A Room With a View...of the Post Office

Do you enjoy this majestic, sweeping vista? It could be yours! Read on...

City Centre, on the site of the old Town & Country Mall off I-10 and Beltway 8, is one of many mixed-use developments cropping up around Houston that are trying to take advantage of the new trend towards satellite "city centers" (spelled the American English way here, since we do -- after all -- reside in America) or "town squares" outside of the traditional central business district. Scheduled for completion in spring 2009, City Centre will contain an arthouse-style movie theater, two hotels (one smaller boutique hotel and a larger, more traditional one), a two-story Lifetime Fitness gym, office space, numerous upscale stores, some chi-chi restaurants and bars and, of course, lofts and brownstones -- the hallmark of any new mixed-use development in Houston.

Those brownstones are appropriately, if not creatively, named The Brownstones at City Centre and are situated on the far northeast corner of the site, mostly removed from the "heart" of the development. Owners of the brownstones will have relatively easy access to Beltway 8 and I-10, as well as nearly instant access to all of the above-named amenities (if they'll actually walk to them, which remains to be seen) and a few amenities of their own inside: elevators, in case the stairs prove too difficult, and a Sub-Zero/Viking/Wolf outfitted kitchen with granite counters and wine rooms, good for giving off the illusion that masterful Iron Chef-style cooking will take place at some point.

They will also have some of the least spectacular views of Houston outside of Channelview (which at least looks pretty at night, the refineries lit up like a smaller version of Manhattan) and a plum location next to the 1960s-era US Post Office, several equally ugly office buildings, the alley behind a Bed, Bath & Beyond, and a busy side street with a small sidewalk, which means that the front door to your brownstone empties almost directly onto the curb. Welcome home!

The brownstones start at the Pollyannaish price of $810,000 and average about 3,500 square feet (or $231 per square foot). For sake of reference, let's see what else $800,000 could buy you in Houston:

• A colonial mansion buiit in 1900 on an 8,000 square foot corner lot in the Heights. Completely renovated with high-end materials and custom fixtures. Also has a guest apartment in the rear that can be rented out or used as a studio space.
• If older houses aren't your style, check out this newly-built Victorian mansion -- also in the Heights -- with a wrap-around porch and custom stained glass. At 4,200 square feet and four bedrooms, there's more than enough room for your family and it even includes a pool.
• Prefer a home that can double as a vacation spot? Here's a 5,100 square foot Mediterranean-style manse situated on a 2.3 acre lot on Lake Windcrest in The Woodlands. Play a round at the Lake Windcrest Golf Club, take your jet skis out on the lake or relax with a glass of cabernet from your 800-bottle wine cellar.
• Like golf but prefer something with a more conservative demeanor? Try out this sprawling 6,600 square foot Georgian in Katy. It's also located on a golf course, but you get a three-car garage for your Tahoes (golf cart included) and a built-in gun closet! We're guessing that the guns aren't included, but you could always negotiate them into the asking price.

Or, you could take that 800 large and invest it into a stucco box that backs directly onto a parking garage and provides a masterful bird's-eye view of the post office parking lot -- or, if you're on the second row of townhomes off the street, a close and voyeuristic view of your the back of your neighbor's house some 15 yards away -- good for those days when there's nothing on TV. Then again, if you're living in a development "organized to maximize synergistic relationships," you probably shouldn't be at home watching TV anyway. You'd be missing out on the "vibrant pedestrian community" that's doesn't exist quite yet, but is being created and carefully planned for you at this very moment. After all, natural progress and development is overrated.