kzseattle Posted March 3, 2005 Share Posted March 3, 2005 No one has mentioned it yet but in the business section of today's Chronicle, there is an article about a large chunk of prision land on Grand Parkway in Fort Bend County just west of Sugar Land that has been sold to a Dallas-based real estate firm. Slightly greater than 2000 acres, the land area is slightly bigger than Telfair sold to Newland properties earlier. It is likely that it is going to be another master-planned community. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzseattle Posted March 3, 2005 Author Share Posted March 3, 2005 No one has mentioned it yet but in the business section of today's Chronicle, there is an article about a large chunk of prision land on Grand Parkway in Fort Bend County just west of Sugar Land that has been sold to a Dallas-based real estate firm. Slightly greater than 2000 acres, the land area is slightly bigger than Telfair sold to Newland properties earlier. It is likely that it is going to be another master-planned community.<{POST_SNAPBACK}>Ok, here is the link:http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/3064173 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kzseattle Posted March 3, 2005 Author Share Posted March 3, 2005 Post the whole story so I don't have to register at the barnicle please. <{POST_SNAPBACK}> Here you go.... March 2, 2005, 11:36AM More former prison land sold in Fort Bend County By NANCY SARNOFF Copyright 2005 Houston Chronicle RESOURCES Graphic: Land Sold A Dallas real estate developer will pay a whopping price for more than 2,000 acres of Fort Bend County land that was once a prison farm. Paul Cheng of Dallas outbid his competitors by a wide margin on Tuesday when he agreed to pay $47 million for this far-off parcel that sits along the southwest segment of the Grand Parkway. Cheng's offer was more than 40 percent higher than the $32.8 million minimum asking price for the 2,046 acres, sold by the Texas General Land Office. That's about $23,000 an acre. "I doubt whether we've seen a property that big sell for that much an acre in Houston," said housing analyst Mike Inselmann of Metrostudy. The state received seven offers for the property that were "considerably less," said James Boudreau, an official in the agency's asset management division. Just west of Sugar Land Cheng, who couldn't be reached on Tuesday, runs a company in North Texas called Infomark. It's unclear what he plans to do his newest acquisition, but judging from his background, and the way Fort Bend has been developing, a housing project is likely. He is working on a large development in Fate, a town about 30 miles east of Dallas on Interstate 30 in Rockwall County. Construction hasn't begun, but the roughly 800-acre project, dubbed Williamsburg, is expected to contain 1,800 single-family homes, townhomes, civic venues and commercial development, according to Gerry Boren, Fate's city manager. Cheng is expected to close on the Fort Bend County land within 120 days. The property is just west of Sugar Land in an area that experts say sits squarely in the path of growth. "We're going to see a lot of residential development clustered along that corridor over the next 15 years," Inselmann said of the Grand Parkwayarea. While Cheng's bid was "awfully aggressive," Inselmann said, he is probably "wagering on continued appreciation of housing and land values in Houston." Other developers have also made huge bets on this fast-growing area. Last month, Newland Communities announced plans for 2,018 acres of old prison farm land on U.S. 59 at University Boulevard just south of Texas 6. The developer said it will create a master-planned community modeled after historic Savannah, Ga., called Telfair. It will have up to 4,500 homes when it's finished in 2011. Newland paid about $37.5 million for the land, which it also bought from the state of Texas. Cheng purchased the land through an entity called Bam Houston Real Estate Investment. According to records from the secretary of state's office, the partnership involves Dominic Polizzotto, an executive with Horseshoe Gaming Holding Corp. A call to Polizzotto was not returned Tuesday. The Las Vegas company owns two casino hotels in Louisiana and Mississippi, as well as a docked yacht casino serving Indiana. Gaming giant Harrah's Entertainment bought Horse-shoe Gaming for $1.45 billion in 2004, according to Hoover's. Once cotton, soybeans The state has been selling large properties in this Fort Bend area, where Texas prisoners once farmed cotton and soybeans. It purchased the land from the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, which a couple of years ago decided to consolidate its farming operations near Bryan-College Station. "Their land was a lot more valuable than prison farming," said Jim Suydam, a spokesman for the general land office. Indeed, the state paid about $16 million for the acreage being purchased by Cheng just a couple of years ago. "In terms of dollar amount, this is the biggest sale we've had," Boudreau said. The profits go to the Permanent School Land Fund, a $21 million investment fund that pays for the state's share of kindergarten through 12th grade education. The general land office still owns more than 2,000 acres in separate parcels nearby that it plans to sell in the future. Area officials are preparing for the projected growth. The Fort Bend Independent School District already has a high school under construction at Grand Parkway and Harlem Road. A middle school is also planned for the area near Grand Parkway and FM 1093, several miles to the north of the land sold Tuesday. Superintendent Betty Baitland said if the giant parcel is turned into neighborhoods, it will simply mean more growth for a district that has been expanding steadily for 30 years. "We always welcome new students warmly, even though sometimes we wonder how we are going to house them," Baitland said Tuesday. nancy.sarnoff@chron.com Chronicle reporter Eric Hanson contributed to this story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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