Crystal Ball - Hottest Neighborhoods in 2015? (Houston, Katy: real estate market, apartment complexes, credit)

[inwood dreams]

So what do you think will be the hottest neighborhoods in 2015? Will it still be inner-loop areas like River Oaks and the Heights (although I’m sure some will argue they aren’t now)? Will the East side finally pop? Will the bars have moved on from Washington? Will the Med Center finally take-over all the land for one more hospital? Will the burbs be the epicenter of culture?

So many questions...

Please make your prediction for 2015:

Best Singles Scene
Best Family Area
Best Gay/Lesbian neighborhood
Best Arts Scene
and any other categories you can think of…

[KerrTown]

The Medical Center and Astrodome are now one megacity with medical overrunning the Astrodome area and the Medical Center itself still being prime space.

Rice Military will attract the artsy scene.

Sharpstown is the new "family" neighborhood with the seeds of revitalization planted by the yuppies and hipsters priced out of West U.

There will be a branch of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston somewhere in Katy to compete with the Natural Science Museum branch in Telfair.

[modster]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

The Medical Center and Astrodome are now one megacity with medical overrunning the Astrodome area and the Medical Center itself still being prime space.

Rice Military will attract the artsy scene.

Sharpstown is the new "family" neighborhood with the seeds of revitalization planted by the yuppies and hipsters priced out of West U.

There will be a branch of the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston somewhere in Katy to compete with the Natural Science Museum branch in Telfair.

I don't know, my crystal ball isn't seeing that. I have a different perspective on that. The artsy types are attracted to areas with character and typically are more urban pioneers. The Rice Military type development is generally loathed by that sort. Due to that (and price constraints), I think you will continue to see them pioneer into newer areas, especially as prices rise in more established areas. Block 13, an art space, has already settled on Harrisburg. I think we will continue to see artist developing spaces east and in the near north outside of the loop. The area around Isabella Court on Main will continue to be a big hub of the art scene. Galleries may increase along Washington, however, as part of that area's maturing as the club scene inevitably moves elsewhere, possibly back downtown or over by Warehouse live and Meridian.

Sharpstown's day will come, but not by 2015. Gentrification will continue to push south/southwest through Westbury, and out along Braeswood in Robindell and Braes Heights. The western portions of Oak Forest will strengthen. The light rail will be up and running making areas like Lindale Park and the near east end more attractive. Perry homes already has some substantial land holdings in Eado, or so I hear, and I think development in that area will have picked up substantially by then, partly fueled by the metro rail. The availability of affordable inner loop houses in places like Houston Country Club, Woodleigh, Broadmoor and Lawndale will be selected over Sharpstown by creative class in town types priced out of the Heights & Garden Oaks. Let's face it, while I think Sharpstown is probably a lot better than most people give it credit for, it will take people with a certain degree of urban pioneering spirit to go back in and fuel a revival of any real measure. Those (sub?)urban pioneers won't be families. They need good schools. Sharpstown won't be the hot family area b/c of the schools.

If we are successful with our efforts to make Glenbrook the state's first post WWII Historic District then hopefully the broadening of the audience I have seen over the last 5 years will continue. Of course I am a big east end booster but I still think it is one of the last directions city folk can go. The east end warehouse district or eado or whatever will pop fairly quickly, once the market/economy recovers. I think Eastwood will be doing really well by 2015. The one I am not sure about is what will happen due north of downtown in the southern fringes of the 5th ward. There is a lot of potential but I don't know if it will be realized by 2015.

[DJboutit]

I think in the next 4 to 6 yrs Windsor Village just South Of W Orem might be a neighborhood on the grown people are gonna see it is decent with cheap homes 1700 to 2200 sqft. Homes there are cheap buying one & remodeling one can be done for under $200k to $250k

[SteveArmy]

wonder if park8 will come to life in 5 years. that thing started already iirc

[LizzySWW]

On the West Memorial side of town:

I see the neighborhoods West of Kirkwood becoming very popular & soaring in price in 2015. I predict neighborhoods like Thornwood & Westchester (between Dairy Ashford & Eldridge) will rise from the 300's to the 500's by 2015. In chatting with an area Realtor recently, I got the same vibe from her about the neighborhoods down Memorial zoned to Nottingham Elementary.

Nottingham Forest (next to Dairy Ashford) is already popular but their elem school with it's new Exemplary rating is catching attention.......and home prices in NF are reflecting that.

I see the Energy Corridor continue to bring in new companies & HQ's at the same pace it has over the past decade.

[EasilyAmused]

I think River Oaks/Memorial/West U/Uptown will continue to be the "it" places, screaming farther into the unattainable pricing if the market comes back.

If going by trend, prices will go higher and higher along the western corridor, mostly in part to the very solid public schools. I've seen prices slip in Briargrove the past few months, while prices are holding steady in anything SBISD. I think paying over a 800k west of Gessner for a ranch house (just like you do east of Gessner) is easily predictable. If the market goes full guns it may spread to all things east of DairyAshford in that corridor. Property within 1 mile north of I-10: this area will continue to appreciate probably more percentage wise than the south side. Parts of 77077 are already trending upwards, the schools are becoming solid and desirable.

If the energy market holds and commercial improvements continue along I-10, I think East of Fry road in Katy will become semi-hot. People wanting to be closer to work/downtown and not at the mercy of constant school rezoning.

Things around Eastside will continue at a slow and steady pace. If the schools start to get ANY kind of traction, it will take off like wild fire.

Sharpstown is decades away from taking off and become anything "hot." The schools would have to purge the entire student body and start over again to make them safe/acceptable.

BUT, IMHO I don't think we've seen the worst of the real estate market, so 2015 is way to soon to turn anything into a hot area that was once luke warm. Maybe 2020.

[robertrulez]

Sharpstown is really booming at the moment with the help of NEW China Town, a lot of the businesses are moving inside the Beltway due to Aliefs decline. Home prices have consistently gone up in the past 2 decades and the area itself looks like the new Westbury. The only thing keeping it down is all the apartment complexes, but the neighborhood itself is actually safe.