Georgefishman

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/nb/pea...ws/5032052.html

I cannot answer it better than the other gentleman that already did. These lines will run from the termination point of the CBL mall South to CR 59. The city is pushing Office/Professional in that area.

G

Just a little note about your area, actually a good part of what is now SCR was actually planted in soy beans, not rice. I spent a lot of time dove hunting out there and there were'nt any flooded rice fields, just rows and rows of soy beans. When I was a kid and the 288 right of way was cleared and the bridges over the creeks and bayous were built, we would drive out the ROW from Almeda Genoa and stop along the way and dove hunt on weekends. I also had a friend who knew the guy that farmed the area just north of 518 and west of 288 (basically a lot of SCR) and he let us hunt out there all the time. We did that up until the mid 90's when development was thinking about starting and the City of Pearland was looking to expand that direction. Right across 518 at CR 90 which is/ was the main entrance to Silverlake there was a sign hanging on the gate that advertised day leases for dove hunting right there. Not long ago when I drove by I saw that the posts for the gate were still there but it looked funny because all the land behind them was cleared and they were starting to build something there. Where 518 interscected with Cullen was known as Dead Mans curve because long ago that was where 518 ended and you could only turn north on Cullen resulting in a 90 degree turn in the road, hence Dead Mans curve. Wow, how things have changed over the years.

That brings back alot of fond memories. I can remember when 518 was just being cut through and 288 was not even open yet. We used to race our cars fromon 288 from HWY 6 to the new 518 interchange. Up until 1998, we used to hunt rabbit and dove on my site at the cr59/288 location. We used to also hunt the rice feilds in friendswood on fm528 that are now sa jaquin, boca raton, etc.

G

Can anyone refer good buyer agents that you have personal experience with? I am looking for a house in pearland area. Also anyone dealth with any of the following agents?

James Potenza

Eden Tieh

Appreciate your help.

If you have not found one yet, Please give me a call at (832) 577-1158. I am an agent in Pearland.

George

Can't you do this yourself with the instructions from the manual? Wear gloves if you are afraid of getting scratched or dirty. But for general car repair, I have had very good luck with Elliott's, Pearland Tire and Auto, West Pearland Tire and Auto, and Brown's. I have had bad experiences with both Midas and Meineke.

marmer

I would have to second the Elliott's. He is an honest guy from my experience.

G

I think he's referring to the parking lot in Target. That surely hasnt been there since 288 was built.

Metro will be submitting another proposal to City Council Monday night for their development. I will post followup information Tuesday morning.

G

It appears that the actual 'City' of this landfill is 'Fresno' . ( MAP ) I know Pearland is opposing the expansion but did not read much about Fresno anywhere.

So George, it appears that you are optimistic that the expansion will not happen eventually. Did I get that right ?

I would say yes but we never know what goes on behind closed doors.

G

Thanks for everyone sharing their views.

After reading lots of materials on this topic, this is my view

* Since state (TCEQ) has already ruled ins favour of Allied, they are half-done with it [Yes, better begun is half done]

* Also, it is the same TCEQ who will decide on the "request for contested hearing" (RCH), I would not be surprised if that request is denied again

* If RCH is granted, it will be another 2 years or so, for the final decision.

* Missoury city and Fortbend already agreed to receive 'tipping fees' (Legal Bribe ?) for their silence

* Eventhough TV stations are in the battle, I doubt how serious is their battle. They do know everything else in the city but they did not know about this until the last minute ? hmmmmmm..

* Allied is a multi-million business and so are the TV stations. Sadly, but true - money is the guiding force at many places. Allied may offer to cover (partially) expenses to erect 230 ft high MEGADopler towers. Who knows ?

* I read somewhere that, different projects that were about to be started near SCR is on hold. Not sure whether it is correct or not, but of it is - that is not a good sign. They get the confirmed rumours quicker than 'Fire ants'

* HOA and Newland (the actual owners of SCR) prefer to remain silent. They fear that once they voluntarly inform existing residents and Potential new residents, there will be panic and the typical "horror, get out and run". They want as many units to be sold as quickly as possible. Once the units are sold, they dont care whether it is 170 ft tall garbage or 1700 ft tall garbage.

* Its a 40-60 game, favouring Allied

I sat in on one of the council meetings regarding this subject and the expansion was not approved to the best of my limited memory. The TCEQ, County officials, etc, can approve any permit they would like, but it is the City that has the final word in what happens withing its boarders (to some extent). A good example of this is that the county does not limit my desire to have an open fire on my property in the county, nor does the TCEQ if I want to doze my trees and burn them. The City, on the other hand, has ordinances that make it illegal for me to do that without a permit - which they will not approve.

Funny thing about these landfills are that they have been around for a long time and were originally put in a good location considering the proximity to the city and populated areas. Now they are smack dab in the middle of things because nobody imagined the type of growth we would have. Brio on Dixie Farm and Beamer is another example of that.

G

Yes there is one there. The only real purpose I see for it is for car and vanpooling. You often see several of the vans in the outer portion of the Target parking lot.

Brian

That is the temporary place until the main facility gets approved/built. From what I interpreted from the presentation they showed the city of pearland, it seemed to have a bus and train terminal. Light rail has also been talked about in the area.

Other developments in the area...Monday, April 2, 2007. Trophy Investments is scheduled to have a joint public hearing to discuss and/or have approved a zoning change to PD from BP-288 for their upcoming project called South Gate Crossing. Letters have been sent to property owners to send their comments and two that I know of are in favor (One was mine). This project and along with the CBL mall, and Metro, will have this area smoking for the next two years.

G

any more spies in the area we can rely on? Surely we can't rely on only a "McKee" for reports.

I have a friend at work that said he may be able to attend. I also called the city and they said I can buy a the taped session for $1.00 when it comes available. I am not sure how long that will take.

G

Another poster mentioned some details about this in the Pearland Retail Development thread. This article from the Pearland Journal provides additional details

http://www.hcnonline.com/site/news.cfm?new...32247&rfi=6

Seems that Metro and The Medical Center are working together on this and want to tap into the nearly 4000 Medical Center employees who live in Pearland.

This weeks worksho agenda item

http://cityofpearland.com/vertical/Sites/{...144191E1F8}.PDF

I will be out of town at a conference. My apologies in advance for not being able to provide an after meeting report.

G

Pearland is booming. Wanted to start a forum on anything and everything going up in the Pearland area Shadow Creek Parkway in particular is becoming a center of attention for retail centers. If you know something, post it.

To be completed in 1st Quarter of 2007:

Shadow Creek Crossing by Option 1 Realty Group

148000 Sq Ft center at corner of Reflection Bay and Shadow Creek Parkway

Anchored by 50000 Sq Ft Family Entertainment Center (similar to Dave and Busters)

Lenny's Deli

Fitness Center

My apologies in advance, if this is inappropriate place for this; but, I am wondering if any of you folks work for a design/build firm and have experience in retail development. If so, please shoot me an e-mail at GeorgeFishman77581@yahoo.com.

Thaks,

George

i agree, price discrimination is not the answer.

i was just reponding to your comment where you thought that was the solution.

"Actually, they are more concerned that Pearland residents will be footing the bill for a service that folks from other area will benefit. One of the council members asked if metro could raise the price of the ticket to compensate for that. I am willing to bet that is what we will see in the end. "

Actually, I was stating what one of the council members said and that I agreed in that will probably be what happens. Years back there was a proposal brought to the Houston City Council that wanted to charge non-Houston residents who worked in Houston $1:00 per day(I believe this wat the number) surcharge for the opportunity to work there and live somewhere else. As I remember, another motivator of this idea was to help cover the costs of money leaving the city everyday (the inversed money multiplier), and the ammenities folks used and were not being taxed on as those in the city. I believe the costs were made up in other areas like parking rate increases, hotel taxes, cab fare fees, etc.

Usually contingency money is set aside for project over runs. My hopes would be that we are not having that many over runs and that the city can be find the needed dollars rather than pass costs on.

G

Fishman,

Did you happen to make the Council meeting yesterday? If so, any good updates?

Yes I did. Just normal business last night and everything that was voted on passed.

For the eastenders, Dixie farm road will close for the weekend of March 31 for a planned installation of conduit and Yost road will open. Yost will be one of the dtour routes.

G

No, we're not broke in Pearland, and neither are the citizens. Part of what you see playing out in these kinds of issues are the new vs the old. The west end of Pearland is new, the one time power brokers of Pearland mostly live in East Pearland. They and their supporters are having a hard time facing the rapidly changing demographics of the community. Large parts of the west end of Pearland are still within MUDs and not yet annexed so they are unable to vote in city elections. Since as of the last city council race it only took I think about 2,000 votes or less to get elected the old power guys have retained their seats on council, but as a good friend of mine who lives in Silverlake likes to say, things are going to change once we get the vote. Since any transit solution on 288 will be seen as benifitting only westenders the current city government is not in a hurry to alienate their base by charging them to pay for the improvements.

What this all boils down to is Pearland as a city is not very removed from its past. It was a small community with a few "rulers" and as the story goes if you wanted to be elected to city council or the school board for many years you had to seek the approval of a small group who essentially held the power. If they blessed you you usually won, if they didn't you usually lost. Until Pearland fully shakes that mentality it will be hard to get solid commitments towards some of the improvements people are seeking. Pearland has a big bond election coming for $162 million and in it they address some transportation issues like feeder roads on 288 but not a whole lot of other help for the west side.

While I support the improvement of transportation options on the west end I must admit that I live on the east end closer to 45 than 288. I have lived there for 14 years and have been waiting on the widening and improvement of Dixie Farm Road from Beamer to 35 and they just started that in October of 2006. They also announced that it will only go to 518 and that the piece from 518 to 35 is part of the bond election. In otherwords its taken 14 years to do something they assured me was going to happen soon after I moved to Pearland so don't hold your breath waiting on improvements to the west side. Of course the west end does have the tax base and the shine of the newness so they may get the money, while I wait another 14 years before they break ground for Dixie Farm Road from 518 to 35 to happen.

Total in agreement on your comments. In fact, the next election holds two candidates for council. Kevin Cole and Woody Owens and they are unopposed. I personally hope it stays that way because they are both good for the city, even though Kevin is strongly against extending Business Center Dr across my property.

G

Hey Fishman, are you going to the council meeting tonight? The special meeting agenda indicates that they will give an update on current projects. Now does this mean all current projects in Pearland or just the projects that Pearland is working on? If you are going, please take good notes and post a summary for all to see.

Yes, I plan on being there tonight and will be happy to post anything of interest. Heck, I am even beating the local papers nowadays. LOL The project update workshop is a regular monthly agenda item and they are very thourough (I just cannot seem to spell this word) on the projects, new and old. They are great sources of information and I highly recommend attending them if you live in the Pearland area. I must disclose, though, that my interest lies in the HWY 288 (mostly) and the hwy 35 Corridors; because I own property off both, and if they are not talking on those subjects I usually do not stick around very long.

G

and just how are they able to determine who's from pearland and who's from friendswood, etc? when you're talking transportation matters, i just don't see how you can charge more for a service like this. that's like saying the harris county toll road people will charge brazoria residents more to use the toll road.

I don't think price descimination will be the answer. My best guess is that everyone on that line will pay the same.

G

I think part of the problem will be that pearland doesn't want to seem that they are getting themselves ready for annexation.

Again, a suburb wants the benefits of a city without paying for it.

A city cannot annex a city. If you have watched Pearland grow over the last 10 to 15 years, you will see that they finger annexed over the years to reach the desired borders and have been filling in the gaps ever since.

G

...and the councilmembers said they don't want to burden their constituents with another vote to pay for this according to the article.

Actually, they are more concerned that Pearland residents will be footing the bill for a service that folks from other area will benefit. One of the council members asked if metro could raise the price of the ticket to compensate for that. I am willing to bet that is what we will see in the end. Heck, the propsed cost is extremely low as compared to the price of a gallon of gas. I am not sure what parking costs in the Med Center, but I imagine that is also a cost savings worth considering in the price of a ride.

G

i think the money involved in fishing is underestimated. i cant tell you how many people i know with money who get into fishing......me personally, i'm like the professor.

I must admit that 90% of the items in mytackle box was bought because it looked good to me. Experience has shown that the fish don't see it the same.

:-)

G

I'm surprised they are taking a chance on building themselves, without rest of project.

I read an article in which they said the reason they picked Pearland was because Pearland holds very large customer base that buys thru their mail order catalog.

G

I as well have observed the slower than predicted development of the Spectrum area. Nonetheless, projects like this and many others tend to be delayed. I wouldn't sweat it though. I know we are a me first/me now generation. There is also a large development planned for the NW corner of 288/FM 2234 (Currently a truck/tire repair business) with Kroger being the anchor. Let's keep a long-term perspective (i.e. update year by year). As a developer there are always activities that are ongoing behind the scenes (archit., financing, zone/plan, negotiating, leasing, etc.) and hard construction is the result of years of planning. When a project is announced, it is usually still in its conceptual stage and it will change many times before it's ready for occupancy. It's all in an effort to generate "BUZZ"!!

I understand that. I can remember when SCR was just an artists rendering. I wish I had a copy of that to compare to what it actually became.

G

George-

Glad you mentioned the Spectrum and us getting stuck paying for this TIRZ. Do you have any inside info on this development? While there is a great deal of progress on the Pearland Town Center (which doesn't really have city backing) the Spectrum seems to be at at standstill (with a great deal of city support). The only store that they've announced is the Bass Pro Shop.

Also, do you have any idea what type of offices will be housed in this building that will be built in conjunction with the park and ride? Are they Metro and Med Center offices?

Finally, I also heard that TXDOT wants rail down Hwy 35. I had not heard the same about 288.

Unfortunately, I am not privy to inside information. I try to sit in on all the Council workshops and zoning meetings and get my information that way. With that said...the Metro project workshop was the first of many and they were talking about shops like Starbucks, dry cleaners, daycares, and other retail and office use. They advocated the project as a compliment to other developments in the area and as a way to bring people from neighboring communities to this part of town. The main thesis was to provide a service to Medical Center employees in which a majority of them live in Pearland.

One item I do know about the Spectrum/ promenade center is that access is becoming a real issue. TXdot has removed the access ramp and it is difficult, at best, to get to it. I believe the Chronicle had an article on this in which they stated that the developers were going to have to foot the bill for the exit ramps and that the city was going to share half the cost. I also heard thru a breakfast meeting one morning that the Nano-technology sector has not been signing on as hoped and maybe not materializing. The collective result is that the growth is moving southward (good news for me) and CBL currently has the best show to watch.

In my opinion, Pearland has had some great invisionaries designing and developing this master plan we know have. Unfortunately, I see that this "Creature" of growth has gotten slightly unmanageable, in terms of infrastructure, and we are experiencing some growing pains. The costs need to be passed on to us somehow, I am just hoping that we also get a rebate when the returns begin to materialize.

G

While I am a big advocate of some form of public transportation into Houston from Pearland and would like to see Metro spend its money on medium rail from the outlying areas into Houston I have to wonder what other hurdles will have to be cleared. We folks in Brazoria county do not pay the 1 cent Metro tax that those in Harris county do. So if Metro wants to build into Brazoria County does that mean we get hit with the tax? I live on the far East side of Pearland and will not benifit from anything along the 288 corridor and while I understand that thats no reason to not support a good project I still question why I want to be subject to the tax that will benifit only a very few residents in Pearland. Those working in the Medical Center, and granted some working downtown but all of us East of 35 will still be stuck with our current options, the Fuqua Park and Ride. I have lived in Pearland for a long time and while the West side expansion is nice I get little if any benifit from it, only headaches. I will need to research the limitations of Metro via the tax because I do not relish my sales tax going to nine and a quarter percent so the other end of town gets a new way to work. We already pay some pretty hefty property taxes and those haven't gotten me much since I've lived in Pearland either.

I am not sure about what it will eventually cost us but I know that rail is a part of the eventual plan as is hwy 35. But speaking of taxes...there is a bond election coming up that will raise our taxes approx $0.36 ( I believe that is what I read). Looking at what the bonds are paying for does not seem all that unreasonable; but, my feeling is that we are getting stuck paying for a TIRZ that we are loosing money on. Maybe the spectrum/prominade area?

G

Looking at the preliminary plan for the 40 acre site, there will be a Lowes, Office Max, Fingers furniture and other outparcel types. The CBL project and this project will share opposite ends of business center drive from Broadway to CR59. Hopefully, I upload the document that they shared with me ( I am sure it will change some during the planning process).

Other information you may find useful is that MUD 34 has approved them to be annexed into their system to receive financing for the infrastructure and they expect City approval in the next 60 days. This will extend the water and sewer pipe from the CBL termination point to their site...which will also feed the rest of the area along it.

BTW. I own the 10 acre parcel on their north border and will hopefully be able to share my own project with you soon.

Best regards,

George

Update. Fingers has signed on with the transwestern project (HEB) at 288/518

G

good luck with your land! I'm anxious to hear what you plan to do with it.

In Pearland's City Council Meeting last night, the top dogs of Metro (harris County) and the Medical Center had a workshop concerning a proposed transit center in Pearland. The temp. location will be on the east side of 288 at the movie theater but they are considering the Southeast corner of the CBL site for a fixed location. When/if built, it will consist of a 4 story building housing retail, daycare, offices, and will have 1500 parking spaces. The speakers all stated that a CR 59 extension is required for this project to work and they would like to do it in a 18 month time frame. The main reason for this proposed development is that a huge percentage of medical center employees live in Pearland and they want to accomodate them. The bigger goal is to expand the metro system to the houston metro areas. This is good news for Pearland and great news for me, if approved.

Attendies for this project include:

John M. Sedlak - executive VP, metro

Jim ??? - VP, Metro

Joyce Camp - President, Texas Medical Center

Jay Sears- Principal, NewQuest Properties

Best Regards,

George

Don't diss Mely's. That's my favorite place to eat. I heard that the owner was getting divorced. But I believe that the rent went up too.

I remember one day I went in there to eat last summer and the AC was not working. The owners made them commit to another 5 year lease before he fixed it.

I sometimes eat there twice a week as most can tell my my growing waistline. LOL

G

MUD 34? That's basically Autumn Lakes, right? So they're going to be officially Pearland then? What about MUD 26, the majority of SCR?

I actually thought the same thing. It is Southern Trails and the water line they will extend comes from Houston through the CBL site. I spoke to one of the engineers from MUD 34 and the jurisdictional issues are very complex, to say the least. My understanding from the conversation is that it is more of a financing plan more than a location.

If someone has good knowledge of MUD district politics and operations, I would appreciate some education on this.

George

So this will be just south of the Pearland Town Center (PTC) development with Macy's and Dillards? And other details for the stores there? If a store is at Southfork, it probably won't be in the PTC or the SCR TC.

Looking at the preliminary plan for the 40 acre site, there will be a Lowes, Office Max, Fingers furniture and other outparcel types. The CBL project and this project will share opposite ends of business center drive from Broadway to CR59. Hopefully, I upload the document that they shared with me ( I am sure it will change some during the planning process).

Other information you may find useful is that MUD 34 has approved them to be annexed into their system to receive financing for the infrastructure and they expect City approval in the next 60 days. This will extend the water and sewer pipe from the CBL termination point to their site...which will also feed the rest of the area along it.

BTW. I own the 10 acre parcel on their north border and will hopefully be able to share my own project with you soon.

Best regards,

George

Southfork_crossing.pdf