SilverJK

Yeah thats what I meant,  Under the Volcano, the bar with a bunch of Tikis in it...

They have frozen rum&coke, which is a winner in my book ALL DAY!

except if it was next to your house you'd probably complain. 

I'm excited about this place opening.  I'm a bit confused though... isn't Volcano under the sun technically a Tiki bar?   Did it close when I wasn't looking?

i'm not one for animal cruelty... but its fun to watch them continually beat this imagined dead horse.

Except you are just making up this bit about everyone holding properties in the HDs and sales of comparables outside of HDs making big profits by comparison. Here is a real world example of the opposite. The new construction on Tulane in the HD was @2900 sq ft on a 4300 sq ft lot. After a bidding war, it sold for 729k long before it was finished. The same builder listed virtually the same design outside of the HD for 725k. No sale. List price has already been dropped to $719k. http://search.har.com/engine/dispSearch.cfm?mlnum=60497740&v=s

Virtually identical house and identical lot size. If there were all these people who were flooding the non-HD areas because the thought of the HAHC made them physically ill, why isn't this housing selling as well as the virtually identical house did inside an HD (the first pic on the har.com listing is the completed house on Tulane)?

we are talking about entry level houses, why are you referencing 700+k houses?

That is a diffent market by over 100%...  how many deviations outside of scope is that? 

If it sells at even 709k, we are talking a 20k difference...  that is less than a 3% difference...  the freaking paint choices can make that much of a difference.  Nice try though.  Our other example of 315 and 345 is a 30k difference but that is a 11.5% difference...  

BTW you can successfully use the HD as a tool to help decrease your taxable value in tax hearings if you show the comps are from outside of the district... 

You will never get a centralized collection of 35 acres around Washington with the same kind of access and location as the Walmart and neighboring sites. In the 1st Ward, the rail splits into two sets of tracks, making it difficult to put together a large development. It is one thing to have RR tracks next to a development. It is another to have the development split in two by tracks. Only way it would happen is if the RR co got paid to abandon the Winter St. tracks. Just don't see that ever happening. The 1st ward industrial will gradually give way to commercial/retail/residential. However, it will be a slow and piecemeal process. There are a lot of inustrial facilities in that area that are not going anywhere any time soon.

well since City Centre in its entire suburban style monstrous scope is just at ~ 40 acres...  I don't really think a 35 acre parcel is needed for an urban mixed use development. 

Oh look, an example of EXACTLY what I said was happening.  (this isn't one I was referencing either if anyone was wondering)

I think you are completely wrong. The only thing you are right about is that people are leasing. But that is because it is a great investment if you are selling and can buy another house without needing the proceeds of the sale of the previous house. Sales inside the HDs are only being tempered by the unmitigated greed of some realtors who tell their clients that they can get off the charts prices for their homes instead of just getting them a semi-obscene markup from where prices were just a year ago. On my side of the HDs on Tulane St. alone, three fixer upper (as in needing to be gutted and completely redone) properties got bought up and one vacant lot was purchased in a split of an old odd rental property. New construction just finished on the 1300 block of Tulane and a big addition is going up on the 1400 block. The warehouse on 1305 Ashland got demoed and has two approved plans for the first of four planned homes. There is also a huge addition underway in the 1300 block of Ashland and new construction of a monster house almost finished on the 1400 block. Up the street, in the 1500 block, two new construction homes are going in where they demo-ed that weird old mult-ifamily thing. A 2-1 in need of a total redo in the 1500 block also just sold in a flash after listing at $315k (I heard it was a bid up AS IS sale). And there is a big addition going in on W 15 and a smaller redo/addition on W 13th. If this is on ice, I would hate to see what on fire looks like.

uhm, that really isn't that much movement you speak of.  8 houses in the 20 closest to me have underwent rennovations in the past 2 years outside of HDs.  Big whoop. 

I'm definitely not completely wrong...  lets just say I'm directly impacted by the sales of some of these properties.  Increase in rental is common indication of holding pattern BTW.  Oh and a 2/1 in need of total redo near me just sold for 345k on a smallish lot (5500),   so the 2-1 you speak of sounds like it was hurt by being in the HD. 

Also, the example you give doesn't change what I said any... or even counter argue it.  People are holding on to their property of small bungalows within HDs right now.  Big rennovations are going to happen, new construction will happen on empty lots or commercial lots that have likely long been owned by investors, the sale of entry level bungalows though has stalled out, as people don't want to take a loss while their outside of HD comparables are making huge profits.  ( I know someone who is going to clear a 50% profit in their 2/1.5 that they haven't even lived in for 4 years yet outside of an HD)  That scenario does not exist (or at least I haven't seen a single example) within the HDs.

Just as a general comment - I think that builders ARE agressively buying lots in the HDs.  In fact, they are even buying 2-1 bungalows on spec in hopes that they will get their "camelback" addition approved.   Sure it's a lot harder and takes a lot longer to get something "sellable" but they are still doing it and there is little to no inventory in the Heights right now.

 

The house next to mine was just sold to a developer in fact.  She must be pretty savy about the process because what she has done is bought the house, and gotten a 6-month lease w/ a renter.  This will provide income while she gets the addition design through the CoA process.

 

In my mind what the ordinance has effectively done is kept developers from buying lots w/ old bungalows on them and tearing down the bungalow to build a 5,000 sf lotline to lotline house - and I'm OK with that.

 

I'm not saying there isn't a problem w/ the process because there is - the board needs to follow their own rules and enforce them consistently EVERY time.  What a "market" hates is uncertainty.

 

Cheers

James

I think that the HD market is kinda on ice right now.  (meaning on hold).  As you metioned, the lady rented out her house while they get the CoA process going.  I know a handfull of people that own properties in HDs and many of them have moved out and leased their houses instead of selling because they feel they will not get as much money right  now.  Almost every house I know of in this situation is a livable 2/1 or 3/1s that need renovation but are in decent shape.  Outside of the HD these houses sell like hotcakes.  I'm on the verge of listing my house which would fit in that category.  Summer is also a typical low inventory time of year, and with the high turnover of listed properties within the heights I think that exaggerates the issue here.  I think August/September are going to be a wild time for lower end homes outside of the HDs, while HD homes will continue to be more valuable to lease and will hold out until something changes.  (removal of HD, or value rises enough to make worth selling).   I would be interested in seeing the change in rental vs. owner occupied homes in HDs since inception and over the next few years.

Yet Chilosos has the best...

The strip malls you triumphantly point out that are located around City Centre mean nothing. Most pre-date City Centre.

Good point...  once these strip centers prove the demand is there, mixed use projects will invest nearby to capitalize on the demand, probably replacing some crappy warehouses or housing.  Maybe we should build a giant hospital near our neighborhood to help drive destination traffic as well.  You kinda left that part out when comparing City Centre to the Yale lot.  How tall is that Memorial Hospital Tower?

Then quit bringing up walmart... the 380 isn't their fault.  This thread is only about the Walmart invasion.  Stay on topic  (lol  jk, this thread is the walmart of off topic discussion)

But then you wouldn't have scapegoat to complain about the walmart.

Sub (3), the condo loophole, is what I am talking about. There are a lot of old garden style multifamilies and warehouses in the Heights that can be demoed and built into Morrison-esque mid rises even with the MLS.

I meant Rutland instead of Allston. But there are townhomes planned for Allston too.

Mutlifamily or townhomes would be every bit as consistant with the neighborhood as 4,000 sq. ft. HAHC approved mc mansions. 

s3mh is clearly of the mindset that, since most people are too stupid to know what is good for them, government should simply do it for them. He has done more to alert me of the dangers of not monitoring activists than anyone else. This dude's views are truly scary in their overarching scope. I use this thread to educate my neighbors to the perils of letting "true believers" run wild.

This seems accurate.

RedScare is clearly of the mindset that, since most people are too stupid to know what is good for them, developers should simply do it for them. He has done more to alert me of the dangers of not monitoring activists than anyone else. This dude's views are truly scary in their overarching scope. I use this thread to educate my neighbors to the perils of letting "free marketers" run wild.

This seems inaccurate... Red has been pretty clear about wanting the people to decide for themselves...

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/blog/breaking-ground/2013/06/moody-ramlin-to-begin-work-on-new.html

 

And this is the difference between what we get and what the rest of Houston gets.  City Centre is spawning lots of redevelopment around the area as a result of maximizing the value of the real estate with a great mixed use development.  Meanwhile, I-10 and Yale St., a much better location, will just be a dumping ground for strip mall retail.

All those corporate stores and the TRAFFIC!   City Center is like a mini The Woodlands.  That's what you want?

BTW if the building from the above link got built anywhere near the Heights, I'm certain you and your pals would be complaining about it because it was going to displace some historic pigeon habitat.

And minimum lot size only works if you can get enough people to sign up.  If investors own the majority of the lots on a block, you have no shot at getting the restriction. 

Which is exactly the way it should work... the people that OWN the lots should decide. Not YOU!

If you can't get enough people to sign those...(or its just soo hard) then where is all the Ordinance Support you speak of.  Surely anyone willing to support the ordinance would also support min lot size.

man.... if that would have been an HEB with no 380, we would probably be none the wiser about the bridge of death.  Walmart... saving lives!

And I was talking to a friend who lives in the HD in Woodland Heights.  She said that she is so glad that she lives in an HD after seeing what they are building on Morrison.  She said that lots of people just outside the Woodland Heights HD are scurrying trying to find a way to get included or get another HD set up so they do not end up with another development like the thing on Morrison.

As an active member in Woodland Heights, but outside of the HD lines.  I call BS.  I haven't heard the first person scurrying about, (even at a recent block party...eek!)

I'm betting "she" is only speaking for herself.  What is definitely happening are people discussing how to ensure not to get added to the HD. 

I have heard of a few people pushing for minimal set back and lot size though.

Any update on Fat Cat Creamery,  I know they were shooting for early June (so i suspected August in the earliest).

but if there was no 380, you would probably still be complaining about the bridge of death. 

I think the things you point out s3mh are more attribuited to the low cost of inner city real estate over the previous years.  Developers couldn't make the same profits with condos until they reached a higher threshold (which is currently happening).  Demand was there... supply wasn't, but it is one of those instances where the demand alone wouldn't raise the price.  All prices had to increase to make the demand even higher while providing developers with better oportunities for profits (which leads to "better" developers building condos)

I'll check it out later today to see if the brush is still piled up by the bayou.

So?  It's true. 

In the words of The Dude...

That is just like... your opinion man.

Also... I'm not sure if there are more than 2 Pro-walmart people.  I not a big fan of walmart, but what bothers me is someone coming in late and trying to block a perfectly legal development from happening, just because they don't like a store (use all your silly add-ons here that are repeatedily brought up).  It is simply this... people think they are too good to have a walmart in the neighborhood accross the interstate from them.   Could you just not afford West University?  = ]

Townhomes still have yards albeit tiny ones, and are a lot more obvious that they are sitting vacant for months at a time.  I know another guy who owned a loft at St. Germain downtown, he only worked in houston probably 15 weeks out of the year, and maybe spendt another 5 weeks here for various other reasons... His company gave him a living expense budget and it  basically covered his mortgage (not the maintainance fees) for the whole year.  He treated his loft like a hotel.  Something like this on/near a bus route to downtown/galleria/etc  would probably fit a lot of people's ideal scenario.  I know my company is looking for things similar to this to purchase for corporate housing for when we have people commuting to Houston for weekly/monthly work.

I'm always impressed when developers do anything architecurally out of the norm.  Even if it is just simple tapered columns.  I also like the floor plan of the bigger ones (at least for a 3 story townhome).   I drive by these at least twice a day so I've been keeping a pretty strong eye on them.   I still hate the terrible looking rock fence columns.