Skintrade72

I'll just make a quick comment on this. I live in SCR and yes, it is zone X. However, I did purchase flood insurance because it was inexpensive.

There have been two heavy rains since I moved into SCR in May. I think the first was in June (when Hobby Airport had about 12 inches in a day) and then yesterday/this morning. Driving through SCR this morning I saw zero road flooding. The man-made lakes were very high, however. The first row of trees around the lakes were under water by a few feet. I would guess that the lakes had risen 8 feet or so but it's hard to be sure. That said, they would need to rise an additional 10 feet or more to be any danger to the surrounding homes. The lakes do what they are supposed to do.

I was wondering if during these recent heavy rains whether there was any problem getting in and out of SCR along the local roads like BW8 feeders and such?

Also, since you live in SCR, do any parts of the detention ponds and lakes ever foul up?

I absolutely LOVE living out here!!!!! I have lived out here since returning to Houston from St. Louis in 1990 and fell in love with the area. When I lived in Houston previously, I was raised in Park Place and married and lived in Glenbrook Valley. I moved into a brand new subdivision, and I love the peace and quiet and safety that we have out here. Of course, the subdivision is no longer new, but the trees have grown, and we have such beautiful things around here. Clear Lake is gorgeous and is blue - and man-made. There is Kemah (not the commercial one), Seabrook and Galveston for the water and party lovers. We have everything that anyone could ever want out here. Yes, there is a little traffic, and if you have to commute downtown, either take the bus or get a chauffeur - but other than that, I absolutely wouldn't trade Clear Lake for ANYTHING!!!

I HEART CLEAR LAKE!!!!

I have never seen Clear Lake blue...muddy green at best. it is prettiest at night, when you can see all the lights and can't see the color....then you can imagine it being blue during the day.

Bay Oaks is the best neighborhood in the area and probably in the whole Houston area. Very country club atmosphere. Homes start around 400K up to around 2 million. One of the best golf courses in the area. Very quiet and family-oriented area, not a whole lot of excitement though. None of that suburban urbanization has really hit Clear Lake yet. I'd like to see something start up though. They should build more housing around Baybrook for the urbanites who have to work in the area like me. There really is none at all except for apartments. I think some upscale condos or townhomes by Baybrook would sell like hotcakes.

Just curious....Anything moving at this site yet?

Uptown signs are as unique as they come. Never seen them anywhere else. I used to live in that area and would always find myself admiring them while sitting in traffic. Had friends down from Chicago who thought they were pretty cool. In fact, they'd fit right in Millenium Park if anyone has been there. They go well with the chrome artdeco streetlamps as well

So if $10K is all it costs, then I say add more of them! It adds to the city's image.

Houston would also look great with the lighted white on green street signs in some other cities...I think I've seen them in Vegas and/or Orlando.

I know about the proposed plans for new HCA and Memorial-Herman clinics at 288/BW8. Just wanted to get an idea of how easy/hard it is to get medical care in Pearland at the moment. If you could comment on primary care vs specialists that would also help.

Thanks!

If you do some searching on the Houston Press website, I think you will come across an article discussing potential flooding problems and (I think...) the SCR area. It is pretty old, but still has some useful information in it.

Found it.

http://www.houstonpress.com/Issues/2001-09...ature_full.html

This was before SCR was built, but its interesting to see all the issues that were being dealt with at the time. I actually called the Department of Engineers of Pearland. The floodplain administrator there has only been working there for 4 months, so he doesn't seem to know much about what happened during Allison. But he says SCR is the driest area in Pearland, given its detention lakes, ponds, and basins. This article seems to confirm that, though I don't know if anything's been done for the downstream communities, since if there were to be run-off from the SCR detention lakes into Clear Creek, those neighborhoods wold be affected.

He confirmed that SCR is in an "AE zone" which is high risk, but the detention system makes is an "X" zone that is not flood-prone. He said it is built to withstand more than a 100-year flood.

Thanks for the info. From the map it appears that SCR and Silverlake is at the edge of the Clear Creek floodplain. I know SCR wasn't really there during Tropical Storm Allison, but does anyone know how Silverlake fared?

Also, anyone know the elevation of Pearland above sea level?

Can anyone give me info on whether Pearland is in a flood zone? And what are the general requirements for flood insurance in this area?

I heard from an insurance "expert" that the entire Pearland region is a Flood Hazard Zone "A," which supposedly designates an area that is at high risk, and that flood insurance is required in the area.

Can anyone shed some light on this or refer me to other resources?

Thanks!

Frenchie's Italian on Nasa Rd 1 and El Camino has been a long time fav for me....nice and quaint with great food.

Question for Shadow Creek Ranchers:

Do the streets ever flood in SCR?

Good news for those with young children living in Shadow Creek Ranch (Alvin ISD).

Mary Burks Marek Elementary was rated "Exemplary" by the new 2006 TEA accountability ratings.

Manvel JH was Recognized

Alvin HS was Acceptable

http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/acco...2006/index.html

Cy-Fair ISD is the largest 'Recognized' school district in the state.

It has achieved 'Exemplary' ratings in the past, but never slid past 'Recognized'. They're both great school districts. I'm sure each has their own 'star' schools. There are great schools in nearly every school district.

I wouldn't have any reservations about sending my kid to the following HS:

Spring Branch ISD (Memorial, Stratford)

Cy-Fair ISD (Cy-Woods, Cy-Creek, Cy-Fair)

Klein ISD (Klein, Klein Oak, Klein Collins)

Conroe ISD (The Woodlands, TW College Park)

Humble ISD (Kingwood)

Katy ISD (Taylor, 7 Lakes)

HISD (Lamar, Bellaire)

Haven't a clue about Sugar Land, Pearland or Clear Lake. Different universe.

The new TEA accountability ratings are out: http://www.tea.state.tx.us/perfreport/acco...2006/index.html

Pearland ISD, (Clear Creek ISD) Clear Lake, are "Recognized." Fort Bend ISD (Sugarland) is "acceptable"

Of course, there are exemplary gems within most ISDs

http://www.fortbendisd.com/testing/2006account.pdf

Oh absolutely. How many new stores/restaurants will be opening in Pearland west of 288 in the next three years? Anyone want to take a stab at it? I would say 100. Right now, there is CVS. I would guess that the vast majority of SCR residents, maybe 85%, don't work in Pearland right now. With this enormous influx of commercial construction, that will change. And the need for apartments will go way up.

I would up that number to 200, considering there are 3 large commercial developments (Promenade Shops at Spectrum, SCR Town Center with HEB, Pearland Town Center with Dillards and Macy's) off of 288 + 3 local strip malls within SCR (SCR Village, SC Island Plaza, Plaza at Reflection Bay).

Salesperson at one of the SCR builders estimated 80% of their home buyers are actually Medical Center employees. The new HCA and Memorial Hermann complexes should keep that number high. I think as commercial developments increase around SCR, even more Medical Center people who previously avoided Pearland will be moving there. I know physicians who wanted to live in SCR, but decided not to because of the lack of commercial development.

Apartments will go up anywhere there is increased commercial development. Uptown/Galleria area has seen a proliferation of luxury apartments as has Clear Lake over the years. Sharpstown is ghetto because the whole area is kind of ghetto. I don't think there are any real high-end neighborhoods in that area. Apartments in Pearland are required to support the local "industry" (commercial, medical) workers as Pearland sees commercial progress.

I definitely think Pearland could become the next Sugarland/Woodlands. That's part of the reason why I'm building there. After all the new residential and commercial developments mature in 5 years, Pearland could start to crack the top 100 small town lists like Sugarland, League city, and the Woodlands.

I vote for Fung's Kitchen Sunday Dim Sum. The carts go around on the weekends. I will say that their Hargaow and Chiu-Mai (most common dumplings) aren't that great. They have the most variety and the more uncommon adventurous dishes are the best.

There is also a new place called Yum Yum Cha Cafe, a quaint small cafe in the Rice Village Shopping area between the old and new sections that does pretty darned good Dim Sum. Its a made to order kind without the carts, which I actually prefer, because the food always comes out piping hot. Pretty authentic as well. The tripe (for all you tripe afficianados) was one of the best I've had. The Hargaow and Chiu-mai here are one of the best in the city.

Man, I'm getting hungry just thinking about all this!

Thanks for all the replies and info.

Any areas of Pearland that flood?

Heard a rumor that y'all could confirm or dispel. Someone mentioned to me that they thought the Silverlakes neighborhood doesn't take care of its retention pond/lake areas very well. After all the lots were sold, the developers didn't really care about those public community areas, and they have been neglected since then. Anyone find that to be true?

I'm looking into moving into Shadow Creek. Could someone tell me if there is a Starbucks in the 518/288 area? I imagine there must be one going in at one of these new shopping centers on the west side.

Is there any asian food to be found in this area?

I actually heard about the 24-hour Fitness last week from a staff member at their Meyerland location. I heard about the exact location from someone on my neighborhood message board.

The Pearland location is actually listed on the 24 hour fitness web site now. Didn't see it on the LA Fitness site though.

Just thought I would give a little insight to this development.

My wife and I put a lot hold on one of the "brownstones" in this community for phase I. We handed over our money in March and we were told about 8 months until completion.

We were also told that we would be updated on the status of ALL the unknowns...upgrades and such. The realtor from the broker handling the sales seemed to have no answers for us. EVERYTHING was always "we have to wait and see what the developer decides".

My wife and I were okay with this because we knew we had gotten into this development in the early stages...however, we never heard anything from ANYONE again. That was March, this is July. Four months later we decided to go with a true homebuilder and called to cancel our lot hold. Our realtor had left the brokerage office(for reasons valid), but we were never contacted. WHAT!!! Not a single soul from the real estate team tried to contact us, to let us know that our agent had left.

And if it could get any better...the developer doesn't own the land. Not yet at least. That might answer some of those "why haven't they started ANY construction yet" questions!

Beware of this development!! And real estate team...they seemed to have no idea what was going on!

I was thinking about one of the lofts. I got an estimate of about 2 years before they would be ready. I was told last week that they just closed on the financing....who knows. Did you have any trouble getting your money back? I was thinking of doing the same thing and holding a unit, and seeing how the project develops, since I'm not moving back to Houston for another year anyway.

Brownstones would be wonderful. Can't wait to hear what you find out.

So I visited the Boulder Creek trailer today. They have a nice model of the whole development there. They told me the reason nothing's been built yet is because last week they just closed on the financing for the East side of Pearland Pkwy, which will have a 16 story office building, commercial space (ice cream shop, coffee shop, deli, etc), lake, and upscale apts. The office building is supposed to be "Class A." Does anyone know what that really means if anything at all? The developer has been delaying construction because he wants to have everything under construction all at once.

West of the Pkwy, there will be 1-story buildings with boutique shops. This section of the model reminds me of the Marquee mall on I-10. A Kroger's signature store has signed on here, as well as a CVS Pharmacy and Spec's along the parkway. Next to these is a small lake that will have 4 restaurants (probably like Fountains on the lake on I-59). A Johnny Rockets has already signed on. Behind these is more retail with 2 levels of 2-story lofts above them. Directly behind the lofts is garage parking, and behind that are columns of about 100 brownstones. There are canals leading from the lake around the loft/retail and some of the brownstone columns. The wooded area around Clear Creek is behind the brownstones. A large parking lot will be between the Beltway feeder and the lake with some retail buildings. A Taco Cabana has signed on in one of these.

Then at the far west-side of this development there are plans for an outpatient medical clinic building and park in front. The sales rep said there are more letter of intents from other retailers for the project, but she couldn't release that info yet until the hard deals were done. The Kroger's sounds nice, but I'm still waiting for signs of the "upscale" retailers like williams-sonoma, BR, Bombay, etc. As such, I'm still reluctant to put down 350K for one of these loft units. Its an admirable endeavor, but we'll have to see about the execution.

This was my first time really checking out Pearland. I was kinda dissappointed. I didn't expect such a lack of current commercial development there. I had a tough time trying to find a place just to have lunch. Had to go to the 518/288 area by Shadow Creek Ranch, and then there was just a Chili's and Panera Bread, which I didn't have the stomach for today. Seems like it might still be a few years before there are decent dining options in Pearland. Johnny Rockets isn't all that either.... When's the Cheesecake Factory or even one of the Pappas chains coming?

I have been looking at high rise condominiums for sale in the greater Houston area and was hoping to get a little more information about the Mark Condominiums since the last time I saw it posted here. Last I checked, there are 38 units that are still for sale at the Mark. Why are they having such a hard time selling units? The galleria is a great area and the building seems to be very nice. I also don't understand the reasoning behind the affordable prices. I have seen similar floorplans at other buildings that have cost much more. I am assuming that the affordable prices are a result of the lack of sales. Any info would be great.

Thanks

Just thought I could be of help here, in case you were still looking at The Mark. We owned a unit there, and its still in the family (sold it to my parents since we were moving out of town). We bought our 2 bedroom unit (6th floor, north side) for the same reason that you are considering it....very affordable. We bought preconstruction there for $210K. For the location, it is a really great deal. The reason for the pricing is that it probably is not quite as luxurious as the $300-500K units in the uptown area. They cost-save in certain areas, for example - granite TILE countertops instead of granite slab, carpet interiors (though slate tile in the foyer and kitchens), no crown molding, basic lighting fixtures (we upgraded alot on the lights). Because of this, the standard, un-upgraded unit would be considered more mid-luxury. Of course, you can upgrade most of these features and make it what you want.

Positives

- The construction is solid, solid concrete walls and floors with great sound-proofing.

- very high ceilings, I think they are 14 feet in the living areas, 10 feet in the bathrooms.

- huuuuuge balconies in the center 2 bedroom units

- pool and spa are pretty nice (the view on the weekends. I swear some of the pretty young things who live there must work at the gentleman's club across the street. Funny thing, my dad caught Shaq - who owns a unit there - taking in the view from the lobby one day)

- awesome location: blocks from the galleria. Convenient access to both 610 and 59. i never found the traffic to be that bad...you are far enough from the Galleria.

- Sweet views from the North facing higher floors (though you lose the pool view)

Negatives

- Smallish exercise facilities

- exterior is ok, some don't really like it

- as you said, they still have about 30% of the units left for sale so if you expect to live there for a few years and sell, it may be difficult. If you expect to live there for a long time, its probably not too much of a concern, since they'll eventually sell out.

- you only get 1 assigned parking space, and if you happen to get one of the floors higher up, its a delicate flower cause there are tons of annoying speed bumps (the car unfriendly type that kills your car).

Overall, we really enjoyed staying there....people of all backgrounds live there from empty-nesters to young professionals (not too many families as would be expected from a high-rise condo).

You ever heard of the 24 drinking game? Everytime Bauer says "damn" or "dammit", you and your friends are supposed to drink a shot Just throwing that out there. Ah, DJ games

Back on subject, can anyone see a Barnes & Noble or Borders with extended hours at the Pavillions? It'd be nice to walk to a bookstore/coffee shop at 3:30am and read a book or hang out all night on a balcony or patio downtown with no alcohol involved. I'd DEFINATELY go there after a dj set, clubbing, or hanging out at House of Blues or Main Street. Do you think other Houstonians would also?

DJ V, where are you currently spinning? Any recommendations on downtown clubs that play house/trance? Been away from Houston for awhile, but used to love Hyperia....many memorable nights (or mornings) there. Shame it got shut down. We need another great "underground" venue like that.

Anyone know anything about these Armandwilde townhomes going up near the Mansion on Space Center and Nasa Rd 1? How's that area as a place to live? I'm wondering if there's any decent grocery shopping around there?

I think the lifestyle center at 518 and the beltway will have living space as well. I don't know if they will be lofts but go to CBLProperties.com and look up the Pearland Town Center that is slated for 2008. I think the renderings show some type of living space there.

Things have been quiet on the Boulder Creek project. I hope it turns out well because that side of Pearland needs something but it's not getting nearly the press that these other projects are. I haven't heard about any committments from restauarants or retailers.

Yeah, I've seen the renderings of the Pearland Town Center, but it seems like the residential will be years away. There's nothing up for sale yet, whereas there are actually MLS listings for the Boulder Creek project. Seems like Pearland Towncenter is building up the retail before the residential, which is probably how it should be. The Sugarland Townsquare condos did the same and have done very well. T-Mac actually bought a unit in there, and can be seen around sometimes. Hope Boulder Creek comes out the same, but from the sound of it, they might be trying the reverse and building the residential before the retail. They are supposedly starting construction on some of the brownstones this month. It would seem like the residential success would ride upon the retail success in these types of developments. So there is some of that risk there if the retail doesn't come through.

I'll be coming down to Houston and visitng the site and sales office next week and will provide any updates.

Things are looking good. Construction on new homes is booming on the south side of betway 8 on pearland pkwy! Pearland pkwy itself, looks great! Why are you wanting that area over the west side of Pearland, 288 and 518?

Actually, I was particularly interested in the Parks at Boulder Creek "lifestyle center" development with lofts built above retail that has been discussed in this forum at the entrance of Pearland Pkwy and Beltway8.

My family and I are moving back to Houston next year, following a brief banishment to Cleveland, OH (yes, the mistake by the lake). Looking into Pearland vs Clear lake. The Parks at Boulder Creeks looks pretty interesting...a bit of urban chique in suburbia. The renderings look great, but I'm not sure how well it will be executed. The developer has never done residential before. The development was announced awhile ago, but I've yet to here of any retailers signing on so far. Plus, a development of that magnitude will take quite a few years to complete....not sure if I want to be living in the middle of all that construction.

Any update on how the construction is looking so far out there at Beltway and Pearland Pkwy?