jgs1419

I understand that the houses torn down Saturday were ones that had already been in the (lengthy) legal process to notify the owners, etc. Maybe the others in your neighborhood are current on taxes or are still in process. I don't know that there is much to the theory that the house was demo'd to make a full three lot parcel. The city may be sinister but it isn't that well organized. If you don't want the vacant lots developed and enjoy the green space, buy the lots, i it's too much $, organize your civic group to buy them.

Ralfallen, LeGreen, Peddie, et al are in a neighborhood that I think is called Stude. It's the neighborhood between e.14th and e.20th, studewood to Oxford.

I haven't seen the particular listing but anything in The Heights or near it is probably listed at $20/sf for the land as a minimum. That would include Shady Acres, Sunset Heights and even parts of Brookesmith. So $20 x 12,000ft2 is $240,000. If you put a smaller building on it, it's still $240,000. In fact, with no building on it, it's probably worth more (no demo). Even though .har.com is residential listings, it's a good resource to find small parcels with commercial buildings on it. They will be included in the single family listings and/or the residential lot listings. Much of the former commercial property inside the loop is being redeveloped residential so it gets listed in har.com. I've always found commgate to a better source for larger parcels.

There is a vacant lot, 1200sf house and 2000sf warehouse for sale at 508 Pecore in Woodln Heights. It's listed for 399,999.99. It has been on the market a while. You might buy the whole package and then sell the lot. It's reasonably worth $100k by itself at $15-$18/sf. You might also look in Shady Acres or Sunset Heights. You might find something selling for lot value that includes a building/warehouse.

When Kinky gets elected, we'll be able to build houses out of bound hemp.

I've seen it. I bet the first floor would go 7.000ft2. I don't know the whole story but I bet it's a good one.

Texas has made some advances in building code and home building standards. On June 1, 2005, the standards for building, performance and warranties will take effect. While there has been some compromise getting this far (most particularly in the dispute resolution process), this is a substantial step toward improving the quality of housing. It is important to note that these are minimum standards required to get a certificate of occupancy. Many of the standards significantly exceed the practices of some of our production builders, especially with regard to insulation, ducting, etc.. For more information: www.trcc.state.tx.us

I was just being glib.....but since you ask, the 'master' plan for the city (it was self reliant when incorporated) included all police, fire, schools, retail, and an industrial base. Many of the facilities are in use today (e.g. the retail shops on 19th, the waterworks, and the fire house/jail which is owned by the Heights Assoc.). Some of the old industrial buildings are being converted to lofts. This is way off topic so I won't expound further. For those interested, an excerpt from a book about the history of the Heights can be found at: http://www.houstonheightsonline.com/history.asp.

I thought The Heights was the first master planned community?!

I've been looking at houses and lots in Brookesmith. There are some blocks that are already stable. There are other blocks, especially north of Patton that are still struggling. Unfortunately, I've seen one crappy (and I mean really crappy) townhouse project get started but otherwise it has been quiet. The southern blocks seem to have the best value and have the highest quality housing stock. I've watched it for a little while to look for buying opportunities. Will appreciation from the Heights/Norhill jump North Main? Anybody have any insight to the area? Thanks in advance.

The biggest obstacle is to mixed use for developer's is readily available financing. Lenders on a project like this will want a signficant equity contribution from the developer's plus 30+% of the units presold before they pony up the construction loan. The retail lending world is segmented into the super center, neighborhood center, strip, etc. and will only lend based on demographics and comparables (which largely don't exist in urban infill efforts). Likewise, some underwriters that do residential lending have very low limits on how much they can lend on retail (remember that the real estate finance world largely lives in silos). The end result is that a developer can't readily assemble the financing for mixed-use and the project goes straight residential. That dynamic isn't helped when a local (myopic) multi-family developer gets quoted in The Chronicle saying "you have to have 1,500 residents in a development to justify ground floor retail". Lenders, surprisingly, can and do read the paper.

It is encouraging that the residents got the city's attention and the city is taking preservation seriously. Of course, if you had already spent money on due diligence and predevelopment in preparation for the bid opening, you're a little steamed at the timing of the change in plans. Don't expect to see any eye catching redevelopment plans for that site anytime soon. It will sit idle while the residents and the city kibbitz over redevelopment plans that neither have the power or money to implement.