mike

Town and Country was an open-air center previously, many many years ago.

The Valencia Group, developer of the four-star Hotel Valencia Riverwalk in San Antonio, is creating a new property brand called Hotel Elle.

HOLY COW! Fort Worth wasn't originally predicted to hit 675K until the year 2015, and 727K by the year 2020.

http://www.nctcog.org/ris/demographics/for...e&thevalue=1500

At this rate, they could make the 2020 numbers by 2008.

FORT WORTH

Sure they might have all these amazing new projects but what you forget is that Dallas does to.

It found that as families moved out of Dallas to the suburbs and surrounding cities, so did the retail stores. Consequently, the sales tax base is diminished. As a result, Dallas is more dependent than it used to be upon property taxes to fund city services -- and thsoe services are already underfunded.

High property taxes and a lack of services isn't conducive to long-term growth. Not to mention poor schools.

Fort Worth, on the other hand, can annex any desireable residential or business district that pops up in its outlying areas. They're already growing fast. And I think they're well-positioned for the future.

I do not think that that statement is acurate.

Some people understandably will question a decision by the Fort Worth City Council to create an entity that will expand the city's efforts to build homes in low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.

Critics might legitimately ask, "Why is the city in the homebuilding business? Shoudn't that be a function for the private sector?"

But city officials have an equally understandable response.

They're undertaking the homebuilding role primarily because builders from the private sector largely have shunned low- and moderate-income areas -- such as southeast Fort Worth and the north side -- where the city plans to construct housing.

Moreover, city officials want to ensure more good quality housing stock is built in those older, central-city areas. Some of the new housing built by private builders in such areas has been of marginal quality and is viewed by longtime residents as a detriment to their communities, city Housing Director Jerome Walker said.

On Tuesday, City Council members -- sitting in their capacity as directors of the Fort Worth Housing Finance Corp. -- voted 7-2 to create and provide $600,000 in funding for FW City Construction, a new entity that will build approximately 25 homes in the next year, Walker said.

The city will act as general contractor for the homebuilding program, relying on the expertise of city employees who have construction-related backgrounds and have worked in city-supported housing programs.

The city will hire private subcontractors to do the actual construction...

...Plans call for the city construction outfit to build three- and four-bedroom brick homes of 1,400 to 1,800 square feet. The city will provide subsidized financing that will substantially lower costs to homebuyers. The city housing department receives federal funding for programs that subsidize costs for home purchases by those with low and moderate incomes.

The homes are expected to be priced at $90,000 to $140,000, with amenties including ceramic tile, his/her master closets, wood-burning fireplaces with a built-in TV hutch, and brand-name appliances.

The new city effort is an expanded and more ambitious version of an "infill housing" program that the city launched in 1996. That program, which has relied on general contractors from the private sector, has resulted in the construction of 110 new homes, as well as a 160-unit senior housing development.

I lived in Houston where I was studying the real estate market, then took a job in Las Colinas. I then spent months studying the Dallas real estate market. In the last couple of weeks, I have turned my attention to Fort Worth. And I like what I see.

The city has a vibe like early 80s Austin, before the development. They have revitalized their downtown thanks to the contributions of the Basses and other wealthy local benfactors.

Many of its older business buildings downtown are intact as is much of it's older centrally located housing stock. New townhomes downtown generally go from $300K to $500K, yet more affordable 80-year-old houses remain in the Fairmont Historic district which lies just a couple of miles south of downtown.

West of downtown lies the cultural district with the zoo, parks and great museums. That's also where much residential redevelopment is ocurring.

Check out this photograph of an old Montgomery Wards to the immediate west of downtown: http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=178398 . Today, they have restored that building, renamed it Montgomery Plaza, and put a five or six story hole in the middle to open it up, http://www.emporis.com/en/il/im/?id=426397 which creates more opportunities for street level retail. The upper floors will be apartments. The hole leads to what looks like a bland suburban strip center in the back, but that center contains a SuperTarget, which = an urban grocery store.

Fort Worth encourages these types of developments, what they call "urban villages," by special tax and rezoning packages. They also have a model blocks program that awards substantial money to neighborhoods to make improvements. In their poorest areas, the city is actually building single family housing because the private sector would too often build shoddy homes that quickly became undesirable.

Both Dallas and Fort Worth have a Trinity River Plan that is supposed to transform the river into a great amenity. But already that is more viable in Fort Worth, which sits on a bluff overlooking the winding river. They have miles of paved trails beside the river now. By contrast, Dallas sits below their levees and the Trinity runs straight beside it, not unlike a giant drainage ditch or a big bayou like in Houston.

Fort Worth's plan, which the Army Corps of Engineers just approved a couple of weeks ago, is to tear down their levees. They would instead cut a flood control channel just outside downtown to the north. What this would do, is create an 800-acre island beside downtown that would no longer be flood prone, making it ripe for dense development. It would also give them a stretch of river to develop in manner that has been described as "the Riverwalk on steroids." Oh, and in the process, they would create a lake between downtown and the island. Construction begins this year, and it will take about 8 years to complete.

A study from a few years back showed the average major city only had 15% vacant space. Fort Worth had 43%. Only Phoenix had more. Dallas is blocked from future growth by Richardson, Plano and other outlying areas. As a result, they have seen much of their tax base move and take root in outlying areas. That won't happen to Fort Worth, they are free to annex approximately 350 square miles - which is more area than the city presently encompasses.

Bridgeland(s) http://tess2.uspto.gov/ImageAgent/ImageAge...tImage=78517945

There are some duplexes/condos that line the entrance to Ravensway off Huffmeister. They are about 22 years old. I don't know what the tenants are like, but I generally feel safe in the area.

HAR shows three units currently available, ranging from $625 to $695 a month (search for "ravensway")

http://www.har.com/cs_forlease.htm

http://www.generalgrowth.com/properties/ndCantera.htm

http://www.ucrrealty.com/news_detail.php?id=44

Suburban residents can avoid rush hour congestion by parking their cars at METRO Park & Ride lots and riding comfortable Commuter buses Downtown and to other activity centers like The Galleria, the Texas Medical Center and Greenway Plaza. Many Commuter routes take advantage of High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lanes in the medians of local freeways.

http://www.ridemetro.org/services/transitfacilitiespr.asp

I second this as the area has seemingly doubled in population in the last 10 years.

Bienvenidos al Mexico del Norte.

There's an interesting looking home in Conroe for sale. The asking price is $110,000.

Bedrooms: 3 Bedrooms

Baths: 2 Full & 1 Half Bath(s) 

Garage: 0 CAR 

Stories: 1 STORY 

Style: Contemporary

Year Built: 1960/Appraisal District

Build Sqft: 2,484 /Appraisal District 

Lotsize: 55,320 /Appraisal District

http://www.har.com/search/engine/indexdeta...=0&backButton=Y

I went by Sunday. The water in the creek was high and a flowin'.

As noted above, $3,943,900.

Welcome back. Have you tried searching CommGate? http://commgate.com

It lists commercial properties in the Houston area.

EDIT: Property 11065 is $139,921. It's not in the areas you listed, but it is on the side of town you used to live on -- off of Jones Rd.

This auto service has a built in paint booth. There are five stalls that open for auto repair. The tenant is on a month to month basis paying 1400 per month.This building could be converted and used for other businesses also.There is a section for living quarters and office space included in this square footage. (4,752 sq. ft.)

I'm not too observant. And my memory is bad. I've driven by the area many times over the years and the house had become invisiible to me -- but now that the topic has been raised I *very* vaguely recall seeing a big house in a field over 25 years ago.

I did find Herman S. Matzke was appointed postmaster of the Fairbanks station (as in Cypress-Fairbanks) on Apr 19, 1911.

So it looks like they finally managed to off Robin Hood.

Had the dispute been mediated in court, Bernhardt would not have lost her home, said state Sen. Jon Lindsay.

...when Sunny Wilson sold her late husband

An adult store that's apparently part of a nationwide chain. I believe it occupies what used to be the old Roy Rogers restaurant.

Thanks for the thorough reply, Parrothead.

I actually stopped by the Georgetown sales/leasing office the other day. The realtor made it sound as if investors had bought the entire complex and they were fixing up the units and selling them.

That's not correct, is it? They just bought a chunk?

In any case, the units she showed me had new carpet, tile and paint, but still smelled a bit musty -- so I think the changes were largely superficial.

I would prefer to get an unrennovated unit and do it myself. But I think the asking price of "the investors" has driven up the market price of what other owners expect. And coupled with the maintenance fees -- which the realtor said were roughly $200 (1 bdrm), $300 (2 bdrm) and $400 (3 bdrm) -- that makes the units less attractive finanancially.

Now if you could find some of these properties near their HCAD values, like the 2378 sq foot unit they value at $63.300, you'd have a bargain.

I like the 3-bdrm units best because I think they would have the best resale value given the quality schools nearby. But $400 a month is a big premium for a single person like myself to pay.

One other thing, apart from a couple of 1 bdrms and and a 1260 sq ft 2 bdrm, all the floorplans I've seen are two stories. But your condo is bigger but on a single floor? Are there many like that?

According to DPS estimates, more than 20 percent of Texas drivers carry no insurance while operating vehicles on state roads. This high number of uninsured motorists ends up hurting the wallets of those with insurance; according to the Texas Department of Insurance, Texans paid approximately $861 million in premiums relating to uninsured motorist coverage in 2003.

I lived in KC until I was 11. I don't recall it being that nice. Those pics make me want to go back.

I'm curious, from looking at the pics, does KC have a height restriction requiring new construction?

Washington DC does and when I liked how it made both old and new buildings seem in harmony with one another.

In that regard, KC seems similar.