Peek inside the latest luxury apartment project hitting The Heights

Construction on the first 88 units is complete, along with the shell of both four-story apartment buildings. Contractors with Domain Builders will finish the interiors of the remaining units in phases over the next several months with completion expected by early fall 2022. 

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The luxury project adds to a wave of new apartment construction in The Heights and Washington Avenue areas as developers chase demand from millennials looking to live in the hip neighborhood.

Historically The Heights has been known more for its craftsman-style bungalows than its luxury apartment projects. Even today, the neighborhood is dominated by historic homes and funky commercial buildings turned to boutiques and restaurants. There is still only about 10,000 apartment units The Heights area, representing less than 2 percent of all apartments across the metro, according to the commercial real estate data firm CoStar. 

But gentrification and demand for residential space from high-income earners has increased investor interest in the neighborhood over the past few decades. The neighborhood’s inventory of apartments has expanded by about 40 percent in just the past five years, with construction completing on 2,000 units in the past two years alone, according to CoStar. 

Recent apartment projects in the area include Phoenix-based Alliance Residential’s 15th Street Flats and Heights Waterworks, which sold in a 646-unit portfolio deal to billionaire Grant Cardone’s Cardone Capital in October. Some of the new apartment development has also spilled over into nearby neighborhoods such as Cottage Grove and Washington Avenue corridor, with new projects such Greystar’s 344-unit Art House at Sawyer Yards and Millcreek Residential’s 341-unit Modera Washington.

Renters are continuing to lease up new apartments in The Heights even though average asking rents have soared by nearly 9 percent the past year, according to CoStar.

“The Heights are just really popular. It just make sense for anyone in real estate to try to get a piece of The Heights,” said Roxann Bacchus, Vice President of Asset Management, CityStreet Residential, in an interview.

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For Domain Heights, CityStreet Residential is hoping to create a single-family home inspired environment with its location on a residential street and design elements such as mudrooms in every unit, smart-home technology, oversized closets and high-end fixtures that “feel custom,” according to the company. With interior designs by Kathy Andrews, the gourmet kitchens include quartz countertops, custom cabinetry, wood flooring and stainless steel sinks. Ground-floor level apartments include access to private yards.

Bacchus said the team reconfigured some of the design to meet post-pandemic needs of remote workers with a spacious coworking-style business center offering individual workstations and conference rooms. 

WiFi boosters throughout the property give residents access to their own private wireless Internet connection throughout the complex, instead of having to connect to a common, more public Internet connection in the business center, Bacchus said. Some units also have private home offices attached to one and two bedroom units.

“Since COVID, people need more out of their homes than just a place to eat and sleep. Now, it needs to be a place where residents can do all of their daily activities, while also being a place where they feel relaxed and comfortable,” Bacchus said. 

Residents can also tap into elaborate set of amenities opening this month: There’s a golf simulator that Bacchus said could host indoor Top Golf-style tournaments and an athletic club with a “cardio theater” allowing online workout video streaming. Then there’s a sky lounge with a fire pit, bicycle storage, dog wash salon, a Nitro coffee bar, an electric vehicle charging stations and an arcade room.

Community amenities such as massive 9,000 square-foot pool with private cabanas and grilling stations and a tap room with a full-service bar are set to open this spring. A beer garden and yard game area are expected to open this fall.

Houston-based The Morgan Group is handling property management and leasing efforts with the project now about 5 percent leased, Bacchus said.  One bedroom rents start at $1,766 and two bedroom rents start at $2,798. The building also includes two hotel suites for residents’ guests.

Designed by architecture firm Steinberg Dickey Collaborative,  Domain Heights represents CityStreet’s biggest project yet and its first apartment project in The Heights, Bacchus said. The firm started in 2013 by Rick Craig, who has overseen the development of some 6,000 apartment units over his career, including time at Finger Companies, Trammell Crow Residential, Gables Residential Trust and Simmons Vedder Partners. CityStreet has developed more than a dozen apartment projects in the Houston area, plus some projects in Austin, according to its website.