CBS Outdoor At 1600 Studemont St.

[H50]

Anyone have an idea what is being built on the South East corner of I-10 and Studewood. Right in from of the Studewood Eastbound off ramp of I-10?

It looks like a chain restaurant or something in the style of a TGI Fridays\Bennagins.

[heights_yankee]

i am not sure. i am guessing you mean in front of CBS Outdoor? i would doubt a chain restaurant since there is not enough parking. COH is crazy about parking for establishments like that...

[EMME]

Anyone have an idea what is being built on the South East corner of I-10 and Studewood. Right in from of the Studewood Eastbound off ramp of I-10?

It looks like a chain restaurant or something in the style of a TGI Fridays\Bennagins.

Whatever it is it looks like it has a driver through window.

[heights]

Whatever it is it looks like it has a driver through window.

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Probably another stupid bank. It's no wonder that banks are so bad off financially -- they keep building branches. The only need for a bank branch these days is to do something with a check. I've been advocating that checks should be outlawed in favor of electronic transfers -- no more waiting behind someone writing a check at Kroger. Oh yeah, and no more banks.

Edited May 2, 2009 by heights

[tmariar]

I figured it was just going to be a front office for CBS Outdoor. Here's what I think is the building permit:

Project No:06063219

Date :2008/11/18 00:00:00

USE :SITEWORK , NEW OFFICE BUILDING 1-1-2-B-

Owner/Occupant :*CBS OUTDOOR

Job Address :1600 STUDEMONT ST 77007

Valuation :$ 1,300,000

Permit Type :13FCC

Group :Office, Banks, & Professional Bldgs

Buyer :*CBS OUTDOOR

Address :1600 STUDEMONT ST 77007

Phone :(713) 797-0404

Assuming it's just a front office, I'm a little surprised that the billboard business in Houston is apparently thriving.

Edited May 2, 2009 by tmariar

[callisthenes]

Anyone have an idea what is being built on the South East corner of I-10 and Studewood. Right in from of the Studewood Eastbound off ramp of I-10?

It looks like a chain restaurant or something in the style of a TGI Fridays\Bennagins.

I don't know for sure what it will be, but the safe bet is on a bank. They are really building a lot of those around here lately.

[callisthenes]

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Probably another stupid bank. It's no wonder that banks are so bad off financially -- they keep building branches. The only need for a bank branch these days is to do something with a check. I've been advocating that checks should be outlawed in favor of electronic transfers -- no more waiting behind someone writing a check at Kroger. Oh yeah, and no more banks.

The banks are building branches because the census data and marketing demographics told them there was a low ratio of branches to potential customers.

A lot of people who live in our 'hood work on a cash-only basis, like Mexicans et al.; or they get paychecks they cash at the bank branch. I don't know how many do banking on line, but I bet that few do.

[woodheightsguy]

Someone on the woodland heights bulletin board went to CBS Outdoor to ask what was being built. They were told that CBS was building the structure for their own use.

[RedScare]

The banks are building branches because the census data and marketing demographics told them there was a low ratio of branches to potential customers.

A lot of people who live in our 'hood work on a cash-only basis, like Mexicans et al.; or they get paychecks they cash at the bank branch. I don't know how many do banking on line, but I bet that few do.

This is not the reason banks are (or were) building branches faster than Starbucks. The 1999 banking deregulation bill allowed banks to get into insurance and stock brokering. With two new revenue streams, banks went on a building spree to put branches on every corner, in order to sell their products to more people. The banks aren't looking for the $5 check cashing fee of our local manual laborers. They are looking to sell insurance and financial products to our McMansion dwellers.

[heights]

The banks are building branches because the census data and marketing demographics told them there was a low ratio of branches to potential customers.

A lot of people who live in our 'hood work on a cash-only basis, like Mexicans et al.; or they get paychecks they cash at the bank branch. I don't know how many do banking on line, but I bet that few do.

If the government were to outlaw checks, it would resolve the check cashing problem. The City of Houston has already stopped issuing payroll checks -- if you don't have direct deposit, you get some sort of debit card that accesses funds from an account they set up for you.

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And they could do their banking on-line at the library -- while they are there using the $9,500,000 SIM HOUSTON software package to do their resumes. (I remember how mad I was when Gabriel Vasquez voted to flush that money down the toilet.)

Edited May 4, 2009 by heights

[tmariar]

Someone on the woodland heights bulletin board went to CBS Outdoor to ask what was being built. They were told that CBS was building the structure for their own use.

That jives with the building permit info I found. Not very exciting for us, but good for them.

[callisthenes]

This is not the reason banks are (or were) building branches faster than Starbucks. The 1999 banking deregulation bill allowed banks to get into insurance and stock brokering. With two new revenue streams, banks went on a building spree to put branches on every corner, in order to sell their products to more people. The banks aren't looking for the $5 check cashing fee of our local manual laborers. They are looking to sell insurance and financial products to our McMansion dwellers.

You and I agree that the bank branch expansion is because banks were looking for new customers. I think most of the new banks in the Heights have been built within the last couple of years.

In my experience inside bank branches in the Heights area, the customers in the banks are mostly Latino, Mexican, what have you.

I was not specifically siting the check cashing business in my reply; I was trying to convey my impression of the banking habits of working-class and laborers in our neighborhood, which seems to involve more interpersonal transactions at with tellers at bank branches than direct deposit or on-line banking.