Saturday shelterporn

Houstonist has heard a lot of our fellow Houstonians saying, quite earnestly, that they live in "lofts." When we think of lofts, we think of old factories, warehouses or other commercial buildings that have been converted to open living spaces with exposed brick walls, old wood or concrete floors and high ceilings — like the 22nd Street Lofts in the Heights. But when many Houstonians say they live in a loft, they actually mean either a bland apartment complex with high ceilings that's designed to look sort of like an old warehouse or a bland apartment complex with high ceilings that's not designed to look like much of anything.

With that in mind, today we bring you a legitimate Houston Avenue loft. It's a conversion of the 1925 Gianusia Drug Store building, located just across the street from Woodland Heights. The living room/dining room/kitchen has enormous, high windows overlooking Houston Avenue, concrete floors and brick walls; in the kitchen are the expected stainless appliances and what look like granite countertops — because you apparently can't cook without those things these days. Unfortunately, there aren't any pictures of the bedrooms, but we assume they're appropriately lofty as well. Outside, there's some kind of side yard — big enough to walk around in, but small enough that you won't have to invest in a riding lawnmower and cramp your urban lifestyle. One of the coolest features: a roof garden that might have a downtown view (we're just speculating here, but downtown's not far way, so it would make sense).

We guess you'd lose some privacy by virtue of being right on Houston Avenue with giant windows between you and the rest of the world — but if you live in a building like this, we think you should expect attention anyway. And with a living room like the one here, you could have a lot of great parties and make the rest of the world jealous. Bedrooms: three. Bathrooms: two and a half. Price: $684,900.

Lofts Move to Suburbia in Houston Region

Author: Beth Bresnahan
Publishing date: 01/30/05

By Nancy Sarnoff

Houston Chronicle

RISMEDIA, Jan. 31 – (KRT) – Loft living began as a downtown phenomenon. But this hip housing trend is beginning to show up in suburbs many miles from the city center.

Developers are planning a 10-story loft building in Sugar Land Town Square, a suburban real estate development designed to create an instant downtown.

Houston-based Threshold Interests One, which designed a similar project in The Woodlands, is developing the Sugar Land project.

The Tower Lofts at Town Square will have 50 units starting in the $200,000s.

Threshold Interests is taking its urban residential product to Sugar Land after having success with a similar development in The Woodlands.

The company is building its second loft project on The Woodlands Waterway. The first project, containing 36 units, quickly sold out.

Both Waterway Lofts buildings are in The Woodlands Town Center, the area's commercial district.

The new Sugar Land project represents a "shift in the character of the Sugar Land residential property market," said Les Newton of Planned Community Developers, which developed First Colony and Sugar Land Town Square.

Residents will be able to walk to nearby restaurants, shops and offices, he said.

Threshold Interests is developing a second building in the area, called Lake Pointe Vista.

The six-story, 36-unit midrise will be built near the intersection of U.S. 59 and Texas 6, cater-cornered from the First Colony Mall and the Sugar Land Town Square.

The property will feature floor-to-ceiling windows, wraparound terraces, high-end interior fixtures and lakefront views. Prices will range from the $200,000s to more than $1 million.

The project is part of a 190-acre urban-style village called Lake Pointe Town Center.

When completed, the development will include 1 million square feet of office space and more than 200,000 square feet of retail space connected by a boardwalk and trail system.

Construction on the buildings, both designed by Ziegler Cooper Architects, is expected to begin this summer.

© 2005, Houston Chronicle.