One Park Place

Opening in May 2009 beside Discovery Green, One Park Place was the first residential high-rise built in Downtown Houston in roughly four decades and effectively reopened the market. Marvy Finger’s Finger Companies developed the 37-story, 501-foot building with Jackson & Ryan Architects, who took cues from the prewar apartment houses that ring Central Park.

The ground floor is the strongest argument for living here. Phoenicia Specialty Foods occupies a 28,000-square-foot store with a deli, cafe and wine bar, and MKT Bar operates inside it; Brasserie du Parc sits on the park side. Very few Houston apartment buildings put a full grocery downstairs. Residents also get more than 35,000 square feet of outdoor space on the amenity level, including a two-tiered pool, cabanas, a fire pit, walking paths and outdoor kitchens, above six levels of secured parking.

Discovery Green’s lawn, playground and year-round programming are directly across the street, and the George R. Brown Convention Center, Toyota Center and light rail are all within a few blocks. It fits Downtown office workers and anyone who wants a park as a front yard.