Long Point land buy signals further change for Spring Branch

A national apartment developer has purchased the former Spring Branch Medical Center property on Long Point in Spring Branch, an area in the midst of change as new housing, restaurants and bars move in. A national apartment developer has purchased the former Spring Branch Medical Center property on Long Point in Spring Branch, an area in the midst of change as new housing, restaurants and bars move in. Photo: Nancy Sarnoff / Houston Chronicle Photo: Nancy Sarnoff / Houston Chronicle Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Long Point land buy signals further change for Spring Branch 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

A national apartment developer has purchased 9.2 acres on Long Point, the latest example of how this Spring Branch neighborhood is evolving and a signal that more change is likely.

Mid-America Apartment Communities — or MAA — a Memphis-based real estate investment trust, purchased the property at the northeast corner of Long Point and Knoll from an investment partnership that had owned it since 2013.

The company plans to bring more than 300 high-end apartments to the site, according to Dosch Marshall Real Estate, a commercial property firm that listed the land for sale in April.

Spring Branch, an area outside the 610 Loop and north of Interstate 10, has seen an influx of new housing as real estate values shot up in Inner Loop neighborhoods, pricing out developers and home buyers. InTown Homes, David Weekley Homes, Pulte and KB Home have all built communities of closely clustered homes in the area.

Now land prices in Spring Branch are rising, pushing development deeper into the neighborhood and north of Long Point.

Earlier this decade, sites in the area were selling for around $4 per square foot. Now they’re in the $20- to $25-per-square-foot range, said Clark Dalton, vice president of Dosch Marshall Real Estate.

The land sale to MAA, which could not be reached, closed on Nov. 1. The purchase price was not disclosed.

The seller, a group including BlackSwan Investment Partners, owned additional property in the area, some of which it sold a few years ago to Lennar for a new housing development.

The future apartment site at 8850 Long Point formerly housed Spring Branch Medical Center. The hospital was founded in the 1950s and at one time had 299 beds, 19 operating rooms and a stand-alone radiation oncology center.

After the investment firm purchased the property, it tore down the vacant medical buildings.

The new apartments are expected to attract young singles that may have grown up in the area and those who work in the Energy Corridor.

“Long Point is going to really be a main east-to-west corridor,” said Tom Dosch, a principal with Dosch Marshall Real Estate.

MAA, owns or has interests in 304 multifamily properties throughout the southeast, southwest and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. In 2016, the company merged Atlanta-based Post Properties, which developed hundreds of apartments in Midtown.

nancy.sarnoff@chron.com

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