HOUSTON – (Realty News Report) – Pulte Homes is planning an 11-acre townhome community called Avondale on Main Street, just south of Loop 610 near the Astrodome.
The Pulte site is located at the corner of South Main and West Bellfort, near the property that was once considered as a data institute by the University of Texas. Boosters from the University of Houston opposed and killed the UT project and the empty UT land is being sold.
Townhome pioneer Frank Liu of Lovett Homes has been active in the South Main area, which has been overlooked for decades although it is close to the Texas Medical Center. For decades, Liu’s organization has demonstrated the ability to locate parcels for residential development in infill areas that have been bypassed and forgotten.
The University of Texas property is about two or three miles due south of the upscale West University Place community, in addition to being close to the Texas Medical Center, where more 100,000 people are employed. More than 10,000 employees at the Texas Medical Center hold PhD degrees or are medical doctors.
Former UT Chancellor William H. McRaven agreed to buy the land at a high price – some would say the university paid too much for the data institute site. UT bought the 300 acres for $215 million in 2015. The UT site is near the intersection of Buffalo Speedway and West Bellfort, near Willowbend Boulevard. Even though McRaven was not an expert in Houston real estate, with a fresh perspective, he recognized the potential of the location. The resale of the UT land has been encumbered by a bureaucratic sales process that is not in-keeping with the free-market nature of Houston real estate transactions.
