This has got to be the best example of a Building to stay away from

[Geoff8201]

Has anyone noticed that this building, Post Ike, replaced their cover on the roof for their Freight Elevator Hoist Pulley with something that looks more like... oh say... an outdoor toilet house? It's an eyesore in an area that has lately seen so much progress.

Apparently this building is going to get real close to being abandoned and condemned if things keep up like they are.

Read These Testimonials

I knew that their boilers had been red tagged, their service elevator was red tagged, all the asbestos, the total lack of maintenance, the inability to employ anyone halfway decent because they can't take it, the frequent if not daily leaks in the aging galvanized piping and the their emergency backup generator didn't work...

I guess its worse than that even. What a shame.

[TexasVines]

I sure would like to see how many of those complaining voted in the last election and find out their feelings towards welfare and section 8

hopefully many of them that voted and feel a certain way are getting a large WAKE UP call

[Geoff8201]

I sure would like to see how many of those complaining voted in the last election and find out their feelings towards welfare and section 8

hopefully many of them that voted and feel a certain way are getting a large WAKE UP call

The number of undesirable tenants in this building have stemmed from price drops so MPA (Metropolitan Properties of America) can fill these vacant apartments, and Realtors bringing just about anybody in to lease them to. This is simply a case of a management company running a nice building in the ground, taking all they can take while putting little if any money back in the building. The process of bringing "just anybody" started and was going on long before Election Day, and before Inauguration Day, and will continue thereafter as it has since this building's rapid decline when MPA took it over.

Welfare is like most government programs... to help those in need, and be taken advantage of by those whom want something for nothing and that wont help themselves. I'd fear how things would be if welfare was disbanded... would it encourage people to work hard and get back on their feet? Or just spawn a mass increase in criminals? Anyhow, I'm going to stop there... if anyone wants to discuss/debate this further you can post it in the Off Topic Section. I'm done... back to discussing this old building with its toilet house cathedral on top.

[musicman]

do you know hubert vo?

[TexasVines]

it seems quite a few people on the website for the renters seem to think section 8ers are moving in and bringing their issues with them....I don't see many people saying their rent has dropped only that the services have dropped and that people that surely can't afford to pay full price have been moved in (which means section 8).....welfare has been failed long before this last election yet people like you still vote for the welfare advocates such as obama so I advocate for moving that welfare trash into THEIR neighborhoods so they can live with and be confronted by what they actually support......people like you seem to become greatly offended when people like me suggest you need to live with what you created instead of letting others live with it....which is it are all these people trashing this apartment building "just good people that need a leg up and some redistribution" or are they people that you become angry about when it is suggested that you should have to live around and with them because they are trashing the place

and if all it takes to keep people from turning to crime is a handout/bribe (for generations with no responsibility ask or demanded) then I would say they are likely to be criminals anyway so based on your weak arguement yes I would like to cut off their welfare and let them show their true criminal colors and then be locked away so they can't run free....at least when they are locked away they can't just keep sucking the system dry while doing what ever they want to trash hard workers neighborhoods and breeding more future leeches

[Subdude]

it seems quite a few people on the website for the renters seem to think section 8ers are moving in and bringing their issues with them....I don't see many people saying their rent has dropped only that the services have dropped and that people that surely can't afford to pay full price have been moved in (which means section 8).....welfare has been failed long before this last election yet people like you still vote for the welfare advocates such as obama so I advocate for moving that welfare trash into THEIR neighborhoods so they can live with and be confronted by what they actually support......people like you seem to become greatly offended when people like me suggest you need to live with what you created instead of letting others live with it....which is it are all these people trashing this apartment building "just good people that need a leg up and some redistribution" or are they people that you become angry about when it is suggested that you should have to live around and with them because they are trashing the place

and if all it takes to keep people from turning to crime is a handout/bribe (for generations with no responsibility ask or demanded) then I would say they are likely to be criminals anyway so based on your weak arguement yes I would like to cut off their welfare and let them show their true criminal colors and then be locked away so they can't run free....at least when they are locked away they can't just keep sucking the system dry while doing what ever they want to trash hard workers neighborhoods and breeding more future leeches

Look, can you keep the politics in the politics section? Keep it on topic.

[VicMan]

Another thing about the apartments is that, while they are near River Oaks (and are in Houston ISD), they are zoned to Poe Elementary School, not River Oaks Elementary. The zoned secondary schools are Lanier MS and Lamar HS.

[TheNiche]

Look, can you keep the politics in the politics section? Keep it on topic.

Actually, he can't. He's not permitted to. He's only a HAIF Associate.

Guys, this building has no Section 8 units. NONE. ZERO. ZIP. NADA.

[jm1fd]

The best part about this building is the fact that they have $3 Home Despot SHOWER HEADS as the spray nozzles for the fountains out front by the sidewalk. Gotta keep it classy ya know!

[NenaE]

Has anyone noticed that this building, Post Ike, replaced their cover on the roof for their Freight Elevator Hoist Pulley with something that looks more like... oh say... an outdoor toilet house? It's an eyesore in an area that has lately seen so much progress.

Apparently this building is going to get real close to being abandoned and condemned if things keep up like they are.

Read These Testimonials

I knew that their boilers had been red tagged, their service elevator was red tagged, all the asbestos, the total lack of maintenance, the inability to employ anyone halfway decent because they can't take it, the frequent if not daily leaks in the aging galvanized piping and the their emergency backup generator didn't work...

I guess its worse than that even. What a shame.

I find it a contradiction that a "River Oaks" titled bldg. would be allowed to fall into this undesirable condition. Anyone know how old the bldg. is?

[Geoff8201]

do you know hubert vo?

If that question was directed at me, then no.

I find it a contradiction that a "River Oaks" titled bldg. would be allowed to fall into this undesirable condition. Anyone know how old the bldg. is?

It was built in 1962. From working under one of the chief engineers that was there over 10 years, I was told the building had its age showing through the A/C fan coils, galvanized piping and their central plant. A few years ago they replaced almost half the fan coil units and the chillers with Trane Rotary Screw Chillers... however with a staff of only 2 engineers and one make-ready guy, along with constant leaks in the plumbing, lack of working valves, and extreme difficulty to work on anything to begin with (A/Cs with difficult access, asbestos, etc) the building mechanically went downhill when good employees got tired of struggling with it. The biggest downfall per all the residents there is the management company, MPA. MPA's goal seems to be collect rent and put nothing back into the building, this includes Hiring workers that'll work for as little as possible.

I got to tour this place about two years ago... the common areas were nice, but on the decline big time since then, and the mechanical areas were dirty, cluttered with old appliances, and there wasn't a single light fixture that wasn't coverd in cobwebs.

[Vertigo58]

Most unsitely building alerts are on Crater Houston section I thought.

[Geoff8201]

Most unsitely building alerts are on Crater Houston section I thought.

They are, however the outside this building isn't unsightly, except for what they built on top of it. No need for the wrecking ball on this one... well yet.

Only thing the management does do somewhat well is keeping the outside looking decent from the street view.. gotta have that curb appeal.

[LTAWACS]

do you know hubert vo?

Yep. He's quite a character.

[TheNiche]

I cannot speak to the quality of the building, but some of the complaints about them having let just anybody rent don't really seem to be substantiated. I have O'Connor, ADS, and all the consumer sites available to me, and except possibly for one or two really small units (which I almost suspect are employee units), prices on typical small one-bedroom units (approx. 600-700sf) seem to start somewhere between about $850 and $1050. That is low for a highrise building, but is high enough to keep out vagrants or "Section 8 people".

Something is fishy about this. It might be that there are only about one or two dozen one-bedroom units under 1,000-square feet, and that all the other oversized and expensive units have really snobby tenants with exceedingly high expectations and a different idea of what riff-raff actually is.

[Geoff8201]

An update on this place... from word of mouth and The River Oaks Tenants Association (click the forum)...

The building is at least 1/2, maybe all the way up to 3/4 empty. Most of these bitterly cold days, they've lacked a heating system.

Recently a banner has been placed on top of the building stating: "Now Renting - Call 713-622-3500"

There are 3 reasons as to having a banner like that: 1.It's a new property that has just opened and is now ready to be filled. 2. It is a property that has been remodeled and is opened back up. 3. They're desperate for leasers and are hoping most will walk in believing that sign is there for reasons 1 or 2.

Although its been over a year since the last post ion this topic, to clarify the situation, most of the older tenants have left, newer tenants are leaving too and potential tenants are avoiding the place now that word has spread, despite MPA offering extras like 3 months of free lease to start (this and willingness to lease to anyone who walks through the front door is where most the undesirable tenants come from). But hey, can't have extras when basic essentials like a service elevator, heat in the winter, a/c in the summer and running hot water aren't there to start.

I stand corrected, this post should be moved to the Crater Houston Alliance section... I'll give it 5 years before its abandoned, resold, and imploded.

[LTAWACS]

Holy carp TexasVines is back???

[TheNiche]

An update on this place... from word of mouth and The River Oaks Tenants Association (click the forum)...

The building is at least 1/2, maybe all the way up to 3/4 empty. Most of these bitterly cold days, they've lacked a heating system.

Recently a banner has been placed on top of the building stating: "Now Renting - Call 713-622-3500"

There are 3 reasons as to having a banner like that: 1.It's a new property that has just opened and is now ready to be filled. 2. It is a property that has been remodeled and is opened back up. 3. They're desperate for leasers and are hoping most will walk in believing that sign is there for reasons 1 or 2.

Although its been over a year since the last post ion this topic, to clarify the situation, most of the older tenants have left, newer tenants are leaving too and potential tenants are avoiding the place now that word has spread, despite MPA offering extras like 3 months of free lease to start (this and willingness to lease to anyone who walks through the front door is where most the undesirable tenants come from). But hey, can't have extras when basic essentials like a service elevator, heat in the winter, a/c in the summer and running hot water aren't there to start.

I stand corrected, this post should be moved to the Crater Houston Alliance section... I'll give it 5 years before its abandoned, resold, and imploded.

Between February 2009 and August 2009, occupancy at The River Oaks declined from 91% to 70%. This coincided with an increase in the rental rates from an average $1.59 per square foot to $1.76 per square foot (which is actually quite remarkable given that units average 1,724 square feet in size). As of 12/23/2009, The River Oaks remained 70% occupied, however was trending to (i.e. preleased to) 97%. Average rents remained at $1.76 per square foot; there were no concessions reported. It would seem to me that a renovation program was most likely implemented in early 2009.

The property is only 2.75 acres, and highrise apartments are not presently viable at any positive land value in any part of town, so given that a podium could be developed at about 85 units per acre and a typical new apartment unit averages about 900 square feet, the site has the potential capacity to hold 234 units (210,375 net rentable square feet). This compares to 234,464 NRSF at present. Rents at a new structure would have to be $1.96 to even match the existing gross potential rent, much less exceed it, meaning that there's almost certainly insufficient incentive to knock down and redevelop the property. And this back-of-the-envelope analysis ignores ongoing turmoil in the capital markets, which pretty much precludes even sensible projects from moving forward. That's why I'm unemployed.

In conclusion, your analysis sucks.

[IronTiger]

Holy carp TexasVines is back???

Nope, he last posted in November 2008...because somebody bumped a year-old topic!

Also: no pictures?