toxtethogrady

If it has, that's a lofty plateau. The proposed units are less than a year's demand.

according to the folks who document these things, houston will have constructed 18,000 new units this year.  if there are 10,000 more i'm sure the CRBE would like to know.

Here's an update:

...Data from the Greater Houston Partnership also shows the the city of Houston hit another record in July for building permits issued. This includes a 27 percent increase for residential permits.

Under construction (red dots on map):

Projects: 85

Total units:23,781

Recently opened (Green on map):

Projects: 72

Total units: 19,923

Proposed Construction (yellow on map):

Projects: 61

Total units: 18,065...

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2014/08/multifamily-construction-projects-spread-over-houston-region/#26279101=0

If it's just Houston that's getting expensive, it will hamstring some of the buildings being proposed downtown. However, if Chevron gets done spending on that $60 billion Australian gas plant, they might start looking at Houston again.

The new development map says construction will begin the 4Q of this year; end the 2Q of 2017.

 

http://www.downtownhouston.org/site_media/uploads/attachments/2014-08-28/140814_Double_Sided_Development_Map_Renders_Map_11x17.pdf

Well, it's something, but then we've seen dates busted before. I'm guessing nothing until Q2 of next year.

They said we will crash in 2016.  For $89 a cold egg wrap, it suck!

Are they kidding? US GDP figures just came out at 4.2%. The latest Texas Labor Market Indicator showed Houston has created 110,000 jobs YOY. Shouldn't a 2016 crash be a concern some place like Dallas?

construction costs are messing with a lot of projects right now... it's a huge concern. if you got it priced 6 months ago you're probably off by 10% now. that will kill a deal fast.

10%? I've been hearing costs have gone up almost 50%. And there are labor shortages. I wonder if any of those kids from Honduras know how to swing a hammer.

Can one get 518 "normal sized" units in two 8-story buildings or is this a typo from the original proposal?

This one started life as 2x12. When the renders came out (shown on Page 1), it looked like 8. I'm not sure who got the idea it was 21, but it appears that the idea all along was for 8 stories - possibly in one monolithic building spanning two city blocks. Oh, well...

Speaking of which, there's a tall crane over by the Medical Center. Which project is that?

40 seems to be the magical floor count.

40 is the new 39.

According to the following, it is still a go.

http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/memorial/business/article/New-H-E-B-coming-to-San-Felipe-and-Fountainview-5692834.php?cmpid=email-mobile

Well, the article says it's started.

Now if this were DC, that H-E-B would be on the first floor.

Geez - everyone's looking for progress on building proposals that were announced in January. Considering some projects often don't start for years after announcement, a project doesn't die if it hasn't made any progress in 8 months...

One would think, but not everything out there is suitable. I see empty auto showrooms on the North Freeway, but nobody's in a hurry to redevelop them.

But that could change.

Whatttt? That's the third(?) time we've heard that rumor..

The second time was before Skyhouse River Oaks was announced.

But yes, this has made the rounds.

HBJ is reporting from other sources that Houston is on a pace to build 30,000 homes this year - a record. Add that to the 18,000 apartments and it's still not enough.

* College football stadium

Allen spent $60 million on it. And it's got engineering defects.

Now, that's an Art Car! 

Every other stadium I've seen recently seems more like a overbudgeted high school stadium. 

Including the one in Allen, Texas?

This is probably one of the most documented concrete pours in Houston history...

This is probably one of the biggest projects since Heritage Plaza, and there are a whole lot more amateur photographers documenting this work than there were in the '80s.

You mean not too many alligators?

Yep - the first Porta-potty just showed up!

I'm hearing rents for a lot of the new buildings are $1.50-2.00 a square foot. The cheaper properties are all outside the Loop.

Houston is way too big and has way too much empty space in the core to be getting this expensive. My biggest gripe is the loss of character in the near downtown neighborhoods. Wish there was someway to balance progress and history

It seems it would also be too expensive to be running out of developable lots. But that seems to be the chief lament of the developers from Downtown to Conroe.

Not only that, but land and materials are getting expensive, and labor is in short supply.

i am curious as to how middle income people are supposed to live in the city. 

It's becoming more and more of a problem, as highlighted by recent articles in various publications stating that Houston is getting more expensive and less affordable overall. That's quite a reversal from ten years ago, when Houston's attraction was its affordability.

And it's going to spread. The wards that used to have some of the cheapest real estate in town are now starting to attract a lot of gentrification (just ask the folks on the Northside, where Pegstar plans to put its new concert venue). The reaction of the middle and lower income population has been to move farther and farther out. The word is they can't develop lots fast enough to meet the demand for housing, and the demand for apartments absorbed 21,000 units in the past year. Houston is turning into New York.  

i wonder if there are any houston based reits we should be invested (do people still do reits?) i digress.

Nancy Sarnoff at the Chron asked a similar question and came up with:

AmREIT

Camden Property Trust

Weingarten

LGI Homes

Whitestone REIT

http://blog.chron.com/primeproperty/2014/08/stock-snapshot-houstons-publicly-traded-real-estate-companies/

I had heard there were 28,000 units under construction at the moment - including some in buildings like 2929 Weslayan that have been underway for almost two years. And the pace of construction of 4-, 5- and 6-story midrises appears to be accelerating, if anything.

But if one of those 30-story highrises has 300 units, it would take 60 of them to provide 18,000 units in a year. Imagine 300 new apartment towers in Houston by 2020.   Now imagine it's not enough to meet demand.