TechnoG

I believe I read that the clear cut area on the south side of 290 between Huffmeister and FM 1960 is going to be for an industrial park of some sort.

I avoid the AMC like the plague. I haven't felt safe there in many years. I consider it a dangerous place after 6:00 pm, especially on weekends. Seems like there is a very bad element there once it starts to get dark. That's why they have a police presence close by. They are real good about sneaking their friends in through the side doors and I think there is a lot of suspicious activity going on. I don't allow my daughter to drive to that theater to see movies in the evening hours. I think the bad element comes from the 249 area further in and all the low income apartments behind the Aerodrome Ice Skating Complex. It used to be a really nice place to go see movies back when it was first built. It was safer back then. Seems like the whole area is going downhill. I call it the WillowCrook area now.

The Cy-Fair section in the Sunday paper had the following short article: "Chris Toman, the owner of Pizza Fusion, is converting his restaurant into a new concept - Ref's Sports Bar and Grill. Ref's will still offer pizza. New features will include 13 high-definition TV's inside and a 55-inch outdoor screen."

The Cy-Fair section in the Sunday paper had the following short article: "Chris Toman, the owner of Pizza Fusion, is converting his restaurant into a new concept - Ref's Sports Bar & Grill. Ref's will still offer pizza. New features will include 13 high-definition TV's inside and a 55 inch outdoor screen."

I liked Pizza Fusion too!!! This is really too bad. My wife and I loved the BBQ chicken pizza. I would like to think this was not due to a lack of business as they seemed to always have a good sized crowd when I was there. But they also had issues with the Vintage Park management that were well known. One was that the owner did not feel he was being given enough waste area for being able to recycle. That was very important to him since the restaurant was built on that premise. I remember meeting the owner at the Vintage Park grand opening and he did not seem to be real happy about some things, especially when they first opened.

I agree, of course, that things are slow right now. But SLTS, Woodlands Market Street and Pearland Town Center are still way ahead of Vintage Park. Of course, they had a head start and when times were better. They also had many quality retailers signed up ahead of time. VC has almost nothing to write home about yet. Part of this is about bad timing, but VC was not even making much progress before all the bad news started hitting. Market Street and Pearland TC took off pretty quick, but then they didn't have much competition too close by, so there was not a lot of overlap. I really don't know what VC can offer that is not available anywhere else within 5 miles or so. It would be nice to have a couple of well known anchor stores, but I don't think that is going to happen in the current environment, or maybe ever. I just don't want it to mainly be a food court with a bunch of boring retailers I can already find close by.

All this place seems to be for now is primarily a food court and banking center (and some real estate and construction type offices taking up space). Of course, the timing for the VC could not have been worse with the economy. But then again, this place didn't really have a lot of tenants before the economy started going south. If this place ever takes off, I don't think it will be until late 2009 at the earliest. It's really too bad. Most other areas that have these type of outdoor shopping areas are pretty successful (Woodlands, Sugarland, Pearland, etc). I can't help but think if somehow this place has just not been marketed well or if something else is wrong. I went to the so called "grand opening" and it was pretty pathetic. Why have a grand opening when there are hardly any tenants. The owner from Pizza Fusion we met at the grand opening seemed to be kind of disgruntled about a few things. Not a positive sign. I just hope the existing businesses don't go belly up while waiting for this place to fill up. I really had high hopes for this place being something exciting for this part of town, but so far it's been a big letdown. Hopefully, things will get better on track next year!

I didn't catch what report they were quoting from, but it didn't sound like they were talking about the "outlet" malls. Also, the Woodlands and Uptown have been established for a few years now. I think it may be fair to say that the Woodlands Market Street didn't really have a lot of competition to pull in stores. It's in a unique position. They have a very nice mall right next door too, but I don't think there is much repetition of stores between the two, if any. Plus, the Woodlands still is a growing community so there is demand. A lot of people also come from outside the Woodlands. I agree with cnote that there is already a huge variety of stores not far from the Vintage Center, so it would really be hard to justify adding another store so close, or even relocate (especially at a higher rent and with the current economy). But there have been a couple of businesses that have relocated. Anchor stores might be nice, but there does not seem to be any that want to open up new locations at this time. A big book store might be a nice anchor, but they aren't exactly making a lot of money these days as everything seems to be going online. I seem to remember Borders saying that they eventually see all of their business online a few years down the road. They have closed a lot of stores around the country in the last year or two. If Vintage Park doesn't have a lot of unique stores to draw people in eventually, I can't see the current stores there now staying in business for a long time. Even the restaurants may have a hard time if people don't have reason to "experience" more than just the eating part. I think part of the reason that Market Street is so successful and unique is that there is a variety of things to do there before or after you have dined (good shopping, small concerts in their little park area, miniature golf, river walk, etc.). I just saw where Vintage Park announced some small musical entertainment for the summer, so at least they are trying to get something going. Vintatge Park recently said they were 50% leased, but much of what they have announced so far is not going to draw big sustained crowds. Here's hoping that the next 50% will create more appealing stores and a more exciting experience.

I heard a report this morning on the radio (KTRH 740) that outdoor retail malls are on the way out and it's not expected that many more will not be developed in the country, or even in the Houston area. Apparently, they do not attract much business, even in the good times.

Hi all! I'm new to the Forum. I must say that I too am very disappointed in the Vintage Center tenants announced thus far. As I looked at the list of tenants I see 5 banks, 7 restaurants, 3 dentist offices, 1 shoe store, 1 furniture store, 4 real estate/construction businesses, a mattress store and 3 nail/spa/wellness centers, etc, etc. I would hardly call this offering an "upscale lifestyle shopping destination." If this place was supposed to be like the Woodlands Market Street, it has failed miserably thus far. Maybe the downturn in the economy is contributing to a lack of potential tenants at this time. The Vintage Center really is a beautiful place. A lot of time, thought and money has been spent to develop this. Here's hoping that more exciting tenants will be attracted in the future.