Luminare Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 2 hours ago, clutchcity94 said: Is commercial rent for restaurants/bars in the Heights as crazy as it is in Montrose? For example, how do the rents compare in the lower Westheimer corridor or on W. Alabama compared to the area in the vicinity of French Laundry. The advantage restaurants/bars have in The Heights is better defined demographics. You know exactly who to market to in that area. Montrose is very heterogeneous with pockets of different people that want different things all over. Its really hard to figure out how to capture these when in The Heights you really only have 1. That automatically means that restaurants in that area have a leg up and survive whatever rent is thrown at them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ross Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 On 3/1/2020 at 6:43 PM, clutchcity94 said: They basically would have to sell $6.65 worth of food per hour for every hour they’re open in a month (~2,200 hours) just to cover rent. This of course doesn’t account for their other costs like ingredients and paying staff. What are the margins in the restaurant business such as this? In a 31 day month, there are only 744 hours, so a 24 hour a day place would have to bring in $19.66 per hour just for rent. If margins are 13% as mentioned above, then the requirement is $151 per hour. On 3/3/2020 at 12:17 AM, KinkaidAlum said: You are 100% right. Property taxes are absurd in Houston. I paid 3 times more in Houston than I do in Los Angeles despite my home being of higher appraised value here. It's a real issue. If I ever move back home, I've already decided I wouldn't own. You can't really compare California and Houston for property taxes, since they are limited by law to essentially 1.5% of the purchase price(plus some inflation and other stuff), but the state income taxes are very high. When we moved back to Houston from Bakersfield some time ago, our property taxes went from $1500 to $3000, but the income tax went from $6000 to 0. With our current income and property value, we would pay about $5,000 more in California than here, and that's discounting the higher cost of a house in CA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wilcal Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 9 hours ago, clutchcity94 said: Is commercial rent for restaurants/bars in the Heights as crazy as it is in Montrose? For example, how do the rents compare in the lower Westheimer corridor or on W. Alabama compared to the area in the vicinity of French Laundry. 6 hours ago, Luminare said: The advantage restaurants/bars have in The Heights is better defined demographics. You know exactly who to market to in that area. Montrose is very heterogeneous with pockets of different people that want different things all over. Its really hard to figure out how to capture these when in The Heights you really only have 1. That automatically means that restaurants in that area have a leg up and survive whatever rent is thrown at them. I think that the inventory is so low in Montrose that we got a few new complexes, like this one (and the Velvet Taco complex, etc) and the newly developed ones had a higher price per square foot that local chains are having a hard time of delivering. It's supply and demand, right? Prices were skewing higher and developers made a business case for building some new stuff. Might be that the market can't handle it, though. There's been some new housing growth in Montrose, but not that much. I talked with someone that 3-4 years ago was already in Montrose but looking for a different space and there just wasn't anything out there. The middle spot at Alabama Row may have made good sense for them. They ended up in the Heights at I'm sure a comparable price and are doing fine up there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gmac Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 3 hours ago, Ross said: In a 31 day month, there are only 744 hours, so a 24 hour a day place would have to bring in $19.66 per hour just for rent. If margins are 13% as mentioned above, then the requirement is $151 per hour. You can't really compare California and Houston for property taxes, since they are limited by law to essentially 1.5% of the purchase price(plus some inflation and other stuff), but the state income taxes are very high. When we moved back to Houston from Bakersfield some time ago, our property taxes went from $1500 to $3000, but the income tax went from $6000 to 0. With our current income and property value, we would pay about $5,000 more in California than here, and that's discounting the higher cost of a house in CA. Spoke with the owner of a small restaurant in a less-expensive part of town, and he said he basically had to bring in $700 a day to break even. Mindblowing to think how many of these places are struggling. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ponchorello Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 5 minutes ago, gmac said: Spoke with the owner of a small restaurant in a less-expensive part of town, and he said he basically had to bring in $700 a day to break even. Mindblowing to think how many of these places are struggling. The restaurant industry is one of the most difficult businesses to make money. There will be way more closures this year than last year... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJilliams Posted March 4, 2020 Share Posted March 4, 2020 Man, I remember BuffBurger was the first burger joint I ate at in Houston, and I always remembered it being above average at worst. Their Alabama Row location was very nice, a good atmosphere and a quality venue. I will say I think they made some menu changes that weren't the greatest and the quality of their food got worse with time. But still, far from a bad restaurant. Probably just location and a saturated market. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted March 5, 2020 Share Posted March 5, 2020 5 hours ago, CaptainJilliams said: Man, I remember BuffBurger was the first burger joint I ate at in Houston, and I always remembered it being above average at worst. Their Alabama Row location was very nice, a good atmosphere and a quality venue. I will say I think they made some menu changes that weren't the greatest and the quality of their food got worse with time. But still, far from a bad restaurant. Probably just location and a saturated market. How long has BuffBurger been around? I just started noticing them when the expanded a year or two ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainJilliams Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 On 3/4/2020 at 6:47 PM, august948 said: How long has BuffBurger been around? I just started noticing them when the expanded a year or two ago. Maybe 4-5 years at most? They definitely haven't been around a very long time. I used to go to the one off of I-10, the original location, and when they opened their Alabama Row location that became their unspoken flagship store. That location was much closer to where I was living, super convenient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Houston19514 Posted December 7, 2020 Share Posted December 7, 2020 Waffle Bus is opening their second bricks-and-mortar location here. https://houston.eater.com/2020/12/2/21804673/the-waffle-bus-montrose-opening-west-alabama 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted April 10, 2021 Share Posted April 10, 2021 The Waffle Bus is moving into the old hamburger spot. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted December 18, 2021 Share Posted December 18, 2021 The Waffle Bus location on W. Alabama had their Grand Opening today. https://www.thewafflebus.com/menu/restaurant-menu/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbigtex56 Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 On 12/17/2021 at 6:28 PM, hindesky said: The Waffle Bus location on W. Alabama had their Grand Opening today. https://www.thewafflebus.com/menu/restaurant-menu/ Can someone please explain what we're looking at? I see the sandwich, but is it being held by one hand? Two hands? One hand and a foot? Is that a neck or a wrist, and WTF are those oval things? I've stared at it for 10 minutes and it still doesn't make sense. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
august948 Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 (edited) 12 hours ago, dbigtex56 said: Can someone please explain what we're looking at? I see the sandwich, but is it being held by one hand? Two hands? One hand and a foot? Is that a neck or a wrist, and WTF are those oval things? I've stared at it for 10 minutes and it still doesn't make sense. Two hands holding a chicken sandwich with macaroni? Fingers a bit beefy for a girl, so I'm guessing a guy with at least three stick on, stripe painted nails. The spirit of Montrose lives on? Honestly, it's the macaroni that gives me pause here. Edited December 29, 2021 by august948 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gene Posted December 29, 2021 Share Posted December 29, 2021 nope definitely being held by two feet and perhaps that of an orangutan... 🤔 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trymahjong Posted February 17, 2022 Share Posted February 17, 2022 (edited) Neartown zoom is this week: Tuesday, February 22 at 7:00 pm via Zoom Our special guest speaker will be from Houston Public Works (HPW): Ian Hlavacek, PE, Managing Engineer in Transportation & Drainage Operations, Multimodal Safety & Design Branch. Street renovations on Alabama will be talked about. to attend contact officers@neartown.org Edited February 17, 2022 by trymahjong 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trymahjong Posted February 24, 2022 Share Posted February 24, 2022 about that Neartown meeting https://communityimpact.com/houston/heights-river-oaks-montrose/transportation/2022/02/23/officials-discuss-safety-concerns-solicit-public-feedback-ahead-of-planned-west-alabama-street-reconstruction/ I attended that zoom meeting - I listened in ( I was multitasking) and noticed the graphic on Project Zero - there were a dozen+ deaths injury car and pedestrian. Conversation from spokesman noted that pedestrian safet is major concern. . I was surprised at what I didn’t hear after those graphics and the improvements on Alabama were presented…….As far as pedestrian safet seemed there was no clear plan to reduce speed, after street improvements typically have drivers increasing their driving speed, no introductions of improved crosswalks ( no raised,textured nor lighted cross walk mainly greenery? Plus no real plan for what to do with that temporary third lane that is 20 years old now, nor how to address how drivers react to a Metro stopping to pick up at bus stops…. A lot of drivers try to pass the bus no matter what middle lane designation. The stake holders at that meeting brought many many suggestions concerning car and pedestrian safety. But if this is a plan presented by COH…..why didn’t COH come up with more actual/doable plans in the first place? Now I have a bad feeling about what COH will present with their updated improvement plan for lower Westheimer. 1 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clutchcity94 Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Why is some of this development still vacant after all these years? Prime location. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hindesky Posted January 11 Share Posted January 11 Probably cost to rent? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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