Exclusive: Houston homebuilder breaks ground on three new “crowdsourced” residential projects inside the Loop

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A Houston developer has broken ground on the first three of nine new residential projects inside the Interstate 610 Loop.

Surge Homes Development LLC began site work — demolition and site clean-up — last month on single-family homes, townhomes and Class A condominium units in Midtown, the Museum District and Upper Kirby. The developer plans to begin infrastructure development in late September with vertical construction starting soon afterward. Sales are expected to start in mid-October, and the projects are expected to be complete in July 2016.

The groundbreaking comes after Surge Homes founders Louis Conrad and Ben Lemieux spent months collecting and analyzing online surveys and in-person input from nearly 3,500 prospective homebuyers, Realtors, architects and neighbors on its designs and floor plans.

“Over our 26 years in this business, we have learned that we should not assume what people want,” Conrad said. “We had positive feed and some negative feedback, too. But it’s all constructive criticism. We listened to everyone.”

Conrad and Lemieux “crowdsourced” opinions on each of its design-build projects, tweaking, refining and even completely redesigning some of their initial plans. The company decided to start with three projects — the ones with the most demand from homebuyers.

“I was thrilled to see the reaction of Houston homebuyers towards innovative and more dense urban communities," Lemieux said in a statement. "We will be able to offer great price points in established and prestigious Inner Loop neighborhoods.”

1. Parc at Midtown: 73 Modern-style one- and two-story condominiums, three-story townhomes and single-family homes on 1.7 acres at 2401 Crawford St. in Midtown. Sizes range from 465 square feet for a one-bedroom condo unit to 1,528 square feet for a three-bedroom single-family home, and prices start from $150,000 to $463,000. The gated-home community include parking spots/garages for two cars, front and back yards on some properties and a large common park within walking distance to Midtown Park, a mixed-use “superblock” in Midtown.
2. Museum Blvd: 15 Modern-style townhomes and single-family homes on a half-acre lot at 4819 Caroline St. in the Museum District. Sizes range from 1,372 square feet to 1,572 square feet for a three-bedroom unit, and prices start from $367,000 to $480,000. The home community features two car garages and a yard on some residences and is located near the Wheeler light rail station near museums and cultural centers in the Museum District.
3. Upper Richton: 13 Classic-style, three-story townhomes and single-family homes located at 3410 Morningside Drive in Upper Kirby, a short distance to West Ave. Sizes range from 1,623 square feet to 2,251 square feet for a three-bedroom unit, and prices start from $416,000 to $842,000. The home community features two car garages, front yards and some residences are elevator-ready. (Surge has begun some site work on this project, but demolition is expected next week).

Paul Takahashi covers residential and multifamily commercial real estate for the Houston Business Journal. Follow him on Twitter for more.