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Midtown Vistas: Condominiums At 1900 Genesee St.


SpaceCity

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I too took the view (if you'll excuse the expression) that there's no guarantee that the view which may have been a deciding factor in buying a townhome would always exist. The only thing that's constant is change, let the buyer beware, etc.

However, WGG mentioned that the developers of Parker Lofts indicated to buyers that they held some sort of control over the property across the street. If so, I'd be pissed, too.

As Max Fabian said in All About Eve: "This is for lawyers to talk about."

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I like the design of the Vistas. I do agree that it is too tall for the area though. Everything else is under four stories, then this pops up. For continuity of the neighborhood it should be shorter.

By the way, what's happening with the block of green space a couple of blocks over? It's nice, will it stay?

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I am glad you have asked about that green space. There is a lot of controversary about this plot. It has rather a interesting history. For reference, it is bounded by Cook, Bailey, Gillette, and West Webster. Currently it stands as an undeveloped open field.

Historically this land was the site of an old ice factory in the early 20-30s for this neighborhood. The process of making ice requires refrigeration obviously. Back in those days, companies used ammonia to provide the refrigeration. Throughout the years some ammonia leached into the ground. Nothing major, in fact, the contamination is quite localized. Needless to say, to build on this land would require some remediation, meaning $$$$.

One day, last year a sign appeared on this land. The sign said "Freedman's Town Low Income Housing Site". The sign was a simple plastic one that looked like a Garage Sale sign. Needless to say this sign quite a stir to those homeowners who were selling their homes at the time. After a little asking around, the sign was put up by a local celebrity. Her name is Gladys House and she is part of the Freedman's Town association. Apparently, she is very resentful about the gentrification of the historic Freedman's town. In fact, I heard she has gone to city council to have this land turned over to her association to build low income housing. A side note, there is some controversary associated with her and the millions of dollars spent to build low income housing in the 4th ward. If you have driven through this ward, there are not many homes built.

Here is the deal with the land, the city owns it and is unwilling to turn it into a park for whatever reason. This is what our homeowner's association would like to have happen. Because of the contamination, it will never contain housing. This especially applies to low income housing since it would be cost prohibitive.

Long story somewhat shortened. This land will remain, for the foreseeable future, an empty grassy field where dogs and residents go and mingle.

I personally like it, as it has a great skyline view.

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Wow, West Gray Guy, I used to walk my dog down your street every day! That area was always my favorite place to meander through since there was so much up and coming development with the various lofts and townhomes.

I just moved to Galveston, but I used to live on top of Baba Yegas Restaurant on Grant St.

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 months later...
Sorry for re-opening such an old thread - I can't find a site for this apartment via google, was it ever finished? I like the view...(although obviously wouldn't buy purely because of the view)

They are currently under construction - move-in is supposed to be this summer although that seems a bit optimistic to me - they are still working on the parking garage structure.

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On the one people want to have more dense residential in the area, someone is building that and now they say its too big. The Vistas site makes great use of the little land they had in a "urban" way. They have very little of the property fronts any street. The open areas of the development are above the parking garage which is only two floors anyway.

I'm glad this is being built as it is a move forward in increasing density in the Downtown/Midtown Area.

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  • 2 months later...

In the belief that more mid-rises will be built in the near future than high-rise residential, this project is a good example. They only have three units left. I found out because I filled out a "Contact Us" form on there site to find some stuff out and they keep sending me updates.

heres the website: http://www.innerloopcondos.com/

Moving along nicely at the site also.

This group plans to build several more in Houston. There high-rise building, Monaco, didn't get off on presales that well; but there mid-rises are selling good.

They haven't seem to entered the street level retail concept yet, but there projects are typically set away from a main street in a neighborhood where street level retail is not feasible. There layouts are good for in-fill development.

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They are great infill development. Keeping it low-rise holds down construction costs, so the units are more affordable and attractive to a larger market. I doubt the developers would want to incorporate retail, since these are owned units and the ground floor is used for parking.

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All I got out of them was they were reconfiguring it since they didn't get much response from the luxury end market. I suggested that they hit the lower end like there other projects.

This company has built several high-rises before (not in Houston though) so they are new to the concept.

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