Guest danax Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 Centex Homes plans 500 homes in KatyAllison WollamHouston Business JournalTuesday, December 14, 2004Centex Homes has acquired 137 acres of land just east of Katy Mills Mall with plans to create a 500-home community called Mills Lake.Centex acquired the property, located at the northwest intersection of Kingsland Boulevard and Katy-Fort Bend Road from Sheffman Investments.Sheffman Investments has retained 137 acres along Kingsland Boulevard and Katy-Fort Bend Road for future commercial real estate development.Centex, a unit of Dallas-based Centex Corp. (NYSE:CTX), will be the developer and exclusive home builder for Mills Lake, where land development activity is expected to commence by the first quarter of 2005.Construction of the first new homes is planned to begin in the fall of 2005.Centex plans to build under its Centex Homes and Fox and Jacobs Homes brand names in Mills Lake.Currently, Centex Homes and Fox & Jacobs Homes offers new homes priced fromthe low $100,000s to $200,000s in a variety of neighborhoods in the Houston area. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincoRanch-HoustonResident Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 I know exaclty where this is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amber Posted December 18, 2004 Share Posted December 18, 2004 Great! Just what the world needs, more cheap cookie cutter homes! Alright! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talbot Posted December 18, 2004 Share Posted December 18, 2004 The sprawl houses just get worse, out by my neighborhood, they dont even bother putting brick on them, just wood panelling. The neighborhoods look like military housing. Yet even military housing has more character, probably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincoRanch-HoustonResident Posted December 19, 2004 Share Posted December 19, 2004 I hate that. They can at least put brick all around on the house right next to the road. They did that for Castle Rock (built by Morrison, Perry, and DR Horton Homes) off of Westgreen, North of the Katy Freeway, South of Franz Road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houstonsemipro Posted December 19, 2004 Share Posted December 19, 2004 Katy is just growing, growing, and growing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoustoniaNYC Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 That's what Greater Katy is all about. Shouldn't surprise anybody. If you wan the old Katy, move there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 This area will turn ghetto soon- I bet.If you look at parts of Missouri city, such as Qual Valley, and hunter's glen, and that area near the TX Parkway, they built cheap homes, so now, the area is quite ghetto, and run down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CincoRanch-HoustonResident Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 People get attracted to new houses, only because they are new. If you look on the older houses around Memorial City Malls, in in the Memorial area, they have higher land values, and are better than some of these houses right next to me. They did a report on this on '11 News Up Close' in September. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Talbot Posted December 20, 2004 Share Posted December 20, 2004 I agree, the quality of these houses is just asking for ghetto. Ive seen it before, in older "new" neighborhoods. They just turn to crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Subdude Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 Not every neighborhood can be that nice. Small lots etc. keep the price down, and these may be the best that some people can afford. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UrbaNerd Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 People get attracted to new housr, only because they are new. If you look on the older houses around Memorial City Malls, in in the Memorial area, they have higher land values, and are better than some of these houses right next to me. They did a report on this on '11 News Up Close' in September.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>The thing about Memorial- it has a slightly decent location (you can access the Galleria area, Downtown, etc via Memorial Parkway), it is heavily wooded, etc. Plus, as stated, there are many new homes (pricey) here, which were built to take advantage of the location, and since they had to do "tear down and rebuild" jobs, their values were high, and they were forced to be expensive, due to this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzseattle Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 This area will turn ghetto soon- I bet.If you look at parts of Missouri city, such as Qual Valley, and hunter's glen, and that area near the TX Parkway, they built cheap homes, so now, the area is quite ghetto, and run down. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Houstonians are spoiled, indeed! In Seattle, prices of homes have gone up so high that homes built by Centex or DR Horton are pretty much what most people can buy. Owners of homes built by these builders actually tell you so proudly because cheaper homes are of even lower quality. Forget brick. Forget stone. Forget even real wood. The exterior and interior features and details commonly available in Houston are unthinkable in Seattle unless, of course, you are a millionaire. So cheer up guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great Hizzy! Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 Heh. Good point, KZ. Nevertheless... we here at HAIF reserve the right to be dissatisfied with anything less than perfection, especially where our suburbs are concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted December 27, 2004 Share Posted December 27, 2004 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzseattle Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 You're probably right, but still, it shouldn't be this way. This is big business coming in and creating Ghetto, one nieghborhood at a time. Would it kill these companies to scratch one or two houses on each street so that the remaining lots could be a little bigger? And why does it seem that they have to rip up every tree before they can begin construction. These companies are in it for the bottom line - and it's dissapointing. I don't see the County doing anything to stop it either. I'm not saying ban all cookie cutter neighborhoods - just the shitty ones with no trees, 1/12th acre lots, and 4 home designs to choose from.KZ - if it's so expensive, why live there? What's Seattle got that makes it worth selling plasma or your first born to get a non-brick/wood/stone/stucco/hardy-plank home? What's that leave? mud-huts dug into the ground?Glen<{POST_SNAPBACK}>You are right. I think if Katy wants to ensure that the quality of new homes in the area remain high and the region attracts upscale communities it should enforce some guidelines and ensure that the builders meet at least the minimum standardof quality. Actually, I no longer live in Seattle. I moved to Houston a few months ago precisely because I got sick and fed up of rising home prices. Price of a basic new home in a desirable area starts at about $300,000. I am talking about 1800 sq feet house on a 4000-5000 sq feet lot with the cheapest available carpet, cabinets and fixtures. People usually spend about $20,000-25,000 to upgrade them. The exterior is artificial wood. At about $400,000, you can get a better house. Same size but better quality. Older homes actually have better quality than many new homes. Good quality larger homes start at about $500,000. I don Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tw2ntyse7en Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzseattle Posted December 28, 2004 Share Posted December 28, 2004 Well, who's buying them then? I mean, they only price them that high because they're in high demand right? So who are the suckers that are going for it? What's going on up there that has everyone thinking that they have to live there to survive??Glen<{POST_SNAPBACK}>The prices are high because, unlike Houston, there arent as many new homes being built because the land is scarce. Also, low interest rate sparked this boom as people are rushing to buy before the interest rate go up. My guess is that most of the buyers already have homes. They are selling them and using the equity to buy newer homes in nicer areas. Some first time buyers are being lured by low interest rate and ARMs rate (3-year ARM, 5-year ARM etc) which keep the monthly payment low (for the first 3 or 5 years at least). Also, the property tax rate is very low in Seattle (around 1.2%). So the monthly tax payment on a $300,000 would be around $300 whereas in Houston it can be as high as $1000. So, when buying a house, people dont look at its actual price. The monthly payment is all that matters to them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Judah Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 Hey, here's a new apartment building that went up in Seattle. What do you guys think? Would this type of design work in Houston? (http://www.epiapartments.com/lineart4.jpg) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmancuso Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 ^ well, there apartment buildings very similar to that in midtown...just with out the metal ornamentaion on the corner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidtownCoog Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 I think so... Midtown has something very similar: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N Judah Posted January 3, 2005 Share Posted January 3, 2005 I think so...Midtown has something very similar: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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