Harris County · Greater Houston · Unit turns, value-add & amenities
Multifamily Renovation Contractor in Houston
Houston has the largest and most varied apartment inventory in Texas, and the most complicated risk profile. Flood history, hurricane exposure and the absence of conventional zoning all shape how a renovation is scoped here in ways that do not apply anywhere else in our footprint. We run Houston as a mobilised project with crews housed locally, not as a commute.
What Apartment Renovation Costs in Houston
Per-unit ranges at 2026 pricing. Most Houston projects land in the light value-add band. Where a specific project falls depends on unit size, the condition of plumbing and electrical behind the walls, and how much of the scope requires a permit.
| Scope | Per unit | What it includes |
|---|---|---|
| Standard unit turn | $1,500–$4,000 | Paint, flooring, appliance swap-out, hardware, punch and make-ready cleaning. |
| Light value-addmost common here | $5,000–$12,000 | Resurfaced or replaced counters, cabinet fronts, lighting and plumbing fixtures, flooring throughout. |
| Full classic-to-premium | $12,000–$25,000 | New cabinets and counters, full appliance package, flooring, lighting, fixtures, and often a reconfigured kitchen or bath. |
Ranges reflect completed work across Texas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. A walked scope on your specific property replaces these ranges with a fixed number.
What Makes Houston Different
Renovation scope is not portable between markets. Building stock, permitting and weather all change what the right scope is, and these are the factors that drive it in Houston.
The building stock
An exceptionally deep pool of 1960s–80s garden product, concentrated in Gulfton, Sharpstown, Alief and Greenspoint, alongside newer mid-rise and wrap product inside the Loop. Gulfton in particular holds one of the densest concentrations of older workforce apartment stock in the United States.
Why owners renovate here
Houston combines low rents on older product with continuous population growth, so value-add plans depend on volume and cost control rather than premium finish. Flood remediation and insurance-driven restoration also generate a large share of Houston multifamily construction demand independent of the value-add cycle.
Permitting in Houston
Permits are issued through the Houston Permitting Center. Houston has no conventional zoning ordinance, which simplifies use questions but does not reduce building, electrical, plumbing or mechanical permit requirements. Properties inside mapped floodplains face additional review, and substantial improvement rules can require bringing more of a building up to current standards than an owner anticipated — that determination should be made before scope is finalised, not after.
Weather and code drivers
Hurricane and flood exposure govern scope. Wind-borne debris requirements, elevation of mechanical equipment, and moisture-resilient assemblies at ground-floor level are routine considerations rather than upgrades. Humidity also makes ventilation and moisture detailing a durability issue in a way it is not in North Texas.
Houston Submarkets We Work In
We work throughout Houston and Harris County. These are the submarkets where most of the renovation-grade multifamily stock sits.
- Gulfton
- Sharpstown
- Alief
- Greenspoint
- Westchase
- Near Northside
- Midtown / Museum District edge
Houston is a travel market for us, run as a mobilised project with crews housed locally for the duration rather than commuting.
What We Are Called In To Do
The scopes Houston owners and asset managers bring us most often.
- High-volume value-add on 1970s and 80s garden stock
- Flood and storm restoration, including insurance scope work
- Moisture-resilient ground-floor assemblies
- Mechanical equipment elevation and envelope hardening
- Large-portfolio unit turn programs
200+
Communities renovated
Across TX, OK & AR
12,000+
Units completed
And counting since 2018
98.4%
On-time delivery
Across multifamily projects
Zero
Resident displacement
Phased rotation, every job
Houston Multifamily Renovation Questions
Standard make-ready turns run about $1,500–$4,000 per unit. Light value-add packages, the most common Houston scope, run $5,000–$12,000. A full classic-to-premium interior runs $12,000–$25,000. Houston value-add plans generally depend on volume and cost control rather than premium finish, because rents on older stock are lower than in Dallas, so the light band is where most projects land.
It simplifies use and land-use questions, but it does not reduce construction permitting. Building, electrical, plumbing and mechanical permits are still issued through the Houston Permitting Center and still require inspection. The bigger Houston-specific variable is floodplain review, not zoning.
Substantially. If a property sits in a mapped floodplain and the work is valued above a defined share of the structure value, substantial improvement rules can require bringing more of the building up to current flood standards — including elevating mechanical equipment and altering ground-floor assemblies. That determination needs to be made before scope is finalised, because discovering it mid-project can change a budget by an order of magnitude.
Yes. Storm and flood restoration generates a large share of Houston multifamily construction independent of the value-add cycle, and we work to insurance scope and documentation requirements. Where restoration and a planned renovation overlap, combining them into one mobilisation is usually cheaper than running them as separate projects.
No — our office is in Richardson, and we run Houston as a mobilised project with crews housed locally for the project duration. That is the honest answer, and it is why Houston work makes sense at portfolio scale rather than for a handful of units. A single small turn does not carry the mobilisation efficiently.
Pricing a Houston Renovation?
Send the unit count, the vintage and what you are trying to achieve on rent. A project manager walks the property and returns a scope and budget within one business day — not a form letter.