RIP, the Semi-Venerable Greenbriar Chateau Apartments: You Have Five Weeks to Clear Out

• I am writing to from Karachi, Pakistan. I was in Houston in the nineties as my husband was doing a residency at the UT Med Center. I aslo worked there in the UT med school residency program. I lived in Greenbriar Chatteau while I was there. It was the best apartment complex in the area. Having lived in Richmont Square apartments for the first year of my Houston life, I was really relieved to find a beautiful, and peaceful place like Greenbriar Chatteau. The other residents were lovely and hospitable people. I met two of my best friends Susan Schulz and Sydney Free as they were my neighbours here. In addition I made good friends with the apartment maid Maria and the maintainance crew.. specially Roy. I had my first child while at these apartments, and moved from a one bedroom to a two bedroom. My cat Choochoo who had come all the way from Pakistan with me, had some wonderful times here, even though the management and some residents disapproved of her. Some of the old ladies who lived here alone became some of my greatest friends as they were so kind to my little girl. Some of them have died since, oen was Mrs. Ford, a ghost writer, Ms Morna.. who took millions of photographs.. and Mrs. Goreman was still a resident till now I think.. An old lady called Ms Jean Harris lived in a first floor apartment by the pool. We all took care of her, helping her wheel herself in and out of the apartment or feeding her cats... I even cut her nails for her once. And Roy and Maria continued to care for her after she moved to a nursing home. She gave me a dining room chair of hers. I still have it. She gave the rest of her furniture to Roy and Maria. She too has passed away. I have been to Houston twice since I moved back to Pakistan in 1997, and both times I went back to Greenbriar Chateau and met my friends, including the postman Loui. I will always remember the beautiful days I spent there listening to the rushing water of the fountain and the cicadas on those hot Houston afternoons. I will miss the beautiful live oaks that spread a canopy over our courtyards and the mossy walkways and steps. I ate chines plums off the trees with Maria. In Pakistan we call the same fruit Loukat. I feel sad to think that the only place that really felt like home to me when I was away from home will no longer be there to greet me when I come for a visit. I loved this neighbourhodd and still remember my walks down North and South Blvd, Sunset Blvd and under the gorgeous live oaks. Houston is a great city and I am glad I called it home. Muna Kazi Pathan  

• Moving is traumatic in itself for the younger generation. How would you feel if you saw your mother or grandmother crying out of fear. We are in this boat. The elderly count and cherish all their minutes and stress, panic and the unknown robs them of their peace. We are a society that should respect and cherish human dignity and the elderly and not throw them, unprepared, into the street.

• Who is advising Kaplan Management that this is legal, and why is the Houston Apartment Association endorsing this action?   If the property is to be demolished, Texas Property Code section 92.055 states the landlord must notify the tenants that the landlord is terminating the tenancy "as soon as legally possible." That should mean the end of the tenant's lease or whatever notice period is required if the tenant is month-to-month, which is 60 days for most apartment leases in the Houston area.

• I enjoy living here at Greenbriar Chateau Apartments! I HATE Kaplan Management and the other rude developers. :( 

• Since most apartment complexes require 60 days notice that you are going to move by the end of your lease, the least they could have done is to return the favor.

• I used to live there. It's true; there are some very long-term residents there, some of whom are elderly. This amount of notice is based on greed. The rumor has been out there that this would be the fate of this complex for some years, but many of the people there would have no way of knowing that. Perhaps there's an advocacy organization that can get them some more time, as well as more money for moving. It's way more expensive than what they plan to give them. Glad I got out willingly and when I wanted to.

• Five weeks, that just ain't right. I was talking to a friend who lives there and they said there are some people who have lived there for 40 years. You just can't expect someone to be able to pack up and leave that quickly. A big FU to Kaplan and the othere demonic developers in Houston.

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