Lofts At The Ballpark Apartments At 610 St. Emanuel St.

[skwatra]

my girlfriend just moved down here and is looking to move downtown. i've been around for a few years, but living in clear lake i don't know anything about downtown other then the entertainment side of things.

she found this site for apartments downtown, some of the listings look too good to be true.

looking at these two, i'm wondering where they are, don't recognize the pics at all:

1-1 luxury downtown loft

historic downtown high rise

before we waste our time on the phone and a day with an apartment locator, i figured someone here may be able to provide some insight. is this site legit?

she's not looking to buy since she's not staying here for long. she works at beltway 8 and 290, but wants to live in downtown or uptown/galleria area. uptown probably makes more sense for her.

[Houston19514]

The first one is the Lofts at the Ballpark. The second one is the Humble Building Apartments (in the same complex as the Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn Hotels)

[Trophy Property]

The first one is the Lofts at the Ballpark.  The second one is the Humble Building Apartments (in the same complex as the Courtyard by Marriott and Residence Inn Hotels)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Be very wary of the Lofts at the Ballpark. I heard the train noise is horrible at all hours of the night.

[skwatra]

Be very wary of the Lofts at the Ballpark.  I heard the train noise is horrible at all hours of the night.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

thanks, any tips are appreciated.

i know you guys mostly talk about buying, never hear much about renting...

[travelguy_73]

Check out Alexan (Tramell Crow) and Rice (Post properties) as well. Lots of rent specials out there so if it seems overpriced, there is something else right around the corner.

[kjb434]

Very True. Many people in the luxury rental market are switching to buy a townhome or loft space. The rental units are left for people just like your girlfriend: a shorterm stay business person. She should have lots of choices.

[ToolMan]

I live at the Hogg Palace downtown. My rent is just under $1000 and the place is very quiet. You may also like Midtown...lot of places to rent in Midtown.

My only complaint of living downtown is it's too easy to spend money. I get bored go to a bar, meet some friends I just met downtown, and before you know it you I spent $50.00. That adds up 3 after 3 times a week.

[ApartmentWizard]

Hello,

I actually founded ApartmentWiz.comand I can say that the site and the prices are legit. We have a research team that gathers live pricing on all apartments/lofts/high rises in Houston and then we post them on the Deal Board .

We specialize in the loft/high rise/Downtown/ Midtown market and typically get better pricing than just someone coming off the street--we get bulk pricing if you will since we place so many people at these properties.

The service is FREE to the client and the properties pay us out of their ad budget. As I mentioned before this does not increase your rent, we actually get lower prices.

Just give us the Deal numbers you are itnerested in and we will e-mail you the names, addresses, floor plans, etc.

Thanks and please do not hesitate to call me (Phil Silberman) on my cell at 713-208-7015 or at my office 713-688-5585 if you have any questions.

[skwatra]

My only complaint of living downtown is it's too easy to spend money.  I get bored go to a bar, meet some friends I just met downtown, and before you know it you I spent $50.00.  That adds up 3 after 3 times a week.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

my girlfriend just came from manhattan, so that shouldn't be a problem. going out there for one drink can be close to $10, so she can handle our happy hours.

thanks for all the info everyone.

[musicman]

I live at the Hogg Palace downtown.  My rent is just under $1000 and the place is very quiet.  You may also like Midtown...lot of places to rent in Midtown.

My only complaint of living downtown is it's too easy to spend money.  I get bored go to a bar, meet some friends I just met downtown, and before you know it you I spent $50.00.  That adds up 3 after 3 times a week.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Go to Warren's Inn on Travis....drinks are quality and relatively cheap. I promise that if you spend $50, you won't remember spending it

[Trophy Property]

I live at the Hogg Palace downtown.  My rent is just under $1000 and the place is very quiet.  You may also like Midtown...lot of places to rent in Midtown.

My only complaint of living downtown is it's too easy to spend money.  I get bored go to a bar, meet some friends I just met downtown, and before you know it you I spent $50.00.  That adds up 3 after 3 times a week.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

$50 for a night of drinking is awesome. I am lucky to get out for under $100. If I am really partying make that $200.

Or at least that is the way I used to be. I am now just a homely guy.

Sorry this had nothing to do with the topic at hand.

[ToolMan]

Yes, Warrens is great. I try to stick with the beer because things will get out of hand if I have a mixed drink.

By the way Post Lofts at Midtown are nice. Sabine Street is nice but there is not much activity next to the place.

[kjb434]

That why i'm happy i'm gay and only have to pay $1 to $2 for most well drinks.

I can't phathom paying $5 a drink.

[ssullivan]

That why i'm happy i'm gay and only have to pay $1 to $2 for most well drinks.

I can't phathom paying $5 a drink.

Depends on which bar you're going to. I typically pay $5-7 a drink at Meteor, less at JR's.

And in typing this I just realized I haven't been to a bar that wasn't in a restaurant or hotel in months! Oh I'm so glad I'll soon have a salary and be able to afford to go out and have fun again.

[kjb434]

I usually avoid meteor unless some friends absolutely want to go. I find the crowd there a little stuck on themselves in my opinion.

And they were going broke until Mr Allen bought the place. Now he owns all the gay bars. I think he'll change the format of meteor a little bit, or at least the prices.

I like JR's. O was ok, but it is going to change now it was closed. I have friends that will go to 611 or the Mine just see the crazy crowd that goes there. Being in a relationship for about 3 years now, going out is usually a Sunday afternoon and early evening thing. Staying out late is rare unless a bunch of friends are going or we really want to go dancing.

We also made some good friendships with some of the bartenders so they can reduce our tabs if we tip well. They also make out drinks stronger.

[volvo99]

before we waste our time on the phone and a day with an apartment locator, i figured someone here may be able to provide some insight. is this site legit?

she's not looking to buy since she's not staying here for long. she works at beltway 8 and 290, but wants to live in downtown or uptown/galleria area. uptown probably makes more sense for her.

As an apartment locator, the service we offer actually saves you the time you consider so precious. My computerised directory and experience in the market allows you to peruse offerings at your leisure, ensuring that you will know exactly what you will be looking at when you walk out the door on the way to view a property.

haroldaranda@finditaptloc.com

[Subdude]

Since the redevelopment of the Rice Lofts, ideas for a number of new downtown residential highrise proposals have been floated: Ar

[kjb434]

I think east Downtown will be the place you'll see residential be built.

Right now, it seems that highrise residential construction is destined to fall between downtown and uptown and in uptown itself.

Look at 3333 Allen Parkway and the Orion. Bayou Bend is a rental complex that is fairly noticeable in height.

Proposals for projects along Kirby north of US 59 have been presented. One discussed on this forum. The other is more speculative. It would be placed on the River Oaks Fitness completed just south of Westheimer west of Kirby (behind Jalepenos).

Also, Dunlavy at West Alabama has plans for another highrise. I think the region between downtown and uptown becomes more marketable because you have two large work centers on each side and the Medical Center is not far away either.

Also, I think many more midrises will be developed before high-rises. We've already are seeing a trend in this.

As realtors say, "location, location, location."

[The Great Hizzy!]

If there is going to be new residential development downtown, maybe the way to go would be to build smaller inexpensive rental complexes like those in Midtown, but even those might not work if downtown land prices are too high. Maybe downtown is just destined not to have a large residential base. Any thoughts?

I don't think high dollar condos will work for the reasons you outlined in the first part of your post, Subdude: downtown still has more of a rough around the edges feel to it when you consider the viewpoint of the Orion Tower-buying crowd. What I think you would more need are condo towers that are more moderately priced (with lots of units per structure) and that would cater to the single, urban-minded young professional.

Midtown, however, offers a serious challenge because you can basically be 5-10 minutes away from anything downtown and still pay only a fraction for what you might pay for a similarly designed unit in downtown.

It might just pay to push for the renovation of other unused structures like the West Bldg or the old Houston Savoy before pushing forward with from-the-ground-up structures, especially if we're talking purchase units instead of rental.

[texasboy]

Since the redevelopment of the Rice Lofts, ideas for a number of new downtown residential highrise proposals have been floated:  Ar

[brijonmang]

I get more excited when I hear more 6-10 story buildings being built rather than a 600 footer.

[RedScare]

I fail to see what zoning/no zoning had to do with your argument. If Houston had zoning, are you suggesting that Downtown would be zoned highrise? midrise? lowrise? residential?

Most posters here don't seem to understand what zoning is, what zoning does, and what it prohibits. Houston has moved toward de facto zoning for years, but with ordinances instead of a zoning commission. Those variance requests you see all around are requesting variances from city ordinances dictating what and how building can occur on a lot. The "prevailing lot line" ordinance in the Heights is a zoning ordinance prohibiting the splitting of lots in order to put up 25 foot wide townhomes.

All zoning does is create a zoning commission with the power to do what city council already does now. And worse, zoning commissions are appointed by the politicians, and not answerable to the citizens.

Can anyone on this board point to 2 or 3 specific projects that are a detriment to the neighborhood, that a zoning commission would, in all likelihood, have disallowed?

[KinkaidAlum]

I'd argue that placing a dental clinic in the middle of a residential block (single family homes) on Bartlett Street in Boulevard Oaks is a bad idea. With zoning, this would never occur.

I'd argue that a lack of tight regulations has destroyed much of the character in what most consider "Montrose." Front porches and street life have been replaced by gated enclaves and garages that face the street.

I'd argue that much of what we destroyed in downtown and midtown (look at historic photos to see what we have lost) may have been prohibited with zoning. At the very least, we wouldn't have allowed as many tear downs for pie in the sky speculative development that's given us 30 plus years of surface parking lots.

I'd argue that a zoning board would have prohibited CVS from building a drive-thru pharmacy with a building setback far from the street in the heart of midtown, literally across the street from the Post project.

I'd imagine a zoning board could possibly slow down the rampant strip malling all over Houston or at least require that parking be placed in the rear of buildings.

I'd imagine that zoning could require all new development over a certain size to have either underground parking or a parking garage to cut down on surface lots.

I'd imagine that a zoning board could protect historic neighborhoods like Riverside Terrace from the tin townhome developer.

[texasboy]

^^^ School ya boys. Some discussions can be quite interesting when we have forumers like yourself that are educated on this issue. Let me guess, you use to not live in Houston.

[N Judah]

The current setback rule was the reason for the stupid CVS parking lot -- in other words, the presence of regulation, not the absence of it, was the problem in that case.

Strip malls are everywhere, even in zoned cities, believe me. So are ugly buildings. Same for garages that face the street. An absence of street life is a problem in most American cities, and there are lots of zoned downtowns that aren't as lively as our Main St.

[RedScare]

I'd argue that placing a dental clinic in the middle of a residential block (single family homes) on Bartlett Street in Boulevard Oaks is a bad idea. With zoning, this would never occur.

I'd argue that a lack of tight regulations has destroyed much of the character in what most consider "Montrose." Front porches and street life have been replaced by gated enclaves and garages that face the street.

I'd argue that much of what we destroyed in downtown and midtown (look at historic photos to see what we have lost) may have been prohibited with zoning. At the very least, we wouldn't have allowed as many tear downs for pie in the sky speculative development that's given us 30 plus years of surface parking lots.

I'd argue that a zoning board would have prohibited CVS from building a drive-thru pharmacy with a building setback far from the street in the heart of midtown, literally across the street from the Post project.

I'd imagine a zoning board could possibly slow down the rampant strip malling all over Houston or at least require that parking be placed in the rear of buildings.

I'd imagine that zoning could require all new development over a certain size to have either underground parking or a parking garage to cut down on surface lots.

I'd imagine that a zoning board could protect historic neighborhoods like Riverside Terrace from the tin townhome developer.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

1. Taking these one at a time. 2304 Bartlett is actually a Greenbriar corner lot, not middle of the block. Greenbriar, heading south from 59, has strip centers, westpark (soon to be light rail), office buildings, apartments and, best of all, a SHURGARD Mini Storage! The Dentist office is one block south of the mini storage. Given that Greenbriar is a major thoroughfare with Shepherd, Zoning may have zoned the lots adjacent to Greenbriar commercial. Further, a variance may be granted. So, this is not a sure thing, by any means, even though the neighbors are upset.

2. Zoning does not legislate taste. The city could create a special district, with architectural requirements, but Houston can do this without zoning.

3. Zoning regulates what can be built, not what can be torn down.

4. See above post. Current restrictions dictated that design. CVS, however, could have asked for a variance to that restriction.

5. Zoning is a master document, that may then be tailored to meet the needs of the city. If it is zoned commercial, nothing stops how fast the strip malls are built. Dallas and Ft. Worth, both zoned, have just as many strip malls as Houston.

6. Houston has fairly strict parking requirements for new construction, similar to a zoning ordinance. These force developers to ADD parking, which is very expensive. A zoning law would do the same thing.

7. See #2.

All of these situations can either not be eliminated, or can be controlled with a city ordinance. The only thing missing is the commission and the "Master Plan". While I am not opposed to zoning per se, zoning is not the magic wand it is purported to be.

[kjb434]

I agree Redscare. People always talk about how Houston is the largest city without zoning. We have zoning, just not in the way most cities have it. We're just organized a little differently. Zoning does nothing for the architectual fabric of neighborhoods differently than our planning commision. And, our planning commision has more power to stall development.

[slfunk]

A city ordiance and zoning are two things that are different with a few similarities. Zoning is a way of preparing for development in the future. Looking at Dallas (only because I live here and work as an architect here) there are rules that have been set up by neighborhoods in cooperation with city government to regulate how things are developed. It is not a bad thing at all, if anything it promotes quality developments that build on context so that we do not have an industrail building producing lots of waste, truck noises etc. right next to a residential building. What we are experiencing here is a reniassance of sorts within the City of Dallas and some the inner suburbs. Meaning a lot of cities are revisiting those zoning laws, height restrictions, so forth to ensure that the city can continue to grow and now has become directed more towards urban development. And with areas zoned differently we are seeing more concentrated develoments as land for certain permitted issues gets swallowed up. The suburbs and cities know they are having to compete with one another here, while cities like Frisco are just in their infancy. In Dallas they are calling it the "New Comprehensive Plan." What they are doing is looking at the history of all the neighborhoods, what economic impacts could be, what areas need to remain single family housing, consulting with the Urban Land Institure and an internationally renowned urban planner out of Portland, visiting with neighborhood associations...etc. to what zoning needs to be put in place for the future. Now in Houston may be this done by city oridances. Which can be rather confussing especially after working on projects all around the country. Because in my vocabulary a city ordanice is something like "no smoking in restuarants" or "no fireworks on the forth of July" or "trash pick up on tuesday and Friday" etc. But each place is different in how they like to use words. What we are finding here is a lot of positives coming out of the zoning (of course there are some negatives), but it is something that can easily be changed or have variances put in placed by the applicant. There is separate planning and zoning commision in just about every city depending on its size.

Some of what we are seeing is zoning puts into to place a stability of a neighborhood for what it is and what it will be in the future. With all the residential towers going up in Dallas (as of Uptown, Downtown, Turtle Creek, and Victory) developers are keeping within the limits of what is allowed by the zoning of that area. Land prices tend to go up when the land zoned for that particular area becomes limited, and the newer projects that come online seem to be more and more creative because the developer is looking for ways to ensure its profitability and sustainability in that neighborhood. This can be attained through other measures, possibility by city ordiances, but I am little puzzled. Puzzled because zoning typically concentrates on the area while a city ordiance pertains to the whole city. Zoning also tells developers/builders what is allowed in particular area in so that court costs are limited. Court costs would come from going for a variance or the neighborhood gettin in a tif because the new project is not what has been traditionally built in that neighborhood causing people to want to stop it. With the proper zoning the varanices are very limited if the building type is allowed the case would never go for a variance or to court (ideally, I've had personal experience with this one in uptown).

Case in point. The Arts District here. Just a month or so ago the city of Dallas after months of talks just passed new zoning for the arts district. They have struck up a deal that limits surface parking to basically none allowed for new building. The parking garages must match the fascade of the building as far as materials and language, certain amount of setbacks as the building rises, the amount of landscaping required etc. etc. Unless you get into some over controlling cities like Santa Fe or one in CA zoning is not going to go as far as "you have to have arches, or your building has to be this color, or you have to use brick" that is typically left up to a developer's planned development or a controlling neighborhood association. I'm not saying it does not happen but it is far removed from being the norm. What has happened over the past year (and this was just written up in the Dallas Morning News) is that land prices have jumped from 40/sq ft to almost 100/sq ft in the surrounding areas of the Arts District because Uptown is almost completely built out and the demand is increasing more and more for urban residential. The place that is the most flexible is across the freeway in the CBD. I can kind of see how an ordiance could address this. But again oridances typically deal with city issues while zoning deals with development issues.

It is absoulutely possible that because something is zoned commericial a strip mall can be built. Zoning can, and in the Arts District, does say "no" to that type of development. We have project here in uptown across the street from the Crescent and diagonally from the new Ritz where the developer is building a surban type strip center. But to get the parking and meet the landscaping requirments they have had to build an underground parking garage. Also the developer is now scurring around trying to find a co-developer to build low-midrise condos on the remaining land probably to offset the taxes on that land since prices of land have more then doubled in the past few years in Uptown. Also, where as, a strip center can go up in 6-8 months this one is taking well over a year to build because they have had to look at a much more sustainable design. Where as most of the strip centers can and do have a life span tacked on before its demolished.