Houston CORE developments thread (Dallas, Allen: townhomes, rail, transit)

[NigerianNightmare]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

I noticed a lot of infill in the area near East River.

I also notice new mid rise apartments going up in Gulfton. That surprised me

Midrises in Gulfton from a development perspective makes sense. The Uptown area is having a decline as far as perception. I think having a ton of apartments there regardless of who lives there, if they are properly constructed/refurbished makes sense. The biggest indicator on whether these apartments will do good though are probably the schools that are zoned there.

I'm an optimist, and because of that I believe a lot of areas due to location, cultural changes and demographics will turn up in Houston. For example, although homicide has been going up in certain cities, crime overall has been down since the late 80s and early 90s almost every year in a row. Our crime rate is now almost at the 1960s nationally. I don't think by 2030 it will be as noticeable, but certainly by 2040, Houston will be a much safer city than it is now. Partially because it's also going to be much older, and likely wealthier as well.

I think a lot of folks fear apartments because of how there is such a boom and bust cycle behind them in the Houston area, but I truly predict areas like Alief becoming safe overall (Still gonna have hotspots). Similar to North Katy it will becomes a bastion of middle class development, especially with it's growing Asian American population. Sharpstown and the area between Westpark and Buffalo Bayou will finally turn over that leaf that will give these areas the veneer of neighborhoods like Meyerland or Copperfield.

For example one thing that will lead to prospering areas is how significant our immigration from Latin America and Asia is. A ton of Latin America will be at the level of a Eastern European nation in 20 years, as well as a significant portion of Asia. With Venezuela, Haiti and much of Central America outside of Panama/Costa Rica being the exceptions. Even then, being in a wealthy region will probably mean some countries like Paraguay will benefit tremendously from being surrounded by 3 nations/areas that will likely be developed.

In Asia, Cambodia and Laos will likely get massive benefits from Thailand and Vietnam being developed countries bordering them.

This will likely mean that more educated folks immigrate to America because while those countries will be more developed, incomes will lag. The immigrant dominated areas of Houston today, will be filled with more people who have High School diplomas and college degrees.

A place like Arlington, Conroe, Stafford, Spring, Mission Bend or Porter isn't too far off from where the city of Houston is headed too. While many of our suburbs will maintain their high income status.

[ParaguaneroSwag]

The Chaucer apartments at rice village announced

[IMG]https://media.bizj.us/view/img/12716585/rdchaucerhero5krgb*900xx5000-2818-0-255.jpg[/IMG]

[oil capital]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

The Chaucer apartments at rice village announced

They are for-sale condos, correct?

[ParaguaneroSwag]

Originally Posted by ParaguaneroSwag

The Chaucer apartments at rice village announced

[Jack Lance]

The units on the north side of the building are going to have some great views

[KinBueno]

That looks sexy, and it's a good height for Rice Village

[LocalPlanner]

Originally Posted by oil capital

They are for-sale condos, correct?

Yes, the developer doesn't do apartments, only for-sale.

Glad that this one is a little more understated than his early projects, which had a gaudiness / tacky aspect IMHO.

[KinBueno]

Ha, his early works were trying to do too much. You knew a Randall Davis Original when you saw one.

To make it worse the final product was always value engineered, so not only did it look outlandish, but it also looked cheap.

RD has been doing better. More sophisticated rendering, but still quite a beat of value engineering.
I like renderings like this one for the Chaucer. It looks giod but is simple. Less room for value engineering that hits under the mark.

[NigerianNightmare]

Originally Posted by KinBueno

Ha, his early works were trying to do too much. You knew a Randall Davis Original when you saw one.

To make it worse the final product was always value engineered, so not only did it look outlandish, but it also looked cheap.

RD has been doing better. More sophisticated rendering, but still quite a beat of value engineering.
I like renderings like this one for the Chaucer. It looks giod but is simple. Less room for value engineering that hits under the mark.

As an Engineer besides like the super big firms, or work in like Saudi Arabia/Qatar does anyone really do non-value engineering. Obviously some companies will do the cheapest of the cheap. But don’t Taylor Morrison and the other builders still use relatively cheap materials for their nice homes? Now if the quality is like starter home quality I would understand but I still think damn near every building that isn’t a skyscraper or mansion ends up being cheaply built, it’s just levels of cheap.

[KinBueno]

Originally Posted by NigerianNightmare

As an Engineer besides like the super big firms, or work in like Saudi Arabia/Qatar does anyone really do non-value engineering. Obviously some companies will do the cheapest of the cheap. But don’t Taylor Morrison and the other builders still use relatively cheap materials for their nice homes? Now if the quality is like starter home quality I would understand but I still think damn near every building that isn’t a skyscraper or mansion ends up being cheaply built, it’s just levels of cheap.

Don't get me wrong, it's widespread.
My comment was that his renders were so over the top that the value engineering made the final product obnoxious..
That's why I said I like that this building is elegant and still simple so that when the value engineering comes in it will still look like render, but with short cuts here and there.
Seems Randall Davis finally starting to listen to the saying that Less is More sometimes