Historic Building Saved

Defying the demolition craze: New $80 million downtown hotel to save a 102-year-old skyscraper

As downtown Houston booms with ground-up development, Fort Worth-based hotel company Pearl Hospitality is taking a more preservationist look at one historic building.

The Samuel F. Carter Building, a 102-year-old structure at 806 Main Street touted as the city's first skyscraper, is slated to open as the new J.W. Marriott Houston Downtown Hotel in Spring 2014.

"This is an historic day for the great city of Houston. One of the city's most important structures is being brought back to life to add, once again, to the city's culture and the vibrancy of downtown," Bill Franks, vice president of real estate for Pearl Hospitality, said at a Friday press conference.

"When we have a building with the rich history of this one, we want to save it," said Mayor Annise Parker, commending Pearl Hospitality's decision to protect the building rather than demolish it.

Renderings indicate that its once-slip-covered facade will be restored to former grandeur, and plans for renovation include a luxury hotel with 323 guest rooms, a restaurant and full-service bar, a spa and health club, an executive lounge, swimming pool and 10,000 square feet of meeting space.

Parker also noted the site's convenient location: Right on the METRORail Red Line, close to amenities attractive to both leisure and business travelers.

The hotel's $80.8 million development is a public/private partnership, pulling $7.3 million in financing from the City of Houston.

The current state of 806 Main Street in downtown Houston.

J.W. Marriott Houston Downtown Hotel Pearl Hospitality historical renovation

Photo by Whitney Radley

The current state of 806 Main Street in downtown Houston.

unspecified

rent report

New report reveals how many Texans are paying too much for rent

Photo by Francesca Tosolini on Unsplash

undefined

Millions of Texas renters, both current residents and new arrivals, suffer from wallet whiplash.

A new report from the Texas Affiliation of Affordable Housing Providers shows 45 percent of the state’s renters spend more than 30 percent of their income on housing. Renters occupy more than 4.2 million Texas households, representing nearly half of the state’s residents.

Worse yet, 81 percent of extremely low-income households in Texas spend more than 50 percent of their income on housing, the report says. For that income group, Texas has a shortage of 864,000 affordable homes.

Thirty percent is the standard financial benchmark for spending too much income on rent, while 50 percent puts a renter in the “severely cost-burdened” bucket.

“To sustain growth and secure future prosperity, Texas will need more than 320,000 additional affordable homes [rented and owned] to address workforce housing affordability and meet the demands of a growing population,” says the report.

“Today, the state is creating thousands of new jobs,” the report adds, “but housing supply has not kept pace with demand, driving up housing costs and constraining continued economic growth.”

Not surprisingly, people who live in or move to three of Texas’ biggest metro areas get hit with the state’s highest apartment rental rates. Here’s Apartments.com’s list of the 10 most expensive places for renters in Texas, based on apartments whose average size ranges from 713 square feet in Austin to 771 square feet in Plano:

1. Frisco — $1,477 per month
2. Plano — $1,461 per month
3. Austin — $1,417 per month
4. Dallas — $1,413 per month
5. McKinney — $1,363 per month
6. Grand Prairie — $1,327 per month
7. Irving — $1,318 per month
8. Garland — $1,237 per month
9. Fort Worth — $1,217 per month
10. Houston — $1,183 per month

San Antonio boasts some of the lowest average rent among Texas’ 10 most affordable markets: $1,075 per month. Mesquite, a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb, also fits into that category, with average monthly rent of $1,052.

Earlier this month, Gov. Greg Abbott announced more than $114 million in grants to help develop or rehabilitate properties, providing more than 4,400 affordable rental units.

“As our state grows, we must ensure that Texans have access to the affordable housing they need to thrive,” Abbott says.

rent prices report apartments