Drewery Place: Multifamily High-Rise At 2850 Fannin St.

[TheSirDingle]

Just now, H-Town Man said:

Does Biv really know something or is he just regurgitating old information?

 

Your guess is as good as mine. This whole development has been a rollercoaster of mystery.

[EllenOlenska]

Maybe an enigma. A mystery wrapped in a riddle. 

[SMU1213]

On 5/7/2021 at 4:08 PM, H-Town Man said:

Their rents are probably low due to the pandemic and will go up afterwards, if it ever ends. 

 

Yes, but they are significantly lower than most of the other highrises that are going through the same pandemic. 

[H-Town Man]

9 minutes ago, SMU1213 said:

Yes, but they are significantly lower than most of the other highrises that are going through the same pandemic. 

This may be due to their being on the "frontier" in Midtown, east of Main and north of most of the other new multi-family development there. But they have pushed the frontier outwards, benefitting other buildings like the Travis.

 

[Houston19514]

On 5/7/2021 at 11:02 AM, SMU1213 said:

I would actually argue that they made it harder for future highrise development in Midtown because The Drewery's rents are so low. Their effective rents are low enough that developers would struggle to make a podium development underwrite, much less a high rise. Also, they haven't been able to get past 65% occupied even with their low rents. 

The Travis is a much better story for Midtown.

Judging by the available units shown on their website, it looks like they are at least 75% occupied.

The Travis appears to be only about 62.5% occupied.

[SMU1213]

1 hour ago, Houston19514 said:

Judging by the available units shown on their website, it looks like they are at least 75% occupied.

The Travis appears to be only about 62.5% occupied.

Axiometrics has them at 53% occupied and The Travis at 41% occupied.

ApartmentData has them at 53% occupied and the Travis at 39% occupied. Based on what I can tell from the occupancy schedule on the website, Drewery opended in July '19 and The Travis opened in April '20. 

 

For comparison, Apartment Data has The Driscoll and Colombe D'or both opened in August '20 and are 60% occupied 45% occupied respectively. 

 

Edited May 10, 2021 by SMU1213

[MarathonMan]

5 hours ago, SMU1213 said:

ApartmentData has them at 53% occupied and the Travis at 39% occupied. Based on what I can tell from the occupancy schedule on the website, Drewery opended in July '19 and The Travis opened in April '20. 

For comparison, Apartment Data has The Driscoll and Colombe D'or both opened in August '20 and are 60% occupied 45% occupied respectively. 

 

Drewery Place and The Travis are obviously struggling relative to comparable properties in other neighborhoods.  Do you think it’s a marketing failure or is Midtown just less desirable?  I can’t help but think it’s a Midtown problem.  I wonder if the recent surge in crime/shootings, the Greyhound Depot dilemma and the sheer volume of homeless people have many steering clear of Midtown altogether.  

[cspwal]

It could also be coupled with work from home meaning fewer downtown workers feeling a need to live down there

[thatguysly]

10 hours ago, MarathonMan said:

Drewery Place and The Travis are obviously struggling relative to comparable properties in other neighborhoods.  Do you think it’s a marketing failure or is Midtown just less desirable?  I can’t help but think it’s a Midtown problem.  I wonder if the recent surge in crime/shootings, the Greyhound Depot dilemma and the sheer volume of homeless people have many steering clear of Midtown altogether.  

I just don't know as many people that want to live there compared to say Montrose, Rice Military, the Heights, Lower Heights, or EaDo. There just isn't anything to Midtown other than location. Places like EaDo, Montrose, and the Heights have a culture and vibe. It seems like Midtown has just existed and had some bars that were popular at one point. 

[Montrose1100]

38 minutes ago, thatguysly said:

I just don't know as many people that want to live there compared to say Montrose, Rice Military, the Heights, Lower Heights, or EaDo. There just isn't anything to Midtown other than location. Places like EaDo, Montrose, and the Heights have a culture and vibe. It seems like Midtown has just existed and had some bars that were popular at one point. 

What? Midtown is the place to be if you're a single 20-something. Midtown also has a ton of convenient things. Places like EaDo/East End doesn't - such as dentists, doctors offices, dermatology, Whole Foods, Randall's, multiple yoga studios, diverse and wide selection of restaurants & bars, gyms out the wazoo, close parks, Barbers, hair salons, banks, pharmacies, you know, the things people usually need in a neighborhood.

[samagon]

midtown doesn't offer a lot of anything during a pandemic. it'll probably take a hot minute for people to warm up to the idea of being out and about again. once they do, then they'll warm up to staying near the nightlife again.

[texan]

4 hours ago, Montrose1100 said:

What? Midtown is the place to be if you're a single 20-something. Midtown also has a ton of convenient things. Places like EaDo/East End doesn't - such as dentists, doctors offices, dermatology, Whole Foods, Randall's, multiple yoga studios, diverse and wide selection of restaurants & bars, gyms out the wazoo, close parks, Barbers, hair salons, banks, pharmacies, you know, the things people usually need in a neighborhood.

As someone in the stated age group, that isn't the perception anymore. A year ago it was but now it's seen as pretty crime ridden. A friend that lives there won't even walk at night anywhere due to safety which neutralizes the walkability aspect of it. The Heights, Montrose, and Washington Ave area are seen as more desirable now. I'm really hoping the Ion and ancillary developments change that though.

[JBTX]

5 hours ago, Montrose1100 said:

What? Midtown is the place to be if you're a single 20-something. Midtown also has a ton of convenient things. Places like EaDo/East End doesn't - such as dentists, doctors offices, dermatology, Whole Foods, Randall's, multiple yoga studios, diverse and wide selection of restaurants & bars, gyms out the wazoo, close parks, Barbers, hair salons, banks, pharmacies, you know, the things people usually need in a neighborhood.

I live in East End and within a 5-10 min walk I have: gyms, dentist office, pharmacy, optometrist, a bunch of different bars restaurants (with more coming), two (or three, depending on how you count the Bayou Trail) parks, a drive-in theatre, and a barcade. Not sure what else is missing.

And unlike the Drewery, no homicides!

[X.R.]

1 hour ago, texan said:

As someone in the stated age group, that isn't the perception anymore. A year ago it was but now it's seen as pretty crime ridden. A friend that lives there won't even walk at night anywhere due to safety which neutralizes the walkability aspect of it. The Heights, Montrose, and Washington Ave area are seen as more desirable now. I'm really hoping the Ion and ancillary developments change that though.

The issue with relying on Ion and the subsequent developments is while its great for the area, its so far south that its almost the Museum District. A lot of what people referring to is now moreso north, basically the blocks getting close to downtown.

Its funny, the Eastern, Western, and Southern parts of Midtown are coming along nicely, its the central and northern portions that need a little help. Theres quite a bit of foot traffic around the Gen/Artisans/Beer Market/Wholefoods area of Midtown even with the Pandemic. Just need to figure out whats happening there that isn't happening around the Drewery and such. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by X.R.

[Two]

Midtown was doing much better towards the end of Parkers admin with bums at an all time low ( then it was seen as one of the up and coming places to be for people like me, not now) . It's 100% the greyhound issue. They are all over that corridor thanks to redline and metro never enforcing ticketing. 

It had a flash of popularity at that point that carried into right before Covid just as the bums began to peak again... And then the population of homeless exploded and because midtown has all the churches, transport and infrastructure for them that's where they stay. 

No one wants to live on that end of midtown. Theres literally perhaps a dozen or so homeless people doing all manner of crazy stuff on every block up and down main and a lot of Fannin too.

Polite people won't say it, but when you have similar options popping up in every other direction with significantly less bum density and already happening places, why bet on midtown? 

 

I think the long arch of midtown is a good bet, but that Grey hound is an albatross. Covid magnified that problem, one it took Parker years and years to fix. Activity there will pick up again. Slowly. 

Edited May 11, 2021 by Two

[BeerNut]

Proximity to the bus stop doesn't help.  Also better/more programming at Midtown Park would liven up the area around there.   

South of Elgin is easier to pop into several different places as opposed to areas North(except around Gray/Bagby).  The rest of Midtown is just a few worthwhile places in a strip center or block surrounded by uninviting streetscape.   

[thatguysly]

I guess I never wanted to live in Midtown. It does have some fun bars and a ton of townhomes. I just never rated it the same as other parts of the Loop.

[H-Town Man]

Now is a good time to point out that what could have been a great amenity and focus point for Midtown, a park encompassing the entire Superblock, was doomed by Camden owning a portion of the block and refusing to sell, and doomed further when they built their project in the middle of the block instead of taking the offered land swap, cutting the envisioned park into two pieces. Of course they didn't *have* to do either of these things, but they could have benefitted all of Midtown (including their own holdings there) with a little more vision.

 

[samagon]

19 hours ago, texan said:

As someone in the stated age group, that isn't the perception anymore. A year ago it was but now it's seen as pretty crime ridden. A friend that lives there won't even walk at night anywhere due to safety which neutralizes the walkability aspect of it. The Heights, Montrose, and Washington Ave area are seen as more desirable now. I'm really hoping the Ion and ancillary developments change that though.

crime is up everywhere in the city, the recently resigned police chief blamed the current judge, others blame the recently resigned police chief.

some of it might be people being more desperate over the past year.

I guess we'll see if there's any change as things move forward.

I do agree with the overall sentiment, midtown has a lot of potential, and a lot of pockets of really cool things, but overall, it's not there yet, and has taken a step in the wrong direction.

Edited May 12, 2021 by samagon

[H-Town Man]

7 hours ago, samagon said:

crime is up everywhere in the city, the recently resigned police chief blamed the current judge, others blame the recently resigned police chief.

some of it might be people being more desperate over the past year.

I guess we'll see if there's any change as things move forward.

I do agree with the overall sentiment, midtown has a lot of potential, and a lot of pockets of really cool things, but overall, it's not there yet, and has taken a step in the wrong direction.

We're seeing a slow undoing, on a national basis, of the longterm decrease in urban crime which lasted roughly from 1990 to 2014. The nadir was 2014 and it was a gentle curve upward at first, but increased more rapidly over the past year. Here is an article:

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/03/is-americas-great-crime-decline-over/618381/

This doesn't bode well for urban living in general, which flourished during the decline in crime, or Midtown in particular, which has been a pretty challenging neighborhood to remake into an urban paradise, although there has been some success. Those brave developers who pushed east across Houston's historic fault lines may be in for a tough time if the city's population starts retreating west.

 

[kennyc05]

Damm this thread has been negative for the past couple of days 😐😐😐

[urbanize713]

11 hours ago, kennyc05 said:

Damm this thread has been negative for the past couple of days 😐😐😐

Quite the negative spiral. Went from the developer, to the building, to midtown, to the general state of society. 

[H-Town Man]

It's a bankrupt development, the first real failure we've seen after ten years of success stories. What do y'all want to discuss? 

 

[Montrose1100]

Guess I better sell my house before property values tank and head to the burbs. At least I'll get a pool? /s

There are serious issues the city and communities need to address - crime, homelessness, and infrastructure. Guess we can include flooding in the last one.

Anyways, it sucks we won't see what was planned come to life but we got one tower out of it. 

[mattyt36]

31 minutes ago, H-Town Man said:

It's a bankrupt development, the first real failure we've seen after ten years of success stories. What do y'all want to discuss? 

 

Crime, evidently

[kennyc05]

I'm done with this thread for the day.

[Response]

Puddle's Pity Party.

 

 

[Urbannizer]

Listing confirms Caydon has abandoned Houston.

https://res.cloudinary.com/jll-global-cmg/image/upload/v1621883691/IC/Img/Original/d8e8aya8h89skoblbyhe.pdf

Fitzroy Residences no longer exists on their website so no Phase II.

[hindesky]

2 hours ago, Urbannizer said:

Listing confirms Caydon has abandoned Houston.

https://res.cloudinary.com/jll-global-cmg/image/upload/v1623764751/IC/Img/Original/mur9oi37aiathvkkbs0j.pdf

 

Fitzroy Residences no longer exists on their website so no Phase II.

Isn't that The Mix site?

[Urbannizer]

15 minutes ago, hindesky said:

Isn't that The Mix site?

Fixed the link.