Beauchamp Estates Development In The Heights

[houstonray]

Saw a sign go up for this today on the lot:

http://www.davidweekleyhomes.com/new-homes/tx/houston/houston/central-living/beauchamp-estates#

The 'why settle for old' with the picture of a suburban house scares me. Has David Weekly built other homes in the Heights?

[Ross]

There is a Weekley home on Turnpike in Timbergrove, but that was a "build on your lot" project. Weekley is also going to build 60+ homes on the site currently occupied by Stevenson Elementary in Cottage Grove.

[RedScare]

What is scary about it? It is a bit complicated to turn a parking lot into historic homes. You kinda have to build new homes there...unless the parking lot is "historic".

[fwki]

...unless the parking lot is "historic".

The radicals are out there checking for hitching posts now....."Dang, no posts...but wait a second, isn't this a cement arrowhead?"

[s3mh]

Weekley put in a bunch of town homes on Nicholson between 8th and 7th. They actually did a half decent job of incorporating some craftsman style design elements compared to the stucco and lick 'n stick stone townhomes on 8th.

Weekley is trying to do more projects inside the loop after seeing how well Frank Liu has done on some of his townhome developments. They have a lot on Yale St. @ 7th that they are developing.

The advertisement is pretty odd. The lot on Beauchamp is not that big. I really doubt that they will put in a single family home like the one on the ad. I do not think they would be able to fit more than two on a lot like that. I suspect they will build more townhomes like the ones on Nicholson on that lot.

[jamesw]

So are these guys betting against the 45 expansion?

[RedScare]

So are these guys betting against the 45 expansion?

More like betting against anyone caring about it.

And, agree with s3mh. Likely townhomes, and putting that house on the ad is "odd".

Edited November 30, 2012 by RedScare

[houstonray]

What is scary about it? It is a bit complicated to turn a parking lot into historic homes. You kinda have to build new homes there...unless the parking lot is "historic".

Because the one in the picture is way wrong for the neighborhood. That being said, I'm OK with the parking lot going away that's been a bit of an eyesore anyway. I would just would like to see something that at least looks nice in the neighborhood and not like Katy has come to inside the loop.

I wonder if that spot is governed by the historic designation? Ought to be interesting to see what they build.

As someone else said, I can't see more than a few there. That lot is not very deep but pretty wide. Maybe 6 in a row?

[barracuda]

I always get a kick out of builders who plant trees and thoroughly landscape immediately in front of an attached garage. So basically they admit the house in the stock photo is ugly, and their solution was to make a major feature of the house totally unusable while trying to sell it.

[Texasota]

Wait, how will the 45 expansion be affected if the mayor pushes through Germantown historic district status, as she has indicated she intends to do?

[Triton]

Wow this is right next to my house. Why do people keep bringing up 45 expansion? Do you really think the interstate would encroach this closely? Highly doubt it... It could affect the lots next to it over off of Houston Ave but not even if you put in a Katy Freeway sized interstate there could you reach this development.

[Texasota]

The I45 expansion will literally destroy the entire Heights and everything you love. Fact.

[RedScare]

Actually, hyperbole.

[TGM]

This may be a bit premature, but I wanted to get a jump start on the I45 anti-construction movement mascot contest.

Edited December 3, 2012 by TGM

[SilverJK]

The lot across from the empty lot in the david weekly add with the crappy multi-family building and outcropping buildings is also for sale... (http://search.har.com/engine/3520-Beauchamp-St-Houston-TX-77009_HAR44378070.htm)

I wonder if they will develop that as well? I really wish someone would do something with those crappy apartments on the corner of beauchamp and Pecore, I've seen some pretty shady stuff go down in that parking lot and just outside of the building.

[Triton]

They're wasting no time on this project. They have most of the underground piping installed and are beginning to work on the foundations.

[RedScare]

They're wasting no time on this project. They have most of the underground piping installed and are beginning to work on the foundations.

Can you tell from the foundations what type of houses are being built? Lot line, townhome, single family?

[SilverJK]

i see dirt work being done... haven't seen any significant concrete pour yet... I'll update when I see more work (I literally drive by this twice a day). A nice new two-sided wooden fence has been installed to separate this development from the Church Condo Loft things on Norma and their garage on Beauchamp. I really hope the development continues to the other side of that garage and eventually take out the crappy apartments on Beauchamp/Pecore.

[Triton]

Ah, I jumped the gun. I thought they were laying out the wood for the foundation but it was only for the central driveway. I'll take a picture next time I go by it.

[heights_yankee]

TXDot is not expanding 45 between Cavalcade and I10, so that isn't a concern. All widening will take place north of Cavalcade and what happens there will be mostly to do with the exchage where 45/610/Hardy meet. That thing is going to be the biggest spaghetti monster in town when it's done!

[Triton]

Not yet at least, but even when they expand 45 near this development, there's just no way the highway will even touch this. Most of the proposals I've seen for 45 here either have a tunnel portion or they have the fiders "hang" over the freeway like in Dallas on Highway 75.

Edited December 25, 2012 by Triton

[photolitherland]

I wouldnt be holding your breath looking for anything good coming to this location. I looked at their website and basically everything they had was just generic crap suburbia styled homes.

[RedScare]

I wouldnt be holding your breath looking for anything good coming to this location. I looked at their website and basically everything they had was just generic crap suburbia styled homes.

Or, you could have just driven by the parcel and figured out what they are doing.

There is a common drive poured through the middle of the lot exiting on Norma. There are six sewer hookups coming out of the ground, three on each side of the driveway apron. This will be six single family homes, placed townhome style.

[JJxvi]

This will be six single family homes, placed townhome style.

I hereby move that we now refer to this as "Estate Style"

[RedScare]

I hereby move that we now refer to this as "Estate Style"

Only if the walls do not touch. If they share a wall they must still be referred as "townhome style".

There are rules you know.

[heights_yankee]

Only if the walls do not touch. If they share a wall they must still be referred as "townhome style".

There are rules you know.

Actually there is a name for this style. They call them "patio homes" which look like townhomes but don't share a wall.

[RedScare]

Though the term "patio home" is a marketing creation, in Houston it is generally used to describe single story dwellings with at least one attached wall. I haven't seen what these homes will look like. I am making assumptions on the pavement that has been poured and the placement of sewer connections. However, I suspect that these homes will be two story or more. Who knows whether they will share walls.

[houstonray]

A friend signed up for the mailing list and she got a reply that said there would be 12 homes.

Here is a photo from another development they are building, this ISN'T this one, but I'm guessing this will be pretty similar to what we'll get.

Edited January 4, 2013 by houstonray

[heights_yankee]

A friend signed up for the mailing list and she got a reply that said there would be 12 homes.

Here is a photo from another development they are building, this ISN'T this one, but I'm guessing this will be pretty similar to what we'll get.

Ugh. I hate those. Not in a "because they're townhomes/patiohomes/whateverwhocares homes" kind of way. I just think they are cheap looking and ugly. There are much better looking townhomes, including ones built by this same company, all over the Heights. These, to me, are a design fail.

[RedScare]

Well, maybe they'll be built in the "Craftsman style", like the old folks home.

[Angostura]

Ugh. I hate those. Not in a "because they're townhomes/patiohomes/whateverwhocares homes" kind of way. I just think they are cheap looking and ugly. There are much better looking townhomes, including ones built by this same company, all over the Heights. These, to me, are a design fail.

At least the garages face in rather than out.

Now that the ones at Ashland & 17th are done, they're less bad than I expected. Ultimately this increase in density will help make the retail/restaurants on 19th more viable longer term, and may ultimately lead to some improvement in the eastern end of 19th (do we really need 3 thrift shops within 1 block of each other?).

On a related note, driving down Yale/Waugh the other day, I counted no fewer than 4 large multi-family developments between 6th and Gray, including the (rumored) 300+ unit project at Yale and 6th, the project across from Walmart at Yale & Center, the project next to Whole Foods on Dallas and the project at Waugh & Gray. Probably >1000 units total.

[houstonray]

I was the one that posted the picture. It is not this actual development, just one I saw they did elsewhere that I thought might be similar to what they have planned.

I've since learned a few more details. There will be twelve units. Six of them will be large, and will be new floor plans they've never built before and priced in the mid to upper six figures. Then there will be six more smaller units and priced close to 400s.

Take that for what it's worth. Looks like framing might be going up soon. Ought to be interesting to see the outcome. Based on the driveway/sewer connects, looks to me like the six big ones will face out onto Beauchamp and the the smaller six will be on the back side.

[SilverJK]

So they put a temporary office/building on the lot.  That seems a bit much for just 10-12 townhomes...

[SilverJK]

The new fence columns are wrapped in the ugliest rock finish I've ever seen.  It is aweful.  I was hopeful that these would end up looking interesting, but if the fence is any indicator...  YUCK.

[Triton]

Haha. Well, I'll definitely have to check this out tonight then. I was hoping for something really nice too.

[SilverJK]

I drove by again today... my goodness that fence is hideous.  The whole scale is off..  the larger rocks they used to face the columns just look weird with the column height/size and the plain metal fencing.  My wife thinks it is the grout they used (because of the size of the rocks there is a lot of grout) that makes them so ugly.  Seriously it is terrible.

 

 

[RedScare]

I think it is because rocks of that size and shape are completely foreign to this area. Limestone would have been cliche, but appropriate. Round stones are stupid.

[SilverJK]

Yeah... my wife and I were joking that they should have taken design advice from McDonalds as their rock work looks much better. 

 

 

It is not just the round rocks Inappropriateness though, I'm pretty sure that fence would look terrible anywhere.

[h8s]

Saw a sign go up for this today on the lot:

http://www.davidweekleyhomes.com/new-homes/tx/houston/houston/central-living/beauchamp-estates#

The 'why settle for old' with the picture of a suburban house scares me. Has David Weekly built other homes in the Heights?

Northwest corner of 10th and Waverly is a Weekley build.

[callisthenes]

I think it is because rocks of that size and shape are completely foreign to this area. Limestone would have been cliche, but appropriate. Round stones are stupid.

 

The "rocks" are fake.  Well, they could be real rocks covered with a thin coating of colored concrete, but most likely they are just fake.

 

Since little bedrock is exposed in the Houston area, most rocks are foreign.  Maybe they will rename the development Karankawan Estates and make them out of wattle and daub?

[RedScare]

The "rocks" are fake.  

 

Just one more reason to be pissed at David Weekley.     

[s3mh]

Better get used to it.  Weekley is making a pretty big play for inside the loop.  They are doing 60 homes on the lot that is currently storage for the Ford dealership at Shep and 6th, 68 townhomes at TC Jester in Cottage Grove where the elementary school used to be, 19 townhomes on Patterson in the west end, all in addition to the few dozen already built at the MKT trail and Nicholson.  Of course the standards for townhome architecture in Houston are so low that it takes some effort to put out something that stands out as ugly in comparison to what is already out there.

[tanith27]

Not sure if anyones seen this yet, but it looks like an official drawing of what the units will look like.

http://search.har.com/engine/231-W.-Norma-St.-Houston-77009_HAR93541866.htm

 

[RedScare]

Eh, seen worse. At least these designs are in scale, with or without the round stones. I'd take something like this over a camelback.

[s3mh]

Not sure why they have so much lick 'n stick stone on them, but you have to give Weekley credit for trying to reflect the prevalent craftsman architecture of the neighborhood instead of doing another stucco and stone Rice Military townhome or fake New Orleans Italianate thing like so many other builders are determined to do in the Heights.  Pricing is a bit agressive, but it is zoned to Travis.  I wonder if the townhomes on the butt end of the development will be priced less than those facing the street.

[RedScare]

200 bucks a foot isn't that bad.

[s3mh]

200 bucks a foot isn't that bad.

 

194.  I said it was a bit aggressive.  It is ahead of what builders are asking for in Shady Acres and First Ward by a decent amount.  Most everything in those neighborhoods is generally150-175 per sq ft.  Travis certainly adds value.  But I don't see many people with little kids looking to go with a townhome. 

 

http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=32552584&v=s

 

These must be the units in front.  Larger and pretty pricey, though a bit less per sq ft. 

 

Given that there are plenty of new townhomes coming on the market, I just think they are asking for a bit too much of a premium for the neighborhood.  But, then again, sometimes builders will price high to get people to think they are getting a deal when they get the property for 5-10% below list.

[RedScare]

If you search 77008, you'll find some as high as $196 psf. But, we're splitting hairs. I'll concede "aggressive", but it isn't out of line. And, I'll also agree that the design bear some resemblance to Craftsman architecture.

[SilverJK]

I think the pricing is good, as long as they are finished nicely.  Hopefully this will be a catalyst to get rid of those crappy buildings on the other side of the Church Condo's Parking Gymnasium as well as the crappy apartments on the corner of beauchamp and pecore. 

[Triton]

Man these look really cheap.... I have no clue how they consider these "estates"