ryan3230
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Yes, there is a high foreclosure rate. I'd say about 90% of the units were foreclosed on. The view isn't spectacular, its not like you're in the Galleria and can look out and see the Downtown Skyline, or see really anything for that matter except for the garage across the street. But it is pretty cool at night being able to look up and see Chase Tower or the top of the Esperson building. And during the daytime and weekend, its cool being able to watch people going about life on Main Street. True there are bums and they are apart of downtown living, its something you get used to right away. But as I've said before, after the roundup of the homeless and the bums the police did in October, I haven't seen the regulars anymore, there are a few that show up every now and then, but nothing like it was at the end of last Summer. Also, the building does not have a security guard, we have a porter that makes sure the place stays clean and takes care of packages, but he's gone by 5pm each day. There is a guard in the Chapel that keeps the bums off the sidewalks, and theres a mean lady in the dollar store that keeps the bums in check, that lady can yell!!! When people watching, I always wonder, when people board the train at 9pm on a Sunday night headed Northbound at the Main St. Square station with a suitcase, where are they going. There are only two stops left before the train turns around and starts going Southbound, and the last stop, UH-Downtown (or whatever they call it nowadays) is closed on Sundays, so why would they get on the train there? And it never fails, every Sunday I spot at least two people doing this, so its not a fluke. Other cool things to watch, people driving the wrong way, people driving the wrong way on the train track, people thinking the sidewalk on Main Street Square is a street, people driving into the fountain pond, people getting hit by the train, people drunk walking from the bars, historic tours going by and stopping in front of the building and then pointing at the building, I wonder what they say about the place? Metro cops, jaywalkers and the cops that harass them.
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Yes, it was around October sometime, the police were out around 6am arresting the homeless and hauling them off to jail. Probably a month or so later I saw some of the usuals back in their spots, for about a week, and now nothing. On the weekends we'll get some new wanderers that hang around the dollar store, but the police are there more often too and usually push them away after a few hours.
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I live here and would have to agree with the above. We did add a parking spot for each unit though. It's at the McKinney Place Garage, included with the monthly HOA, and there was even a reduction in the monthly fee. But without the guarantee of long term parking at a stabilized rate, resale will be tough. Oh and there's a lot less bums around. Not sure if they go somewhere for Winter, or if that round up HPD did a few months go is the reason.
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Looks like they fell out of contract and the units are listed again.
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Just talked to the listing agent for the bank and someone has put all the units under contract. Agent says they're local but their agent is out of California. The Agent is under the impression the buyer has done this before, bought units to flip them, but doesn't know for sure and has never heard of them before. It's all up in the air right now, and I don't see it working unless they can get some parking spots to include with the units. The only logical parking garage is behind us at 1001 mckinney, but i don't see them selling the garage or individual spots there, the place stays full. I see the units back in the bank in two years!!! Hope I'm wrong though.
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Parking is $155, around $175 with taxes and fees. Yes, 24/7 access, just a hassle messing with the security guard in 1001 McKinney sometimes. Most of them are cool, but the one overnight always gives me trouble.
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It's been great so far, the folks that have bought (all 4 or 5 of them) are friendly, I think the building just got rid of two renters for non payment of HOA fees so the management is responsive and looking out for our best interest. There's also a porter during the day 9-5 m-f who's very nice and helpful, he keeps the place in great shape. We do have 24 hr access to the McKinney garage through the tunnel, although sometimes the security gaurd in the McKinney building gives me some grief about coming through there after hours, but now that they're used to seeing me I don't have any problems. And its actually easier to just go out on the street instead of going downstairs to the tunnel and then up the stairs through the building to the garage, of course late at night or if its raining that's a different story. But living there is great, the carpets in the elevators got messed up and they put down the plain white berber carpert and I hope they replace it to the original, it looked a little better. I love being dowtown, I can walk to the Rockets, then the House of Blues on my way back and love going to Discovery Green or Sambuca's, bayou place, and riding the train down to the Museum District. I just wish the CVS was open more. And I hope that corner store at Main and Walker is bought out and turned into something really nice, upscale restraunt... The bums and beggars are pretty bad right there, but called 311 after I saw a guy relieving himself in broad daylight one Saturday and about 2 cops on bikes and 2 in a squad car showed up in about 5 min and cleared out the place. As far as the unit itself, there are some changes I want to make, paint, carpet, marble tiles, appliances, but thats all subjective and everyone has their own tastes. We did get some water leaks around the windows during the storm that the management still hasn't checked out. The Porter came and took a look two weeks after the storm and then nothing. I don't know if it's there responsibility or mine, but wish they would let me know one way or another. But I can't complain too much, folks in the St. Germain and Capitol Lofts just three blocks up lost all their windows. Other than that, I can't think of anything to complain about. If you have any specific questions let me know. Hope to see you around, Ryan
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I usually shop at Randall's. It's much nicer than the alternative, Fiesta. Just found out last night that Spec's has somewhat of a selection of groceries. Didn't look that close, but I doubt it will be where I get my weekly staples from. There is the Whole Foods and a Central Market and a Krogers in the Upper Kirby area. There's also a CVS in the Kirby Lofts that's really conveinent and pricey, but great for times when you just need to grab a few things. There's also various corner stores, like the infamous Just A Dollar at the end of the block. I try to stay away from there as much as possible, there's always bums hanging outside begging and my friends tell me it stinks so bad in there that when they left they could still smell it on there clothes. The other corner store aren't that bad I don't think but I'd rather hop in the car or on the rail and go to Randall's. There's also places in the Tunnel, but I'm never home during the time they're open. As far as day-to-day living, its nice being close to everything and also having various options of transportation. You could drive, walk, rail, bus, or bike wherever you want/need to go. I prefer walking or the rail, it's a hassle finding and paying for parking. But sometimes it's tough getting to places like a Wal-Mart, of course one could just hop in the car and go, but I like doing everything downtown. There is a Target in the Heights that I go to sometimes. And yea it can be noisy at times, but I have no complaints. I mean it is the City life, if you want peace and quiet move to the suburbs. And honestly, I live on the third floor facing Main Street and if I'm watching tv at a normal volume I can barely here the noise on the street. I do hear the buses and trucks going by and the train and the train announcer's voice and people talking and sirens sometimes, but it's the sounds of the City and none of them bother me and none keep me awake at night. And yes the bums are definitely a problem, especially when you have visitors over. You get used to people asking you for money and seeing the same bums on the corners but when you're bringing someone over to show off the new place its kind of embarassing.
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No damage to report here at the Kirby Lofts! Stayed here through the storm, never lost power and thankfully didn't loose any windows. Had some very light leaks around the tops of the windows but nothing more than a few drops. Told management and they came right over to check it out. They'll probably just have to recaulk around the windows or make sure everything is sealed up tight. As far as the experience, it was interesting, even scary at times. The sounds of windows breaking, things falling out of buildings sounded like explosions. The aluminum blinds scraping the ground as they blew in the wind sounded like something out of a horror movie. Afterwards, there's glass all over the streets for blocks and a couple of trees and signs bent to the ground.
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I really like the finishes and the more I'm there the more impressed I am with them, then again this is my first place so I'm not as picky. But in walking through these units and walking through say the Mosaic in Hermann Park, I definitely notice a drop off in quality. The cabinets definitely feel cheaper, flimsy, the countertops are tiled instead of slab and the appliances are standard GE, not the GE Profile that I notice everyone has. In the bathrooms my Dad says its Marble, but I'd like to confirm that with a professional first. The walls could use a little touch up here and there, in my opinion nothing major, probably a weekend project. Definitely new paint. I don't have enough neighbors to tell if the walls really drown out sound, I do have someone next to me and we share a wall, but I think he's only there Mon-Fri, if that, I've only ran into him once and the only thing I've ever heard from his unit is the washing machine, and even then I had to have my ac unit and tv off. My unit is right outside the weightroom and I've never heard anyone in there, don't think people use it that much, I've seen someone in there three times maybe. I can say that in my unit, if I go to the 2nd bedroom and try to yell to someone in the kitchen, there's no chance they hear me until I enter the kitchen. The sound only carries in the kitchen/living room where there is hardwood floors, which are really nice, they have a real natural look and feel to them. I'd say overall you get a lot of value considering the price. I think the lobby isn't shown well on har.com, but its not that big a difference when you walk in. There's really not much to it, just some chairs a coffee table, the Porter's office and that's it. But it's decent, definitely makes a great impression on visitors. The location is great, I can walk about 3 blocks to all the bars/clubs on main street and yet I'm far enough away that I don't have to hear the music/people. It's about 10 blocks to the Astros Game, 4-5 blocks to the new park and will be 3 blocks to the Pavilions. And there's two locked entry ways so I always feel secure. And I just found out that if you contract a parking spot with the 1001 mckinney garage, you can have 24 hr access to it through the tunnel!
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I really bought a place. Of course my posts are going to be a bit biased, it is my home now. I know it's not perfect, and I would tell anyone thinking about it to look at this as being here at least 5 years and to seriously consider getting a parking spot. But I don't work for the realtor, they're great guys, but my ultimate concern is filling up the building and yes that happens to be in line with the realtors. But wouldn't that be your goal if you had just purchased here? If you have any fears or concerns about this place, ask me about them and I'll tell you the truth. But overall I just wanted people to know that there are folks besides the realtors who believe in this place and see the value in it and see the great location it has and the potential it has.
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Just closed on my place on Monday!!! I'm excited about living downtown and experiencing city life. I've been in Sugar Land all my life so looking foward to a big change. Everything's fine so far, the units are really nice, all it took was one swipe with a towel and the place was spotless, will be painting and replacing carpet, and a few minor details here there, lights, outlets, etc. cable worked right away and ran the water all day long to get the sulfur out, the water stayed hot from about 2pm to 11pm. The air conditioner blows freezing cold! good for Houston Heat. Used the workout room, its nice, kept clean and notice a few people throughout the day. Overall, I'd say it's a great buy, nice location Pavillions about 2-3 blocks to the south, Shops at HC 2 blocks to the East, Main Place 1 block north, Hines North 3 blocks north, theaters 6 blocks nW, Stadiums, convention center and hotels, OPP, DT, and Disc Green all are blocks east and there's a rail stop right outside the door. There's quite a bit of what I call bum activity right outside the door especiall a few weeks ago when we were looking at the place, not as much now, I've noticed a cop car parked on Walker right outside the Dollar Store. My guess is, once the Dollar Store goes, so will the bums and I'm sure the Dollar Store will get pushed out as retail goes in at the new Main & Walker Garage and hopefully in Main Place and once Pavillions open and hopefully someone will see the idea of retail on the first floor of the old Sakowitz Building to fruition. Downtown is looking up! Of course, the only downfall is parking. It might be able to catch a spot in front of the building, but there's only three. Hopefully the HOA can foreclose on some of these empty units and sale them to buy some spots. Give me a few months to work my muscle and we'll see what we can do
