Downtowner

Hi,

I just wanted to give you a bit on an insight to my experience. I bought in midtown end of 2005 near West Grey and Taft (townhome on the southern side of Grey). I looked at both condos and townhomes at the time and decided on a townhome (since my purchase, new condos have been constructed such as vistas and Rise). My place is three levels (2 bedroom/ 2 bathroom) with a third open loft which i use as a study. I paid $135 per ft2. There are similiar sized townhomes around the corner for me by the same builder and same age now selling for $150 per ft2. This is significant cheaper than a condo. My yearly fees for garden maintenance etc are roughly $800. Living in a condo can be good because you have the added benefit of other amentities such as a pool. However, I know a lot of people who move into a condo never realise the full benefit these facilities.

So don't discount a midtown townhome. It can be a much cheaper alternative (if it is one or two people, you don't need a massive townhome. You end up spending a lot of time cleaning and maintaining it with higher energy costs in summer cooling it), has land value associated with it and the monthly fees can be significantly lower. I have views of downtown from my master bedroom and a front patio as well plus my garage is contained in my townhome so that carrying groceries etc isn't an issue. You might laugh at this but try making 2 or 3 visits to your car and up an elevator to your condo to drop off your groceries. It can be a hassle. I also only have one common wall with my neighbour with no one above or below me which may not be the case in a condo. This may or may not be an issue. Some of the town homes in midtown can be cookie cutter. I have done some small upgrades to the kitchen, floors etc to make it more contemporary and individual. I am also only 1 mile from my work place at downtown so I often walk. So the idea of riding a bike or walking isn't just an idea for condos in the center of midtown.

Anyway, I just wanted to dicuss my living perspective to help you in your decision on where to live and condos vs houses/townhomes.

For the record, I think Rice Military is very over priced. Some areas are close to the train line and in a flood zone. Why would you spend that amount of money to be close to a loud freight train or have water collection issues???

Resurrecting an old topic

Just wanted to get some additional feedback to anybody else out there.

I'm a young single professional (30), working in downtown. I really didnt' think about getting into a condo, but the building is so close to work that I had to check it out.

I agree with some of the old posters that yeah, some parts did seem a little run down but i guess that goes along with the industrial character. I guess this is due to the fact that this is a rental conversion. There is an upgrade package available but it is pretty pricey and honestly I would rather do the upgrades myself. I do like this look compared to the edge condo's which are next door. The edge is more a traditional look and layout, not your urban loft space like Rise. The edge is also more expensive per sq/ft, I guess this goes along with other posters stating that you pay a premium for a new building. It also has more ammenities, a gym, movie theater and a lounge.

Speaking of the urban look of Rise, I wonder how the sound proofing is in the building. The concrete which they use for the floors and ceilings should not be a problem but the walls are regular wall material. I would imagine with the type of people this place attracts that there could be a lot of partying over here and I'm not sure how much they skimped on construction.

The condo fees are still 22cents/sq foot, which have been stable for a while which also makes me wary if the seller (ie Post properties) is subsidizing this to entice new buyers. It's not too bad considering that other places in downtown are much higher. The edge is at 28c/sq ft. I thought these would be more even. But I guess the added ammenities are more expensive to keep up with. Then again, the Rise building is much older so there may be some pricey maintenence coming up.

The price of the units are actually coming down I believe I don't know what they started out at but a 2br unit runs from 310K to 370K.

and the 1br from 230k to 275k.

I like the idea of living downtown but things may change in the next 5 years and I wonder how well a 2br 2000sq place would sublease later on. It seems like all this talk about which way midtown is heading is going back and forth.

I've been looking for some time now and I thought I was set on a 4 story townhouse in the Rice military. But I can't ignore the convnience to be able to bicycle to work (not quite close enough to walk). Not to mention the amazing views you get from the 2bedroom units.

If anybody has any more info or opinions on this place please post. I actually was in this building in 2002 through a co-worker i've since lost touch with but I really didn't pay much attention to it back then.

TROPIOCA!

I'm always willing to try new places. Where is TROPIOCA?

M

Strange that no one else has tried opening up a coffee shop in Midtown. It seems like a fairly simple business. Well, actually there is Tropioca who, with their other store downtown, will get my business due to their going out on a limb in these emerging areas.

I do wonder sometimes if the coffee shop trend is temporary, as it was back in the 50s-early 60s, although I think that then it was more based on a counter-culture experience than the actual consumption of coffee.

Sound likes a Starbucks alternative might make it. HAIF coffee? The buildings could be miniature versions of our skyscrapers.

Corporate Coffee in the form of Starbucks sucks. I prefer to support local businesses. THERE are local midtown alternatives. Taft street coffee house (near Taft and Welch) makes excellent coffee, has WIFI, Vegan desserts and an organic farmers market on Saturday mornings. They have a "buy 7 get one free" coffee promotion as well. There is a new cafe called COCO's opening on W Grey opposite Fish serving coffee and crepes. I read in Houston press of another cafe opening on W Grey closer to Barnabys. Deco was serving coffee for a while, but I stopped going there because of their irregular opening hours on the weekend. You can't expect to build up a support base of local patrons if you keep on chopping and changing your hours. Instead of Starbucks, we need a Wholefoods or somehting to give Randalls a run for it's money

I went to Deco on Friday night with friends and had a good time. We sat outside on the porch. On Saturday, i went and tried out their coffee. During the day they are a coffee bar. The coffee was suprisingly good. I agree that there are lots of bars around the area - but a good coffeehouse? It's severely lacking.

Im spoke to the owners and they were ironing out all the teething problems before marketing.

I probably won't go there much at night. But I will definitely be going there to gat a cup of joe on the weekends! Plus they have free wifi internet unlike other places...

I went to Deco.

  Ho hum. Yawn. Beautiful place, but at the end of the day, it's just another bar in midtown. Midtown does not need another bar.

  Plus, Deco has a bad location. The front entrance is at the back of the shopping plaza. That would be ok, IF the windows weren't covered  with curtains. The averge joe walking or driving by wouldn't know what it was.

  Now we have to gear up for Pub Fiction (another bar) which will open in a month or two, and Christian's Tailgate (another bar) which is going to open later this month.

  For some reason, all we're getting are bars, lounges and sports bars. I've got plenty of places to grab a beer and the game, plenty of places to get drunk at after the game, but few places to get a decent meal and buy a few more retail items.

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I guess you heard about the Shamrock Tower negotiations with Whole Foods to take the large retail location on the first floor?

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Hi kjb434, where did you hear about this?

Downtowner

yeah I agree that the other Whole Foods is about 5 miles away. But with the new development happening on the other side of downtown, the expansion of midtown, lofts in downtown... etc, I think there is a good business case argument for building one in the area. The demographics in the area would be good business news for them as I'm sure that a lot of people living downtown/midtown probably earn reasonable/good incomes, and are more aware of their lifestyles and environment. As for taking away Kirby business, River Oaks and the Galleria crowd would not becoming downtown to go shopping! Plus you are moving closer to people in the Heights etc...So even though their business might see a drop at their Kirby store, I think that the potential base in new customers would be worth a lot more.

With regards to the other postings,yes it is more pricey than normal supermarkets, but i find the food better quality than Randalls and my philosophy is that the air pollution is crap in Houston, so you need to give your body a break in other areas. Sure I pay more for my groceries, I just feel organic/natural food is better.

AT THE END OF THE DAY THOUGH, IF YOU DON'T HAVE A GO AND WRITE AWAY, NOTHING WILL EVER GET DONE. IT'S ALWAYS WORTH AN EFFORT!

Hey guys,

I am appalled at the lack of grocery choices in the Midtown/Downtown area. I want to try and get some momentum happening for Whole Foods to consider building a new supermarket in the area. I think that there would be a large enough customer base in the area to make it work. Many of the people living int the area are professionals who are health and environmentally conscious and want an alternative to the standard supermarket chains like Randalls.

I am getting all my friends in the area to email the Management of Whole Foods so they know there is a demand for a supermarket. I am considering setting up a petition as well. For the time being, here is how to tell Whole Foods you want them to consider a new supermarket in the midtown/downtown area;

Go to http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/ and select