the place looks fantastic. They kept the store open during construction and it was a nightmare.
  4. midtownguy
    Sources tell me that Post is not only firmly committed to Houston, but specifically to the Midtown market. They are spinning off a new upscale condo division AND finally building the long talked about Phase III of Post Midtown Square. So, that triangular empty lot on Gray street will soon sprout yet another apt midrise building. Wow. Midtown is really on the move.
  5. midtownguy
    Woa! I live there! I had no idea. I know a few of the leasing agents really well, i'll try and get the inside scoop. Edit: Ah. I see now. It's the high rise. I live in the regular apartments. Still, this is an interesting development.
  6. midtownguy
    We'll see. There have been a lot of announced projects that haven't been built. Quite frankly, midtown has enough apartments, and not enough condos/townhouses. But, I suppose it's great to increase the residential density of midtown, which will bring in more retail.
  7. midtownguy
    I live at Post Midtown Square. I love all the retail. We finally got a coffee shop, and it's right inside the complex. We got a wine bar about a year ago that seems to be doing well, we got Christian's tailgate, which has great burgers, and we're about to get a mexian restaurant. I quite often chat with the owners of Midtown Market when I'm in there, and I know the owner of Farrago. Urban living: can't beat it.
  8. midtownguy
    Nope. Not even close. A gigantic parking lot with a teeny, tiny building. Totally suburban.
  9. midtownguy
    Downtowner, for the most part, I agree. That's why, at work, I bypass Starbucks and go to Kaveh Kanes. I always support locals. However, as a resident of Midtown, I can't ignore what this means for the area. This is a HUGE deal. Will I go to starbucks once it opens? Probably not. But I WILL enjoy the other eventual retail outlets the chain's presence will bring.
  10. midtownguy
    Editor, great point. Hadn't thought of that. It's kind of like that half-assed CVS that closes too early. It's w/in walking distance of several large aparment complexes, and it closes at 10??? Meanwhile, brand new CVS's built AFTER that one are 24 hours.
  11. midtownguy
    There's a sign at the corner of Grey and Smith, advertising the new building they're putting in. Right under that, it says "Coming soon", and has the logos of Starbucks and Quiznos. I dismissed it right away, assuming that the Starbucks would be one of those fake, mini-set ups like they have in Randalls. Nope. Sources have confirmed that it'll be a full-fledged Starbucks. An entire store. Is this cool or what? Personally, I can't stand Starbucks (I prefer independent coffee shops), but I can't deny what a Starbucks means for a neighborhood. They don't build stores unless they see a future in a place. And, other major companies will see that Starbucks and Bw3 are there, and jump in eventually, too. So, this is pretty amazing. I'd just about given up on Midtown. But it looks like it's slowly going someplace.
  12. midtownguy
    LOL!!!!!!!!!! So true. Here's what I don't get. The area south of downtown, with all of it's shops, restaurants and apartments has a name already: midtown. And the name "midtown" is already hip, prestigious and trendy. What a moron.
  13. midtownguy
    I went to Deco. Ho hum. Yawn. Beautiful place, but at the end of the day, it's just another bar in midtown. Midtown does not need another bar. Plus, Deco has a bad location. The front entrance is at the back of the shopping plaza. That would be ok, IF the windows weren't covered with curtains. The averge joe walking or driving by wouldn't know what it was. Now we have to gear up for Pub Fiction (another bar) which will open in a month or two, and Christian's Tailgate (another bar) which is going to open later this month. For some reason, all we're getting are bars, lounges and sports bars. I've got plenty of places to grab a beer and the game, plenty of places to get drunk at after the game, but few places to get a decent meal and buy a few more retail items.
  14. midtownguy
    I agree. It's pretty frustating. This project does not promote urbanism. Urbanism is created when everything else around it is to a similar scale. That's why the CVS is midtown is so horrible.
  15. midtownguy
    Sigh. Can someone explain to me why this isn't in downtown or Midtown?
  16. midtownguy
    Ah, so I"ve been using the term "flipping" inappropriately. Thanks for clearing that up.
  17. midtownguy
    Houston, lol. You're hilarious. The answer is no. I looked. All around midtown. Most are being bought by investment companies and are being flipped. A lot of people in Houston don't even know midtown exists. So we're supposed to believe that they're suddenly rushing in to buy around here? Nope. I don't buy it. They're flipping.
  18. midtownguy
    Ha ha! hey Houston, no worries. Didn't mean to jump the gun. I know you weren't calling me a liar. No hard feelings. Actually, yep, that's exactly what's going on. The townhouse market in Midtown is WAAAAY over built, and some people are trying to flip them. That's why I'm going to wait it out a year to see what happens. It took me a while for it to register with me. I couldn't understand. I'd see a new townhouse going up, check the prices, and it would be $150,000 or so. A few months later, i'd go back and look at a unit in an open house, and then those units would be $$220,000. It happened to me at least 7 or 8 times. So that's how i figured it out: the townhomes were nothing near the advertised price; and yes, they weren't owned by the company that built them. And yeah, the developers are pricing them at fair market value. It's happening all over midtown. That's what worries me about midtown (that, and the new suburban walgreens, but that's another story). It's an oversaturated, overpriced market in a neighborhood still considered risky. I was stunned when I looked at one three-story loft and it had "pre-owned" written on the flyer. (It's those brick lofts that are behind Oakwood apts and are brand new).
  19. midtownguy
    Hey KZ, thanks for your input. Your posts are always well-reasoned and thoughtful. I guess my point is that I have no problem with good, old fashioned capitalism. But 1) I don't think Midtown can sustain the high end prices and oversupply for very long and 2) that pushes out a lot of people out of the market who can afford a $170,000 townhouse (and there is likely to be more of these people than those who can afford a $250,000 townhouse, or at least one in a part of town that is still considered risky). You really don't see the flipping until you go around and really look. You see it when you go to open houses and look at places, and see "pre-owned" on flyers for a brand spanking new place, and when you want to talk to the people in the Perry office are told instead that "they don't own this place."
  20. midtownguy
    Houston19514, I have no reason to lie. Go around looking at townhouses in Midtown that are for sale. There is a HUGE amount of flipping going on. It's actually creating a townhouse bubble, I think. As I said, there's an oversupply of townhouses already, and once a townhouse reaches a certain price point, most people are going to pass and just buy a single family home in an established neighborhood. That's why I think Perry and the other builders do NOT price them higher. They know what the midtown market can bear, and that's townhouses for roughly $150,000 to $190,000. That's why they PRICE THEM that way. They know that midtown is still a risk. So now you have all these greedy schmucks buying up townhouses pre-construction, and attempting to sell them for higher prices. And, many of them can't even be sold, but are instead for lease. Dumb, dumb, dumb. I'm going to wait it out for about a year. My guess is that the townhouse owners will realize that they can't get what they ask, and prices will fall quickly. Even if interest rates rise, which I'm sure they will, the lower cost mortgage will offset it.
  21. midtownguy
    Trophy, Thanks for the heads up. I'm single, and may wait it out. I love midtown. But, as I said in another post, the problem is that as soon as a a perry townhome goes up, a person or a company goes in and buys them pre-construction, then "flips" them for a higher price. The New York TImes recently wrote about this practice and how it's becoming a major way for people to invest. But there are a few problems with this: 1) Certain people, who can afford a $140,000 to $200,000 townhouse, and look FORWARD to the decent prices, are automatically priced out of the market. That $150,000 townhouse suddenly went up to $210,000 (this happened to me recently). 2) Houston is not a condo or townhouse market. There are too many single famly house options. And single family homes sell QUICK in this market. After a certain price point, people are willing to say screw it, and spend that kind of money in a MORE ESTABLISHED NEIGHBORHOOD (or up-and-coming neighborhood, like the East End) where they know it's an investment. MidtownCoog, I think it's great your place sold quick. But I think that, in the future, that may be the exception in midtown rather than the rule. My point is this: I love midtown, but it's not a stable enough neighborhood to make it worth paying more than $200,000 for a place.
  22. midtownguy
    900 - 100 square foot is plenty of space for me. Thanks.
  23. midtownguy
    RayLSU, I agree. I live in MIdtown. I rent. I would love to buy. And can afford to. But at the end of the day, I'm not convinced. I love living in this area, but I'm not convinced that this is the spot that we think it is. Or, rather, I'm not convinced that OTHERS think that this is the spot (which, at the end of the day, is all that matters in real estate). Having said that, I don't think we should "execute" the homeless people, as someone else suggested. I just don't think the Houston condo/townhouse market is what we think it is.
  24. midtownguy
    That's great. Thanks. Should have looked further. I went to the link and just saw the $355,000.
  25. midtownguy
    Yeah, that's a mess. The Houston Condo market as a whole is a mess. Not only is Houston not a condo-city, but it is certainly not a high end condo city. AFter a certain price point, most people will simply buy a single family home. And, people that CAN afford $355,000 for a condo are more likely to buy in River Oaks or another solid, established neighborhood that they know has re-sale value. The only way Condos will work in Midtown is if they lower the prices. That way, people like myself - who actualy WANT the urban experience - can afford to live there.
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