WEST LOOP APARTMENTS
Gables Residential is putting up a 14-story building that will have 295 units. The project is scheduled for completion in 2020.
Gables Residential has broken ground on a 14-story apartment building along the West Loop — a luxury development that was delayed for more than three years as a result of the energy slump.
The project was expected to break ground in the first half of 2015. However, by that summer, oil had fallen to half of what it was a year earlier.
Now, Gables expects 2020 to be a good year to open a new building.
“A lot of inventory will have been absorbed,” said Micah Conn, development director for Gables Residential. “And no one knows for sure, but it seems like oil has stabilized.”
Ziegler Cooper designed the new Gables building, which is under construction on a site along Westcreek Lane between Westheimer and San Felipe, just north of high-end shopping center River Oaks District.
The project, which will have 295 units averaging 1,539 square feet, will be Gables’ first high-rise in the Houston market. It will target professionals and empty nesters. The building will have concierge services, a rooftop swimming pool and outdoor kitchen, as well as a fitness room, bicycle storage and workshop, and a club room for resident gatherings.
The project’s location on Westcreek has become a hotbed of high-rise construction in recent years. In addition to the newly opened Arabella condominium tower, Gables’ neighbors will include the SkyHouse apartments and the Wilshire condominiums.
The Houston apartment market has changed drastically in recent years.
Before Hurricane Harvey, there was a glut of units left over from developers starting projects when oil was at $100 a barrel.
After the storm, many of those units were rented by displaced Houstonians, and strong job growth has helped strengthen the market.
At nearly 90 percent, occupancy is up from a year ago but down slightly since September, according to a November report from industry tracker Apartment Data.com. Units in Houston rent for an average of $1,025 per month.
Energy slump put project on hold for more than three years