neonurse97

I agree but you look at the restaurants in the front of the center you could not tell there was a economic slowdown...

I agree and that is exactly my point, the restaurants seem to be thriving. I've eaten at most of them, BJ's, Gringo's, Red Robin, Fish City, Mimi's...etc. and they were either packed or full. The stores don't seem to be thriving IMO.

same at macy's...i took my mom down there for a red apple sale and i found it hard to believe there were no lines.

I shop at that Macy's as well and I usually see more customers in there than in Dillards. I can also tell that their product selection is limited.

On a related note I heard some economists say that about 50% of all current stores will close down in the next 2 years or so, simply because they cannot make it through this current 'economic situation'.

50% of all stores???....I find that extremely hard to believe.

I've shopped at this store on several occasions since it opened and I can't help but notice the lack of customers. I've been there on a Saturday around 12 noon and the store seemed a bit empty. I was there on a weekday around 11 am and I felt isolated. There were only a handful of customers in the entire store. The salespeople looked bored. I hope Dillards makes it because it's such a beautiful store.

all the chain restaurants are only a mile away on 518......so they will have to blow the masses away on this project...but they can't get too high end and snobbish as the chain restaurants and retail stores uaually draw people to these areas....remember that fancy mall in the galleria area a decade ago that struggled and closed down? Houston isn't your typical high-end market...even The Woodlands knows its roots

for the record, the cheesecake factory is severely overrated...what makes that high end? If you don't get a private booth you sit in a long seating with stangers that hear everything...

The Cheesecake Factory may be overrated, but it draws people. I can never go there for dinner and not have at least a 30 minute wait. It's also decorated beautifully inside....

http://blogs.chron.com/pearland/

More presidents coming to Pearland! And maybe some high-end restaurants Many folks who traverse Texas 288 to and from work each day have become good acquaintances with Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, George Herbert Walker Bush, Franklin D. Roosevelt and John F. Kennedy.

The U.S. presidents, whose busts guard the entrance to the WaterLight District's Presidential Park & Gardens south of Beltway 8, have become familiar sights.

But where are the rest of the presidents coming? When will construction on the project start? What restaurants and hotels are coming in?

Over the past few weeks, I've gotten more than a few e-mails from readers asking just these questions, as well as wondering whether the souring economy is giving prospective retailers pause.

I jumped on the horn to talk to David Goswick, executive director of Historic Real Estate, the developers of the project, to get the latest scoop on the project.

Here's what he told me on Monday:

Within three weeks, people will start to see movement of dirt on our site. We'll be under construction by July 28. We'll start construction of the Grand Canal and bring in all the infrastructure for Phase 1 of WaterLights.

The first phase of the project includes 150,000 square feet of Class A office space; 100,000 square feet of retail; 50,000 square feet of medical office space; 300 luxury apartments; 32 condos overlooking a canal; a hotel; four restaurants; and a wine bar, Goswick said.

Phase II will bring in more two hotels, retail outlets, condominiums and more restaurants - 14 in all. The restaurants on the first floor will have outdoor terraces, and above them will be offices and residential condos and lofts.

Phase III will bring a mix of brownstones, condos and flats overlooking the water, Goswick said, noting that the total project should be completed within five years, by 2013.

I shifted to some more pointed questions in my telephone interview with Goswick, like whether retailers are getting skittish about moving there. Here's what he told me:

We have had no reluctance at all. The

Presidential Park & Gardens

is proceeding as fast as we possibly can with planning and construction. The planning and approval process is taking a little longer, but it's due to refining the plan. When you create a very special place, it takes time.

What about the other U.S. presidents planned for the site? Here's what Goswick said:

The statues have all been completed and are expected to be moved to the site (between November 2008 and March 2009). We can only move two statues per 18-wheeler, and it will require 20 trucks to move all of the busts to the site. We don't want to move the statues more than once because they weigh 7,000 pounds each.

I asked Goswick how much weight his company is putting on the results of a restaurant poll that Historic Homes conducted in January, in which 8,600 residents voted regarding what eateries they would like to see. Here's what he said:

What we keep hearing over and over is that consumers want a unique experience along The Restaurant Row. They do not want the same chains of restaurants that they can go to at any Houston freeway and experience.

Goswick declined to reveal the names of the restaurants that have signed agreements so far, pointing to a mutual nondisclosure agreement with each of the development partners.

Sherry Stockwell, new board chairwoman of the Pearland Area Chamber of Commerce, said that just about everyone she has talked to about WaterLights wants to see 'high-end' restaurants there. She elaborated:

What we'd like to see, and I think they're hoping to accomplish, are some restaurants that are high end and that have their own chefs, and not necessarily the typical restaurants you would think of.

I'm glad to hear that most people out here want some higher-end restaurants. I'm literally sick of Chili's, Olive Garden and TGI Fridays. Give us Vic & Anthony's, Grand Luxe, Cheesecake Factory, Brennan's...etc.

I think this was mentioned before, but the development on 288/FM2234(S.C. Parkway) that is being anchored by Kroger will have a Starbuck's, Luby's, and a Cracker Barrel. Do folks like Cracker Barrel? It sounds so "country" to me.

See link for site plan: http://www.gulfcoastcg.com/gulfcoastcg/doc...Marketplace.pdf

Cracker Barrel has great food....and yes the biscuits are hmm hmm good!

I think that the two of you are talking about two different types of housing. You, HBCU, are talking about tax credit mulit-family apartments (which I don't think Pearland will allow on the westside b/c of zoning and the process to change it) and the other poster is talking about those "affordable" single family homes that say KB Homes is building North of Beltway-8 (near the City Park area). Either way I personally don't see either of those types of dwelling being developed in the Shadow Creek (i.e. westside) area. This master planned community will stick to its master plan.

Again, the key to these types of developments from not happening in Pearland is zoning. Shadow Creek/ST are the only parcels zoned for single or multi family dwellings between Beltway 8 and 518, 288 and Almeda. Everything else is commercial type zoning. In order for someone to build anything different they have to seek a variance request to change the zoning. That's where it will get hung up or else they won't issue a permit.

ITA. Zoning is the key. I hope to never see any of the "cheesy" KB type homes in West Pearland period. Rodeo Palms is overall a nice community. I don't see anything that remotely looks like "City Park" in that community.

mlk, cullen, scott stop at 3rd ward....pull out a map please.....

it's natural movement....developers are greedy and will build affordable housing by any means necessary in certain areas which makes it easy to move out there....

technically...the I-45 north folks have migrated north to Spring and 1960.....

Depends on what you mean by "affordable" housing. If you mean homes similar to what's being built in City Park, then I doubt if you'll see that in Pearland.

There is a Taco Cabana being built in front of this HEB complex. Looks like it might be open by late spring. Yum-yum.

Great news! I was just thinking about Taco Cabana the other day, hoping they'd build one on 518.

I went to this HEB during the grand opening and wasn't impressed. Maybe I got frustrated because of the crowds. I may go back once the hoopla dies down but in the meantime, I'll keep shopping at Kroger and SuperTarget for groceries.