Bankruptcy stalls medical and entertainment complex
By Tiffany Williams
Courier staff
THE WOODLANDS - A much-anticipated medical and entertainment plaza has stalled after tenants began dropping out and the developer filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month.
But Henry Altman, owner of B&A Development Group, is denying swirling rumors the Plaza at Indian Springs has completely tanked.
"We have issues we have to work out with financing," Altman said.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy means the company will remain in business while a bankruptcy court oversees the reorganization of the company's debt obligations. B&A Development LP, a subsidiary of Altman's company B&A Development Group GP Inc., filed for the bankruptcy protection, which "gives us time to keep all of the creditors on the project covered and keep the property from being foreclosed," he said.
He blamed much of the project's woes on expensive construction that would have given the development LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
"That certification we were seeking is an expensive process," he said.
He still hopes to attain a "core and shell" LEED acknowledgement. World-class designers "Didi" Pei, son of famed Louvre Pyramid designer I.M. Pei, and Fluidity Designs, the architect for the Bellagio Hotel fountain in Las Vegas, are still a part of the project.
Reducing the environmental building considerations and making other alterations, including nixing one of the plaza's three restaurants, adding 3,000 square feet of medical office space and eliminating some of the project's "bells and whistles" shaved the overall expected cost of the development from $30 million to about $21.5 million, Altman said.
But it reduced interested partners as well.
The project will take longer than Altman and the surrounding community originally anticipated, prompting major tenants like St. Luke's Community Medical Center-The Woodlands, which planned to lease its first minor emergency center at the Plaza at Indian Springs, to back out of the project.
St. Luke's, which wants to open a 12,000-square-foot facility this summer, is now moving in across the street at The Crossing Shopping Center, a 22-acre commercial hub at the corner of Woodlands Parkway and Kuykendahl Road where organic food store Wild Oats is expected to locate.
"We felt like we wanted to bring this to the community as soon as possible," said Tyrone Roberts, project manager.
Though he lost tenants, Altman said the plaza's tribulations have given the project "more validity than ever." He said over time the cost of land in the area has increased "$2-3 per square foot more than we were getting a year ago."
"That has created a windfall in revenue for us," said Altman, estimating that in five years the plaza will see $700,000 in revenue "we wouldn't have gotten if we'd executed those (first) leases."
Dr. Gabriel Polo, a College Park-area dentist, said he is no longer planning to lease space at the Plaza at Indian Springs because the project "is a no go."
"I was looking forward to it," he said. "It was supposed to be a great location, and I liked the concept. I was very disappointed to see it go downhill."
Lloyd Matthews, a director on The Woodlands Association board that represents residents on the west side of Indian Springs, said he kept a close eye on the development and noticed when the construction fence was removed in early April.
Matthews said he blames the problems on Altman, who "planned improperly."
He said he anticipated the project was heading for trouble shortly after B&A Development broke ground on the property last summer. Throughout the following months, he fielded questions from residents who were looking forward to the high-class restaurants and entertainment expected at the development, as well as those who were dreading the noise and traffic they thought it might cause, he said.
Altman said he began hearing whispers his development had failed from people in the surrounding community.
He said despite the criticism he is "optimistic this thing will get built."
"We are dissatisfied across the board we could not pull this thing off in its original grandeur," he said. "At the end of the day this project will go forward; it will succeed."
Tiffany Williams can be reached at twilliams@hcnonline.com
The Plaza At Indian Springs: Mixed-Use In The Woodlands
in Points North
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Info from yesterday's Courier:
Bankruptcy stalls medical and entertainment complex
By Tiffany Williams
Courier staff
THE WOODLANDS - A much-anticipated medical and entertainment plaza has stalled after tenants began dropping out and the developer filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month.
But Henry Altman, owner of B&A Development Group, is denying swirling rumors the Plaza at Indian Springs has completely tanked.
"We have issues we have to work out with financing," Altman said.
Chapter 11 bankruptcy means the company will remain in business while a bankruptcy court oversees the reorganization of the company's debt obligations. B&A Development LP, a subsidiary of Altman's company B&A Development Group GP Inc., filed for the bankruptcy protection, which "gives us time to keep all of the creditors on the project covered and keep the property from being foreclosed," he said.
He blamed much of the project's woes on expensive construction that would have given the development LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification.
"That certification we were seeking is an expensive process," he said.
He still hopes to attain a "core and shell" LEED acknowledgement. World-class designers "Didi" Pei, son of famed Louvre Pyramid designer I.M. Pei, and Fluidity Designs, the architect for the Bellagio Hotel fountain in Las Vegas, are still a part of the project.
Reducing the environmental building considerations and making other alterations, including nixing one of the plaza's three restaurants, adding 3,000 square feet of medical office space and eliminating some of the project's "bells and whistles" shaved the overall expected cost of the development from $30 million to about $21.5 million, Altman said.
But it reduced interested partners as well.
The project will take longer than Altman and the surrounding community originally anticipated, prompting major tenants like St. Luke's Community Medical Center-The Woodlands, which planned to lease its first minor emergency center at the Plaza at Indian Springs, to back out of the project.
St. Luke's, which wants to open a 12,000-square-foot facility this summer, is now moving in across the street at The Crossing Shopping Center, a 22-acre commercial hub at the corner of Woodlands Parkway and Kuykendahl Road where organic food store Wild Oats is expected to locate.
"We felt like we wanted to bring this to the community as soon as possible," said Tyrone Roberts, project manager.
Though he lost tenants, Altman said the plaza's tribulations have given the project "more validity than ever." He said over time the cost of land in the area has increased "$2-3 per square foot more than we were getting a year ago."
"That has created a windfall in revenue for us," said Altman, estimating that in five years the plaza will see $700,000 in revenue "we wouldn't have gotten if we'd executed those (first) leases."
Dr. Gabriel Polo, a College Park-area dentist, said he is no longer planning to lease space at the Plaza at Indian Springs because the project "is a no go."
"I was looking forward to it," he said. "It was supposed to be a great location, and I liked the concept. I was very disappointed to see it go downhill."
Lloyd Matthews, a director on The Woodlands Association board that represents residents on the west side of Indian Springs, said he kept a close eye on the development and noticed when the construction fence was removed in early April.
Matthews said he blames the problems on Altman, who "planned improperly."
He said he anticipated the project was heading for trouble shortly after B&A Development broke ground on the property last summer. Throughout the following months, he fielded questions from residents who were looking forward to the high-class restaurants and entertainment expected at the development, as well as those who were dreading the noise and traffic they thought it might cause, he said.
Altman said he began hearing whispers his development had failed from people in the surrounding community.
He said despite the criticism he is "optimistic this thing will get built."
"We are dissatisfied across the board we could not pull this thing off in its original grandeur," he said. "At the end of the day this project will go forward; it will succeed."
Tiffany Williams can be reached at twilliams@hcnonline.com