mattyt36 Posted February 12, 2018 Share Posted February 12, 2018 Was at Hobby this weekend and drove down the redone Broadway (great job) and was once again reminded of how the street is essentially lined by apartments once you cross Sims. If I had to guess they were all built in either the late 1960s or the 1970s, at which point the plan was for HOU to close to commercial traffic with IAH opening in summer 1969. My question is does anyone remember what was there before? It’s a pretty unusual development pattern for Houston because it looks like the development was entirely coordinated over a large chunk of space. I’m sure the apartments were nice when they opened—some seem in decent condition now with a couple of noticeable exceptions. The only other place I can think of in Houston like this is Fountain View—all of those apartments, I think (could certainly be wrong) were built by the same developer, albeit with different themes. Dallas has a similar development off of Central, I believe called The Village. Was it the same case with these apartments? Thanks to anyone who can shed any light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 When I first moved here, I knew next to nothing about the neighborhoods, and looked at an apartment literally next to Hobby. The apartments were middle of the road in quality (not a dump, but no granite countertops either), but what really brought me there was the price - $250/mo for a large-ish one bedroom. I didn't get far enough in the process to see if it was means tested (to prevent people who make a decent amount of money from renting all the cheap apartments), but that price has stuck in my head for that area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyt36 Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 On 2/13/2018 at 9:47 AM, cspwal said: When I first moved here, I knew next to nothing about the neighborhoods, and looked at an apartment literally next to Hobby. The apartments were middle of the road in quality (not a dump, but no granite countertops either), but what really brought me there was the price - $250/mo for a large-ish one bedroom. I didn't get far enough in the process to see if it was means tested (to prevent people who make a decent amount of money from renting all the cheap apartments), but that price has stuck in my head for that area. How long ago was that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyt36 Posted February 16, 2018 Author Share Posted February 16, 2018 3 hours ago, cspwal said: 2013 Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLWM8609 Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 On 2/12/2018 at 0:31 PM, mattyt36 said: Was at Hobby this weekend and drove down the redone Broadway (great job) and was once again reminded of how the street is essentially lined by apartments once you cross Sims. If I had to guess they were all built in either the late 1960s or the 1970s, at which point the plan was for HOU to close to commercial traffic with IAH opening in summer 1969. My question is does anyone remember what was there before? It’s a pretty unusual development pattern for Houston because it looks like the development was entirely coordinated over a large chunk of space. I’m sure the apartments were nice when they opened—some seem in decent condition now with a couple of noticeable exceptions. The only other place I can think of in Houston like this is Fountain View—all of those apartments, I think (could certainly be wrong) were built by the same developer, albeit with different themes. Dallas has a similar development off of Central, I believe called The Village. Was it the same case with these apartments? Thanks to anyone who can shed any light. From old aerial photos, there was nothing there before the apartments were built. Just large fields. They were built in the mid to late 70s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyt36 Posted February 20, 2018 Author Share Posted February 20, 2018 Hey thanks for the research. Surprising that land was not developed before then given the development around Gulfgate, Almeda Mall, and then Clear Lake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyt36 Posted February 21, 2018 Author Share Posted February 21, 2018 I obviously didn't search well enough. This article tells the story. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/sarnoff/article/Iconic-apartment-complex-near-Hobby-changes-hands-6324119.php The entire development was called Broadway Square, developed in the 1970s as JLWM8609 wrote. With 3300 units, the largest in Texas: At one time the complex had 3,300 units, but the elder Farb lost a portion of it to a lender and another in a divorce settlement. He died in 2006. Being close to an industrial part of town, Farb said, there was tremendous demand for housing when his grandfather built Broadway Square in the 1970s. The complex at 8751 Broadway is on 69 acres and has 11 swimming pools and 28 laundry rooms. Broadway Square is the largest multifamily property in Texas, according to Marcus & Millichap, which represented the buyer in the sale and announced the deal last week. ARA Newmark represented the seller, Post Investment Group. Terms were not released. With the acquisition, the new owner now controls about 80 acres in this area, including the Savannah apartments across Broadway. Plans include making improvements to the units in Broadway Square, and the new ownership is considering adding a convenience store with groceries. Levine could not provide information on rents but said they would continue to be "in line with the neighborhood." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EllenOlenska Posted February 26, 2018 Share Posted February 26, 2018 I know they can't get the blue or the gold rail done, so this question seems moot, but, was there ever any plan to put rail down Broadway? It seems to me like two of the lines could be extended toward Hobby. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mattyt36 Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 On 2/26/2018 at 0:29 PM, EllenOlenska said: I know they can't get the blue or the gold rail done, so this question seems moot, but, was there ever any plan to put rail down Broadway? It seems to me like two of the lines could be extended toward Hobby. That was always the logical plan. Not sure if saving that option went into the recent Broadway redesign. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 The median in the middle of Broadway is large enough for a light rail for sure. They would have to reconstruct Airport @ Broadway though to accommodate the train Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 1 hour ago, cspwal said: The median in the middle of Broadway is large enough for a light rail for sure. They would have to reconstruct Airport @ Broadway though to accommodate the train The concepts I've seen suggest the rail would stop on the north side of Airport, at a transit/parking center. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 That would make sense, though I'd hope they would put in a pedestrian bridge with people movers. Both Seattle and Chicago have they're train station about that far away from the terminal, and it's not a great walk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 On 2/21/2018 at 10:45 AM, mattyt36 said: I obviously didn't search well enough. This article tells the story. https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/sarnoff/article/Iconic-apartment-complex-near-Hobby-changes-hands-6324119.php The entire development was called Broadway Square, developed in the 1970s as JLWM8609 wrote. With 3300 units, the largest in Texas: At one time the complex had 3,300 units, but the elder Farb lost a portion of it to a lender and another in a divorce settlement. He died in 2006. Being close to an industrial part of town, Farb said, there was tremendous demand for housing when his grandfather built Broadway Square in the 1970s. The complex at 8751 Broadway is on 69 acres and has 11 swimming pools and 28 laundry rooms. Broadway Square is the largest multifamily property in Texas, according to Marcus & Millichap, which represented the buyer in the sale and announced the deal last week. ARA Newmark represented the seller, Post Investment Group. Terms were not released. With the acquisition, the new owner now controls about 80 acres in this area, including the Savannah apartments across Broadway. Plans include making improvements to the units in Broadway Square, and the new ownership is considering adding a convenience store with groceries. Levine could not provide information on rents but said they would continue to be "in line with the neighborhood." The apartments are trash, visited them in fall 2015 looking for a place to live. The thermostats were still of the "dial" variety and they couldn't even make the demo unit not smell like smoke. Imagine what the "real" units were like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronTiger Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 13 hours ago, cspwal said: The median in the middle of Broadway is large enough for a light rail for sure. They would have to reconstruct Airport @ Broadway though to accommodate the train But it isn't. The median is only 36 feet wide, enough for two left lanes and a comfortable median to put trees, etc. but not wide enough for light rail. If you look at any other Houston road with light rail, every single one either had significantly widened ROW or reduced lanes (if not both). Width for tracks is going to be about 25 feet accounting for their width, the power poles, and enough space for the trains and cars not to brush into each other. Factor in even a station that's going to be on one side of the road and that's 36 feet right there, which would preclude space for a left turn hand lane on that size (a station between tracks is even wider). At that point, you would need to reduce traffic lanes or increase right of way, but that means that "large enough for light rail" doesn't apply anymore. There are a few Houston roads that have a median actually wide enough (Bellfort between Jutland and Mykawa, JFK south of Beltway 8) but Broadway isn't one of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 I stand corrected. I always forget about station width for light rail Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumber2 Posted March 10, 2018 Share Posted March 10, 2018 I was born in Houston and grew up here. I remember going to Hobby (Houston International) back then to drop off family and friends. Broadway on both sides south of Sims Bayou was wide open vacant space. I always thought it was so the pilots could see the airport up ahead. Ha! Note: There was a monorail in place at Hobby for a short time that was supposed to take passengers out to the surface parking lot (no garage back then). There was even a rendering of it on the front of the Yellow Pages one year during that time period. I'm not sure if it ever functioned. Older discussions on this site gives a better description of the monorail and it's final disposition. It would have been a kids dream (and some adults) to have seen it travel all the way up Broadway on to other destinations. Buck Rogers type stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cspwal Posted March 12, 2018 Share Posted March 12, 2018 On 3/10/2018 at 10:35 AM, plumber2 said: I remember going to Hobby (Houston International) back then to drop off family and friends. Broadway on both sides south of Sims Bayou was wide open vacant space. I always thought it was so the pilots could see the airport up ahead. Ha! I've talked to some pilots, and Hobby is actually hard to pick out at night - it's surrounded by lights, so the distinct runway lighting pattern is actually difficult to see if you're not used to it. I tried and couldn't find it at all. Fortunately, I didn't have to land there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texas911 Posted March 22, 2018 Share Posted March 22, 2018 I don't know about the history of Hobby but I just wanted to say that the improvements they did down Broadway are fantastic! Its such a nice welcome to Houston visitors. Hope it stays that way as some of the landscaping looks high maintenance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rube88 Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 On 3/22/2018 at 9:20 AM, texas911 said: I don't know about the history of Hobby but I just wanted to say that the improvements they did down Broadway are fantastic! Its such a nice welcome to Houston visitors. Hope it stays that way as some of the landscaping looks high maintenance. I drive through there 4 times a week and it seems like they are always doing some kind of maintenance on the medians. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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