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  1. http://images.chron.com/content/news/photos/04/12/05/devlopment.jpg PENDING PROJECTS At the end of the line Stubborn area to develop now looks primed with cheap land that's close to the Medical Center By NANCY SARNOFF Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle DRIVE around the southern end of Metro's nearly year-old light rail line just outside the South Loop, and what emerges are overgrown tracts of land surrounded by a hodgepodge of warehouses, apartments, AstroWorld and even pumps from an old oil field. But observers say the area is on the cusp of a development explosion because of its cheap land and proximity to the ever-growing Texas Medical Center. "The area's been slow to develop," said Bob Parsley of realty firm Colliers International. "But we're beginning to see an overall acceptance in the marketplace for being south of 610." Indeed, home builders, industrial developers and land speculators are jockeying for still-vacant parcels just beyond the Metro terminus, fueling a land rush in this long-neglected area. Houston developer Frank Liu, who's building new homes nearby, owns about 60 acres surrounding Metro's Fannin South station, the last stop on the city's 7.5-mile light rail line connecting downtown with this area just south of Reliant Stadium. While he's not yet ready to tip his hand, Liu controls enough land in the area to create a sizable community where folks could live, work and shop. "The great thing about that piece of property is that it's so close to the rail stop and so close to the Medical Center," Liu, president of InTown Homes, said. "You just can't go wrong." These open spaces and still-low land prices are attracting developers whose options for development closer in are limited. "Land costs are just a fraction of what they are in the Medical Center," said David R. David of Warehouse Associates, a real estate firm building warehouses in the area and attracting more medical users than ever before. The company has leased space to a DNA lab, surgical center and a dialysis facility. In 2001, when the company built its first project there, medical firms didn't want to move south of the Loop, which was then seen as too far from the Medical Center. "We're seeing more demand for our sites," David said. "Today, I think we're a politically acceptable location for medical support." Jumping on bandwagon Other local developers have quickly caught on to the growing acceptance of this area, which, if it was noticed at all, was associated with a stretch of crime-ridden apartment buildings in the western corner. A group of investors has put together around 200 acres south of West Bellfort and east of South Main where it plans to develop a master-planned residential community. The project, which could spawn 1,000 homes, has been dubbed Buffalo Lakes. "We were attracted to the area primarily because of its proximity to the Medical Center and Reliant Center," said Joel Scott, who manages the partnership and is a principal in Terramark Communities, a Houston-based real estate development firm. Road work is tackling a long-standing obstacle to development. Buffalo Speedway, a major north-south thoroughfare that ends at West Bellfort, will likely be extended south to Holmes Road, improving access to Scott's project. Not waiting around Other developers haven't needed much convincing. A smattering of residential and commercial projects have been sprouting up among all the vacant land. Dozens of $200,000 townhomes line the streets near Link Valley, a neighborhood off Stella Link that used to be known by the nickname Death Valley. And Chancellor Properties recently completed Villas at Coronado, a 344-unit apartment complex on the Lakes at 610 just south of West Bellfort. The new project is around 80 percent occupied, according to O'Connor & Associates, a research firm. Apart from his planned development near the rail stop, Liu has started building townhomes in a project called Lake Pointe across from the apartment complex. The patio-home development built around a clubhouse, jogging trail and swimming pool will include 219 units when complete. Since the end of February, 77 units have been sold. The majority of buyers are professionals from the Medical Center, said Emily Wang, a sales consultant for Liu's company InTown Homes. "They're first-time buyers, mostly," she said. But it will be a while before development hits the area surrounding the end of the line. Liu is still formulating a plan for his acreage near the Fannin Street station. He said it will ultimately contain a combination of uses that will play off the light rail system. "Houston has always been a society of cars," said Tony Patronella, a real estate broker with Southwest Realty Advisors who has brokered many of the land deals in the area. "This will be the first time a subdivision is planned directly because of the light rail." http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/printstory.mpl/front/2931497
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