Micro Unit Apartment Complex Near Trebly Park At 1218 Bell St.

[nate4l1f3]

Not 100% of the address but this is my guess based on the info in the tweet. 

[Tumbleweed_Tx]

"you will live in the pod, you will eat the bugs, you will not own anything, and you will be happy"

[zaphod]

1 hour ago, Tumbleweed_Tx said:

"you will live in the pod, you will eat the bugs, you will not own anything, and you will be happy"

I agree with the sentiment that this is what the ruling classes want for us and it sucks.

But I do think buildings like this are really needed. The low end of the market needs to be served. I think that's one of the reasons why everything seems so messed up right now. Can't build cheap houses, can't build cheap apartments, can't build cheap cars, etc. So as a consequence there's this weird income threshold where if you make above you get to participate fully in life and get married and have kids and do things, and the half of the population that earns less than $35k is going to live with their parents and be broke in their 40s and beyond.

[wilcal]

Wonderful project!

Skyhouse has been offering parking spots for $100/month to the general public just a block away. Parking definitely overbuilt in this area. 

[j_cuevas713]

Not crazy about the design but I love the fact it doesn’t have much parking. Big win for south downtown. I can’t wait to see what the next 10 years holds for this side. 

[Brooklyn173]

Besides the density and proximity to the light rail, how is this different from the abandoned project in Eado called Ivy Towers (or something like that) on Leeland?

[nate4l1f3]

4 hours ago, Brooklyn173 said:

Besides the density and proximity to the light rail, how is this different from the abandoned project in Eado called Ivy Towers (or something like that) on Leeland?

That project was HUGE in comparison 

[wilcal]

9 hours ago, Brooklyn173 said:

Besides the density and proximity to the light rail, how is this different from the abandoned project in Eado called Ivy Towers (or something like that) on Leeland?

Those were units for sale, and these are for lease.

As nate4i1f3 mentioned, Ivy Lofts was 550 units versus the 43 here. 

 

[Urbannizer]

 

[wilcal]

Merge plz 

 

 

[Double L]

Not a good looking building but there is a need to have affordable housing in the city and the downtown and it will help build up and populate downtown. There isn’t a lot in that part of downtown and we need to build it up. It will be interesting to see how much the units will cost.

[Houston19514]

I think it might be at 1218 Leeland

[Amlaham]

5 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

I think it might be at 1218 Leeland

I agree^. Also, I think this project actually fits in nice! It basically covers up the blank U-Haul wall

[BEES?!]

Did it say anywhere what the rents would be like? 430 sq ft isn’t half bad for a ‘micro’ unit, and it could be an affordable option for people like students, people living on lower wage, etc.

[august948]

On 1/16/2022 at 2:00 AM, nate4l1f3 said:

Not 100% of the address but this is my guess based on the info in the tweet. 

Lol on thinking only 13 parking spots is a good thing for a residential building.  I'd guess the twitter poster isn't actually going to live here.

On 1/18/2022 at 1:13 AM, Double L said:

Not a good looking building but there is a need to have affordable housing in the city and the downtown and it will help build up and populate downtown. There isn’t a lot in that part of downtown and we need to build it up. It will be interesting to see how much the units will cost.

What's the going rate per sqft for rentals downtown?  It'll be in that range * 420 sqft unless it's subsidized.

[Nate99]

The statistical likelihood that you could find 43 people in Houston that would be approved for that apartment that only have 13 cars among them seems rather low. For someone that has a parking spot at the office and wants a place to crash in town to avoid commuting to Livingston, Willis or Columbus every day, I see some upside. 

It's really close to the law school, maybe some other students would go for that too, don't know. I think there's likely a reason that we haven't seen anyone build anything like that yet, but I could be missing something. 

Edited January 19 by Nate99

[BeerNut]

The price point will be the biggest determining factor.  Might appeal to someone that spends more time at work than home.  Also with everything deliverable how often do you need to drive anywhere if you're already walking/taking public transit to work?

[Houston19514]

4 hours ago, Nate99 said:

The statistical likelihood that you could find 43 people in Houston that would be approved for that apartment that only have 13 cars among them seems rather low. For someone that has a parking spot at the office and wants a place to crash in town to avoid commuting to Livingston, Willis or Columbus every day, I see some upside. 

It's really close to the law school, maybe some other students would go for that too, don't know. I think there's likely a reason that we haven't seen anyone build anything like that yet, but I could be missing something. 

In a city of 7 1/4 million people...  seems like there might be 30 who could be interested in a small apartment without a parking spot...

[samagon]

34 minutes ago, Houston19514 said:

In a city of 7 1/4 million people...  seems like there might be 30 who could be interested in a small apartment without a parking spot...

that's probably nearing the upper limit though

[HNathoo]

9 hours ago, august948 said:

Lol on thinking only 13 parking spots is a good thing for a residential building.  I'd guess the twitter poster isn't actually going to live here.

What's the going rate per sqft for rentals downtown?  It'll be in that range * 420 sqft unless it's subsidized.

Haha that guy is nuts

[Justin Welling]

Hot take, not every development needs parking....especially in Downtown, which is one of the most walkable and transit oriented parts of town. Even if a resident MUST have parking, there are plenty of available monthly rates at the neighboring lots and garages (around 100$). We all know parking drives up construction costs, which drives up housing costs. I believe this is a win for the neighborhood. 

[houstontexasjack]

It’s a wonderful weather balloon. There’s so much parking in Houston that just sits vacant. I’m excited for the experimentation a development like this allows.

 

Also, the scale of the project could work in other higher cost neighborhoods nearby transit if it works.

[KinkaidAlum]

If you live and work downtown or anywhere along the rail line, you could save a lot of money by not having a car. There's also Lyft/Uber when needed and plenty of places to rent one. 

I know a handful of Houstonians that don't have cars and they live happy lives. I couldn't do it even though I drive about once a week these days because I'm still working from home in LA.

[cspwal]

When I lived downtown, Houston House had a deal where you could lease a second parking spot at the garage that would be across the street from this development.  My guess would be that these 43 residents would have that option as well.  Probably does mean that the parking spot will be an add on instead of included with the rent, which would be fine if the price is right.  There's probably 30 free street parking spots around this place at night anyway, though you'll get a ticket if you don't wake up to feed the meter.

[Double L]

If Houston wants less parking, it needs to provide more public transportation…

[j_cuevas713]

I couldn’t figure out where to post this but this is awesome for single family homes. This is only going to increase density in already dense neighborhoods. 

https://www.letstalkhouston.org/adu

Edited January 21 by j_cuevas713

[wilcal]

1 hour ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I couldn’t figure out where to post this but this is awesome for single family homes. This is only going to increase density in already dense neighborhoods. 

https://www.letstalkhouston.org/adu

Technically here, but we haven't been talking about it at all.

 

[august948]

On 1/19/2022 at 2:03 PM, Justin Welling said:

Hot take, not every development needs parking....especially in Downtown, which is one of the most walkable and transit oriented parts of town. Even if a resident MUST have parking, there are plenty of available monthly rates at the neighboring lots and garages (around 100$). We all know parking drives up construction costs, which drives up housing costs. I believe this is a win for the neighborhood. 

There's a difference between need and want.  There are plenty of places you can live in Houston where you don't need a car to survive, but having a car increases your options by magnitudes, even downtown.  It will be up to the prospective tenants to decide if they are willing to go without or walk a block or two and pay extra for a parking space.  At any rate, this will prove or disprove demand for this model to future developers.  Will be interesting to see how it turns out.

[august948]

On 1/20/2022 at 7:15 AM, Double L said:

If Houston wants less parking, it needs to provide more public transportation…

I think it would be more accurate to say if Houston wants less parking it needs to provide transportation options that are better than privately owned vehicles. 

[jmitch94]

On 1/21/2022 at 6:46 PM, august948 said:

I think it would be more accurate to say if Houston wants less parking it needs to provide transportation options that are better than privately owned vehicles. 

So… public transportation? 

Edited January 24 by jmitch94

[phillip_white]

2 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

So… pubic transportation? 

Just gonna go out on a limb here, but I don't think Houston needs ANY pubic transportation. 😅

[jmitch94]

30 minutes ago, phillip_white said:

Just gonna go out on a limb here, but I don't think Houston needs ANY pubic transportation. 😅

My bad. I guess I would have made Freud proud with that one. 😂😂

[august948]

3 hours ago, jmitch94 said:

So… public transportation? 

Is public transportation a better option?  As configured or in an some optimal configuration?

[Texasota]

The red line is extremely convenient, as is the 82 bus. That, in combination with the planned University and Inner Katy BRT lines, along with easy bike access to the Heights, makes this a pretty convenient place to be without a car. 

But this is somewhat subjective. I don't enjoy having to drive everywhere, so if there are halfway decent alternatives I will usually take them. 

[EllenOlenska]

Really goes to show you how easily the human mind is bamboozled...when I see comments on here that latch onto American car hegemony and say "Well I CERTAINLY wouldn't want to live at a place without a place to park" and I nod sagely, when IN FACT, the project is still surrounded by seas of surface parking and I have PERSONALLY rented a parking spot in a garage within two blocks of this project. 

[j_cuevas713]

5 hours ago, Texasota said:

The red line is extremely convenient, as is the 82 bus. That, in combination with the planned University and Inner Katy BRT lines, along with easy bike access to the Heights, makes this a pretty convenient place to be without a car. 

But this is somewhat subjective. I don't enjoy having to drive everywhere, so if there are halfway decent alternatives I will usually take them. 

Honestly that's damn near a 90 walk score in most cities so I'd say it's not subjective at all. All those key transit connections you listed both currently existing and proposed are going to take our walk/transit score way up. I'd say once those two lines are built our score will probably shoot up 15 to 20 points easily.

[editor]

On 1/19/2022 at 3:06 PM, KinkaidAlum said:

If you live and work downtown or anywhere along the rail line, you could save a lot of money by not having a car. There's also Lyft/Uber when needed and plenty of places to rent one. 

I know a handful of Houstonians that don't have cars and they live happy lives. I couldn't do it even though I drive about once a week these days because I'm still working from home in LA.

I looked up the statistics last year, and there are many thousands of people in Houston who do not own cars.   Most of them don't live downtown, though.  They live in other parts of town. 

Credit the advent of Uber and Lyft for this.  I drove for Uber for about 10 months, and learned from my passengers that a surprising number of lower middle class people have given up on cars.  With the monthly payment + gas + insurance + maintenance, it's cheaper for some people to just Uber everywhere. 

In the eight months that I've lived downtown this time, I'd say I only use my car less than once a week.  My wife drives to the Galleria area daily, and complains to me almost as often that the logic of not having a train between the city's main business district and its main shopping district escapes her. 

I patiently explain to her that Texans are big, brave, burly people who aren't afraid of anything... except mass transit.  Put a guy rollin' smoke out of Conroe on a subway and he'll fudge his Huggies.  Because train=scary poor people.

[mkultra25]

2 hours ago, editor said:

My wife drives to the Galleria area daily, and complains to me almost as often that the logic of not having a train between the city's main business district and its main shopping district escapes her. 

My wife likewise drives to the Galleria area daily (her workplace is on Post Oak), and looks forward to the day when she will be able to hop on the train from the light rail stop that is literally two minutes from our front door and ride it all the way to work. It's possible to go door to door via Metro, but you have to get off the train downtown and transfer to a bus to get to the Galleria, and the bus trip takes a lot longer than a train would.

[KinkaidAlum]

Not having Uptown connected to the light rail is a travesty. It's 100% Culberson's fault and the big money donors who bought him off. 

[por favor gracias]

I wish Houston had a subway loop with about 8 or 10 stops max to allow for higher speeds connecting these areas:

 

1) Downtown

2) U of H

3) TMC/Reliant Park (would love to see the Astrodome area become a destination and a mass transit hub)

4) Rice Village

5) Greenway Plaza

6) The Galleria

7) Uptown Park area

8) Memorial Park

 

Just for kicks, add an elevated or submerged commuter line (that does not interfere with street/pedestrian traffic) down Westheimer and another one down the Kirby corridor with stops in these areas:

 

Westheimer Line:

1) U of H

2) Main/Elgin for connectivity w/ Red Line 

3) Westheimer/Montrose

4) Westheimer/Kirby

5) Highland Village

6) The Galleria

7) Westhemer/Voss

8) Westchase area

9) Chinatown (obviously not on Westheimer but a direct link to Chinatown).

 

Come to think of it, a Bellaire/Holcombe Line with no more than two stops between Chinatown and TMC (perhaps a stop in Sharpstown and a stop at the Bellaire Triangle before connecting with the Red Line) wouldn't be a bad idea as the QuickLine currently takes 35 minutes to get from Chinatown to TMC. That commute could go from 35 minutes to 12-15 minutes.

 

Kirby Line:

1) Reliant Park

2) Kirby/S. Main for connectivity w/ Red Line

3) Rice Village

4) Kirby/Westheimer for connectivity w/ Westheimer Line

5) Regent Square

6) Dallas/Main

 

I know that would cost a fortune, but it would probably save money in the long run by eliminating the need for an automobile for a lot more people, plus all the issues associated with them like accidents/pollution/gas consumption/etc. that come with automobiles...and also changing the way we develop. Just imagine having that service available though moving forward and the future transit options that would open up to the suburbs/airports...hopefully also either elevated or submerged to prevent street intervention. That's the problem with our current light rail system. It creates as much traffic as it alleviates.

 

 

[editor]

Houston will get a subway eventually.  You can only build so many lanes.  What is the city going to do when gridlock becomes common on Kirby/Westheimer/Sherpherd/San Felipe?  Start plowing down mansions?  No.  At some people the people in their glass and steel bubbles will realize that even if they never use a subway, themselves, trains take a portion of the people sitting around them in traffic and move them underground.

Houston, however, is not known for bring proactive when it comes to infrastructure.  Construction prices only go up; they never go down.  Houston would rather spend twice as much tomorrow, rather than building something today.  Because tomorrow it's someone else's problem.  Someone else's candidate.  Someone else's tax bill. 

[BJForever69]

when will this microunit deal break ground? And when will it be completed? 

 

[hindesky]