HEB At 6055 South Fwy.

[houstontexasjack]

Here is a link to the full presentation with better details on the site plan.  Tip of the cap to Councilmember Boykins' office for sending this to me:

 

http://houstontx.gov/housing/Public_Hearing_Presentation_for_288_Site_20160907.pdf

[quietstorm]

My church is the copper topped 2 buildings to the right of the proposed site. It is built on a very high elevation, marked an historic site, and hasn't flooded.  

[JLWM8609]

3 hours ago, quietstorm said:

My church is the copper topped 2 buildings to the right of the proposed site. It is built on a very high elevation, marked an historic site, and hasn't flooded.  

I go there. Well, I haven't been in a month of Sundays.

[Texasota]

The site plan makes me sad, but this would be good for the area.

[quietstorm]

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

The site plan makes me sad, but this would be good for the area.

 

1 hour ago, Texasota said:

The site plan makes me sad, but this would be good for the area.

Too suburban?

[Triton]

"Why isn't this 3 stories with a parking garage!!!" - HAIF rant.

[houstontexasjack]

I think the site plan is quite nice.  It provides some green space and a good-sized store for the area.  We haven't seen what it will look like, but HEB has been pushing more natural light and some architectural interest with their newer designs for the Buffalo, Montrose, and Tanglewood Markets.  It will be a store that's highly visible for the freeway, so HEB should have an incentive to design something appealing that would reflect well on their brand.

[Luminare]

The parking lot is just a fact of life here. Plus its right next to the freeway. Can't fight that. What would be cool is if HEB would work with the communities around it help bring better pedestrian access. Maybe work with the city on a bridge or a cut through access into the neighborhood, etc... Parking lots suck, but can be offset by better connectivity to other ways of getting there.

[IronTiger]

20 hours ago, houstontexasjack said:

I think the site plan is quite nice.  It provides some green space and a good-sized store for the area.  We haven't seen what it will look like, but HEB has been pushing more natural light and some architectural interest with their newer designs for the Buffalo, Montrose, and Tanglewood Markets.  It will be a store that's highly visible for the freeway, so HEB should have an incentive to design something appealing that would reflect well on their brand.

 

Most of the H-E-B stores are pretty terrible in the exterior visuals department, often yellow boxes or something even tackier. The only ones that are notably not terrible are Tanglewood and Montrose (and the interior of those stores is nothing to write home about) as well as a few tasteful brick affairs that were courtesy of Albertsons.

[jmitch94]

1 hour ago, Luminare said:

The parking lot is just a fact of life here. Plus its right next to the freeway. Can't fight that. What would be cool is if HEB would work with the communities around it help bring better pedestrian access. Maybe work with the city on a bridge or a cut through access into the neighborhood, etc... Parking lots suck, but can be offset by better connectivity to other ways of getting there.

 

I agree with you but aside from the trial on the bayou that area is horrible for pedestrians. A bayou with fast busy roads on both sides (the MacGregors) and a major freeway running perpendicular to the bayou makes it very unfavorable for pedestrians. 

[quietstorm]

25 minutes ago, jmitch94 said:

 

I agree with you but aside from the trial on the bayou that area is horrible for pedestrians. A bayou with fast busy roads on both sides (the MacGregors) and a major freeway running perpendicular to the bayou makes it very unfavorable for pedestrians. 

This is my community.  I live, work and worship nearby.  In addition to the walking trail on the bayou, there is Calumet Park, Riverside Terrace, the bike trail that goes to Discovery Green, new town homes as well as existing apartments and homes. This is an establish area, that has a mixture of the old and new. I hope that HEB can successfully integrate the pedestrian with cars, b/c you see a lot of both in the area.

[Luminare]

The good thing is that the trails run under the highway. The only thing that is missing are pedestrian bridges that can fill the gaps between the major roads. But that would take urban planning and thats probably to much work

[Twitter1]

Proposed H-E-B store to be boon for Texas Medical Center

By Cara Smith | Thursday, September 15, 2016 | bizjournals.com

 

The neighborhoods just southwest of the Texas Medical Center are some of the city's most needy grocery deserts. But a proposed grocery store from San Antonio-based H-E-B Grocery Co. could change that.

 

Councilman Dwight Boykins, who represents District D in Houston, has been working with H-E-B for roughly three years on developing a 60,000-square-foot grocery store at the intersection of Interstate 288 and S. MacGregor Way near Brays Bayou, the Houston Zoo and the Texas Medical Center.

 

Boykins said the city of Houston is interested in purchasing the nine-acre tract of land at 288 and MacGregor from Houston Community College, which bought the land in 2013 for roughly $13.6 million, according to the Houston Chronicle. The city recently applied for a roughly $12 million loan under Section 108 of the U.S. Housing & Urban Development Department, Boykins said. The $12 million would be used to purchase the land from HCC, and the city of Houston would lease the land back to H-E-B. Under projected lease agreements, H-E-B would probably pay off the land in around 30 years, Boykins said.

 

Of course, nothing is concrete. The H-E-B storefront has been in the works for years, but no contracts have been signed and nothing is finalized, Boykins said.

"H-E-B has invested its own resources into this process and showed their level of commitment. But it’s not done yet," Boykins said. "We’re grateful that H-E-B did environmental studies and more without contract. That shows their commitment."

 

Jazz Hamilton, who leads CBRE's retail division, called the move a "no-brainer."

 

"This is going to be great for this area, as it has been needed for a long time," Hamilton said. "H-E-B has been trying to get a larger unit in West U for the last few years and has not been able to assemble the right tracts, so this is a no-brainer for them. I’m sure this unit will be a huge success, like most of their other stores."

Most recently, a public hearing for the proposed H-E-B was held on Sept. 7 at the Judson Robinson Jr. Community Center. Around 300 District D residents attended the meeting, Boykins said.

 

- snip -

 

http://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2016/09/15/proposed-h-e-b-store-to-be-boon-for-texas-medical.html

[Twitter1]

I read a posting on HAIF that mentioned full article copy/pastes are not allowed here. If I broke the rule by posting the HBJ story please let me know.

[houstontexasjack]

The article stated Councilman Boykins predicted a late 2018 opening for the store. With the number of new homes and apartments getting ready to deliver, it will be much needed.

[IronTiger]

I guess this will mean the end of the Scott Street/OST store when it opens knowing H-E-B's penchant for closing older stores (even multiple stores) when a newer one opens.

 

By the way, what used to be here? The current site shows an abandoned, curvier road north of the current North MacGregor Way, and prior to 288, that was all homes (c. 1953), but after 288 started construction (c. 1978), it was some sort of building complex I'm unable the ascertain the use of (seems a bit too dense for apartments, guessing offices or educational use). By 1989, it was torn down to just some foundations, and that's the current state of it.

[Ross]

Why can't HEB just buy the property themselves? It is beyond stupid for the City to risk scarce tax dollars by acting as an intermediary in a commercial transaction.

[monarch]

^^^ i could have sworn that i read earlier that this projected HEB retail establishment was going to be (75,000sqft).  what happened?

[houstontexasjack]

10 minutes ago, monarch said:

^^^ i could have sworn that i read earlier that this projected HEB retail establishment was going to be (75,000sqft).  what happened?

72,000 square feet according to the presentation. The figure in the article appears to be inaccurate.

[JLWM8609]

On 9/16/2016 at 9:48 AM, IronTiger said:

I guess this will mean the end of the Scott Street/OST store when it opens knowing H-E-B's penchant for closing older stores (even multiple stores) when a newer one opens.

 

By the way, what used to be here? The current site shows an abandoned, curvier road north of the current North MacGregor Way, and prior to 288, that was all homes (c. 1953), but after 288 started construction (c. 1978), it was some sort of building complex I'm unable the ascertain the use of (seems a bit too dense for apartments, guessing offices or educational use). By 1989, it was torn down to just some foundations, and that's the current state of it.

There were apartments there.

[IronTiger]

On 9/19/2016 at 2:49 PM, JLWM8609 said:

There were apartments there.

Looks like through old directories, they were the Bayou DeVille Apartments, and the Houston Town & Country Apartments were on the other side of the bayou (I know I've wondered about them before). That or I've got the two mixed up.

[Urbannizer]

http://houston.novusagenda.com/agendapublic/CoverSheet.aspx?ItemID=10253&MeetingID=213

 

The Housing and Community Development Department recommends approval of an ordinance authorizing a Purchase and Sale Agreement between the City (Purchaser) and Houston Community College (HCC) (Seller) for the purchase of 9.177 acres land located on the northeast corner of Highway 288 and North MacGregor Way (Property) to be used for the development of a grocery store in a low-to-moderate income service area. The purchase of the Property is subject to approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to use loan funds provided under Section 108 of the Housing and  Community Development Act of 1974 (Section 108) and Economic Development Initiative Grant (EDI) Funds to fund the acquisition. These Section 108 and EDI Funds may be used for an Area Benefit Activity such as providing a quality grocery store to a low-to-moderate income neighborhood. The purchase of the Property is also subject to environmental clearance, receipt of the Authority to Use Grant Funds (AUGF) from HUD, and any other necessary environmental approvals.

 

The purchase price is $13,850,000, plus an additional closing cost of $12,000.  Furthermore, $11,000,000 to be paid to HCC at closing and $2,850,000 to be escrowed and paid to HCC no later than 18 months after the closing date. The EDI funds will not be contributed as grant funds. Instead, the City expects both the Section 108 and the EDI funds to be fully repaid.

 

In the coming months, the City Council will be asked to approve a lease and development agreement for the Property with Houston Housing Finance Corporation (HHFC), which will become effective when the City closes on the acquisition of the Property from HCC and will contain an option for HHFC to purchase the Property.  HHFC will in turn enter into a sublease with HEB for the design and construction of a 72,000 square-foot grocery store on the Property at an estimated development cost of $20 million, which will be funded by HEB and its investors. The grocery store will create approximately 250 jobs for the community.  The purchase option may be exercised by HHFC approximately 12 months after the City acquires the Property from HCC, at which time the sublease between HHFC and HEB will become a long-term lease.

 

Upon the receipt of the Certificate of Occupancy, at which point the development will achieve the HUD national objective (Area Benefit Activity) for use of the funds, HHFC may sell the Property, provided the City will receive at closing the remaining balance on the full amount of $13,862,000.00 invested from the Section 108 and EDI Funds.

[corbs315]

Well I missed that post above! 

I wrote Boykins's office last week asking for an update since I thought this development was imperative after the demolition of the Kroger on OST. No response of course. But there is another article about this out yesterday:

 

https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2017/03/08/191023/city-of-houston-will-purchase-13-8-million-property-for-h-e-b-to-build-a-grocery-store/

 

 

[JLWM8609]

I'm glad about this. It'll be less than a mile from me. I wonder what they'll do with the HEB on Scott and OST. I doubt they'll keep it as is since two HEBs would be so close to each other. Maybe they'll turn it into a Joe V.'s? 

[ew2003]

The shopping center with the old HEB at OST recently sold.  Surely they'll close it after the new one is complete.  https://www.cpexecutive.com/post/hff-arranges-sale-of-houstons-renaissance-center/

[cspwal]

I wonder what their plan is for it

[JLWM8609]

Newest update from Councilman Boykins regarding the HEB. 

 

[corbs315]

Ha! I just posted on reddit today that I was growing skeptical about this. Good timing.

[JLWM8609]

11 minutes ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

Here's a map showing the proposed H-E-B off 288 that's in Third Ward and not in the Medical Center. Everything on the other side of 288 where Texas Southern and DeBaky Health Professions High School are located is Greater Third Ward, not the Medical Center.


 

 

Speaking as a lifetime resident of the neighborhood, you can argue that it's Greater Third Ward and part of Medical Center Area at the same time, albeit the extreme eastern fringe of the Medical Center Area. TMC properties exist on the east side of 288 at S. MacGregor and W. Leland Anderson. FYI: DeBakey has moved to the heart of the Medical Center. It's now on the site where the Shamrock Hotel used to be near Holcombe and Main. The old DeBakey is now the temporary home of Braeburn Elementary. 

[htownbro]

On 12/16/2015 at 0:17 PM, Triton said:

Damn. We need one somewhere near Studemont and I-10. 

 

Edit: Man, this is super close to the one at OST.

The one on OST and Scott is a smaller HEB and serves that community.  This new one will give them more options as I'm sure it'll be a more upscale store.