Historic 19th street continues to thrive even during the recession, so it's nowonder developers are trying to replicate the small town feeling of The Heightsin other parts of Houston.
Plans for Heights Marketplace, a 40,000-square-foot shopping center, include arooftop bar with views of the downtown skyline.
The battle cry of Houston residential real estate marketing is: “Can’t get enough of a good thing.”
So if a Craftsman-style front porch works in The Heights, it’s gotta work in outer suburbia, right?
Cinco Ranch, an enormous master-planned community in the Katy area, is trying to import The Heights to its residential prairie way out west. Cinco Ranch is opening what it calls “a nostalgia-flavored neighborhood called Park Place, complete with an esplanade-lined boulevard inspired by historic Heights Blvd.”
Everybody likes the beautiful vintage homes in The Heights and the leafy boulevard. So it makes sense that people will want to replicate that, even if it falls short on authenticity.
Cinco Ranch has brought in a newly formed home building group to pull it off: J. Kyle Homes. The new company is led by Jason Hammonds, son of veteran Houston builder Ron Hammonds, who founded Hammonds Homes, once ranked as one of the biggest builders in the nation. The new builder will be constructing Cinco Ranch houses with front porches and high roof lines, trying to get the retro look.
Sometimes these attempts to put old-looking homes in brand new communities work all right. Sometimes, they don’t. Simply put, if it’s not done right, it will look phonier than a Kanye West apology.
People in The Heights groan when a house is torn down and it is replaced with a Victorian-styled new dwelling. Losing historic housing stock is painful and I hate to see it, too. Tearing down historic homes should be outlawed. But if a new house has to be built in The Heights, it’s better to see one with a retro design that fits in.
But what about the flip-side? Export The Heights to Katy?
Why not? Katy already has enough squarish brick McMansions.
Orr Coming Back for More
Two years ago, Bobby Orr had some grand aspirations for his tract on Heights Boulevard.
It is, after all, a very nice piece of property – five acres with frontage on Heights Boulevard and Yale, between Washington Avenue and Interstate 10.
Orr’s firm has a very successful track record, developing dozens of mid-size shopping centers around Houston. The Heights tract deserved something special, so Orr Commercial announced plans for a $70 million mixed-use project with 200,000 square feet of retail space topped by more than 200 apartments.
That was before the national economy crashed and lenders went into full retreat. Orr, like many developers around town, put the deal on hold. Orr then talked about selling the land outright, but the market for land is not real strong either.
Now, the plan is to build a 40,000-square-foot shopping center called Heights Marketplace on the tract, according to Joan Collum, senior vice president with Orr. Plans call for Heights Marketplace to have a rooftop bar with unreal views of the downtown skyline.
I’m sure the shopping center will be top-quality, but the mixed-use project that Orr wanted to put there at first would have been truly noteworthy.
19th Street Hanging in There
Merchants and restaurants in The Heights’ historic 19th Street district are performing just fine, thank you, despite the recession.
Over the years, the 19th Street retail buildings have been through a few economic downturns, including the Great Depression. So it looks like they will pull through the current economic mess.
“There are few, if any vacancies,” says Greg Lewis of Lewis Property Co. “19th Street remains a vibrant commercial neighborhood, thriving just like it was 100 years ago.”
Lewis, who recently redeveloped the 19th Street Market retail building, has deep roots in commercial development in The Heights. In the early 1900s, Lewis’ great-grandfather developed several commercial properties in The Heights, including the Carter & Cooley deli building on 19th Street.
It’s important to note that 19th Street remains a friendly place for the pedestrian shopper. The recent revival of the area did not destroy the environment for people on foot – an enduring lesson for developers.
Ralph Bivins, former president of the National Association of Real Estate Editors, is editor-in-chief of RealtyNewsReport.com.
