New Quest Properties

[mrfootball]

I nominate NewQuest Properties for Idiot Developer of the Year. Their penchant for clearcutting and tossing up cheap-looking strip centers is unrivalled.

They're developing a heavily wooded parcel behind a neighborhood with million dollar homes over near Grant Rd. & Louetta. It's a nicely wooded parcel and there's really absolutely NO need for any more strip centers as there are numerous brand new centers that lie mostly vacant. So I asked them what they were planning on building at that location..they said "they didn't know"..."not sure yet"..."but we're clearcutting that land"...."you see, the beauty of Texas, rather the beauty of Harris County is that we can do anything we want with the land"

Even if that means pissing off the communities you develop in? Pissing off the very customers they ultimately hope to serve by trashing their community with more junk they don't want?

Brilliant strategy NewQuest. Brilliant.

Good developers create lasting value, and are welcome in the community.

NewQuest isn't one of them.

Edited February 12, 2007 by mrfootball

[sevfiv]

here's the contact page of the people responsible for this stuff:

http://www.newquestproperties.com/ContactUs.asp

hmm...looks like they've been leaving their mark over texas since 2001...niiiiice

[cfresident]

I just HATE hearing that stuff. For every new stripmall they build in that area, another one becomes vacant, falls apart and destroys the surrounding neighborhoods. I would think with all the retail availability the lease rates have become so low in the area that it doesn't support the build out.

Are there absolutely no controls to stop this over development? Are there really zero building codes in this area? What about Pricinct 4? How about the Northwest Chamber of Commerce?

[adagio]

Harris County has little to no zoning. Anything can go onto vacant land and most of the time the land is clear cut and the soil level is raised because of drainage issues.

From my personal experience, residents who have land that abut commercial land have no control over what will go onto the land on the other side of their property lines. The commercial developer on the other side of the property line usually has deeper pockets. Furthermore governing boards in subdivisions choose not to get involved.

After living in a house on the edge of a subdivision for seven years we have learned that in the future if we end up buying another property in Harris County or move to another city with a similar situation , we will buy in the middle of an established area where we can see what has been built around the neighborhood and all the infrastructure is in place.

[cfresident]

I did that. However, i'm not concerned with what is immediately around me, but my neighborhood as a whole. The area they are referring to about 3-5 miles from my home, but it still affects me and my neighborhood.

By the way, my subdivision does get involved. There were several people in my neighborhood who were responsible for literally forcing Kickerillo to sell a portion of their Vintage Park land to Harris country for parks and recreation. It's a shame that we need to spend so much valuable time chasing down irresponsible developers.

[mrfootball]

It's a shame that we need to spend so much valuable time chasing down irresponsible developers.

Agreed. All the more reason we need to get organized to be able to explore Incorporation and get a referendum on the ballot, or explore other means. Harris County is too big an unwieldy to be managed effectively (keep an eye on Fulton County, GA).

CF, If I'm not mistaken, I believe Bob Eckels lives over there in Woods of Wimbledon. I would like to see him throw some of his weight around to help protect area residents from these crappy developers.

Edited January 26, 2007 by mrfootball

[MidtownCoog]

I call this slash and burn development or architecture.

Kinda like slash and burn agriculture in the rain forest.

[Mom22Blessings]

Isn't there already a Randalls over there???

[editor]

"you see, the beauty of Texas, rather the beauty of Harris County is that we can do anything we want with the land"

I think you found the answer to your problem right there. Although I appreciate companies that engage in "responsible" development, I don't blame the ones that follow the letter of the law.

Seems to me the root of your problem is with your leaders (and ultimately the voters) and not with the developers. Maybe if the elected leaders saw the land as something other than an indirect source of campaign donations something might change.

[sttombiz]

shouldnt you nominate kickerillo? olde oaks and ponderosa forest were incredible neighbors (haha). I mean he didnt use shabby construction at all.

we should wonder about the vintage...

[mrfootball]

Those neighborhoods still look great. The only real problem (aside from flooding) is the fact that their school district's demographics changed so dramatically and subsequently went downhill. The neighborhoods themselves are still beautiful and have held up well.

Keep in mind Kickerillo developed many of the neighborhoods in West Memorial (Nottingham Forest, Wilchester, etc.).

[adagio]

I am in agreement with Mr. Football on the fm 1960 neighborhood. When we moved to Houston in 1998 we rented a house in Westador. On the whole it was a nicely built house. It was going to need some repair work, however most houses in the 30 year old range do need work. What caused us to move further up north was the demographics. Our daughter was getting ready to go to middle school the following year and her elementary school teacher was strongly hinting that we consider placing her in another area. She felt that the Middle School we were zoned to was a rough school. We now live in Northampton. I see a lot of clear cutting and building when there are buildings nearby that are vacant. There are also an abundance of neighborhoods going in where there were once cow fields. Also, I have seen the demographics in my classroom change over the last five years. I do wonder how long it will take before we have a similar situation to fm 1960 where demographics as well as development greatly impact the value of properties.

[hbcu]

One small population shift scares the hell out of people now.....this thing has been going back to the 60s when the whites in HISD left the loop and kept moving towards the Beltway and eventually past the Beltway...

FBISD is minority now

HISD is minority

Aldine ISD is minority now

Spring ISD is minority now...

watch out....

Now, your taking over these once country town outposts and that's a different animal when you deal with some of those kids. What happens when they act up?

[westguy]

Hah.

But it is depressing to hear the word "demographics" and know that it means black people.

[musicman]

Hah.

But it is depressing to hear the word "demographics" and know that it means black people.

we're in houston, blacks aren't the majority

[VicMan]

we're in houston, blacks aren't the majority

Houston is almost 1/3 1/3 1/3 for Black, White, and Hispanic - With Asians in the middle.

[hbcu]

If you talk to people who went to school during the beginning of integration....the district's tried to get slick and pass hispanics off as whites and they integrated those schools first..

Technically, minorites (mostly black) have received the shaft when it came to the quality of schools in some districts. Just think, if Acres Homes wasn't split up to fill a quota in the 70s and 80s and Carver High was open and successful, you may never get a large amount of people moving up the road to Aldine and Klein Forest.

The law technically has brought minorities to some areas where they probably never intended on going. Do you honestly think people who lived in Acres Homes back in the 70s wanted to attend Klein High School when that meant a bus ride of almost 30 minutes?

Look at Westfield...I attended Willowridge (which was predominately white but turned into a successful middle class black high school for a brief period) and we played Westfield back in 1993 and they were lilly white. The drive from SW Houston to Spring took FOREVER. The next week, we're back at Thorne Stadium for Aldine and they were the big dog in the area and I left thinking Aldine will never be sorry in football.

Well, well, well......Westfield is the top dog out there in Spring ISD now and looks like Aldine of the 90s and 80s....the people living out there were former Aldine ISD residents who'll tell you they are moving away because the area is becoming too hispanic.

The whites are flocking to Klein and all points north but what happens when the next great northen migration occurs? Huntsville?

[Mom22Blessings]

blacks will never predominate around conroe or TW. I know for a fact conroe has a bad rep for that kind of thing. There are very successful ones but they will never predominate.

[hbcu]

never say never....you probably never thought Westfield would turn as fast and Aldine ISD would completely switch either....

I remember when Pearland was a pasture at 288 and look at it now.....alot of the areas off I-45 were former African American communities..Stuebner and 1960 was and we know about Tamina.

Conroe lost its toughness...

[westguy]

It'll happen as soon as some demographics move in next door.

[hbcu]

exactly how does Newquest acquire their land in large chunks? They aggressively harrass the buyer? Offer above market value?

[VicMan]

Some parts of HISD are still mostly White... Lamar HS and Bellaire HS are plurality White and are in the central Houston area. Same with Lanier MS and Pershing MS. Also, some of the magnet schools in HISD attract HISD's middle and upper class, including White people.

Here are how the comprehensive high schools break down in HISD (to subclassify I will use UIL divisions):

Majority Hispanic:

AAAAA

* Chavez

* Sam Houston

* Lee

* Milby

AAAA

* Austin

* Davis

* Furr

* Reagan

* Scarborough

* Sharpstown

* Waltrip

Plurality White:

AAAAA

* Bellaire

* Lamar

* Westside

Majority African-American:

AAAAA

* Madison

* Westbury

AAAA

* Jones

* Kashmere

* Sterling

* Washington

* Wheatley

* Worthing

* Yates

One small population shift scares the hell out of people now.....this thing has been going back to the 60s when the whites in HISD left the loop and kept moving towards the Beltway and eventually past the Beltway...

FBISD is minority now

HISD is minority

Aldine ISD is minority now

Spring ISD is minority now...

watch out....

Now, your taking over these once country town outposts and that's a different animal when you deal with some of those kids. What happens when they act up?

Edited February 28, 2007 by VicMan

[gwilson]

NOt sure what to say if those responses are truly from the mouths of NewQuest. I can't imagine it is a sound business move in general. I wouldn't spend the money clear cutting it if I didn't know what I was going to use it for. Seems like a waste of money.

[mrfootball]

I believe they actually don't pay a nickel for the clearcutting, instead they use the timber for barter. The more trees are cleared, the more $$$ for the tree cutters.

NewQuest strip mines communities.

[gwilson]

Not saying this isn't done, but I don't think it is the case.

They don't just go in and cut the trees down. They have to remove the stumps as well which is a fairly costly process on large pieces of land. I get an acre cleared and stumped (in the footprint) for around $7,000. The price gets much higher when you go over an acre.

I've never heard of anyone bartering lumber though. We don't live in much of a "lumber" market area for someone to offer to do that.

I will admit my ignorance though since I've never cleared more than two acres at a time. And if such companies exist, I'd like to find out who they are. I'd save a lot of money.

[h2obuff]

I believe they actually don't pay a nickel for the clearcutting, instead they use the timber for barter. The more trees are cleared, the more $$$ for the tree cutters.

NewQuest strip mines communities.

They actually pay a lot of clear cutting. The lumber is not sold, it is cut down, stumps removed, sol is brought in to fill in the ground where the stumps were and all of the trees are either incenerated on site in a burn pit or are mulched and practically given away.

Based on current rules for development, many controlled/created by TCEq for development, it is much more cost benificial to clear cut than keep trees, and money alwasy winds over tress in this market.

[mrfootball]

They actually pay a lot of clear cutting. The lumber is not sold, it is cut down, stumps removed, sol is brought in to fill in the ground where the stumps were and all of the trees are either incenerated on site in a burn pit or are mulched and practically given away.

Not in this case. They cut the timber and hauled it away. I watched them do it. No burning piles like the one on 249 or Telge.

Edited March 11, 2007 by mrfootball

[Highrise Tower]

wow. HAIF has a New Quest Properties thread from 2007. That's wild.. NQ used to pay my salary, although they used to be called Quest & Sears back in the day.

Rebecca Lee and Heather Nguyen are both awesome. Good company to work for.

https://www.newquest.com/