UNITi Montrose: 9-Story Apartments At 701 Richmond Ave.

[hindesky]

Went by 3 hours later to see the progress.

[hindesky]

[strickn]

On 1/25/2021 at 5:19 PM, Avossos said:

They could have built a great building on the 2 lots and not had to tear anything down. I cannot stand demolition for the sake of vanity.

The 2020 design by Meeks and Partners had a lot more light and air, including short skywalks above the garage/pool deck joining separate midrise floorplans.  
 

But by the time HAIF saw EDI architects had value engineered it, in June 2021, it was the normal doughnut that we see now.
 

ICYMI the draw for landlords to build something like this is that even with lower sticker prices, they still have higher cashflow per square foot.  To maximize that, once light and air were no longer priorities, and cheapen the garage floor plate cost per garage space, it would no longer have worked as well without tearing out the old homes.

 

to trymahjongg, I have memories of Proletariat too.  One of my very first dates was to a show there.

Edited September 25, 2023 by strickn
Links to first thread page

[strickn]

On 1/29/2021 at 10:06 AM, Texasota said:

Not the same at all, but I still miss the Proletariat. 

Oops, not trymahjongg:  Texasota

[strickn]

Truly more like "risk engineering" than "value engineering" if you significantly trim the GFR when it's on a top-10-local-name-recognition Houston public space corridor that's already here to stay, like this 

[strickn]

On 10/4/2022 at 11:30 AM, EllenOlenska said:

What will never fail is that someone in some capacity will say "you know I think this building needs a little hat." 

@Evil Developer now that I buttered you up can Houston please have a six-floor  🎩 of top-floor retail here?

[hindesky]

[cityliving]

[hindesky]

[MrFubbles]

Is that a pool in the middle? 😅

[hindesky]

42 minutes ago, MrFubbles said:

Is that a pool in the middle? 😅

Not sure yet but it kind of looks like it might become a pool.

Here is a closer view.

[hindesky]

[hindesky]

 

I doubt there will be a pool but it's hard to tell.

[cityliving]

[hindesky]

There will be an outdoor pool according to the permit.

[hindesky]

[HoustonIsHome]

I love this pioneer building. 

Hope Richmond and Westheimer gets lined with em within the loop. 

Richmond seems to be gaining a little bit of an edge over Westheimer. I drove down all the way Richmond and did the reverse up Westheimer a few days ago and I noticed Westheimer has wider setbacks and narrower/ less consistent sidewalks. 

Outside the loop Westheimer has huge setbacks. I never realized before how less urban the street facing parking on Westheimer makes it feel. 

[004n063]

13 minutes ago, HoustonIsHome said:

I love this pioneer building. 

Hope Richmond and Westheimer gets lined with em within the loop. 

Richmond seems to be gaining a little bit of an edge over Westheimer. I drove down all the way Richmond and did the reverse up Westheimer a few days ago and I noticed Westheimer has wider setbacks and narrower/ less consistent sidewalks. 

Outside the loop Westheimer has huge setbacks. I never realized before how less urban the street facing parking on Westheimer makes it feel. 

I definitely agree. I'm keeping an eye on prices in this building - it's already on my bus route, but once the Univeristy Line is complete, my commute would be even easier. 

There are still gaps in Richmond urbanism, but they're closing. 

(There is the unfortunate Afton Oaks stretch as well, but I'll just continue to pretend it doesn't exist.)

[HoustonIsHome]

Afton Oaks on Richmond doesn't bother me as much as on Westheimer. That Westheimer wall strikes me as hostile to the senses.

Afton Oaks on Richmond is more open and just seems like a natural break in the urban sprint on Richmond. Montrose to Afton Oaks is a nice stretch of Urban Development and a nice change in pace. Many cities have these pauses in the fabric. To me it keeps it from being monotonous.

But yeah, this building plus the University line might make for a pleasant commute.

[clutchcity94]

How will real estate prices be affected on Richmond once the University Line gets built? I know many people say “it’s already priced in”, but they’ve been talking about this line for 20 years.

[004n063]

1 hour ago, clutchcity94 said:

How will real estate prices be affected on Richmond once the University Line gets built? I know many people say “it’s already priced in”, but they’ve been talking about this line for 20 years.

Properties close to stops will be objectively more valuable. Not sure what the impact will be for properties that are currently close to a #25 stop, but will be further from a BRT stop, but my guess is that the effect of the higher-order transit would outweigh the loss of a local service bus stop.

[j_cuevas713]

I think we need to pray the University Line get's built. Last I heard Whitmire might appoint Bill King as Metro chair. We already know politicians can derail anything regardless if voters approved $3.5 Billion in transit expansion. 

Edited January 5 by j_cuevas713

[clutchcity94]

3 hours ago, 004n063 said:

Properties close to stops will be objectively more valuable. Not sure what the impact will be for properties that are currently close to a #25 stop, but will be further from a BRT stop, but my guess is that the effect of the higher-order transit would outweigh the loss of a local service bus stop.

Do we know the confirmed cross streets along Richmond that will have stops?

[clutchcity94]

43 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

I think we need to pray the University Line get's built. Last I heard Whitmire might appoint Bill King as Metro chair. We already know politicians can derail anything regardless if voters approved $3.5 Billion in transit expansion. 

Not familiar with Bill King. Is he from the Culberson school of thought?

[j.33]

1 hour ago, clutchcity94 said:

Not familiar with Bill King. Is he from the Culberson school of thought?

He makes his feelings and opinions very clear on Twitter and his blog posts. 

Edited January 5 by Justin Welling

[clutchcity94]

10 minutes ago, Justin Welling said:

Based off his blogs, tweets, and news/media interviews, he has very strong negative opinion of METRO and public transit. If the rumors are true, it could be a very sad few years for METRO and the future of transit in this city could be in limbo. 

Well that answers that. If there’s ANY disinterest in public transportation development at the highest levels in this city, that means it ain’t happening.

[j_cuevas713]

1 hour ago, clutchcity94 said:

Not familiar with Bill King. Is he from the Culberson school of thought?

Yep same train of thought. I responded to a lot of his nonsense on Twitter and made it a point to let him know that voters approved the bond. We can't let the Culberson mindset ruin this again, which means anyone and everyone in this forum needs to be as vocal as possible, whether by social media, in person, or however you wanna do it. 

Edited January 5 by j_cuevas713

[clutchcity94]

1 minute ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Yep same train of thought. 

No pun intended! 😃

Edited January 5 by clutchcity94

[texan]

50 minutes ago, j_cuevas713 said:

Yep same train of thought. I responded to a lot of his nonsense on Twitter and made it a point to let him know that voters approved the bond. We can't let the Culberson mindset ruin this again, which means anyone and everyone in this forum needs to be as vocal as possible, whether by social media, in person, or however you wanna do it. 

The best opportunity will likely be during confirmation of Whitmire's nominees by the Houston City Council. Hopefully there's enough transit advocates on city council to derail (pun intended) King's appointment. Otherwise hope he doesn't have enough influence to create more transit dissidents on Metro's board. (Now back to UNITi, we can discuss this in another thread)

[004n063]

4 hours ago, clutchcity94 said:

Do we know the confirmed cross streets along Richmond that will have stops?

Not confirmed, but I believe it's Edloe, Eastside, Kirby, Shepherd, Mandell (wish it were Dunlavy, but there's a fire station there, so unlikely), and Montrose.

For comparison's sake, there are currently 19 stops along this segment of the #25 Richmond local bus line, so this would be considerably quicker. Add in signal priority and 6/12 frequencies (the 25 is one of Houston's better frequencies at 10/15, though the afternoon traffic messes with that a lot). 

Residents of Uniti Montrose (see, mods, I can keep it on topic!) will, when the building first opens, continue to be served by the #25 bus stops right out front and across the street at Stanford. However, the nearest U-line stop for them would be at Montrose, a four-minute walk away (and also their nearest N-S transit line with the #56 - the Red Line will also be within comfortable walking distance, but there is a difference between a comfortable walking distance and a comfortable walk). 

All in all, though this building has plenty of space for cars, its residents will enjoy pretty excellent transit access by Houston standards, especially once the University Corridor line opens. They will also be well situated for easy bicycle access to all of Montrose (though Richmond and Montrose themselves are quite hellish for bicyclists), and solid walkability to a decent-sized section of it. 

What I am very curious to see is whether the Uniti co-living model takes off along the corridor. There are enough vacant and underutilized lots along lower Richmond now that I could definitely see it transforming into a transit-oriented canyon over the next twenty years or so. 

If this new guy doesn't ruin it, that is.