Houston19514

^ yes

Specifically, please, what air pollution restrictions have become MORE LAX thanks to GWB?

I think ChevronTexaco moved into the 1500 Louisiana Building some time ago, at least they have mail sent there, according to their website. I may be wrong, but I do not believe the building at 1301 McKinney was ever named ChevronTexaco Tower (and the current owner, Crescent Real Estate Equities, seems to be under that impression as well... note that they refer to it as "formerly Chevron Tower", not 'formerly ChevronTexaco Tower'.)

^ When you find a city without suburban sprawl, be sure to let us know.

^ Agreed. There is spot suggested for the HSPVA in the Main Street Master Plan. It would be nice if the various entities (like HISD) could get together and support one anothers' plans. I must say, though, that their current intended site is a whole lot better than the prior site they were attempting. I forget where it was, exactly, but I believe it was a wooded site quite a bit further out, possibly even outside the loop.

^ Low ridership is a lame excuse?

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)

Good summary 27, but I must make one correction: You give at least an incorrect impression by saying that "most of these outlying that are incorporated also have more deed restrictions" at least implying that the outlying incorporated areas have more deed restrictions than outlying unincorporated areas. That is is not true. The deed restrictions are put in place by subdivision and planned community developers, not by the cities. For example: The Woodlands, unincorporated, HEAVY deed restrictions Kingwood, incorporated, HEAVY deed restrictions Atascocita, unincorporated, Heavy deed restrictions Humble, incorporated, very mixed. Most areas probably not heavily deed restricted

According to the Kirby Coalition website, construction on Upper Kirby (from US 59 to San Felipe) is slated to begin in 2006.

Let me go over this again. There are only three possibilities for making money by flipping... In order for it to work, or even have the chance of working, at least one of these element must be present... -- the flipper buys a property for a below-market price, such as in a distress sale (someone needing to sell so they can re-locate, a repossessed house, etc.) Midtownguy has assured us that Perry is NOT selling their townhouses for below-market prices. -- Prices are sky-rocketing (and even that is problematic, because there's no reason to think Perry wouldn't keep it's prices in-line with the sky-rocketing prices) -- Fraud (the re-sale is done based on a fraudulent appraisal, etc. Somewhat complicated and way beyond the scope of this posting). Maybe you guys don't really understand what flipping is. Flipping is the re-selling of a property in the VERY short term, usually immediately. There is no time for market appreciation, etc. You keep telling us that people are buying townhouses for fair market value and "flipping" them for a profit. Given that we've established the initial sale is for Fair Market Value, a profitable flipping is well-nigh impossible... the only way for it to happen is to get lucky enough to find a foolish buyer willing to pay above Fair Market Value (and even then you might have to get a fraudulent appraisal). Now, what you MAY be talking about is simply investors buying townhouses as investments, banking on rising property values in Midtown, leasing them out and hoping to sell them for a profit sometime in the medium-to-long term. I am quite certain that is happening... I've considered doing that myself, because I think Midtown may have a phenomenal future and these should be good investments. But that is NOT flipping.

^ Can you give me a source for the 8.52% and 7.21% growth rates? My source is the US Census Bureau (combined with my calculator) According to the July 31, 2003 county estimates, when compared with the April 1, 2000 Census, the Dallas Combined Statistical Area grew by 6.75721 %. In the same period, the Houston Combined Statistical Area grew by 7.49594 %.

Well, if I were you, I'd be trying to do some business opposite these supposed townhouse flippers. You should be able to make a killing off of them, cause they aren't too bright. Now, in the example you just gave... were there not still brand new Perry townhouses either in the same block or just around the corner in the price range of $150,000?

You are right, kz. I don't think there is really any indication that the Wolfe project will look anything like the "Riva" renderings, since those were published in connection with an earlier proposal for a redevlopment of the Pavilion by a group called something like "Urban Resort Properties." It seems like Wolfe's plans may not be far enough along to have renderings. I suspect they are shopping their general concept to prospective retail tenants and prospective office, hotel, condo, and apartment developers, and will generate physical plans and renderings once they have a better handle on what is feasible.

The question is... why would anyone in their right mind try to flip properties in an over-saturated market? Midtownguy: Take a chill pill, man. I never suggested you were lying. If I understand you correctly, you are telling me that people are buying up townhouses from Perry and other builders and immediately putting them back on the market, hoping to make a killing. This in a market generally agreed to be overbuilt, and where the builders' initial prices are fair market prices. I'm sorry, I just cannot make sense of this. The only way flipping works is if you buy for an extraordinarily low price (below-market) or if the market is under-built and prices are sky-rocketing. Cleary, neither is generally the case in Midtown Houston and it's hard to imagine there are many people who ever thought it might be the case. Might I ask how you can tell a townhouse is being flipped by going around looking at those for sale? Just by finding some "new" Perry townhouses that aren't owned by Perry? Or by seeing a town house for sale that still looks new? Again, I'm not calling you a liar, but without more evidence than a few new-looking townhouses on the market, I just find it too hard to believe there are enough people in the Houston real estate business, with the necessary money, to make this ignorant of a move. "Gee, I think I'll get rich by buying some new townhouses at market price, and then re-sell them as 'pre-owned' units." That, my friend, is not greed. That is stupidity. (and just to be clear, I'm referring to anyone who would try such a scheme, NOT to you, Midtownguy.)

Thanks for the unemotional fact-based posting. It was rather refreshing. Now, if I may quibble, just a bit. (All based on facts, no emotion here). Regarding the various projections of future populations. Most of those projections are based on the assumption that past growth rates will continue, which makes them almost meaningless. On the other hand, the most recent Census estimates show the Houston Metropolitan Area growing faster than the D-FW metropolitan area (measuring from 2000 to 2003). It will be interesting to see the next batch of estimates. Your statement that D-FW is about to overtake Philly as the nation's 4th largest metro area, while possibly true, does not exactly give a full picture. The new census definitions cause some oddities when looking at what is now known as Metropolitan Statistical Areas. I think the more accurate and useful comparison is really to Combined Statistical Areas (CSA). In the case of D-FW (and Houston as well) almost the entire Combined Statistical Area is also in the Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA); but in the case of many of the other largest metro areas, large chunks of the areas are left out of the core MSA. Thus, if you compare D-FW MSA to other MSAs, you are comparing almost the entire D-FW CSA to, for example, San Francisco without San Jose, etc; Boston without Worcester etc.; Washington DC without Baltimore. I believe the CSA rankings are as follows (using 2000 census numbers): 1. New York City 2. Los Angeles 3. Chicago 4. Washington-Baltimore 5. San Franscisco 6. Philadelphia 7. Boston 8. Detroit 9. Dallas-Fort Worth 10. Miami-Fort Lauderdale 11. Houston It's likely that D-FW has overtaken Detroit as the eighth largest CSA since the 2000 census. The MSA rankings, using 2000 census numbers: 1. New York City 2. Los Angeles 3. Chicago 4. Philadelphia 5. Dallas-Fort Worth 6. Miami-Fort Lauderdale 7. Washington DC 8. Houston 9. Detroit 10. Boston 11. Atlanta 12. San Franscisco See what I mean? I can't take very seriously any ranking that says that both Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston are larger metropolitan areas than either Boston or San Francisco. As has been said before, "just because You WANT something to happen or WANT something to be true, it doesn't mean that it IS what you WANT it to be"

They still have a Dallas location on their website... 4140 Lemmon Ave.

^ Thank you. It's great to see someone else finally recognizing that fact.

1993

It's postings like these that make this board so worthwhile... Houston, one of the fastest-growing cities and metro areas in the country, is going down the drain... what in the world are you talking about???

It is hard to imagine that there is any significant amount of "flipping" going on in Midtown. If new construction can be sold for higher prices, wouldn't Perry and the other builders price them accordingly?

Section 11.086 of Title 2 of the Texas Water Code seems to apply:

Maybe you should get the numbers in front of you before repeatedly making incorrect claims... In ten seconds you could do a search on the web and find sources telling you that, in fact, zoning lost by a margin of 52-48. 52-48 Yes, it was 52-48 And for everyone else here interested in the zoning issue. These are both links to some pretty interesting articles. I'd recommend we all read them.

Calm down everyone... that link took us to one listing for ONE of the units in the Edge complex. When one takes the 10 seconds required to look further, one finds that there are units listed starting at $144,500.

Why would you think a zoning ordinance would eliminate such battles? If anything, it would probably increase the number of such battles. Every part of every zoning ordinance (including non-zoning items like design standards, etc) would have to be adopted by City Council or some zoning board. All of the "zones" would have to be defined and adopted by the City Council or zoning board. And then the real fun begins... when developers and builders and property owners and homeowners start appearing before City Council or zoning boards to seek variances.

Zoning lost by a margin of 52-48.