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What Direction Is Midtown Going?

roadrunner

By roadrunner
in Houston Real Estate

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roadrunner

roadrunner

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It's hard to be optomistic about Midtown right now. All around the city we are seeing new developments, specifically urban-oriented, popping up, but in the one place other than downtown that is best suited for urban developments (Midtown) we have nothing. Even on the Red Line in every other part of town there is some activity and construction going on. In Midtown, it's just blah.

Does anybody else feel like this area of town is at a standstill? When is the fire mueseum going to break ground? Who owns the huge plot by the HCC/Ensemble stop? I assume that sign for a mixed use development isn't happening.

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Subdude

Subdude

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It's probably true that Midtown has stalled out to some extent. That said, it is a lot more developed than it was ten years ago. Think of it from a developer's viewpoint: Why would you want to invest in a project in Midtown? Too much crime, homeless, and social service agencies. Not enough permanent middle- or high-income residents. Other neighborhoods just have a lot more going for them.

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rps324

rps324

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It's probably true that Midtown has stalled out to some extent. That said, it is a lot more developed than it was ten years ago. Think of it from a developer's viewpoint: Why would you want to invest in a project in Midtown? Too much crime, homeless, and social service agencies. Not enough permanent middle- or high-income residents. Other neighborhoods just have a lot more going for them.

That may all be true, but I guess I am a little more cynical. I don't think any of those issues scare off developers, a lack of cheap land scares off developers.

The original pace of change in midtown was incredibly quick. It seemed like almost overnight massive blocks of wasteland converted to block-after-block of Perry townhomes and apartment complexes. Just the first 2, maybe 3 years of development radically changed that area from nothing to a booming spot. That is not, well, not normal. Turning a neighborhood around takes a long time usually. There are still things going on, the remodeling of some buildings over behind that Cadillac dealership, the new CVS pharmacy, etc. I think you will still see things going in, but it will be at more of a "normal" pace as developers that did a lot of midtown's building move to the Washington Ave corridor in search of cheaper land. Of course once Washington Ave area reaches a certain price point, the HHN's, Perry's, etc. will move on somewhere else. At that point we will probably see either 3rd ward, near northside or the east end warehouse district get the lion's share of new development.

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rps324

rps324

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So how long until the land value goes down. Land can't retain it's value if it's empty for years with bums living on it, and abandoned buildings all around, can it?

I doubt true values will go down. Just because the land is too expensive to support developments like Perry & HHN doesn't mean its too expensive to support development at all. Of course there are probably some people in there holding onto parcels & expecting unrealistic prices, and at some point they may have to come back to reality.

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veracity

veracity

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I have lived in Midtown rental apartments near the Specs for 2 years now. Midtown has improved dramatically. The # of homeless in this area has dropped as has the petty crime. When I moved in, there were a ton of breakin's and car breakins. Of course, that coincided with Katrina, but that's another issue..

In the past 2 years, I have seen a lot of places open. Forget about the bars and revolving nightclub scene. There has been a lot more commericial development. Here are some that I can think of:

Starbucks

Quiznos

T-mobile

Walgreens

Wachovia

Chase (coming soon)

I'm from NYC and I think midtown is the closest thing to an urban community in Houston. I take the train to work and I barely use my car on the weekends - that's what a city should be like......... Its a step in the right direction. However, my rent went from $800 to $950 in 2 years, so I agree - things are too expensive. But on the flip side I looked at rentals in the med center area and they were pretty close in price for the quality of apartment.

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KinkaidAlum

KinkaidAlum

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I'm from NYC and I think midtown is the closest thing it a urban community in Houston. I take the train to work and I barely use my car on the weekends - that's what a city should be like......... Its a step in the right direction. However, my rent went from $800 to $950 in 2 years, so I agree - things are too expensive. But on the flip side I looked at rentals in the med center area and they were pretty close in price for the quality of apartment.

You're from NYC and you are complaining about $950 rent?

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sowanome

sowanome

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Parks, Retail, Parks, Retail, Lack of Homeless, Parks, Retail, Surroundings! These are reasons why Midtown Has Stalled! It's not all about cheap land, It's about Eateries, Business, Supply and demand. When The Pavillions are more than 75% complete, including the new parks, development in Midtown will once again spark! This is b/c Regent Square, W. Gray, Washington Avenue and West Ave will be mostly complete (2009). The things that these areas have that Midtown does not have are MEMORIAL Park, Spotts Park, Cleveland Park, 3 to 4 parks in the River Oaks area, Lack of Homeless, established businesses coming in( not just big box) and River Oaks/Afton Oaks/ Upper Kirby/Heights. This is the same reason the Montrose area is going to spark really soon (they still have single family homes on huge lots!), just look near allen parkway, between The Fed Building and the Bellaire apartment complex. This is a warm weather city where people love their cars, parks and dogs! B) Midtown will just have to be patient and accept what it currently has going for itself. My vote is that 3 to 5 years will be sufficient, b/c midtown will be a train ride to the pavillions, a cab ride to wash. ave, regent square, w. gray, etc. After all, the apartments that were built in Midtown will do the job of getting people in the area. From there, economics will take over! Just wait

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Vertigo58

Vertigo58

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Need more cops on horses/patrol cars and then some. Until the crime goes down to almost nil, I personally would not give Midtown a thought. Why waste $ and time investing in a big disappointment where you dont even feel safe walking to your car and what about family/children. No way dude!

Single people may not think its a big deal but when it comes to one's family, uh, uh. ;)

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Jeebus

Jeebus

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Good Day Houston with Whitney Casey is doing a show about Midtown this morning, except that they seem to think that Midtown is everything west of Downtown, all the way to Uptown, as they described it.

I turned the channel but I'm pretty sure those idiots probably won't even cover Main Street.

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Vertigo58

Vertigo58

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Good Day Houston with Whitney Casey is doing a show about Midtown this morning, except that they seem to think that Midtown is everything west of Downtown, all the way to Uptown, as they described it.

I turned the channel but I'm pretty sure those idiots probably won't even cover Main Street.

and do you think they are really going to show the beautiful people lurking around the Greyhound Bus station? ;)

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Guest danax

Guest danax

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Good Day Houston with Whitney Casey is doing a show about Midtown this morning, except that they seem to think that Midtown is everything west of Downtown, all the way to Uptown, as they described it.

I talked to someone a few days ago that thought the same thing. She said she figured Midtown was between Downtown and Uptown....in the middle.......like Manhattan. She then commented that Houston just copied the name but not the geographic logic.

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rps324

rps324

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Parks, Retail, Parks, Retail, Lack of Homeless, Parks, Retail, Surroundings! These are reasons why Midtown Has Stalled! It's not all about cheap land, It's about Eateries, Business, Supply and demand. When The Pavillions are more than 75% complete, including the new parks, development in Midtown will once again spark! This is b/c Regent Square, W. Gray, Washington Avenue and West Ave will be mostly complete (2009). The things that these areas have that Midtown does not have are MEMORIAL Park, Spotts Park, Cleveland Park, 3 to 4 parks in the River Oaks area, Lack of Homeless, established businesses coming in( not just big box) and River Oaks/Afton Oaks/ Upper Kirby/Heights. This is the same reason the Montrose area is going to spark really soon (they still have single family homes on huge lots!), just look near allen parkway, between The Fed Building and the Bellaire apartment complex. This is a warm weather city where people love their cars, parks and dogs! B) Midtown will just have to be patient and accept what it currently has going for itself. My vote is that 3 to 5 years will be sufficient, b/c midtown will be a train ride to the pavillions, a cab ride to wash. ave, regent square, w. gray, etc. After all, the apartments that were built in Midtown will do the job of getting people in the area. From there, economics will take over! Just wait

I have to disagree with you on this one. When midtown was building like mad it didn't have parks & retail, but more than its fair share of homeless. Didn't stop it then. Washington Ave, at least down by Taylor, has plenty of homeless and the retail isn't any better over there. At least midtown does have a grocery store, such as it is. Washington Ave certainly didn't have much retail over there when they started building in force. It does have better access to parks, but I don't see that as the big catalyst. The builders that are responsible for much of the cookie-cutter development in these areas follow the cheap land.

In the meantime, I don't think it is all necessarily bad for midtown. Instead of the usual boring cookie cutter stuff being built, the higher-priced infill development may bring in more interesting, and dare we hope, more urban items. I am hoping that we can see development more interesting than drive thru banks, Perry townhomes, stucco strip centers, & big-chain drug stores. Instead of a "slow-down" midtown may be entering a phase of more interesting, albeit slower, development. One can only hope.

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Subdude

Subdude

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I talked to someone a few days ago that thought the same thing. She said she figured Midtown was between Downtown and Uptown....in the middle.......like Manhattan. She then commented that Houston just copied the name but not the geographic logic.

At one point that would have been true. "Uptown" Houston used to be the area by the Shamrock, before the name was hijacked by the Galleria area. So today's Midtown would have been exactly in-between Downtown and what was then Uptown.

I don't expect Midtown to fall as low as it once was, but I'm not expecting any urban renaissance there either. There are too many things going against the neighborhood,

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Jeebus

Jeebus

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At one point that would have been true. "Uptown" Houston used to be the area by the Shamrock, before the name was hijacked by the Galleria area. So today's Midtown would have been exactly in-between Downtown and what was then Uptown.

It would make a little more sense to say that you're heading "Uptown" to the Med Center, versus heading "Uptown" to the Galleria.

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Subdude

Subdude

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When did they invent the "Midtown" moniker? Old folks in the Third Ward have told me "we never called it Midtown".

I think it is relatively new vintage. At one point it was the South End, but I think for a period of time there wasn't enough there to merit a neighborhood name.

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lockmat

lockmat

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The homeless, crime etc was probably worse ten years ago. Even if remnants of that are still there, why would that slow it down now if it was more prevalent before?

At least they didn't call it SoDo!
Isn't there some official Houston website that claims that name? I thought I saw it the other day.
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MidtownCoog

MidtownCoog

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"Midtown" was invented on December 14th, 1994 when the "Midtown TIRZ" was created.
Thanks. I say we go ahead and un-invent "Midtown" and start anew. What's in a name?
sn't there some official Houston website that claims that name? I thought I saw it the other day.
Maybe. I know for a fact we have NoDo, which must have been created by some DoDo.
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veracity

veracity

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Yeah I do think 950 is expensive to pay for a 650 sqare foot apartment coming from NYC. NYC is a phenomenal city with tons of activities, no need for a car (a huge additional expense in Houston) and I paid $1500/month for a comparable place. I also think raising rents 20%/year is absolutely ridiculous in general.... I'm not comparing cities and saying one is better. I just think Houston rents have skyrocketed....

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