Bellaire Place: Mixed-Use Development At 5000 Fournace Pl.

[Mab]

As we have moved through 3 years of discussion and planning a new building for Bellaire HS, I have committed to keep you as informed as possible.  Among starts and stops, I have been proud of the manner in which our community has supported the Bellaire Project Advisory Team (PAT).  Additionally, I have appreciated the commitment the Houston ISD has made to continue to search and explore all alternatives in the search for the best possible solution to a very challenging project - specifically - trying to rebuild Bellaire HS in our current 17 acre site while continuing to house and educate our 3500 student population.  This was always going to take a large number of people working in concert and that has remained true.  That being said, I am excited to share what is the most promising and exciting news so far about the Bellaire project.  

 

Monday afternoon the HISD Bond Department presented the new direction for Bellaire at the scheduled PAT Meeting.  Based on the overall $136M budget for a new Bellaire HS, the recommendation is below:

• Spend majority of current project dollars to purchase the “Chevron Site” located at 4800 Fournace - which is at the northern tip of the City of Bellaire (approximately 30 acres)

• Commit funds to renovate elements of the current property at 5100 Maple so as to sustain the current facility as we wait for construction at the new site to begin.  

• This decision would likely necessitate that Bellaire HS be added to a future bond of which a certain date is not known. However the district would have secured property that is appropriately sized for a large 6A High School.   

•  

While this new direction brings great optimism to our project it does have some caveats.  

• It will need HISD Board of Trustee Support.

• Successful negotiation with Chevron to purchase the property.

• City of Bellaire zoning changes that align with our educational need. 

•  

This new plan is a recent development for our project and, once presented to the PAT, there were many questions asked.  I am confident that the HISD Bond department will continue to work diligently to collect any requested information and appropriately present it at a future meeting.  

 

I am hopeful that you share my same sense of optimism and that you are excited about the opportunity to participate in helping us make this our reality. Our Board Trustee, Mike Lunceford, was in attendance for the meeting and he stated that this proposal could be shared with the Board of Trustees for consideration as soon as the next October meeting.  

 

While our work is not complete and the journey will be long, I am encouraged by the long term vision inherent in this new plan.  I believe it has the best chance to work for our students, faculty, staff and community.

 

I appreciate your continued support.  Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.

 

enjoy the day,

michael

http://www.houstonisd.org/site/default.aspx?PageType=3&ModuleInstanceID=117408&ViewID=7B97F7ED-8E5E-4120-848F-A8B4987D588F&RenderLoc=0&FlexDataID=181919&PageID=81504

[Ross]

I bet the City of Bellaire will be thrilled to lose $60 million+ in property values. I noticed that Chevron tore down the historic Texaco lab building on the corner of Rice and Fournace. That was the initial structure on that site.

[Luminare]

Just from listenings from people I know. You have no idea how much this rebuild of Bellaire HS has been a headache to HISD and just about everyone involved. This might be the perfect solution to get this moving forward.

[VicMan]

So as we know Chevron's vacating its Bellaire campus, which was its research lab. A few possibilities:

* 1. New offices/businesses: Bellaire city officials may prefer this as they want the taxes. Could be new corporate offices, a mini-mall, etc?
* 2. New houses: Like Southside Place did with the old Shell building they could replace 'em with townhouses - could help recoup some tax money
* 3. New schools: HISD may be chomping at the bit to rebuild Bellaire High. All this land is now available. Hmmm.... HISD thought about it, but it would make the budget for rebuilding Bellaire higher.

Since I'm not in the Houston area at the moment I don't know what the officials are thinking...

P.S. HISD may be concerned about the high sticker price of the Chevron campus. While I believe they should NOT sell the former Gordon campus, as they should reopen that for West U Elementary relief, they should, if committed to the Chevron site, sell the former BHS campus... AND the old Dodson Elementary. HISD is smart in locating magnet schools in central Houston but I think they could make a killing selling the EaDo campus. That could help fund a new Bellaire High. Mike Lunceford said in October that he would no longer support that idea but maybe he could reconsider. HISD wouldn't have to tear down the old 10 story building: they could renovate it like what was done to North Atlanta High School.

[Scrubber]

That would sure make Bellaire's attendance boundary look like a gerrymandered mess. I mean, a bunch of kids zoned to Lee would be a couple blocks from the new school, while that southern part of Meyerland would be about a mile to Westbury vs. 4 miles to the new school. And the kids in the south Med Center area would have the attendance boundary to Lamar separating them from Bellaire.

[VicMan]

26 minutes ago, Scrubber said:

That would sure make Bellaire's attendance boundary look like a gerrymandered mess. I mean, a bunch of kids zoned to Lee would be a couple blocks from the new school, while that southern part of Meyerland would be about a mile to Westbury vs. 4 miles to the new school. And the kids in the south Med Center area would have the attendance boundary to Lamar separating them from Bellaire.

 

Bellaire's zone is a bit "deeper" than the Pershing and Condit zones, and there are some complexes zoned to Long Middle that are also zoned to Bellaire high. http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Bellaire_HS.pdf

 

Having said that it does remind me of how odd Westside High's zone is a bit strange http://www.houstonisd.org/cms/lib2/TX01001591/Centricity/domain/32468/boundarymaps/Westside_HS.pdf

[Scrubber]

Pershing is kind of a mess too, especially when you consider the kids just east of Main are getting zoned out of their neighborhood and across 288 to Cullen. But at least the school appear somewhat in the middle of the attendance boundary. Westside is just locked into that shape because of the surround school districts. Those kids used to be zoned to Lee, which was even stranger.

[CA77401]

There's no great mystery about the city of Bellaire's intent toward the Chevron property. The Planning & Zoning Commission held a public hearing about it Tuesday. You can see the agenda, agenda packet and watch the video here: http://bellairecitytx.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=1634&Format=Agenda

 

As for HISD, Mike Lunceford withdrew his support for having the district move forward with pursuing the Chevron property to rebuild Bellaire HS when it was clear that he had no support on the board. If you follow the board at all you would know that they are not going to pour more money into the Bellaire HS project.  There are two new board members as of this week, but they replace two who would have been supportive of the Chevron purchase, so their support really wouldn't make a difference in reopening the discussion.

[Fringe]

I don't think Bellaire residents would go for a mini-mall. They rejected that in the 80's where the Episcopal school sits. Residential would be nice although not sure anyone could afford to develop it. No matter what they do the city is going to loose big on taxes.  Especially if HISD grabs it. The last thing they need is another non-taxable entity in a city that is already full of churches and schools. 

[VicMan]

51 minutes ago, CA77401 said:

There's no great mystery about the city of Bellaire's intent toward the Chevron property. The Planning & Zoning Commission held a public hearing about it Tuesday. You can see the agenda, agenda packet and watch the video here: http://bellairecitytx.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=1634&Format=Agenda

 

As for HISD, Mike Lunceford withdrew his support for having the district move forward with pursuing the Chevron property to rebuild Bellaire HS when it was clear that he had no support on the board. If you follow the board at all you would know that they are not going to pour more money into the Bellaire HS project.  There are two new board members as of this week, but they replace two who would have been supportive of the Chevron purchase, so their support really wouldn't make a difference in reopening the discussion.

 

It sounds like Bellaire wants to divide the property between some high density residential and some commercial.

 

I haven't yet read the minutes of HISD meetings related to Bellaire HS, but I'm trying to think of some ways HISD could get around this:

• Ask for about half of the property (the half with the giant building), leaving the city to develop commercial next to BHS and multifamily on the site of the old BHS
• For the board members who are against the deal, see if there's a quid pro quo that they would like. Things get through that way in politics.
• Also see if there are some close-in-town properties HISD doesn't need anymore that it could sell. For example the old Dodson Elementary property, as Energy Institute is moving from there to Southmore. HSLJ is going up next to it but I don't think HISD has any future uses for Dodson.

[VicMan]

31 minutes ago, Fringe said:

I don't think Bellaire residents would go for a mini-mall. They rejected that in the 80's where the Episcopal school sits. Residential would be nice although not sure anyone could afford to develop it. No matter what they do the city is going to loose big on taxes.  Especially if HISD grabs it. The last thing they need is another non-taxable entity in a city that is already full of churches and schools. 

If they simply move BHS so it gets a taller (but not larger per se) property, maybe Bellaire city officials will be more amenable? The old school can be full of townhouses, the school itself would just occupy the big Chevron building and maybe have an additional gym on site, and the commercial uses can be built on the leftover land from the Chevron tract. That may make Bellaire happy unless they think they could grab another corporate client.

Edited January 13, 2017 by VicMan

[texas911]

There is a question on why even have the new high school in Bellaire? Land is very expensive in Bellaire and just one block outside its a lot cheaper. 

[Twitter1]

On 1/13/2017 at 9:09 AM, CA77401 said:

There's no great mystery about the city of Bellaire's intent toward the Chevron property. The Planning & Zoning Commission held a public hearing about it Tuesday. You can see the agenda, agenda packet and watch the video here: http://bellairecitytx.iqm2.com/Citizens/SplitView.aspx?Mode=Video&MeetingID=1634&Format=Agenda

 

Printed out a page of their "meeting notes" that Ed Wulfe sent to the City of Bellaire.

 

Sorry for the size of the photo. May have to enlarge the photo to be able to read it

[texas911]

What killed HISD's proposal to buy the old Chevron property was resistance from Bellaire about lost tax revenue. High end homes generate more income than tax free schools!

[Specwriter]

On ‎3‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 9:24 AM, texas911 said:

High end homes generate more income than tax free schools!

and even high end homes do not generate the property tax and sales tax income that commercial development does.

Edited March 29, 2018 by Specwriter
corrected a typographical error

[Twitter1]

These O&G companies leave such large pieces of land behind. All seem to be consolidating into a new campus in a single location.

 

Hopefully Fournace will be widened.  You cannot place a large development in the current traffic zoning. 

The City of Bellaire is planning huge changes over the next 20-years. I believe this (area) will be a park and mixed use. I looked at the drawings but was confused

[Urbannizer]

Sounds like this won't be redevelop in the way we want it to be..

 

https://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Chevron-s-30-acre-Bellaire-property-finds-buyer-13194970.php

 

Chevron Corp.'s former Bellaire office complex -- a rare 30-acre parcel of urban real estate along the West Loop -- has found a buyer.

 

Brokerage firm HFF has been marketing the site for about a year and its online property listing now shows that it is under contract.

 

HFF declined to say who the buyer is, but earlier this month real estate investor SLS Properties, submitted applications to the city for permits that would allow the property at 4800 Fournace Place to be further developed.

 

If approved, one of the permits would allow a parking garage to be built on the site. A second would permit the 10-story building formerly occupied by Chevron, to be leased to multiple tenants.

 

A public hearing on the matter is scheduled for next month at a meeting of the city's Planning and Zoning Commission, according to a city memo.

 

Houston-based SLS Properties owns several office buildings in the Houston-area. Last year it purchased two just across the West Loop from the Chevron property.

[Highrise Tower]

Just read the Swamplot headline. 

 

Was hoping for a different type of development

[Highrise Tower]

New owner added blue lighting on the roof. Looks good, a refresher for the bldg 

[Highrise Tower]

Holiday lighting looks good

[Highrise Tower]

What’s the deal with the CBRE fence at Bellaire High School?

[htownbro]

On 12/15/2018 at 6:44 PM, ekdrm2d1 said:

Holiday lighting looks good

 

Holiday lights are still on.

[Highrise Tower]

Knocking down an exterior wall today.  The new management said they want to open up the area.

 

 

New signage went in

 

 

This will be the new vehicle turnaround

 

[Urbannizer]

https://realtynewsreport.com/2019/06/20/major-development-proposed-for-former-chevron-tract-on-loop-610-in-bellaire-but-vision-must-overcome-zoning-hurdles/

 

BELLAIRE, Texas – (By Michelle Leigh Smith for Realty News Report) – A major development is being planned for the former Chevron property in Bellaire. The 30-acre tract shines with potential with frontage on Loop 610. It’s just over a mile from the Galleria]. And it’s near hundreds of million-dollar homes.

Investor Danny Sheena of SLS Properties recognized the potential and he purchased the property from Chevron last year.

 

His plan, as uncovered by Realty News Report, calls for a 300-unit mid-rise residential tower atop a new parking garage, a movie theater, a 145,000-SF mixed-use building with office space and several restaurant-suited pad sites near South Rice Avenue.

 

Bellaire’s Development Services Department received two requests from Sheena on behalf of SLS West Loop, LP last month for which the City leadership has stalled on several Freedom of Information Requests from reporters and residents.  In mid-June, Realty News Report obtained copies of the requests.

 

Sheena will ask Bellaire’s Planning & Zoning Commission for approval of a proposed zoning change and a recommendation to City Council for a Planned Development-Multi Family project that he envisions as a destination mixed-use development.

 

His submittal also outlines plans for four perimeter one-story buildings that could be used for retail or restaurants and a 145,000 SF three story “Interior” building for retail or restaurant/health/entertainment with third floor office space. Kirksey Architects is working on the plan.

 

Bellaire’s Planning and Zoning Commission public hearing is reviewing the plan. To move forward, the plans would require a green light from the Bellaire City Council as well.

It’s an ambitious plan by Sheena. A possible roadblock is the site is in the City of Bellaire, a municipality (population 18,000) with strict planning codes. The city’s Planning and Zoning Commission may thwart Sheena’s plan and extinguish his vision.

[Timoric]

-

Edited July 12, 2019 by Timoric

[AREJAY]

If I know anything about my NIMBY Bellaire neighbors, it's that they will attempt protest this one to death... I hope I'm wrong, because this sounds like a great development. 

Edited June 20, 2019 by AREJAY

[Highrise Tower]

@Urbannizer there is a earlier thread if you want to merge.

 

 

[Highrise Tower]

Notice of Public Hearing was posted a long Fournace and S. Rice.  That's a lot of items on the agenda.

 

[htownbro]

And this is near the new Hard Rock hotel development as well.  Wish that Walmart wasn't there on S Rice and Westpark.

[Urbannizer]

https://communityimpact.com/houston/bellaire-meyerland-west-university/city-county/2019/07/09/chevron-research-park-rezoning/

 

Bellaire’s Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing and possibly vote on a request to rezone about 12.75 acres located on 4800 Fournace Place and 5901 South Rice Ave., the location of the former Chevron Property, at its July 13 meeting.

 

Development company SLS West Loop, LP, the owner of the property since 2018, is requesting the rezoning of the property from Technical Research Park to Corridor Mixed-Use.

The company is also seeking a specific-use permit to construct a movie theater and athletic facility within about 9.6 acres on the western side of the property.

 

The commission’s agenda also lists an application to allow for the construction of a 300-unit multifamily apartment complex and parking garage to be located on about 3.15 acres of the southern part of the property and a specific use permit to allow for an increase in the height of construction from 53 feet to 85 feet for the apartments and garage.