G.T. Leach, RAMA to start luxury condos

A team of seasoned real estate developers are joining forces to create one of Houston’s most luxurious condominium buildings.

Houston-based G.T. Leach and RAMA Companies expect to start construction this summer on the Beverly — a seven-story, six-unit condo at 5010 Longmont Drive in the upscale Tanglewood neighborhood. Prices are expected to start at about $4 million, and the developers are targeting a December 2024 completion date, RAMA co-founder Amir Taghdisi said.

Each unit will take up a whole floor, rising above a ground-level parking garage and lobby. The homes will span about 4,400 square feet with four bedrooms, four-and-a-half bathrooms, a secured foyer and a spacious kitchen and living area. Plus, each unit will have a 370-square-foot covered terrace, with the second floor featuring an additional 2,000-square-foot terrace that wraps around the building. 

Taghdisi, who founded the company with his brother Alan in 2003, believes the Beverly will carve a niche in Houston’s luxury market.

“There’s always very qualified audiences of people here who are looking to buy a home and are always dissatisfied with the inventory, product and availability that’s out there on the market,” Taghdisi said.

In high-end condos with 40 or 50 units, floorplans are often too small for the price, and there’s not enough privacy, he said. 

“It was interesting to build a building where you don’t have middle-of-the-road floor plans, introductory floor plans, or somewhere in between because it kind of gets to a point where it’s like, you’ve got a 2,500-foot unit, which isn’t on the bigger end of things, but it’s also $2.5 million,” Taghdisi said. “And you’re kind of like, ‘Well who the hell’s buying that?’”

Taghdisi added that the one-unit-per-floor plan is one the developers have been seeking for years, but they couldn’t find a site to justify the approach. The property at 5010 Longmont fits the bill because of its location between Uptown and Tanglewood, with scenic views in all directions and close proximity to the Galleria shopping center and Memorial Park. 

Each unit at The Beverly will also feature a gas fireplace, built-in outdoor gas grill, beverage station, backup generator, kitchen island, bathtub and a Juliet balcony for each room. For pet owners, the corner of the terrace will also have a pet-relief station that drains into the site’s sanitary system.

“I’ve heard dogs doing things in elevators just trying to get outside, and you can’t always take your pet outside,” Taghdisi said. “Doing this is huge, actually.”

The garage will have 17 parking spaces, a lobby and two elevators that lead directly to each unit’s secured foyer.

Partnering developer G.T. Leach has been one of Houston’s most prolific condominium builders since Gary T. Leach founded the company in 1998, serving as the general contractor for over 3,000 units and counting in the greater-Houston area alone. Locally-based Mirador Group is another collaborator for the project and will lead architectural duties.

The development is in the final stages of permitting, and a sales gallery for the Beverly just opened in the RAMA-owned Park Place Memorial shopping center at 5801 Memorial Drive.