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Booming Energy Corridor attracts Atlanta real estate firm’s first Houston project

 

 

By Jenny Agee-Aldridge

Multifamily housing in the Energy Corridor is booming with at least two projects under construction and a third on the way.
The Worthing Cos. of Atlanta will construct a 342-unit luxury complex on a 9-acre site in the Wolff Cos.’ Central Park, a 78-acre mixed-use development located on the north side of Interstate 10 between North Eldridge Parkway and Highway 6.

Construction on the project, called The Heights at Park Row, has begun and will begin leasing units by October.

Office construction and job growth in the Energy Corridor is creating the need for upscale multifamily housing in the area, said David Hightower, executive vice president and chief development officer at Houston-based Wolff Cos.

More than one in five jobs created since 2011 have been in energy, according to the Texas Workforce Commission, and the Greater Houston Partnership forecasts the sector will add 5,600 new jobs to the Houston area this year.

“It’s eventually going to look like the Galleria area through here (the Energy Corridor), with a lot of high-density residential and office space,” said Hightower.

With 98 percent of the property in the Energy Corridor already built, developers will begin purchasing sites and “scraping” older buildings off to make way for new construction, said Hightower, many focusing on mixed-use developments, which usually encompass multifamily housing.

The trend continues with Houston-based PM Realty Group’s announcment it will redevelop a 35-acre piece of land that includes the former chemical headquarters of Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE XOM). for a mixed-use project.

Given the number of energy companies in the area, new complexes in the corridor will cater to oil and gas employees, said Hightower. Case in point, an apartment complex that’s only 70 percent complete, located on Eldridge Parkway and managed by Phoenix-based Alliance Residential Co., is already 90 percent preleased. The majority of its tenants work at ConocoPhillips Co. (NYSE: COP), Hightower said.

For the complete article, please go to:
http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/print-edition/2014/01/24/booming-energy-corridor-attracts.html