Hardy Yards Developments

[Texasota]

That's kind of my problem with it. Inoffensively kitschy is kind of an oxymoron. If you're going to be kitschy, be kitschy. Lean into it; make it a statement! This is just ...beige.

[hindesky]

On 11/7/2020 at 8:56 AM, Shalay said:

I’ve been trying to get more info on these, any one has updates?

The eastern portion is a lot further along than the western part. I could possibly see them start leasing the east sometime in the late spring/early summer.

 

The western portion of the Exchange.

[hindesky]

@Shalay Spotted a Leasing Trailer on site. It was a Sunday on Christmas weekend so there was nobody there but you might want to check during the week to see if they are open. I don't think any thing will be available for months but they might have started pre-leasing.

 

[Two]

Relevant article:

https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/neighborhood/houstons-near-northside-is-still-going-through-a-transition-107254

They aren't wrong when they say the bones of the near north are perfect for capitalizing on and making it into a much more dense livable, walk-able, commercial and residential environment.

It's too bad (depends on your view, its also more opportunity) that - for now - most everything past Hardy Yards and to White Oak Music is basically dead with spotty barely afloat strip centers from the 80s and dilapidated buildings with a few regular homeless people camping out front on the other-side of the rail.  Hopefully that White Oak Development draws more attention to that otherwise forgotten portion of Main.

One of those buildings is talked about in the article, evidently they're putting more money into it and a coffee shop.

What gets me is in short bike-able distance maybe even walk-able ... Between

• The post office renovation into basically a mall
• UofH Downtown expansion
• Neighboring the Heights
• Future bikeable Neighbor to East River
• Easy to bike to Washington etc.
• Warehouse district under dev
• Future North canal with 3 planed walk-able connectors on the I-45 plan to DT
• Bike Path's everywhere
• Two local breweries
• Downtown is just right there

I seriously have to question the leadership of the Near North-side Development district... What the hell are they doing? This place should be an easy sell, even the crime data is about the same as everywhere else. It will be surrounded  by large development.

Constantly fumbling about with Hardy Yards I guess that Austin real-estate group that Houston dev pawned it off to is none too moved to get much going? Did Covid kill those Aggie Developer's complexes? Even still 2 bars and no movement on comercial... The most brilliant idea the executive director can come up with is 'well they need some washaterias' - oh-hell, really??? That's it? Thats your VISION.? They need some coin operated washingmachines stores? The neighborhood has-em thanks though...  Does she step out of Greens Point often enough to realize modern apartments come mostly with washing machines and dryers? I wonder about those Austin owners still, are they the ones holding out or they just can't sell it? It's been a decade now and just now seeing progress trickle in.

Maybe I'm just impatient... economic plan of the century 'we'll build some washaterias'

Dry cleaners, sorry. Still besides the point..

Edited January 6, 2021 by Two

[toxtethogrady]

1 hour ago, Two said:

It's too bad (depends on your view, its also more opportunity) that - for now - most everything past Hardy Yards and to White Oak Music is basically dead with spotty barely afloat strip centers from the 80s and dilapidated buildings with a few regular homeless people camping out front on the other-side of the rail.  Hopefully that White Oak Development draws more attention to that otherwise forgotten portion of Main

That says "infill development opportunity". Of course, it also says "more midrise blocks than you can stand..."

[Texasota]

You might be surprised just how many midrise blocks some of us can stand...

[Triton]

7 hours ago, Two said:

 

One of those buildings is talked about in the article, evidently they're putting more money into it and a coffee shop.

 

What coffee shop?

[Houston19514]

9 hours ago, Two said:

Relevant article:

https://www.bisnow.com/houston/news/neighborhood/houstons-near-northside-is-still-going-through-a-transition-107254

They aren't wrong when they say the bones of the near north are perfect for capitalizing on and making it into a much more dense livable, walk-able, commercial and residential environment.

It's too bad (depends on your view, its also more opportunity) that - for now - most everything past Hardy Yards and to White Oak Music is basically dead with spotty barely afloat strip centers from the 80s and dilapidated buildings with a few regular homeless people camping out front on the other-side of the rail.  Hopefully that White Oak Development draws more attention to that otherwise forgotten portion of Main.

One of those buildings is talked about in the article, evidently they're putting more money into it and a coffee shop.

What gets me is in short bike-able distance maybe even walk-able ... Between

• The post office renovation into basically a mall
• UofH Downtown expansion
• Neighboring the Heights
• Future bikeable Neighbor to East River
• Easy to bike to Washington etc.
• Warehouse district under dev
• Future North canal with 3 planed walk-able connectors on the I-45 plan to DT
• Bike Path's everywhere
• Two local breweries
• Downtown is just right there

I seriously have to question the leadership of the Near North-side Development district... What the hell are they doing? This place should be an easy sell, even the crime data is about the same as everywhere else. It will be surrounded  by large development.

Constantly fumbling about with Hardy Yards I guess that Austin real-estate group that Houston dev pawned it off to is none too moved to get much going? Did Covid kill those Aggie Developer's complexes? Even still 2 bars and no movement on comercial... The most brilliant idea the executive director can come up with is 'well they need some washaterias' - oh-hell, really??? That's it? Thats your VISION.? They need some coin operated washingmachines stores? The neighborhood has-em thanks though...  Does she step out of Greens Point often enough to realize modern apartments come mostly with washing machines and dryers? I wonder about those Austin owners still, are they the ones holding out or they just can't sell it? It's been a decade now and just now seeing progress trickle in.

Maybe I'm just impatient... economic plan of the century 'we'll build some washaterias'

FWIW, the linked article says nothing at all about the area needing washaterias.

[Two]

"One example is Houston-based retail developer Rain Hollow, which is working on a small-scale retail project at North Main and Quitman Street. The development involves the renovation of an existing building that already houses a long-term popsicle retail tenant, as well as the construction of a second building. Both will have upstairs private office space. In addition, the developer is converting two shipping containers into a coffee shop on the adjacent corner."

Where they talk about putting more money in the building and adding a coffee shop to some shipping containers adjacent to it.

[LBC2HTX]

Wife and I looked into buying in the near north side and couldn’t see us living anywhere outside of Lindale Park. The area has a LONG way to go which is crazy to me given all the development elsewhere inside the loop and its decades long proximity to the redline.

[Houston19514]

4 hours ago, LBC2HTX said:

Wife and I looked into buying in the near north side and couldn’t see us living anywhere outside of Lindale Park. The area has a LONG way to go which is crazy to me given all the development elsewhere inside the loop and its decades long proximity to the redline.

"decades long proximity to  the redline" is a bit of stretch, considering the original portion of the red-line (which almost but didn't quite brush up against the near north side) is not yet "decades" old.  The portion that serves the near north side has not even been operating for a single decade, let alone decades.

 

This is the time to buy.  Development in the near north side has been percolating along slowly-but-surely, and seems to be accelerating.

Edited January 6, 2021 by Houston19514

[Triton]

I live in Near Northside and I'm really glad I did 8 years ago. I see a lot of potential here. You have to realize the red line was just added a few years ago and I think what dramatically changed this area was not just WOMH but honestly the closure of the Salvation Army. Before that, there were all sorts of people walking the streets and it felt quite dangerous. I remember going to several superneighborhood meetings and business owners were constantly talking about people using the restrooms in their parking lots and on their shrubs. And you just don't see that as much anymore. I think you will see a dramatic change to this area in the next decade.

[hindesky]

Houston’s Near Northside Is Still Going Through A Transition

 

Most of Houston's inner-city neighborhoods have been transforming over the past two decades, the beneficiaries of investment dollars, revitalization projects and developer interest.

While other neighborhoods are further along, Near Northside is still transitioning. Though it sits immediately north of Downtown Houston’s grid of high-rise office buildings and commercial developments, the neighborhood has remained mostly residential in nature.

Near Northside has historically been defined by working-class homes, the Hardy Rail Yards and occasional pockets of commercial or industrial development. But as the pool of affordable land close to Downtown Houston continues to shrink and the district gears up a new business development strategy, Near Northside's evolution may start speeding up.

Near Northside emerged as a residential neighborhood during the 1880s and 1890s, when expansion of the nearby Hardy Rail Yards spurred housing development. About two-thirds of the neighborhood is still composed of wooden-frame, Victorian-era homes that once housed European immigrants drawn to work at the rail yards.

Much like the nearby Houston Heights, Near Northside declined after World War II, when the expansion of the road system led to residential development in Houston’s outer suburban areas and rail traffic began to decrease. Around the same time, the demographics of the area shifted from European to majority Hispanic, and it has remained that way for the last seven decades.

The neighborhood’s approximate geographic boundaries are Interstate 45 to the west, Frisco Street to the north, Elysian Street to the east and Burnett Street to the south, 4.3 square miles. The major commercial arteries of the neighborhood are North Main Street and Fulton Street.

Near Northside is one of several neighborhoods overseen by the Greater Northside Management District, which was created by the Texas Legislature in 2001 and began operating in 2006. Greater Northside Management District Executive Director Rebecca Reyna said that Near Northside has seen the majority of new development activity in the district, which also includes Independence Heights and Northline, owing to its proximity to Downtown Houston and the presence of the expanded METRORail red line. 

While the light rail’s 5.3-mile northern expansion has been beneficial, subsequent development has not occurred as fast as some observers had originally hoped. That may be partially due to the Great Recession of 2008 and 2009, according to Reyna. The project broke ground behind schedule and didn’t open to the public until December 2013. 

“I think a lot of people anticipated [development] would be sooner with a light rail,” Reyna said. “And I think it took a little longer for various reasons. But we are starting to see that.”

Near Northside is composed of smaller land parcels than some other neighborhoods, offering fewer large-scale commercial opportunities for developers. Many are family-owned residential properties and have been for generations, limiting the number of suitable sites that come onto the market, Reyna noted.

Despite the obstacles, developers have a good reason to give Near Northside a second look: The entire neighborhood is contained within an opportunity zone, providing tax benefits since 2017 to developers and investors who introduce new business and physical improvements into the area.

Chicago-based developer Marquette Cos. has chosen to do exactly that. The firm is developing an unnamed Class-A, 260-unit multifamily community at North Main and Boundary Street, close to White Oak Music Hall.

Marquette Cos. Director of Development and Acquisitions Chris Yuko said the location of the land tract within an opportunity zone was a big reason the company was able to purchase the land in 2020 when most investment activity had slowed to a halt.

“It was because of that program, and the need to deploy capital, that allowed us to get this project done in the middle of COVID,” Yuko said.

One of the most prominent redevelopment projects in the Near Northside area is Hardy Yards, formerly the location of the Hardy Rail Yards. The 43-acre site was acquired by Houston developer Avi Ron, who then sold the brownfield propertyto Austin-based Cypress Real Estate Advisors in 2005.

The first project at Hardy Yards came after Houston-based developer Zieben Group purchased nearly 5 acres from CREA in 2015. Zieben partnered with the city of Houston, Houston Housing Finance Corp. and Community Bank of Texas to build Residences at Hardy Yards, a Class-A, four-story, 350-unit mixed-income apartment community. That project was completed in 2018.

The second project underway at Hardy Yards is The Exchange, a 300-unit mixed-income housing project being developed by NRP Group in partnership with the Houston Housing Authority. The project is expected to complete this year.

Though Hardy Yards has secured two residential projects, the redevelopment site is still lacking in much-needed commercial activity. Reyna said the Greater Northside Management District has been in conversation with the city of Houston about how to change that.

“The dry cleaners, the coffee shop, the sort of small-scale retail, I think that's what has been needed in the neighborhood,” Reyna said.

The Greater Northside Management District is holding a public hearing on Jan. 8 to present its updated service plan for 2021-2030. Reyna told Bisnow the plan will include a proposal for building out a business development strategy to draw more commercial activity to the district, including Near Northside.

Yuko said he sees the availability and ease of transportation in and out of the neighborhood as a positive for the growth of commercial activity. He is optimistic that entertainment projects like White Oak Music Hall and new multifamily developments in the area will attract more businesses in the long run.

“I'm placing a big bet that the neighborhood is going to continue to develop well. You'll see more activity and more businesses moving in,” Yuko said.

Commercial developments in the Near Northside area tend to be smaller in scale, reflecting the residential character of the neighborhood. New development tends to occur along the North Main transit corridor to capture as much traffic as possible.

One example is Houston-based retail developer Rain Hollow, which is working on a small-scale retail project at North Main and Quitman Street. The development involves the renovation of an existing building that already houses a long-term popsicle retail tenant, as well as the construction of a second building. Both will have upstairs private office space. In addition, the developer is converting two shipping containers into a coffee shop on the adjacent corner.

Rain Hollow Director of Operations and Asset Manager Brett Huey said that on a micro-level, the company liked that the site is directly on the METRORail red line. On a broader level, Near Northside has proximity to Downtown Houston, access to major transit options and a local resident population that is proud of the neighborhood.

“We really think that the neighborhood's got the best potential to be a walkable, livable neighborhood in Houston, probably more so than anywhere else, just because of all the pieces that it already has in place that really haven't been capitalized on very well,” Huey said.

Near Northside has gained more attention from developers and businesses over the last 10 years, but there are still misconceptions that the neighborhood is less safe than other inner-city neighborhoods, according to Reyna.

There were 1,588 crime cases in Near Northside during 2019, according to Rice University’s Kinder Institute’s HCDC dashboard, which uses data from the Houston Police Department. The number of crime cases falls within the same range as Montrose, the Greater Heights, Washington/Memorial Park and Uptown Houston during the same year.

Reyna said there is also the perception that Near Northside doesn’t have much to offer in the way of dining or entertainment options. 

“I think there's almost [a] perception that there's not much here, that you can't get a variety, there's not a place to shop or anything,” Reyna said.

Fans of the area would disagree. Aside from long-standing businesses in the area, several new businesses have opened in the last few years, including White Oak Music Hall, The Raven Tower, Monkey’s Tail, Local Group Brewery and Canary Café. The hope is that other small businesses will choose to follow.

The other issue is that the neighborhood still has many areas that appear neglected or dilapidated. To that end, the Greater Northside Management District has been working on several capital improvement and urban design projects. 

Those include the Butterfly Pocket Park, pedestrian and bicycle transit improvements, colorful columns at the Crosstimbers and I-45 underpass and the Elysian Viaduct, and a variety of other street murals in the neighborhood.

Huey said larger developments like White Oak Music Hall and Hardy Yards remain on the fringes of Near Northside, but that nobody has really penetrated the interior of the neighborhood. As a developer who specializes in smaller retail projects, he is optimistic that more opportunities will appear in the neighborhood for his firm.

“We're hopeful that those have drawn enough interest in the area to cultivate a little more traffic toward the interior of the neighborhood, [so we can] really capitalize on some of these things,” Huey said.

Contact Christie Moffat at christie.moffat@bisnow.com

 

 

[LBC2HTX]

9 hours ago, Houston19514 said:

"decades long proximity to  the redline" is a bit of stretch, considering the original portion of the red-line (which almost but didn't quite brush up against the near north side) is not yet "decades" old. 

You’re right, but everyone’s known about the expansion since at least 2009 and not much has happened. It’s pretty obvious that the area will eventually turn around, and if I were an investor then I’d buy but LIVING there is out of the question at the moment. Perhaps if I were a bachelor I’d make it work.

[Texasota]

Uh, it's a little sleepy and scruffy-looking, but Near Northside is not a bad part of town at all. It wouldn't be my first choice of areas to live in, but that's because of a lack of close-in retail and restaurants (with a few notable exceptions). And house prices close to N Main are already surprisingly high.

[Two]

Two of the other sites adjacent to the two apartment buildings now have small "fences" around them. They've also dredged along the sidewalks. Looks like they're doing prelim work on the sites for construction.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Two

[Two]

Anyone know if this is the same Aggie group pushing forward or someone else? Can't seem to find any info.

[Two]

 They've flattened the fields today, other than the company sign of the people doing the prelim stuff didn't see any builder signs etc. of what they're doing.  

[Two]

They put up some of the paperwork. And real fencing. *for the east field, the neighboring field has a fence too but I didn't see any signs.

Edited January 27, 2021 by Two

[hindesky]

The both the eastern and western lots now have construction fencing up. Only the eastern lot has started civil work so far.

For Lease signs are up at the Exchange.

Western lot looks to have been mowed recently.

[Two]

Anybody by chance have access to drawings that have been submitted to the city? Or know what they're building here? (obviously probably just more apartments, but what the specifics are? )

Alliance is a huge developer so I haven't seen anything from their own media fronts about these projects.

[southerncrj]

1 hour ago, Two said:

Anybody by chance have access to drawings that have been submitted to the city? Or know what they're building here? (obviously probably just more apartments, but what the specifics are? )

Alliance is a huge developer so I haven't seen anything from their own media fronts about these projects.

Have not seen drawings, but it appears it is a 384-unit multi-family (source: https://www.berkadia.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Q2-2020-Houston-New-Construction-Maps-Final.pdf)

[hindesky]

[Two]

Hindesky, Does the overpass connect all the way yet? (maybe wrong thread, but while you're up there.. might as well ask )

Edited January 31, 2021 by Two

[hindesky]

4 minutes ago, Two said:

Hindesky, Does the overpass connect all the way yet? (maybe wrong thread, but while you're up there.. might as well ask )

No it doesn't, they have long concrete beams straddling the road on both ends but there is enough room for my bike to squeeze through the south end. The north side ones cover the whole road and one would have carry one's bike over them.

[j_cuevas713]

Will these developments have retail of some kind? I'm loving the density. 

[gmac]

Cheapest place at The Exchange is $1260 for a 530 sf studio.

Yikes. I thought there were supposed to be some affordable units in this complex, according to some info previously posted in this thread.

[hindesky]

2 hours ago, gmac said:

Cheapest place at The Exchange is $1260 for a 530 sf studio.

Yikes. I thought there were supposed to be some affordable units in this complex, according to some info previously posted in this thread.

I'm guessing that anyone wanting rent relief is going to have to ask about getting it and they don't want to post that price publicly and piss off a bunch of renters because only a small percentage -20% will be eligible.

[ttuchris]

$1260 is "Market/Asking Rate" like MSRP.  They are offering 1 month free which brings in down to $1,155 effective.  I would be surprised if they don't get more aggressive.  Downtown apartments regularly have 1-3 months free, look and lease bonuses, referral bonuses, etc.  2 months free would bring these down to $1,050.  

[gmac]

1 hour ago, hindesky said:

I'm guessing that anyone wanting rent relief is going to have to ask about getting it and they don't want to post that price publicly and piss off a bunch of renters because only a small percentage -20% will be eligible.

"The 300-unit complex, called the Exchange, will have 50 percent of its units reserved for renters making between 60 and 80 percent of the area median income (or as much as $42,750)"

This is the part that threw me. If 50% of the units are for lower-income renters, are those folks supposed to have some kind of secret signal that lets the complex know? I get what you're saying about not upsetting the other renters, but this is a bit secretive to me.