CandW

Does anyone have any idea about plans for the land cleared at the corner of Katy Fort Bend Rd and Roesner (South of Katy Fort Bend and West of Roesner)? The Texas Land & Dev. Co. sale sign is still posted, but trees and paths have been cleared. I hope it is not another apartment project.

They are just clearing it and have made it available to the open market. My suspicion is that there will be some type of supportive retail at the hard corner with some possible multi-family in the future. M/F developments are one of the hardest hit sectors.

The section of Park Row in which you are refering to is designed and was actually to be constructed prior to the expansion of IH-10 to alleviate traffic in/out of the oil campuses. The only way it was going to be constructed was with a donation from the impacted property owners between SH 6 and Eldridge. This did not happen, so it is still on hold.

I would have to agree, don't fill up along I-10 and stay alert of what's happening around you. My daughter and her mother were at the Academy on IH-10 and Grand Pkwy a few weeks ago. Three trucks (inculding theirs) were broken into at around 3 to 4:30 in the afternoon. My daughters purse and book bag were taken as well as a loaded .45 from the center console. The ex- was not aware that her hubby had left it in there from the weekend. The good thing was Academy has great video surveilance equipment, there were witnesses to one of the crimes and got a good description and plate from the perps car.

I have lived in Katy basically my whole life and have felt very safe. I live in a good neighborhood south of 10, but have seen crime rates increase because we (along with the Woodlands and Sugar Land) are seen as the fair haired areas of town and crime will and has followed. In light of the current economic climate, petty crime will increase as more and more people become more desperate. It stands to reason that we (Katy area) are now on the target list of the criminal element even more so...the haves and the haves nots colide in any community, we will see more of this until the economy starts to fire on all cylinders and put people back to work. Just my opinion.

I have lived in Katy pretty much my entire life. My family moved here in 1974 for the same reasons most all of us that live in Katy did, good schools, good values, etc. I am now 39 years old and STILL live in Katy and can tell you that most of you have not been able to witness what has happened here since then. You are looking from the recent past as CR and the other developments are not very old. Here's my view point with all this. Having the apartments within CR is not such a bad thing as most of the clients that live there are either young profesionals or transfers from companies looking to purchase in the area and still be close to the Energy Corridor. CR has strict guidelines on what can and has to be done to those developments within their confines, i.e. landscaping, painting, etc. just like we that live in those developments in SF homes, they answer to the HOA.

As far as the developments along the Westpark Toll Road goes, that is no mans land for the most part and that is where you could see some issues come up in the next few years. As far as guns point goes, they are making efforts to clean up the area and make it safer, but then again, if you throw enough money at any problem, you can fix it.

Property values are dictated by so many variables it is impossible to predict where and when they will stabalize, but I can tell you this, if you have a strong HOA and participate in the various programs they dictate upon us, you should be able to maintain a strong resale value into the future. GP is a good quiet community that has held its values for a very long time. As stated by Bman, that market sector was developed with executives in mind and has held up well, even with the addition of the "master planned" developments to the south and west.

Good luck in your search and I hope you chose the area and make it your new home.

Sure...that means it's not on the books to be funded for development, lol. Simon is having trouble much like the other retail developers.

That will be interesting to see happen. What I have heard is that they are putting in infrastructure (streets and utilities) to become shovel ready sites for when the economy comes back to life. IIRC, Lowe's is in a slow down mode, buy I could be wrong.

Maybe then the cyclists will have a better chance of survival? LOL.

The resident's of Pin Oak Village fought that year's ago. Given the current situation with congestion at the intersection at katy-flewellen it would not surprise me if the county decided to proceed anyway.

Nothing is being developed other than infrastructure, i.e. streets and utilities. They are preping the site for when the market returns they will have sites ready and available.

To be fair, there is not a newly developed apartment complex in the area that has been built without federal dollars attached. Thus any apartment complex (new) has to have "affordable" units available to the under privelaged. For the most part, the on site management does their best to screen the prospective tenants to insure their property does not turn into a blight on the community. The last time I checked the stats, the average unit in our area was renting for $1200 for a 2 bedroom unit. That tells me the budget for that same unit to a "section 8" tenant is around $900.00. And keep in mind that "section 8" just sets a threshold for the income levels, not the people attached to those income levels. There may be others that are more versed in this policy that can speak up. Don't look down your nose at those folks, because in light of the current economic situation, you could be next.

Here's the disclaimer: I was not directing that last statement at ANY ONE poster, just in general.

Couple of comments on that. Azz's only caries a beer and wine and is held under a different name. I have it somewhere, just not handy at this time.

Without doing more research, that list could indicate they did not pay for one month or for longer. Without really knowing the time frame being reported could make this a "rush to judgement" situation. I now for a fact that when I was doing some research, one month there would not be any reciepts reported by a certain tenant I was trying to locate, but then there was a double payment made on the next months reports. So, as I stated, they may only be one month in arears.

I and my wife tried this place a couple of times. Was not really overly impressed with the food and they could not make a bloody mary to save their life, lol. Very simple drink to master. I think given the current economic climate has taken down another "fun" place to hang out on the weekends. Plus, getting in and out of that place is like attempting suicide most times of the day. I hope someone is able to come in and re-fire the place.

Hey bman, funding is in place and has been in place, they were working on some other things before they proceeded with the unveiling that took place. Do you know what they are going to be asking for retail rents? I am digging around and will let you know if I find out.

You should feel that way. Anytime a business that at one point had at least two locations in operation with a third getting close to opening gets locked out of all three, that just screams SHADY to me. I think it is safe to assume he has not retired his debt to any of those locations as of yet and if he has not paid all his taxes to TABC, they will not grant a license move until all past due taxes are paid. You don't jack with TABC (State of Texas), they will find a way to get it out of you. If in fact he is trying to re-fire the concept, that would be the most logical place to try and do it so long as the equipment is in place. I imagine he will use the proceeds from this location to fund the concept on I-10 if he was smart. But then again, to lose so many locations at one time...well that's not smart. Good luck with him and as good as his food may or may not have been, I will not eat there because of the stated facts above. I don't want to fund anyone that may not be doing business on the up and up, there are too many other options for food in the area. You all can do what you will.

Why does that amaze anyone, not being an a-hole, but it is a sign of what was and what it is. What that indicates to me is those places of business were operating on very tight margins and most likely should not have been in business in the first place. Just because you have the right to own your own business does not make you a business person. Those business' that will last through this hic-up in the economy will prove themselves to be based on a solid business model that got them through this mess. Anything that is related to the housing industry are the first to take a hit, just look at Williams-Sonoma announcing job cuts today. Very strong model, but over expanded in an enviroment that was based upon very thin margins. No, this is only a sign to come even in our fair area I am affraid.

Exactly, lol. I can shave about 10 minutes of drive time by doing that technique, the trick is that you have to know and understand and watch the traffic patterns. Some days I don't utilize that and just stick to the outside lanes then switch over. For instance, the Park Ten exit/on ramps sometimes are good and sometimes not so much, I just play the odds, then I exit Hwy 6 and speed past everyone on the frontage road. Then hop back on before the light. I NEVER GET OFF FOR ELDRIDGE! But I do hug the inside lane, then after Dairy Ashford I switch over to the far inside lane and it's usually smooth sailing after that. Then of course getting onto the loop is a whole other ordeal, lol. I spend at least 10 minutes of my drive sitting through that nonsense. Take it for what it's worth, but it works for me. Try it sometime, but just don't get in my way, lol!

Truth be told, being that I do live in Katy and have for most of my life, I was for the widening of the Katy Fwy. It was needed and several years past due IMHO. I would have prefered that room be set aside for the later addition of some type of rail component. Chicago is a good example of a spread out populous that utilizes rail from suburbia into the city centers. If MTA had put together a tougher argument for the addition of a rail component, I think it would have made people feel warm and fuzzy, but because of the debacle with the Richmond portion of the University Line, the people said no. I also place a bit of blame on HCTRA in that regards. They were pushing so hard to be a part of the Katy Fwy and they new they had the purse strings to pull, they took advantage of that. Again, this is only my opinion and not representative of the masses. On a side, I would not utilize any form of mass transit because of the business that I am in, I need my vehicle on a spur of the moment basis, but if I was a desk jokey I would absolutely utilize the service. I guess it's only a pipe dream for now.

Interesting. But if you build a shopping center and have no tenants then you are out the cost of development and you are still out the carry cost of the land etc. But if I knew all the tricks I would be a high powered developer and not a desk monkey...

You're correct in that. Up until the recent past, that was the best possible scenario to follow for a commercial owner. That also is not the best course of action. The problem with the commercial real estate market is as follows but is not to be taken as a blanket statement. There are two trains of thought 1) Money has been historically cheap, so if there was a minor hick-up in the market, it was ok to build and wait for the tenants to come, not so any longer. The retailers are taking a beating right now, support them as much as you can. That's kind of the concept behind capitalism, lol. 2) This is the most painful scenario that has played out. G-ma and G-pa owned a large tract of land and sold off a portion of it for speculative single family development. Well all of a sudden, yesterday they couldn't spell developer and today they wake up and the dumb grandson/daughter says we need to make some money with this money, why don't we build a retail center. Do you see the pain? If you are not a savy enough commercial developer, don't try and play one on TV. They build the center and hire a new broker to lease it up that most likely has only been in the business for about two weeks and makes promises he knows he can't keep. The build it they will come attitude does not always work, but it does not always fail either. You have to have supportive rooftops to make them work. I have said this before and will repeat it again. Look at Kroger/Wal-Mart and watch where/how they develop their sites. They need X number of rooftops to support them, so it stands to reason that the mom and pop retailer will need pretty much the same number of rooftops with a good amount of disposable income to shop there. I know it's apples and oranges, but you get the idea. With Wal-Mart they like to be around 15 minutes apart from store to store. This grants them market dominance as well as keeps the supply chain close. Anyway, I hope I educated some on why they do and don't work all the time.

I don't know the first thing about real estate which is why I can't comprehend the reasoning of people that keep building these eyesore empty shopping centers if they see noone is wanting the exisiting ones.

A primary reason behind retail center development is the carry cost of the land. Most corner locations are too high priced for multi-family development so they are out or the size of the land may not be large enough to develop on. So, you have a piece of property and don't know what to do with it? Based upon the "highest and best use" scenario, it is to go with retail. You get the bang for the buck. You take a property that you are having to carry, i.e. pay taxes, insurance and a note to the bank. The only way to get it from being a liability to an asset is to put something on it. Thus the above scenario plays out. The owner can produce more income from a multi-tenant facility vs. a single user unless it's a CVS or other pharmacy.

Stop the whining...accept the fact that you sometimes have to pay to play. I agree the timing of the increase was a bit off, lol. But at the same time it was already discussed, implemented, then paused and now it's back on. Let it go, pay to play or do like most of the rest of us and sit in traffic on I-10. For the record, I office in the Galleria area and live near Katy Mills. It takes me on average 30 to 35 minutes to get there on I-10 after I drop my kiddo off at school. That puts me on the road at around 7:15 or 7:30. The traffic is not all that bad if you go with the ebb and flow, i.e. off the freeway and back on...it works. Move on!

I agree that the bikes have as much right to the road as a car as the law states, but I have a problem with the biker's placing themselves in harms way. Through analysis by the brains up at A & M that have studied traffic issues, it was proven that slower moving traffic causes more accidents based upon the posted speeds.

With that being said, I live in this area and travel the same stretches of road. I respect the bike people as they are enjoying that lifestyle. I worry about them from the stand point that as drivers, we are not typically faced with slower moving traffic and thus the reaction time we are used to with other cars is skewed when dealing with the cylclist if that makes any sense. You expect a certain reaction from another vehicle going at the same speed as you, thus your judgement is off when dealing the the bike as it's a smaller object going at a different speed. It's like comparing apples and oranges to a degree. I will say that I give not only the cyclist a wide berth, but I do the same for the guys riding motorcycles, again I base my opinion on objects smaller than a standard sized car.

Have fun and be safe.

59 Diner has pretty good food. We used to eat at the location all the time when it was down the road from our office. It was on the "at least twice a month" rotation, lol. Excited they are venturing west.

bc, I too question that decision. To be honest, I was surprised at the number of business' that were closed that day in both food and general retail. When you say you are a sports bar, you would think you would want to be open on heavy sports days to take advantage of the traffic those games would generate. The pitfall that some food establishments fall into are when you are leaking money you decide to close down on certain days to cut expenses when in fact that is the very reason you keep pushing through to let your customer base know that come rain or shine you are there to service their needs. Wild Wing Cafe was open right after Ike came through. Granted they were serving a very limited menu, but they were there and we were able to find a little place to escape to. Just does not make sense to me that any food operator would be closed down on those "special" days.

The wings place (now Stadia) and Lord Byron's. By refusal, I mean they were not able to meet their financial obligations, thus refusal of payment.

The reason for my response to this email was regarding the blog postings as well as the subsequent postings that the Marcel Group are the one's in default. I am not affiliated with Marcel, but I had been in negotiations with them to re-open the Lord Byron's concept and felt that in dealing with them they were on the up and up and very amicable and responsive to our requests. They had never gave me or my partnership group any ill feelings during the procedure and again, I believe their lack of project completion is just an sympton of the current economic climate. What most people fail to realize is that the crisis in the RE community didn't start in August, it had already started to show it's ugly side in the second quarter of 2008. At least in the commercial sector. Banks were able to lend for the purchase of the land, but were not doing a lot of construction loans for development of that land. With the CMBS being locked up it trully affects commercial real estate in a very hard way. There is a smaller pool of investors/developers playing on that field thus the shut down is more immediate and the impact is felt quickly. The residential tumble facilitated that action because the lendors floated these unsecuritized baloons that finally burst.

Really off the beaten path, IMO in order to stablize the current economic situation, we have to stablize the CMBS so that business' and developers can continue spending the money to develop projects that put people to work via the various trades. Houston has not felt the tumble nearly as badly as the rest of the US because we had learned our lessons of yore and worked on a closer absorption basis. Instead of the build it they will come, they developed based on market demand. When they saw the market demand dwindling, they started to scale back somewhat, in general. The key to watching this demand is to look for grocers and how long it takes them to place their product on the ground. Kroger is just now coming out off the GP down by Mason Road. Why? Rooftops, there are finally enough to support their store, plus the fact that WM is now out there pushed them to move forward with that project.

Just my $.02