HOUSTON—When we think of a vital apartment lifestyle, our minds these days typically go to Millennials. The tech jobs, the walkability, the vibrant nightlife. But what is a Baby Boomer to do if he or she wants to tap into that environment? This week's finalist in the NAHB Pillars of the Industry Award has an answer. 

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This Week's Project: Ascent at CityCentre
City: Houston
Award Category: Best Low-Rise Apartment Community (non-garden, 5 stories or less)
Developer: City Street Residential
Owner: J.P. Morgan
Architect: Steinberg Design Collaborative, LLP
Interior Designer: Kathy Andrews

Mission:  Since Houston-based Steinberg Design Collaborative LLP created its first multifamily building in Houston's CityCentre—The Domain—things had changed. A new ownership entity, J.P. Morgan, had taken over and their marching orders for another residence was clear: They didn't want to duplicate what had already been done.  

“The Domain at CityCentre was market-rate residential that was very successful,” recalls Sanford Steinberg, principal of the Steinberg Design Collaborative. “But the client didn't want to compete against themselves.” While the Domain catered largely to the Millennial crowd, the new project would target Boomers, which meant a building that was “more upscale and geared to the high-end renter.”

For the Collaborative, that meant higher-scale finishes and larger unit sizes to accommodate the additional storage accumulated by a demographic that was largely shedding their suburban homes for apartment life. Of course, it also meant amenities and, for those Boomers and business executives who wanted to hang onto their cars, parking.

CityCentre itself, the site of a former shopping mall, was already becoming a sort of hub for city life. A self-contained community of retail, dining, office and residential, CityCentre also offers hotel and conference accommodations. All of it is built around a small park that acts as a sort of focal point for various office and residential tenants there.

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Execution: A two-year construction process did not lack challenges, and Steinberg relates that one was a nearly-thumbnail footprint of about one and half acres. That restriction would pose a major challenge to parking.

“We had to meet the city requirements and keep the building at the five-story level with parking underneath,” he explains. The challenge was to maintain an approved ratio of units to parking spaces and keep within the budget. Preliminary layouts showed that while there were ways to “get more units on the site, we wouldn't meet the city's parking requirement.

“Let's say we can get only 250 parking spaces in the available space,” Steinberg explains. That would allow us only 150 units. We could have added another parking level underground but the expense would have gone up exponentially.”

A simple solution brought the math into workable parameters. “We combined units to create great penthouse spaces on the top floor,” simultaneously increasing the appeal for upscale renters and reducing the number of units to meet the code.   

Another challenge came in the requirements of the new ownership entity. J.P. Morgan requires all of its developments to be LEED certified.

End Game: The 160-unit Ascent at CityCentre was completed in September of 2014, hitting all of the marks of an upscale residence. The top-floor penthouses feature 11-foot ceilings and storefront windows to capture a commanding view of Houston's downtown. Balconies with glass railings complement the views.

The units are generally larger than those in nearby buildings, by an average of 150 square feet, and command rents that are “almost 20-cents-plus a foot more when we opened,” says Steinberg. “When you're going for higher rent you get clients that are more demanding.”

And as noted above, one of the demands was for more space. As opposed to the Millennial-focused Domain, the Ascent provides “larger closets and plenty of kitchen cabinets. The clientele here likes to cook, so they're looking for better kitchens and better appliances,” says the architect.

“But the big thing is management services,” he continues. These include “a big conference room that can also act as a dining room. We did a catering kitchen where they can cook or bring in a chef and rent that as a private dining room.”

The project also meets the J.P. Morgan demand for LEED certification. The Ascent earned a LEED Silver rating by the use of such systems as more efficient mechanicals, a tighter building envelope and a white reflective roof, Steinberg explains.

Another line of differentiation from the Domain was the lease-up. “It was interesting because all of the larger one- and two-bedrooms and the penthouses leased first, and then the smaller one-bedroom units started to go.”

The rationale behind that, he says, was an upscale clientele: “They had no problem with the price for the larger spaces. '$200 more a month? I'll take the big one.' ” And clearly that's what they did.  Today the Ascent at CityCentre is 95% leased.