living the high life
Houston rises to No. 3 in U.S. for most downtown apartment residents
A view of One Park Place, the downtown tower that started it all.
A new study suggests downtown Houston has evolved into a magnet for apartment dwellers.
From 2013 to 2022, downtown Houston has added 15,607 apartments, according to a new study from StorageCafe. That puts Houston in third place among 100 major U.S. cities for the most growth in downtown apartment supplies. Atlanta ranks first (21,508), with Los Angeles at No. 2 (19,432).
During the 10-year period covered by the study, Houston’s inventory of downtown apartments rose 63 percent.
“While office workers aren’t yet returning in droves, people still seem interested in living in downtown Houston, which has another 2,700 new apartments currently under construction with completion dates spanning approximately two years,” according to StorageCafe.
For those in the know, credit goes to Houston visionary and real estate mogul Marvy Finger, who built One Park Place — the first luxury residential high rise built in downtown in more than 40 years. He followed with the popular 500 Crawford, which overlooks Minute Maid Park (its library looks right into left field) and houses Houston Astros owner Jim Crane's fine-dining Italian eatery Potente.
Following Finger's lead, myriad developments followed, as did a resurgence of downtown's scene, ushered on by hot spots such as Four Seasons and its buzzy steakhouse Toro Toro. Beyond home games with the Astros and Houston Rockets, downtowners can enjoy the bustling Discovery Green, the nearby treehouse-vibed destination restaurant The Grove, and more.
Sitting at No. 14 in the study is San Antonio, which grew its downtown apartment supply by 8,373 from 2013 to 2022. Outside the top 20 are three other major cities in Texas:
- No. 21 Dallas, 7,162 new downtown apartments
- No. 24 Fort Worth, 6,485 new downtown apartments
- No. 35 Austin, 4,144 new downtown apartments
“The renaissance of the American downtown as a place to live has come in response to people’s changing attitudes and lifestyle preferences,” StorageCafe says. “Even as working from home enabled families to move to more affordable suburbs or to less expensive parts of the country, many people are heading back to city centers to take advantage of their unique economic and social opportunities.”
