East of Downtown; why so sketchy, empty buildings and ways/ideas to fix it (Houston: real estate, apartment complexes)

[mikey713]

I dont know if this has been posted before but i drove by East of Downtown and at first saw some nice lofts and new stuff but only a small area because it only took some seconds for the area to look very very ugly, with empty lots, vacant houses, small buildings that look empty. Why so ugly since it is near Downtown? has there been propositions to use that available land? Or did speculators already priced up the land even before anything occurred.

It looks like a perfect place to start some real urban planning since almost everything is empty or can be demolished. Some tall condos, tall apartments, window-shopping styled stores or restaurants, bars and necessity stores;groceries,dry cleaners, pharmacies; with apartments on top or something else (Please no big box styled structures!!!!!!!) with parks and nice artworks like the ones that were put in downtown.
Kind of like what midtown would have been but didn't succeed.

I did not see a single soul living around the area until i got to the end of the street where i was driving and there was a neighborhood there. Let me know.

[City Love]

Did you drive down Polk or Leeland? That whole area is prime for new development. The city is going to build the new Dynamo stadium somewhere off Dowling and Texas. That will really help the area.

A lot of potential around there. Some of those older neighborhoods like Eastwood are going up in value .

[HoustonRonnie]

Originally Posted by City Love

Did you drive down Polk or Leeland? That whole area is prime for new development. The city is going to build the new Dynamo stadium somewhere off Dowling and Texas. That will really help the area.

A lot of potential around there. Some of those older neighborhoods like Eastwood are going up in value .

We're just coming off a real estate bust. Whomever holds that land is waiting for a nice, long bubble.

[City Love]

Originally Posted by HoustonRonnie

We're just coming off a real estate bust. Whomever holds that land is waiting for a nice, long bubble.

Not sure who owns what and when they bought. But that area is still prime for development. Once the market picks up, that will be one of the areas that will experience some of the faster appreciation!

[vertigo5110]

I live over there currently. It's not a terrible area to live but it sucks that it's so undeveloped business-wise. I wish there was a Starbucks, Grocery Store (other than the one on Polk past Scott), Cleaners, etc. closer...

[modster]

You must be new to Houston. These areas change and change fast (in a decent economy anyway, which, for now....)

When I sold my house in 2005 a block off of Washington Avenue, the Washington corridor was totally sketchy with very few clubs (none that would be classified as upscale, that is for sure) and basically no restaurants, save the pig stand. Of course Rice-Military was pretty well developed by then, but when I worked at the apartments next to it on the traffic circle back in the mid 90's, people were afraid of Rice-Military since it was the "sketchy" neighborhood behind the apartments at that time. Prior to 1998 there was nothing but vacant lots, crappy old 2-story office buildings, and a couple of churchs down in midtown. None of the townhomes, nicer apartment complexes and clubs and restaurants you see now. Most of that is a product of the last 10 years.

There is already new development in the east end warehouse district. With the new stadium and the increasing lack of cheap land in the Washington corridor for development, builders will be looking for the next area. Factor in the addition of the light reail & when the market gets going again you can pretty much count on that area growing.

[City Love]

Originally Posted by vertigo5110

I live over there currently. It's not a terrible area to live but it sucks that it's so undeveloped business-wise. I wish there was a Starbucks, Grocery Store (other than the one on Polk past Scott), Cleaners, etc. closer...

Yea, I agree. We bought a rental property this year where Leeland and Telephone meet. Extremely underdeveloped.

The next closest area is Gulfgate shopping

The buzz is that once the new 2010 census numbers come out, that should bring confidence to the big developers. The area has definitely changed since 2000.

Also, let's hope they bring quiet zones to the train crossings! Like other parts of town.

[modster]

There is supposed to be that new grocery store coming soon off St. Emmanuel next to Cork Soakers.

[vertigo5110]

Personally, I think that developers should try to keep the warehouse feel. Like, take old warehouses but convert them into lofts. That would be really cool. Insert new development and revamp some of the existing strips (like the one by Lucky's) but also keep that industrial/mod look/feel. That would be really cool. I seriously drive down Polk and Leeland and all I see is potential. Hopefully the new census results will encourage more business and development.

and yes...I f'ing hate that stupid train!!

[DANNYY]

Well they have plans for new developments in that area already. Americas Plaza will be put there in a few years, here are some visuals for it (this plan was just announced, and it was brought to life after interest in soccer stadium in the area):