J.A.S.O.N. Posted December 23, 2009 Share Posted December 23, 2009 Jean Lafitte Hotel to become apartments By Rhiannon Meyers The Daily News Published December 22, 2009 GALVESTON — Owners of the historic Jean Lafitte Hotel in downtown Galveston plan to use federal dollars to renovate the rundown 82-year-old building into a mixed-income apartment complex with half the units set aside for low- and moderate-income tenants... http://galvestondailynews.com/story.lasso?ewcd=4689525a18c388e2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.S.O.N. Posted December 24, 2009 Author Share Posted December 24, 2009 Reminds me a lot of this building in downtown Houston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lockmat Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 is that a hotel? what's it called? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sevfiv Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 The Lancaster Hotel (1926, Joseph Finger), originally the Auditorium Hotel and built for Michele DeGeorge (of DeGeorge and other hotels, I believe).http://www.thelancasterhouston.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plumber2 Posted December 24, 2009 Share Posted December 24, 2009 Who would want to rent the other apartments that are not subsidized? I don't see this as a workable solution. Either make all of the units subsidized or not. Why does the use of federal dollars dictate that part of the units be subsidized housing? You can't force cats and dogs to lie down together.Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving this old building. I just don't get the need for subsidized apartments in downtown Galveston.Trivia Note: This former hotel was once part of the Moody family's "National Hotel Company". Conrad Hilton once told reporters that Shearn Moody was one of his most formidable competitors. Too bad Shearn died at a young age. His wife, father and aunt continued to operate several hotels around the country, (now called Galtex Corp.), but never took on the Hilton's again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.S.O.N. Posted December 25, 2009 Author Share Posted December 25, 2009 Who would want to rent the other apartments that are not subsidized? I don't see this as a workable solution. Either make all of the units subsidized or not. Why does the use of federal dollars dictate that part of the units be subsidized housing? You can't force cats and dogs to lie down together.Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving this old building. I just don't get the need for subsidized apartments in downtown Galveston.Trivia Note: This former hotel was once part of the Moody family's "National Hotel Company". Conrad Hilton once told reporters that Shearn Moody was one of his most formidable competitors. Too bad Shearn died at a young age. His wife, father and aunt continued to operate several hotels around the country, (now called Galtex Corp.), but never took on the Hilton's again.I don't understand why the rich should be the only ones allowed to live/play downtown, because currently that's all that resides downtown in those nice lofts. I do agree in that I don't know how the have and have nots will be able to coexist in the same tenement. We'll see. I'm just glad something nice is being done with this historic building. It will also give downtown Galveston a little bustle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNiche Posted December 29, 2009 Share Posted December 29, 2009 Who would want to rent the other apartments that are not subsidized? I don't see this as a workable solution. Either make all of the units subsidized or not. Why does the use of federal dollars dictate that part of the units be subsidized housing? You can't force cats and dogs to lie down together.Combining subsidized and market-rate units happens all the time in Tax Credit projects and sometimes with Section 8 housing. The operating theory is that having a more diverse tenant base prevents social stratification to the extent that poor populations become insular communities that are incapable of successfully interacting beyond a very limited set of subcultures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lwood Posted December 30, 2009 Share Posted December 30, 2009 I don't understand why the rich should be the only ones allowed to live/play downtown, because currently that's all that resides downtown in those nice lofts. I do agree in that I don't know how the have and have nots will be able to coexist in the same tenement. We'll see. I'm just glad something nice is being done with this historic building. It will also give downtown Galveston a little bustle.If you own property, you want the biggest return on investment. Capitalism. Suppose your home had a garage apartment. Will you lease it to someone willing to pay $600 per month or will you lease it to someone that can pay only $200 per month. When it's your property you will look at it differently. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
J.A.S.O.N. Posted December 30, 2009 Author Share Posted December 30, 2009 (If you own property, you want the biggest return on investment. Capitalism. Suppose your home had a garage apartment. Will you lease it to someone willing to pay $600 per month or will you lease it to someone that can pay only $200 per month. When it's your property you will look at it differently.I don't object to the rich living downtown, or those who profit from them, my gripe is that they shouldn't be the only ones allowed to do so. Itex Property Managment, who willingly invest in mixed income ventures should be allowed to turn a profit also. Not to mention, they are turning an eyesore of a building downtown, (whom no one would invest for decades) into something special. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick ניק Posted February 8, 2010 Share Posted February 8, 2010 Who would want to rent the other apartments that are not subsidized? I don't see this as a workable solution. Either make all of the units subsidized or not. Why does the use of federal dollars dictate that part of the units be subsidized housing? You can't force cats and dogs to lie down together.Don't get me wrong, I'm all for saving this old building. I just don't get the need for subsidized apartments in downtown Galveston.Trivia Note: This former hotel was once part of the Moody family's "National Hotel Company". Conrad Hilton once told reporters that Shearn Moody was one of his most formidable competitors. Too bad Shearn died at a young age. His wife, father and aunt continued to operate several hotels around the country, (now called Galtex Corp.), but never took on the Hilton's again.Rental rates downtown are sky high, and most of the newly renovated buildings sit empty -- their units controlled by distant owners who were convinced to buy them as an "investment". The problem lies in the fact that the market has not been able to support the rental rates, and probably never will. A renovated loft in Galveston will never be able to garner the same price as a similarly renovated loft in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Even if gambling returned or Galveston turned into the top-rated tourist destination on the Gulf, there are not enough upscale retail establishments or white-collar jobs available for those who might want to pay $2,000+/month for a 900sqft loft. Galveston is just close enough to Houston that its in a "microclimate" where the traditional thoughts on market economics do not always apply; e.g. Its not close enough to support a large population of people commuting to high-paying Houston jobs, but its not far enough away from Houston so that its economy can be more independent & not so affected by the larger city's economics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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