Light rail spurs South Loop development

More development in an overlooked part of town, thanks to the light rail line.

"The area's been slow to develop," said Bob Parsley of realty firm Colliers International. "But we're beginning to see an overall acceptance in the marketplace for being south of 610."

Indeed, home builders, industrial developers and land speculators are jockeying for still-vacant parcels just beyond the Metro terminus, fueling a land rush in this long-neglected area.

Houston developer Frank Liu, who's building new homes nearby, owns about 60 acres surrounding Metro's Fannin South station, the last stop on the city's 7.5-mile light rail line connecting downtown with this area just south of Reliant Stadium.

While he's not yet ready to tip his hand, Liu controls enough land in the area to create a sizable community where folks could live, work and shop.

"The great thing about that piece of property is that it's so close to the rail stop and so close to the Medical Center," Liu, president of InTown Homes, said. "You just can't go wrong."

[...]

"Land costs are just a fraction of what they are in the Medical Center," said David R. David of Warehouse Associates, a real estate firm building warehouses in the area and attracting more medical users than ever before.

The company has leased space to a DNA lab, surgical center and a dialysis facility.

In 2001, when the company built its first project there, medical firms didn't want to move south of the Loop, which was then seen as too far from the Medical Center.

"We're seeing more demand for our sites," David said. "Today, I think we're a politically acceptable location for medical support."

[...]

"We were attracted to the area primarily because of its proximity to the Medical Center and Reliant Center," said Joel Scott, who manages the partnership and is a principal in Terramark Communities, a Houston-based real estate development firm.

[...]

Dozens of $200,000 townhomes line the streets near Link Valley, a neighborhood off Stella Link that used to be known by the nickname Death Valley.

And Chancellor Properties recently completed Villas at Coronado, a 344-unit apartment complex on the Lakes at 610 just south of West Bellfort.

The new project is around 80 percent occupied, according to O'Connor & Associates, a research firm.

You get the idea. I've mentioned before that I work near this area, which is just south of Loop 610 and the Astrodome. There's never been much here other than scary apartments - I remember well circa 1990 some friends of mine breaking their lease after getting robbed at gunpoint in the parking lot of their complex near Main and Westridge (on the other side of the Loop but a stone's throw away). Slowly but surely, things are improving. I still wouldn't want to live there now because there still aren't many amenities, but the pioneers who are buying in have a decent chance of being rewarded for their foresight. Being able to ride to work in the Medical Center or downtown will be a plus.

Even more interesting is the apparent trend of Med Center support businesses being willing to move out as long as they're near a rail stop. Driving in that vicinity is so awful that any viable alternative will look mighty attractive. This certainly counts as viable.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on December 06, 2004 to Elsewhere in Houston | TrackBack