Trammell Crow Residential expects to close the land sale at theend of the year. The land is along N. Main St. on the banks of theWhite Oak Bayou. The property lies in a flood plain, but TrammellCrow is conducting engineering studies to determine if there is afeasible solution for building apartments on the site.

The Houston apartment market has seen a surging demand fordwellings near the city's urban core and a number of garden-styleapartment projects have been built near downtown in recent years.However, the northern side of downtown has not seen muchconstruction activity and Trammell Crow's project could ignite somemomentum in that area.

In 1999, the Olajuwon group purchased the vacant tract, a formerrail yard, from Union Pacific Railroad. The property is just northof the University of Houston-Downtown, providing a likely pool ofrenters from some of the 8,000 students studying at the campus