Apartment developer buys land near Generation Park, IAH
Houston-based developers Allen Harrison Co. and Johnson Development Corp. have partnered on a project to build a new Class A apartment complex in northeast Houston.
The joint venture is between Johnson Development and Allen Harrison, who has recently partnered with Brazil-based Blintor Capital. Green Bank and the Bank of Texas are providing the construction loan. Johnson Development contributed 14.25 acres for a 322-unit garden-style complex in Fall Creek, the company’s master-planned golf course community, said Matt Lau, vice president of commercial development with the company.
Lau said the company wanted to further monetize their land holdings and work with Allen Harrison on this project. Allen Harrison originally planned to purchase the land in 2015, but dropped the contract due to poor timing, said Mitchell Hanzik, managing director for Allen Harrison.
The land is a few miles from Bush Intercontinental Airport and the 4,000- acre mixed-use development Generation Park.
Stonegrove Fall Creek, set to open in fall 2019, will be near the intersection of Bellows Falls and Beltway 8. The three-story apartments will have an average size of 924 square feet with surface parking, according to Allen Harrison’s website. The developer broke ground on a five-story apartment building in the Heights, The Citadel, in October 2017.
“Developers are making large bets on the area,” said Tom Dosch, principal at Dosch Marshall Real Estate,
which represented Allen Harrison in the deal.
Dosch said several out-of-town developers are looking to make deals in that part of town as well. The location’s proximity and straight commute to various employers is another plus, Dosch said.
While those who work in Generation Park or the airport will have short drives, even those who work downtown or at the Port of Houston will have quicker commutes relative to those coming in from other areas, he said. Along with new apartment projects such as Stonegrove Fall Creek, the northeast area has seen several master-planned communities come up in recent years as well. That part of town ranked third for new home starts last year, according to the housing research firm Metrostudy. This year, Humble Independent School District also opened the new Groves Elementary School, near The Groves, the 1,000-acre community near Lake Houston.
Another 20-plus acre section of land remains to the east of the apartment site that could be for more multifamily or retail projects, Lau said.
Mar 13, 2018, 2:46pm CDT
Fauzeya Rahman
Reporter
Houston Business Journal
