Modern Townhomes Olmos Park (Houston, Dallas: for sale, condominiums, townhouses)

[Coldplay1144]

Anyone know of any great modern-contemporary townhomes in Olmos Park Alamo Heights or King William. Preferably between the $375,000-$600,000 price point. I knew of some on Cleveland Ct. in Alamo Heights but they sold fast. Anyone know of any developers planning Modern townhomes in those areas?

There are townhomes being built on N New Braunfels across from the Oak Park HEB between the Oak Park and Royal George condominiums in Alamo Heights. I don't know, though, how "contemporary" they are going to be. It looked like they were going for contempo Mediterranean last time I drove by. It's a nice location, though.

In Olmos Park, the only townhomes are the ones between Annie and Shook on Thelma and a few other streets. They aren't really contemporary, though, and are incredibly overpriced IMO.

[Coldplay1144]

Thanks....so none planned either for Olmos Park? You think ultra-modern townhomes would sell in Olmos Park? Perhaps thats why no one has bothered to build?

[pdmidge]

I don't think there's enough of a market for modern in SA for a multi-family developer...but for that kind of money you should support preservation and buy a home in an older neighborhood. We are in Castle Hills and are deathly afraid of tear-downs coming in. Without any homewoners' associations in these older neighborhoods it's just a matter of time. There is stuff coming on the market with regularity in our neighborhood and I hold my breath each time... in fact there's an open house on Lockhill and Prinz right now that I'll be sneaking a peak at. The current owner/flipper has been working on it for 4-6 months from what I figure and I'm curious to see how badly they have bastardized it...

[googie2525]

Originally Posted by Coldplay1144

You think ultra-modern townhomes would sell in Olmos Park? Perhaps thats why no one has bothered to build?

You WOULD think, especially when you look at nearby markets like Austin, Houston, and Dallas, where Mod is exploding all over the ritzier parts of town, but it just ain't hapening here unfortunately - there was a recent article on this very subject in the Express - basically the gist was that modern architecture remains pretty unpopular in the San Antonio market, and developers shy away from building anything too "modern" when they know they can sell a Tuscan-inspired box in 5 minutes; so why take a gamble on modern, and perhaps have to sit on the mod for weeks, months, heck, years? They focused on a very modern house that was being built spec on Burr Road. It's finished now by what I can tell. I drive by it several times a day, no real activity, no landscaping, although there is no for sale sign. The article did state though that if it went unsold that the developer was going to live in it himself (there's a truck parked there occasionally though). It also has a smaller twin of sorts on Garraty (same architect), very pricey, of course (and still unsold after many months):



Anyhoo, there's a pretty cool group of 3 or 4 townhouses that are ultra-modern in Alamo Heights, I forget where exactly, but it's back by Patterson, behind NIX somewhere. It took a while for them to sell. They were, I think, about 600-800K? Another mod, straight out of Dwell Magazine, was recently built in Northwood of all places (stands out like a sore thumb - I LOVE it!)

And yeah, the present townhomes in Olmos Park are pretty plain jane, and WAY overpriced. Now, if you want MID-CENTURY Modern in that area, I would recommend the Olmos Tower, yeah it's a highrise, but it definately has that MCM circa 1963 "LA-look" (for some reason, I always think of the Lee Marvin film "Point Blank" when I pass by that building, it reminds me of where the bad guy lives with Angie Dickinson - I know, I know, silly, but that place is SOOOO 60's it hurts - in a GOOD way). You can get a 1300 sq ft for 275K (probably less), gut it, grab a copy of Dwell, and modernize the hell outta it with all the $$$ you saved on skipping the bland 80's townhouse on Thelma that cost 2-3 times as much. On the downside, it ain't the hippest joint in town (mainly retirees). Okay, I'm blabbering now.

Moderator cut: realtor website

Based on the sort of high-end new construction that's been selling, the average high-end luxury home buyer wants some sort of faux Italianate or faux Hill Country monstrosity. A few go for faux Colonial or faux Georgian, but modern sadly doesn't even enter into their thinking.


We are really afraid of teardowns in Olmos Park as well. They are trying to get some sort of teardown/new construction standards in place before what happened in Terrell Hills happens to us. Monte Vista starts to look better and better, because the historical designation means that there's no chance that the house across the street from you is going to be torn down and replaced with a giant Tuscan crackerbox that's built to within five feet of the property line. There have been several teardowns in the blocks around my home. I just hope they can stop it before it really gets out of hand.

I love the Olmos Towers. There are some beautifully redone units in there. The location and the views are fabulous. That unit is really cheap -

[Coldplay1144]

So there is no possiblity if a developer but 4 modern units on thelma or such and asked $400k they would sell?

There's always a possibility, but I don't think it's probable. If they do build any more townhomes (and I bet they do - someone will buy out a block of those ramshackle houses and do another little development), they will be just the same sort of ersatz traditionals that are already there. And sadly they wouldn't ask 400, they'd ask 800. Prices are obscene in OP right now. Used to be you could get a toehold in the neighborhood by buying one of the little rock cottages on the edges for $150,000 and then redo them. Now, those same little cottages are at least 350 - 400, and they still need to be gutted and redone, and if they have been redone, they're more like 450-500.

Moderator cut: realtor website

[austindoxie1972]

I was in SA last month and noticed a new set of homes being built right off of Broadway, across from the Oak Park HEB. The lot was just being cleared. However, these were a bit pricey -- 15 units, starting at $700,000. I don't remember the name of the development. Sorry!

[Coldplay1144]

My true reason for asking is i am planning on building a row of modern-townhomes with Lake Flato desins i am still in feasability period and testing how modern i can get away with. I though of marketing them to affluent mexican nationals who usually love that type of design. I will start out with 6 and if they sell fast buy up other properites on that St. in Olmos Park. Anyone suggest anything tha tmight assist me with this, its my first project and i am looking at marketing them for $400,000-$600,000 just because i got a great deal on all that land.