Jump to content

Alexan Westheimer Square: Multifamily At 2001 Westheimer Rd.


Boris

Recommended Posts

Old apartments, hot market

Urbane units replace aging complexes in urban redevelopment

Houston Business Journal - September 8, 2006by Jennifer DawsonHouston Business Journal

Jim Hurd of Houston Income Properties:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
  • 1 month later...

Yea, it's Trammel Crow Residential project, 244 high-end apt. Expecting to rent out at $1.75 per sq ft. The building will be 5 1/2 stories tall, 1 1/2 stories of parking & four stories of apts. It will be part brick & part stucco. The project from start to finish is expected to take twenty months. During the construction TC will lease the parking lot behind that borders Harold St, and used by Admiral Linnen, to haul in materials. Because the only other way in is Westheimer.

The Surprising thing I learned was that builder/developers do not have to do a traffic study. Most likely, they will need a light in front at Brun, once the City Of Houston sees there is problem. The apt complex that was there was 110 Units, mostly Hispanic. alot of them used the bus. The new complex will have 400 parking spots. The good news is that all the Oak trees in front will be saved, at least they will try. the apts will have a atrium in the middle so the pools on the second floors will be open. It does sound nice. Club house in front.

The reason I know so much is because they were originally going to use Harold St at McDuffie as a back/side entrance.

The entrance now is only on Westheimer. I alerted my neighbors, the Lanier Middle School, Winlow Civic Club, etc. We fought them, the school with all the children, the narrow street, those along with alerting the community help us defeat Trammel Crow, and they had to alter their plans. We even hired a lawyer, and had the plat recorded that Harold could only be used as a 911 gate, for fires, and etc.

And believe me going to the planning commission at the City of Houston, it is like being in a third world country. One person had to excused himselve, due to a conflict of interest, others probably should have.

We had an agreemeet with Trammel Crow, they would only use Harold at MuDuffie for a required 911 entrance. This was our third time before the commission. The commission was ready to vote, then one person on the board said that TC should have the right to use any streets that connect to the property that they were purchasing. Then another person on the board said, that is right I walked the property and it would present a hardship for all the cars to have to go out onto Westheimer. These folks probably had there pockets padded by TC, I don't know. But they didn't have the confidents to bring that to a vote. Instead they approved our aggreement that we had reached with TC, Harold would be 911 gate only.

The sign in front said they would be leaseing fall of 2007, but I was told by Trammel Crow it would be in mid 2008.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The entrance now is only on Westheimer. I alerted my neighbors, the Lanier Middle School, Winlow Civic Club, etc. We fought them, the school with all the children, the narrow street, those along with alerting the community help us defeat Trammel Crow, and they had to alter their plans. We even hired a lawyer, and had the plat recorded that Harold could only be used as a 911 gate, for fires, and etc.

And believe me going to the planning commission at the City of Houston, it is like being in a third world country. One person had to excused himselve, due to a conflict of interest, others probably should have.

We had an agreemeet with Trammel Crow, they would only use Harold at MuDuffie for a required 911 entrance. This was our third time before the commission. The commission was ready to vote, then one person on the board said that TC should have the right to use any streets that connect to the property that they were purchasing. Then another person on the board said, that is right I walked the property and it would present a hardship for all the cars to have to go out onto Westheimer. These folks probably had there pockets padded by TC, I don't know. But they didn't have the confidents to bring that to a vote. Instead they approved our aggreement that we had reached with TC, Harold would be 911 gate only.

Congratulations on taking action. Houstonians need to understand that they need to be on the alert and rise up off the couch occasionally and get their voices heard because the system at the Commission is very developer-friendly and that, without zoning as an alarm clock, one's neighborhood and life can change within a matter of months if residents are in do-nothing doze mode. That area is going to be in the shadows of some rather tall residential towers in the near future so you know this won't be the last time residents will need to break out the pitchforks and baseball bats.

Cheap apartments seem like they're hard to get rid of unless in a very expensive setting like this. The streetscape will definitely "improve" in urbanity with this but Westheimer will flow less smoothly through there will so many more cars darting in and out. Life in the big city.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And believe me going to the planning commission at the City of Houston, it is like being in a third world country. One person had to excused himselve, due to a conflict of interest, others probably should have.

We had an agreemeet with Trammel Crow, they would only use Harold at MuDuffie for a required 911 entrance. This was our third time before the commission. The commission was ready to vote, then one person on the board said that TC should have the right to use any streets that connect to the property that they were purchasing. Then another person on the board said, that is right I walked the property and it would present a hardship for all the cars to have to go out onto Westheimer. These folks probably had there pockets padded by TC, I don't know. But they didn't have the confidents to bring that to a vote. Instead they approved our aggreement that we had reached with TC, Harold would be 911 gate only.

Trust me, if you'd been in a third world country, nobody would've admitted a conflict of interest. There would also likely be more ambiguous regulations in place that would grant the planning commission essentially unchecked power to approve or deny any particular project. Houston's planning commission lacks a great deal of power, and if they try to step outside of their bounds on a project of this magnitude, they'll get sued.

The other thing is that it isn't that they're pro-developer, so much as it is that they are pro-growth, and developers are just a means to the ends. As such, they've got to balance the well-being of their current constituency (you) with that of their future constituency, which will live in the TC Alexan apartments.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • The title was changed to Alexan Westheimer Square: Multifamily At 2001 Westheimer Rd.

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...