Houston in the midst of "upscale rental construction boom" -Chron (Miami: real estate, rentals)

[move4ward]

Besides initial cost, another consideration would be appreciation.

In the long run, the inner loop properties appreciate enough to beat inflation. The outer loop property do not appreciate much. They may appreciate 3% or less over a decade, which is not to beat inflation. It would also make it harder to sell, if the house is barely above water. The buyer would have to pay all closing costs.

[hbcu]

Look at how nice the homes in the Fondren Area are also...especially off West Bellfort and Fondren and up to Braeswood....Alot of them are real nice, custom homes people will never get what they paid for as those "luxury apartments" in the 80s built all around them dropped faster than anything

Take the Missouri City concept...don't build any and if you do, tax the developers so damn much they have to give you more than they can make....The complex in Sienna Plantation had to fight through major hurdles to get that place built.

[Vicman]

[Accidentally posted twice!]

[Vicman]

Which middle school?

Pin Oak opened in 2002 and actually Pin Oak became pretty prestigious. I think Pershing's still considered to be good.

AFAIK all three Bellaire elementary schools still have good reputations (Horn, Lovett, Condit)

Easily, if you are referring to Gordon Elementary, keep in mind it's not a "zoned" school, but a relief facility for children living in apartments. It was being used as admin. offices but was converted to being a relief school in the 1980s.

Speaking of apartments, Easily, check out the school zoning maps:
* http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/school...s/ConditES.pdf
* http://dept.houstonisd.org/ab/school...nninghamES.pdf
* City of Bellaire map: http://giswebmaps.hdrinc.com/public/bellaire/viewer.htm (broken link)

Even though there are houses in Bellaire across the street from Cunningham (which serves apartments), the Bellaire houses are zoned to Condit.

Originally Posted by EasilyAmused

Bellaire isn't "fancy." It's one of those areas teetering on the brink of good or bad. Basically because of it's being smack dab against the 80's boom apartments. It's never appreciated like the Galleria (aka Uptown) or Memorial. The High School has held it's value, but the middle and lower school have slipped...and with Houston's history the High School isn't far behind. MHO. EHS is a very good/solid education option for the area though.

But honestly I can't believe inner Houston needs more apartments.

[usc619]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

Houston is the perfect model for unbridled capitalism.

There's no zoning and little accountability. The city invites all sorts of slumlords and scumlords (+1, testmo) Also, we are extremely anti-tax. Roads in our nicest neighborhoods are often times significantly worse than roads in the poorest parts of other major cities in the country.

Sometimes in Houston, an area turns into Uptown. Other times, it turns into Gulfton.

Point being, if you live in Houston, there's little room to complain. It aggravates me when people complain about such things as the Ashby High Rise. This is Houston, there's no zoning. Just because you have more money in your bank doesn't mean you should be able to skirt the rules.

Houston is what it is. It has one of the greatest neighborhoods in America and some of the most unsightly. If you move here, be ready for whatever may happen.

Well said, point taken.

[testmo]

i live close to missouri city and the gulfton area. which apartments were previously high end? they all look like dumps, and look like they were dumps in the 80s as well. am i missing an area? the builds there don't look remotely like anything high end going up nowadays

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by testmo

i live close to missouri city and the gulfton area. which apartments were previously high end? they all look like dumps, and look like they were dumps in the 80s as well. am i missing an area? the builds there don't look remotely like anything high end going up nowadays

All of the Gulfton apartments, while built cheaply, were marketed as "high end" - What happened was the 1980s economic crash - The apartments were previously for singles and couples only. The tenants (the meal tickets) ran away, so the apartment owners had to find new clients (immigrant families) and stopped doing background checks and maintenance.

Gulfton is more or less in a different school feeder pattern than Bellaire, even though the two are next door. Gulfton's in the Lee HS area, while Bellaire is in the Bellaire HS area.

[testmo]

i don't remember 80s design being that poor looking. definitely goes to show how cheap does not age well!

[Vicman]

Originally Posted by testmo

i don't remember 80s design being that poor looking. definitely goes to show how cheap does not age well!

Many of the apartments were built in the 1960s and 1970s. And yes, they didn't age well AND the landlords didn't maintain them post-1985.

[theSUBlime]

Originally Posted by crbcrbrgv

Houston is the perfect model for unbridled capitalism.

There's no zoning and little accountability. The city invites all sorts of slumlords and scumlords (+1, testmo) Also, we are extremely anti-tax. Roads in our nicest neighborhoods are often times significantly worse than roads in the poorest parts of other major cities in the country.

Sometimes in Houston, an area turns into Uptown. Other times, it turns into Gulfton.

Point being, if you live in Houston, there's little room to complain. It aggravates me when people complain about such things as the Ashby High Rise. This is Houston, there's no zoning. Just because you have more money in your bank doesn't mean you should be able to skirt the rules.

Houston is what it is. It has one of the greatest neighborhoods in America and some of the most unsightly. If you move here, be ready for whatever may happen.

Exactly. All the complainers need to learn that when it comes to urban, "cheap" and "nice" are not possible.