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Studemont Junction Multifamily


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Houston developers will build a mixed-use project, including upscale apartment and retail components, on a 15-acre tract of desirable that is close in to downtown, replacing a large produce warehouse that occupied the space for decades.

 

Capcor Partners and Kaplan Management, which develop retail and residential properties, bought the land this week from Houston-based Grocers Supply, which has occupied the site at the corner of Studemont and Interstate-10 for 42 years.

 

The developers did not disclose the land sale price.

 

Grocers Supply, a Houston-based wholesale supplier for independent grocery stores in Texas and Oklahoma, will remain in the location until its new facility is completed within the next two years. Jim Arnold, vice president of real estate at Grocers Supply, said the company has property under contract for the replacement site, but does not yet own the land. The company has not yet announced its new location.

 

Josh Aruh of Capcor, which specializes in retail developments, said it's rare to find such a large piece of land in the Inner Loop and the new project will make a "big footprint" on the area.

 

"There is tremendous, continuous demand in this sub-market," Aruh said. "We believe the scarcity of such a large, contiguous tract so close to downtown Houston, the Heights and entertainment districts is primed for a strong multifamily component. And with frontage near I-10, this property is ideally suited for retail. The size of the tract invites many possible other uses and users that we are currently exploring."

 

Aruh said he has already discussed possibilities for the property, including grocers, cinemas, restaurants and several big box retailers. The developers also are working with the city to expand a road to split the property and reduce traffic, he said.

 

Michael Kaplan of Kaplan Management, which specializes in multifamily developments, said he hopes to include up to 400 high-end apartments, on the land, on top of the retail and commercial uses, to meet the demand for housing in the area.

 

When Grocers Supply put its property up for sale, several firms submitted offers. Kaplan said he believes his group was chosen, in part, because they were willing to be flexible and allow the company to stay on site until its new building was completed.

 

"It's exceedingly unusual to find such a piece of property like this," Kaplan said. "We are excited about developing this."

 

Ed Wulfe, chairman and CEO of retail development and brokerage firm Wulfe & Co., said as Houston becomes more dense and urban that more and more warehouses will be converted into residential and commercial properties.

 

"We are changing land-use patterns," Wulfe said. "Now, the need is greater and the market is stronger. Warehouses can only command so much economic benefit."

 

He said the Grocers Supply location is an area, between the Heights and Montrose, is ripe for development, both for mulitfamily and retail.

 

"That area is really coming to fruition," he said.

 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Grocers-Supply-warehouse-on-Interstate-10-to-5079374.php?cmpid=btfpm

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It looks like it's Hicks Road that would be doing the splitting, as it seems that they own the property across the street near the railroad (Hicks Street doesn't seem to very good demarcations between the property and the road--no sidewalks, ROW, or curbs.

 

Was this the original GSC building before they built that big one that the railroad spur leads to?

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Im not sure if there is already a topic for this.....new mixed use development in the planning stages across the street from Studemont Krogers

 

http://swamplot.com/grocers-supply-sale-will-supply-15-acres-for-apartments-shops-across-from-studemont-kroger/2013-12-20/

 

Also article in Chron (subscription needed to read the full text)

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Upscale-apartments-to-go-on-warehouse-site-near-5079374.php

 

 

Edited by HoustonMidtown
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  • 4 months later...

This would be the greatest thing. I don't care how much of suburbia this reminds people. To me, this is revitalization. I don't see people complaining about all the shopping centers near 59 around Buffalo Speedway. I live close to this development and, in my opinion, it would be fantastic to have a movie theater that I can just ride my bike to instead of having to drive down to the Edwards at the Marqee. The huge problem that I actually see is for Studemont. It can't even handle the current traffic so I don't see how it can handle this development.

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This would be the greatest thing. I don't care how much of suburbia this reminds people. To me, this is revitalization. I don't see people complaining about all the shopping centers near 59 around Buffalo Speedway. I live close to this development and, in my opinion, it would be fantastic to have a movie theater that I can just ride my bike to instead of having to drive down to the Edwards at the Marqee. The huge problem that I actually see is for Studemont. It can't even handle the current traffic so I don't see how it can handle this development.

 

I agree that another, more traditional movie theater inside the loop would be very nice. We basically have Edwards and nothing else. There is the Sundance film center downtown, and there will be that luxury version of Alamo Draft House opening up at the River Oaks district.

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Very interesting. I suppose it's possible that the railroad spur that leads straight into the warehouse at Holcombe might be abandoned? (Too bad: I would love to see them demolish the expansion of GSC and build some sort of commuter line on the ROW back to downtown--but the light rail being built there as well kind of limits that)

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I agree that another, more traditional movie theater inside the loop would be very nice. We basically have Edwards and nothing else. There is the Sundance film center downtown, and there will be that luxury version of Alamo Draft House opening up at the River Oaks district.

 

Well, you'll also have a real Alamo Drafthouse at Reagent Square, but that's still years away.

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  • 1 month later...

Well there could be future apartments in the plan.  Me, I've never quite understood the importance of mixed use.  It seems that sometimes "mixed use" gets tossed around like magic words.  

 

mixed use = likely more activity at more times of day on the same piece of land = more urban/interesting environment

 

In a nutshell.

 

That said, this location in the middle of Katyville was not likely to be a very urban development, just given what's around it. I think Washington Avenue is about the only street around there that could support urban mixed use.

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It's funny that I'm apparently the only person that thinks this project is great in taking over another warehouse. Let me tell you why...

 

I've been a suburbanite nearly all my life. I first lived in Spring and then moved to Pearland. Then about 2 years ago, I moved to the Woodland Heights area which, at the time from my suburban perspective, felt like it had nothing but the Target and its associated shopping centers. I felt I had to drive far just to go to Chipotle, for example... the nearest one was near Shepherd and San Felipe. It was quite common for me to have to drive to Memorial City to get what I need. But it seems like the inner city is becoming favorable to pull people away from the endless sprawls of Katy and Sugarland and bring the suburban amenities that sometimes the innercity needs. I'm actually quite glad we have a new Krogers and Walmart now. And all the other food places that have come here such as Which Wich, Chic-fil-a, and Chipotle definitely feel like a plus. I honestly think the negative Katy-ville label is a little absurd... I don't see anyone coming up with a cute name for the even more suburban feel of the Northline Commons area at I-45 and E. Crosstimbers.

 

I certainly understand people's frustrations here that it's not some giant mixed-use development with several midrises and one giant hotel or something, but sometimes that's just not always appropriate, especially for a road like Studemont that can't even handle the current traffic levels as it is. Sometimes it's the smaller things that progress the community, even if it's full of suburban type parking lots. Whether people want to accept it or not, gentrification is going to make the innercity feel more suburban by pulling in people who would have normally moved out to the far flung suburbs. 

 

You didn't hear this from me but the next big area to change dramatically will be the Taylor/Sawyer St. corridor. Most of those warehouses will be gone in several years and will be replaced with more developments such as this, especially after the Sawyer St. expansion which I don't believe has been announced yet. There may even be some more multi-family development in the works.  :ph34r:

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"mixed-use."

 

haha.

 

 

Hey, it's got a bank AND a drive-thru restaurant, that's a little bit mixed.

 

 

This site reminds me of the Walmart site on Yale in that it's a very central location, but also kind of a no-man's-land, with nothing anywhere near it. Despite having two large-ish multifamily sites relatively nearby (Sawyer Heights Lofts and 4th & Oxford), there is essentially no way to walk to this site without crossing a freeway, a bayou or a RR track. In that sense, I can see why you wouldn't bother to make it pedestrian-centered.

 

Disappointing, but understandable.

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Not so fast, Grasshopper.  The area bounded by the Katy, Shepherd/Durham, Memorial, and Studemont is just a smidge smaller than downtown inside its necklace of freeways.  Yes, it's got a train track down the middle; so does downtown (granted, the light rail trains are only 200' long rather than a mile or so).  Considering the economic incentives the city is handing out, it's not that big a stretch to include a requirement that the parking consist of something other a fifteen acre field of uninterrupted concrete - which would in turn make it much more walkable.

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his site reminds me of the Walmart site on Yale in that it's a very central location, but also kind of a no-man's-land, with nothing anywhere near it. Despite having two large-ish multifamily sites relatively nearby (Sawyer Heights Lofts and 4th & Oxford), there is essentially no way to walk to this site without crossing a freeway, a bayou or a RR track. In that sense, I can see why you wouldn't bother to make it pedestrian-centered.

 

Disappointing, but understandable.

 

Just wait a few more years. This area will be unrecognizable. Many of these warehouses will be gone and the plan to connect Studemont's Summer St. to Sawyer's Summer St. will make this area feel a lot more different. The city has already created parallel parking (new curbs, sidewalks, parallel parking markers) on Edwards St. between Sawyer and Silver in anticipation for new development that is coming to the area.

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So, a lot of commenters are disappointed with the low density and the extent of surface parking. Many commenters on Swamplot (myself included) would like to see HEB/Central Market on this site, so let's compare the two.

 

The "broken-L" half of this development is 66.3k s.f. on 4.9 acres. Central Market on Westheimer is also 66.3k s.f., but sits on 8.2 acres.

 

The land value per square foot under all that surface parking at Westheimer and Weslayan is probably double that for this site. The additional surface parking at CM is roughly equivalent in size to a Walmart Supercenter, yet at the same time, it's often difficult to find a parking space there. This is despite being in a much more pedestrian-friendly area (next to Highland Village) with a lot more residences within walking distance. (Despite its central location, the Grocer's Supply site is all but inaccessible to pedestrians or cyclists.)

 

I'm also not optimistic about the Tarkett site, given its feeder road access and its location between Kroger and Target. There's a reason this area was industrial, squeezed in between a freeway and a railroad. When you remove the industry and add a feeder road, you tend to get feeder-road development.

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But then you have to ask yourself, is it a bad thing to get feeder-road development in an area that has always lacked such amenities, especially one in an urban environment? I don't see anyone complaining here about the suburban-ness of the Buffalo Speedway/Highway 59 area.

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