Conversion Into Multifamily At 1014 Prairie St.

[hindesky]

New Orleans developer buys downtown Opportunity Zone property for mixed-use remodel 

 

New Orleans-based NORF Cos. paid an undisclosed amount to acquire a three-story building located at 1014 Prairie St. from Houston-based Friedman Prairie Associates.

COURTESY OF NORF COS.

By Jeff Jeffrey  – Reporter, Houston Business Journal 

3 hours ago

One of downtown Houston’s oldest buildings has been sold to a New Orleans-based company that plans to convert it into a mixed-use multifamily property.

NORF Cos. — which stands for New Orleans Redevelopment Fund — paid an undisclosed amount to acquire the building located at 1014 Prairie St. from Houston-based Friedman Prairie Associates, according to a news release.

The three-story structure was built around 1895 and features a Romanesque Revival building facade. The building is located near the intersection of Prairie Street and Main Street in the city's central business district.

NORF paid for the property out of an Opportunity Zone fund, which makes the makes the property eligible for tax breaks if it is held for a certain period of time and significant improvements are made to the building. 

NORF plans to restore the building, turning the interior space into roughly 20 residential units. The ground floor will be available for retail leasing. 

NORF expects to break ground on the renovation project in early 2021. 

The 13,500-square-foot property was valued at $856,207 as of Jan. 1, according to Harris County Appraisal District records. 

“We had a strong investor fundraise in the low eight figures that will enable NORF to continue its strategy of impactful investments in blighted properties that are transformative to neighborhoods,” said Cullan Maumus, development director of NORF. “In partnering with our investors, we are fulfilling our vision in providing positive returns for our partners and our community. We were very impressed with the considerable interest we had from potential OZ investors that we are already in the works for a new NORF 4 Opportunity Zone Fund.”

Click here to read a Houston Business Journal cover story on the federal Opportunity Zone program. 

The acquisition of 1014 Prairie St. marks NORF’s latest purchase of a property located in an Opportunity Zone. The company said it plans to target Opportunity Zone properties across the southeast United States, with a particular focus on Houston and San Antonio.

 

The company’s Opportunity Zone funds already own several properties in New Orleans.

[H-Town Man]

I love that this developer is from New Orleans, it means that this will be done right and not used as a billboard or have the cornice taken off or torn down for parking or all the other stuff the local yokels have been known to do (just naming incidents from the past 5 years).

[j_cuevas713]

This beat me expectations for what this building could become! Awesome news!

[Houston19514]

Very cool development.  But those are going to be very small apartments.  The article says it's 13,500 square feet on 3 floors. 4,500 per floor.  First floor will be for retail.  That leaves a total of 9,000 square feet on the apartment floors.  If all 9,000 square feet could be used for apartments that would be 450 square feet per apartment.  And they obviously cannot use all 9,000 square feet in the apartments; hallways, elevators, stairways, service areas will be required. That will take at the very least 1,000 square feet out, taking us down to 400 square feet per apartment.

Edited May 29, 2020 by Houston19514

[Texasota]

Honestly true studio efficiencies like that would be great to have downtown. For context, a traditional 1930's era studio is around 370-390 square feet. There aren't very many I know of in Houston, but there's a set of three buildings off of Holman between Almeda and the freeway that have their originalish floorplans.

 

They're much more common in midwestern cities and LA. I've lived in a few, and as affordable housing goes I'm a big fan, especially if you're a fulltime student or something.

Edited May 29, 2020 by Texasota

[downtownian]

Not sure if we had the timing of delivery before:

"NORF Cos. plans to convert the property into a mixed-use multifamily project with renovations beginning in early 2021 and is expected to deliver in late summer 2022."

 

Source: http://www.downtowndistrict.org/static/media/uploads/attachments/downtown_market_update_2020_q2-compressed.pdf

[ATH]

I'm not sure how they expect to make this project work when the Episcopalian Health Foundation has allowed a homeless encampment to develop under their canopy, right next door at 500 Fannin.  It's amazing that nobody seems to object to the lack of social distancing among those who live on this sidewalk, or to the lack of restroom facilities (other than a porta-can that's been installed on Fannin).  The sidewalk along Prairie is virtually impassable.  With this encampment being allowed to happen, I guess that "love thy neighbors" doesn't really apply to those of us who actually are the neighbors, or to those who may become their neighbors if this project does happen.  I sure wish this wasn't the case.

[j_cuevas713]

17 hours ago, ATH said:

I'm not sure how they expect to make this project work when the Episcopalian Health Foundation has allowed a homeless encampment to develop under their canopy, right next door at 500 Fannin.  It's amazing that nobody seems to object to the lack of social distancing among those who live on this sidewalk, or to the lack of restroom facilities (other than a porta-can that's been installed on Fannin).  The sidewalk along Prairie is virtually impassable.  With this encampment being allowed to happen, I guess that "love thy neighbors" doesn't really apply to those of us who actually are the neighbors, or to those who may become their neighbors if this project does happen.  I sure wish this wasn't the case.

I’ve complained about this corner. You see drug deals happen in broad daylight.

[Houston19514]

19 hours ago, ATH said:

I'm not sure how they expect to make this project work when the Episcopalian Health Foundation has allowed a homeless encampment to develop under their canopy, right next door at 500 Fannin.  It's amazing that nobody seems to object to the lack of social distancing among those who live on this sidewalk, or to the lack of restroom facilities (other than a porta-can that's been installed on Fannin).  The sidewalk along Prairie is virtually impassable.  With this encampment being allowed to happen, I guess that "love thy neighbors" doesn't really apply to those of us who actually are the neighbors, or to those who may become their neighbors if this project does happen.  I sure wish this wasn't the case.

 

Not entirely certain about this, but I'm not sure it's Episcopal Health Foundation that has "allowed" the homeless encampment.  My understanding is that they have tried to get the city to take action, but the city has not been cooperative.

[HouTXRanger]

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

 

Not entirely certain about this, but I'm not sure it's Episcopal Health Foundation that has "allowed" the homeless encampment.  My understanding is that they have tried to get the city to take action, but the city has not been cooperative.

I wonder exactly how that works. The city has been successful in keeping encampments out of some places, but clearly have given up in others. What's the deciding factor?

[ATH]

The Episcopal Health Foundation "owns" the sidewalk under their canopy because their property line is actually the back of the curb on Prairie, since their basement is located under the sidewalk.  As such, they have the say over how the sidewalk is used by way of an encroachment agreement with the City of Houston.  May of the buildings in the Historic District have similar ownership of the sidewalks at their building.  If the Episcopal Health Foundation wanted these people gone, they would ask the police to enforce the trespassing ordinance.

[Houston19514]

21 hours ago, ATH said:

The Episcopal Health Foundation "owns" the sidewalk under their canopy because their property line is actually the back of the curb on Prairie, since their basement is located under the sidewalk.  As such, they have the say over how the sidewalk is used by way of an encroachment agreement with the City of Houston.  May of the buildings in the Historic District have similar ownership of the sidewalks at their building.  If the Episcopal Health Foundation wanted these people gone, they would ask the police to enforce the trespassing ordinance.

 

Even if your characterization of the ownership of the sidewalk is accurate, (a) it is nevertheless almost certainly still in the public realm by virtue of city right of way or easement and (b) even if a trespassing charge was available, if the city police won't cooperate in enforcement, it's not worth much.  (FWIW, again, a trespassing charge is probably not tenable, given that it is a public sidewalk, nominal ownership notwithstanding).

 

To add further clarity, the encroachment agreement referenced above is to allow for the encroachment into the city's right-of-way (below grade, and probably also allowing for the canopy). It would have no impact on the treatment of the surface as public domain.

Edited September 3, 2020 by Houston19514

[Nate99]

I wish them luck, to be sure, but echo the same concerns.  Having to walk through a de facto homeless shelter into or out of your home during certain hours is going to be a tough sell. 

[Texasota]

This building's vacancy contributes to the problem though. Occupying it will put pressure on the City, the Episcopal Health Foundation, etc, to find a better solution for the unhoused community that has congregated here. 

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

a good solution is one-way Greyhound tickets to cities that are better equipped to deal with them and or more accommodating to them. Most are on the streets because shelters have too many rules they don't want to obey, or they have been ripped off in the shelters

[Texasota]

That is not a good solution. Exactly which cities would you suggest? Houston has a much better (recent) history of rehousing homeless than most other American cities, and, even if it didn't, how is "let somebody deal with it" any kind of solution?

[X.R.]

On 9/2/2020 at 3:00 PM, HouTXRanger said:

I wonder exactly how that works. The city has been successful in keeping encampments out of some places, but clearly have given up in others. What's the deciding factor?

 

The more recent "successes" have been moreso due to the State for the areas under the highways and private entities enforcing their rights via the method outlined by @ATH. But you are right, the city does sometimes get aggressive with certain encampments through HPD and their outreach officers either citing trespassing or helping the individuals find the shelter thats right for them. Also, the more the "successes" there are the more the transient people will find their ways into unusual parts of neighborhoods that didn't typically have such people walking around. For example, some of the individuals I got to know by Wheeler/the Ion are now panhandling deep in Montrose, almost near Kirby. So its kind of a cascading issue.

 

The city did the impossible and helped the homeless find either shelter or helped them move on from the area by the courthouse compared to what it was in 2012-2013. If they can do that, I'm sure this development will be fine when the time comes. 

Edited September 17, 2020 by X.R.

[j_cuevas713]

On 9/8/2020 at 2:24 PM, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

a good solution is one-way Greyhound tickets to cities that are better equipped to deal with them and or more accommodating to them. Most are on the streets because shelters have too many rules they don't want to obey, or they have been ripped off in the shelters

WOW 

[Moore713]

Think of the homeless problems as a three fold . You have your homeless who genuinely are just down on luck. These are the ones that accept  housing  and lodging. 

 

. You have your mentality ill or those who have social problems. They are often chronic homeless.  They will get back on their feet for awhile but fall back off.. sadly they will bounce between the two for most of their life. 

 

.Then you have the criminal elements, these are people who can't get housing outside of half ways housing because of violent backgrounds.. Your sex offenders,  and other violent  crimes that get flagged in background checks

 

. The majority of people around the greyhound  station are not really homeless, they are drug dealers who use the homeless to hide in plain sight.( these can be dealt with by simply cracking down on them) The city does this all the time when there a big event in town. 

[samagon]

18 hours ago, X.R. said:

 

The more recent "successes" have been moreso due to the State for the areas under the highways and private entities enforcing their rights via the method outlined by @ATH. But you are right, the city does sometimes get aggressive with certain encampments through HPD and their outreach officers either citing trespassing or helping the individuals find the shelter thats right for them. Also, the more the "successes" there are the more the transient people will find their ways into unusual parts of neighborhoods that didn't typically have such people walking around. For example, some of the individuals I got to know by Wheeler/the Ion are now panhandling deep in Montrose, almost near Kirby. So its kind of a cascading issue.

 

The city did the impossible and helped the homeless find either shelter or helped them move on from the area by the courthouse compared to what it was in 2012-2013. If they can do that, I'm sure this development will be fine when the time comes. 

 

from a standpoint of getting the homeless to stop living under freeways it can't even be considered a success. there is a new encampment under i45 just east of downtown, and there is a smaller encampment farther down i45 at the Cullen overpass. 

 

I expect the Cullen one will be 'cleaned up' sooner rather than later due to the proximity to UH and students. parents and UH aren't going to be happy when one of the main entrances to the campus has a bunch of homeless living right across the street.

 

anyway, as per this specific space, once the police end up getting enough nuisance calls it will be worth their time to move them away from the area.

 

  

4 hours ago, Moore713 said:

. The majority of people around the greyhound  station are not really homeless, they are drug dealers who use the homeless to hide in plain sight.( these can be dealt with by simply cracking down on them) The city does this all the time when there a big event in town. 

 

for a while there was a pair of guys that worked on scott and i45. both had buckets and things to wash windows, but it was pretty clear one was a lookout and the other wasn't at all interested in washing windows, just chatting with people at the light and 'shaking hands'.

Edited September 18, 2020 by samagon

[hindesky]

Looks like they are finally going make this happen.

$5,100,000 renovation. Hopefully that includes high pressure spraying down the urine smell. Street people love hanging out in this area.

[Amlaham]

Yay! Another rooftop!!

[Nate99]

Two new floors too. That's a cool project, I presume they'll be inserting structural stuff all through the existing building to hold that up. 

[j_cuevas713]

I was downtown this past weekend with my gf and it's becoming more and more apparent how many historic structures are being saved, which made me admire the buildings even more amongst all the newer glass towers. My hope is that the food store on Main is renovated at some point. I feel that's a massive missing piece to the puzzle. But there are a few like this that could still use some work but def have potential to add to the vibrancy of downtown. This is going to tie in the block very nicely much how the Hyatt on Texas Ave helped fill the gap.

[Urbannizer]

https://www.houstontx.gov/planning/Commissions/hahc_2022/A1_1014_Prairie_Alt_final_HAHC_Addition.pdf

[j_cuevas713]

I'm so happy we're going to see a cool old school store front. 

[sapo2367]

I'm noticing on the plans that there are a lot of bedrooms that don't have a window or other egress. What are the rules (if any) in Houston about this? I guess I've see this elsewhere where you have to have some sort of exit (beyond the main door) in case of fire etc for a room to be considered a bedroom.

[ATH]

9 hours ago, sapo2367 said:

I'm noticing on the plans that there are a lot of bedrooms that don't have a window or other egress. What are the rules (if any) in Houston about this? I guess I've see this elsewhere where you have to have some sort of exit (beyond the main door) in case of fire etc for a room to be considered a bedroom.

As a longtime downtown resident, we have found that bedroom windows can allow a LOT of noise through them.  It may be a good idea to not have these.

Wouldn't it be nice if they removed the plaster from the facade and restored the original masonry.

[j_cuevas713]

1 hour ago, ATH said:

As a longtime downtown resident, we have found that bedroom windows can allow a LOT of noise through them.  It may be a good idea to not have these.

Wouldn't it be nice if they removed the plaster from the facade and restored the original masonry.

They should do that to the building caddy corner across the street

[hindesky]

https://www.norfcompanies.com

https://www.norfcompanies.com/1014-prairie

This company has restored some really nice buildings in the New Orleans area including this beauty.