LOCAL Houston | The City Guide JANUARY 2015 | Page 39

Local January 2015_FINAL_002houston 12/18/14 4:13 PM Page 39

H
...IS FOR HIGH-RISE

Houston may be most famous for its suburban sprawl and spaghetti-bowl freeways, but the city with
the largest number of single-family, new home construction starts in the U.S. last year is embracing a
popular trend: high-rise living. That’s right, residents of this 600-square-mile boomtown are increasingly eager to move up – literally – not out. Since 2000, about 30 high-rise buildings have gone up,
bringing the total number of high-rises across the city to 72 and the number of units to nearly 8,500.
Planned new construction starts in 2014 rang in at more than $4.8 billion. As of late 2014, 28 commercial and residential high-rises were in development, with plans for 83 more (largely commercial)
under consideration at City Hall.
In downtown Houston alone, 14 projects are currently underway – including the 40-story MARKET
SQUARE TOWER apartment building on Market Square – and another 39 are under review. In terms of
construction and renovation costs, it’s a $4 billion price tag. Meanwhile, neighborhoods not far from
Downtown in what’s known as the Inner Loop are also seeing their landscapes shift as developers
scrap old two-story buildings and replace them with gleaming new towers like THE RIVA at the Park in
Montrose, and ASTORIA and BELFIORE in Uptown – or with projects-in-progress like the 40-story building
at West Alabama and Weslayan, or the 30-story building on Montrose Boulevard near Westheimer.
According to Donna Wilson, a realtor with Martha Turner Sotheby’s International Realty, prices for a
two-bedroom, two-bath condominium start at about $500,000 and can run well into the millions.
With demand for vertical living on the upswing, the market for high-rise and mid-rise condos and
apartments is exploding. “Inventory is low, prices are up,” Wilson says. “And with all of this traffic,
residents, especially those coming from international cities, feel comfortable and secure in a high-rise,
close-in building.” That’s not the whole story. With Inner Loop housing becoming increasingly scarce
and pricey, developers are exploring fertile territory farther afield. What does that mean? The next 30story condo building might just go up in The Woodlands.
by Cristina Adams | Highland Tower Final Rendering

january 15 | L O C A L 39