West End

The Gables Development Group is behind this very large mixed use development in Houston, under Ben Peaceglock.

Please play the video for the photos of the project.


The project has a ground floor of retail; second floor flexible space, currently outfitted for retail and apartments above. The amenities include a rooftop pool, entertainment area, theater and fitness room. It is targeted toward young up and coming professionals with "adventurous shopping, distinctive dining and entertainment and luxury living"

There is quite a lot of art scattered through the property to give a sense of place as the site is simply so large. The developer made clever use of changing textures and colors to elevate this effect further.

The group managed to dodge the real estate crash with some fancy foot work. At the height of the boom, they had 15 unsolicited offers on their property. A bidding war ensued with IMG Clarion and Lehman coming out on top. They had equity from IMG and debt from Lehman. They where fortunate to sell off these assets before the crash.

There are 397 apartments with an average size of 1080 SQFT. The current market rental rate is $1.98 per square foot, making around $2138 rental income per room. They are 89% leased at the moment.

The retail is not faring so well, as they have a majority of restaurants interested but are also seeking soft good sellers for that area. The partners insisted on having a graduated risk view for the flexible space on the second floor. It goes as follows:
1) retail
2) restaurants
3) furniture stores
4) medical offices
5) offices
6) apartments

As they are unable to lease the space, they will slide down the scale from 1 to 6 until they end at apartments which he said was not desirable due to the permanent nature of the usage.