Hanover Co. is developing the 356-unit project on 3.3 acres. According to Garibaldi, demolition begins next week on an office building that has to be razed to make way for the project. The average unit size will be 1,200 sf and rental rates will be $1.75 per sf, according to Garibaldi. The project will take two years to complete, but some occupancy could begin as early as January 2003. The units will feature 10-foot ceilings, wood floors, high-end appliances, ceramic tile and marble granite counter tops.

"There are very few spots where you can have a pedestrian lifestyle," Garibaldi says of the location choice in the Galleria submarket. He believes the Galleria submarket's estimated 23 million sf of office space and more than four million sf of retail offer just what renters want in a pedestrian lifestyle. He says people are willing to pay for the lifestyle to avoid traffic congestion, validated by the surge of urbanization projects in the nation.

Hanover Co.'s other urbanism complexes are the 375-unit Lofts at the Ballpark and the 198-unit Sabine Street Lofts. The company has developed seven garden apartment complexes "from Clear Lake to Kingwood," he says. Hanover will continue to build garden apartments where appropriate, but urban-focused, pedestrian-lifestyle developments are the new focus.