HOUSTON — Downtown Houston continues to grow as the population has more than doubled to 8,000 residents since 2013.
Crossing the 8,000-resident threshold puts the city well on its way to meet the growing demand highlighted in the Downtown Living Initiative from five years ago.
The goal was to find ways to incentivize developers to build downtown with the expectation that at least 30,000 people would move downtown in the next 15 years.
Developers answered once increased tax incentives were put on the table. By the end of 2017, more than $6 billion had been invested in a variety of urban developments.
Kristina Houston switched careers and began a real estate venture with highrises.com once she realized building up was the future of living in the big city.
“It’s everything we didn’t think Houston was for a long time,” Houston said.
Only 3,800 people lived downtown at that point, and as of April, that number jumped to 8,000 people. We’re talking people of all different backgrounds and walks of life.
The ease of walking to work and all the other attractions along the way brought Lyndsey Nashke downtown. She now lives in one of the four new towers flanking Market Square Park, an area designed to be a residential cluster, not unlike what’s found near Minute Maid Park.
“You can come downstairs, get your groceries delivered to you. We’re in such a great area, you can walk to work, walk to restaurants. You don’t have to leave,” Nashke said.
Millennials fit the stereotype of the working professionals moving in, but Houston says retirees are taking downtown by storm as well.
“They are moving into the high rises because of the lock-and-go lifestyle,” Houston said.
Other misconceptions include cost and what it takes to actually afford to live downtown. In recent months, leasing agents have battled for business by offering incentives to get you in the door.
Everything from one to six months' free rent, just for signing a one-year lease. The average cost hovers around $1,700 per one-bedroom unit in any of the six properties opened in the past 15 months.
“These buildings are brand new, and one of them is already almost full, and the other ones will be full soon,” Houston said.