chamberscreek

Drove by here earlier today -- this Jason's is now open...

There's a new brewery in work in the Willowbrook area. 11 Below is hoping to come online in the February timeframe. http://impactnews.com/houston-metro/cy-fair/craft-brewery-coming-to-willowbrook-area/ http://www.examiner.com/article/11-below-brewing-houston-s-newest-brewery-prepares-for-business

I hope this one is good -- word is that the Memorial City location has had consistency issues. Churrasco's has always been a favorite...

Looks like there's a new Rudy's going on on the west side of 249 just north of Northpointe, across the highway from the Silverado theater. More barbecue is never a bad thing...

Yes, the reviews I see from Dallas are generally positive, but not particularly overwhelming. Given the recent influx of decent mid-range burger joints (Five Guys, SmashBurger, etc.), it will be interesting to see if there's room for one more, at a location that has proven to be less-than-ideal...

Yes, the Oil Ranch is still going -- we took all of our kids there at various times a few years back...

I'm not sure how new this really is. I have a couple of friends who grew up in this area, and they told me years ago about how they used to find points/arrowheads along the creek.

Well, IMHO -- the commute issue is the same, regardless of who occupies those buildings. And this part of town could definitely benefit from a higher-education presence, particularly the University Center type of facility. That could possibily be leveraged into attracting other employers to the area. Vintage Park and other nearby merchants should certainly see some increase in business.

The latest update -- Lone Star has bought a good portion of the old HP campus: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headli...iz/6404142.html This should be a good development for this area of Houston, particularly with the University Center as a part of it.

Possible action on part of the HP/Compaq campus involving Lone Star College: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/6367464.html

I haven't dined at one in many years, but I ate there a couple of times in the D/FW area around 20 years ago, and they WERE pretty decent then. Guess they went downhill with their expansion...

Yep -- they've got the Stein Mart sign up on the building now as well...

Anybody heard anything about what is going on here? What will HP be building in Hockley? -------------------------------------------- http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/stories.../27/story4.html Hewlett-Packard Co. has acquired 97 acres near the small town of Hockley for a $250 million facility that will be 18 miles from the firm

Another WAMU? Unbelievable. And will there be a Walgreens and a nail salon in back?...

Yes, I think (unfortunately) the developers hit a mini "perfect storm" with Vintage Park: 1) I agree that they misjudged the market. They originally presented this as a sister to Uptown Park. Sorry, but that doesn't match the market out here. Remember the California Pizza Kitchen on 1960? It was the first store in that chain that they ever closed. Their post-close research showed that a) everyone thought they had a good product, but people weren't willing to pay for it. I think an Uptown Park clone would face a similar fate. Yes, they're just across the street from HP, but...engineers don't spend money the same way that accountants and lawyers do. 2) There is more than enough retail space hitting the market out here, and I'm sure all of it is cheaper than Vintage Park. Granted, Vintage Park is nicer than any of the other spaces available, but...ultimately, folks need to make a profit, and I think the Vintage Park folks have missed the opportunity to price competitively and kill off everyone else, and seem to be getting killed themselves instead. 3) With us heading into a slight downturn, they hit just a little bit of unfortunate timing. 4) They have thus far utterly failed in bringing in any magnet stores (other than, arguably, a Starbucks with a drive-thru) They may pull this out yet (since I live in the area, I hope they do), but it's going to be a long, uphill battle...