HEB At 2710 Pearland Pkwy.

[Marksmu]

It amazes me given all the people & especially those who commented here on a topic I started over a year ago don't have anything to say about this. The piece that HEB bought is a prime corner. All these pro HEB were talking about the increased tax base & jobs that would be created. So here you go - Nothing! Nothing now & nothing in the near future - I guarantee it. If the City had not bowed down & rather would have stood up to HEB maybe they would not have bought the land & left the door open for other projects. Now - Not gonna happen with key piece not available - that whole tract is toast! No tax base / no jobs / no other retail for the sorely lacking east side - my as well keep on going to Friendswood.

Somebody please tell me I'm wrong.

It is EXTREMELY hard to build anything in Pearland. Pearland is trying to improve its image and in doing so has passed multitudes of ordinances and zoning requirements that they enforce just to get a building permit.

HEB may have gotten the zoning changed, but when they started laying out plans, Pearland may have started acting unreasonably....I have been through this myself. It took 19 months to get a building permit for our business in Pearland....We had to lease space because we needed to expand and Pearland was making it almost impossible. They attempted to strong arm un-related easements , road access, and water detention that were far in excess of our displacements in order to accommodate other businesses flooding and access problems

In the end the Pearland Economic Development Council are the only reason we got the expansion done...the city and its bureaucrats are attempting to extract far too many concessions from employers who are coming in to give the city taxes....I could give you details that would blow your mind, but as an active business in Pearland I prefer not to upset the powers that be....

For some good examples of the city stepping out of its boundaries look at the shopping center on 35 that has the big lots and the village pizza/seafood...that shopping center wanted to do a face lift so it would get better tenants...in order to do a facelift on the facade of the building they required them to rip out their entire parking lot, plant trees in the parking lot, change the lighting, and upgrade fire protection...The city got its new lighting and trees, and the owner of the center probably spent well over $1,500,000 to do a project that should have cost less than $1,000,000.

The city is difficult to deal with at times and HEB is probably just sticking to its guns on what it wants since it now owns the property and can hold the city hostage to a cow pasture.

[plumber2]

Niche, my displeasure is rooted against HEB because, of all the major retailers in Galveston, they are the ones that cut and run. Krogers, Randalls, Specs, Walgreens, CVS, Marshalls, Walmart, Big Lots all had minor flooding in their stores and came back rather quickly. Home Depot and Target did not get flood waters and were able to open right away. The city emergency managers allowed grocers in particular to return ahead of the general population so they could secure and survey their property and to make repairs. HEB choose this opportunity to gut their store and haul everthing off. (I didn't get that opportunity to return early). When I was allowed to return, I saw other retailers making quick repairs to reopen, except for my landlord, the anchor of the shopping center, was boarded up and gone.

Yes Niche, promises were made. When we signed our lease it was under the promise that HEB, owner and landord, had big plans to improve and enlarge their store. Not quite a Super HEB, but one of their newest, similar to Wharton or El Campo. This of course never happened. Their skitish behavior after the storm should have been a sign to me. That a business partner would renig on such a promise sticks in my crawl.

Our business recovered immedaiely, but HEB sold the property to the Mosbacher family, which then gifted it to a public charter school. (No local real estate agencies were allowed to participate in this sale). This school, although good for the community, is not a very good landlord (not their fault). We and Papa John's Pizza will probably relocate after our leases are up.

I stand by my comment to the original post that Pearland should not submit to any tax breaks, code variances or land use regulations. Make HEB obey and yes pay just like any other outside retailer. Just because they are from Texas does not mean that they are in anyway favorable business partners.

[TheNiche]

Niche, my displeasure is rooted against HEB because, of all the major retailers in Galveston, they are the ones that cut and run. Krogers, Randalls, Specs, Walgreens, CVS, Marshalls, Walmart, Big Lots all had minor flooding in their stores and came back rather quickly. Home Depot and Target did not get flood waters and were able to open right away. The city emergency managers allowed grocers in particular to return ahead of the general population so they could secure and survey their property and to make repairs. HEB choose this opportunity to gut their store and haul everthing off. (I didn't get that opportunity to return early). When I was allowed to return, I saw other retailers making quick repairs to reopen, except for my landlord, the anchor of the shopping center, was boarded up and gone.

Yes Niche, promises were made. When we signed our lease it was under the promise that HEB, owner and landord, had big plans to improve and enlarge their store. Not quite a Super HEB, but one of their newest, similar to Wharton or El Campo. This of course never happened. Their skitish behavior after the storm should have been a sign to me. That a business partner would renig on such a promise sticks in my crawl.

Our business recovered immedaiely, but HEB sold the property to the Mosbacher family, which then gifted it to a public charter school. (No local real estate agencies were allowed to participate in this sale). This school, although good for the community, is not a very good landlord (not their fault). We and Papa John's Pizza will probably relocate after our leases are up.

I stand by my comment to the original post that Pearland should not submit to any tax breaks, code variances or land use regulations. Make HEB obey and yes pay just like any other outside retailer. Just because they are from Texas does not mean that they are in anyway favorable business partners.

If HEB was the landlord and there was a breach of contract, then you should have sued them for damages. Why just roll over to them, and then whine on an internet forum?

[plumber2]

If HEB was the landlord and there was a breach of contract, then you should have sued them for damages. Why just roll over to them, and then whine on an internet forum?

There was no breach of contract. That's my point knucklehead. It was just a promise.

And I can whine on this forum because it's here! (and the moderators let me). Hopefully someone may learn a lesson by reading this and keep their eyes and ears open when making agreements with HEB, like the City of Pearland.

I guess in the Land of Niche, your recomendation would be for everyone to sign a contract, so they can sue later. I guess in hind sight that would have been good advice, but I didn't have that option.

Anybody got any Cheese?

[TheNiche]

There was no breach of contract. That's my point knucklehead. It was just a promise.

And I can whine on this forum because it's here! (and the moderators let me). Hopefully someone may learn a lesson by reading this and keep their eyes and ears open when making agreements with HEB, like the City of Pearland.

I guess in the Land of Niche, your recomendation would be for everyone to sign a contract, so they can sue later. I guess in hind sight that would have been good advice, but I didn't have that option.

Anybody got any Cheese?

The fact is, Galveston had a good bit of its population displaced and many of them never came back. You may say 'good riddance' to the ones that resettled in La Marque, and you may feel put off by the others. Whatever the case, the market for retail goods was diminished. Ike has also made a lot of people reconsider Galveston as a retirement option, hurting long-term growth projections. Insurance rates are high. The City's budget is affected, so property taxes are high. It was inevitable that they'd lose some primary retailers. I'm sorry that it had to be the one that you depended on.

In the land of TheNiche, I don't open any sort of a small business that requires a physical plant in a community that is wholly prone to windstorms and flooding. You might make an exception if it were the sort of business that runs counter-cyclical to such an event and it is on high ground, but even then...you may be tempted to own rather than lease because landlords in a disaster area can evict tenants with minimal notice or cause, but if you own the property then you have to understand that its market value may be adversely impacted in the long term by the effect of the storm on the community at large.

Also in the land of TheNiche, I won't lease space in an anchored shopping center that is owned by the anchor. I prefer that the anchor has good credit, is on a longer-term lease than my own lease, and that there are binding incentives for them to stick around. And if my business ends up being successful and I come up for lease renewal and these preconditions aren't met, then I'd list the business for sale and cash out to a less sophisticated operator that doesn't know what could hit them. TheNiche wouldn't lie to the buyer outright, only rely on them to fail at their due diligence.

Having paid dearly for his trusting nature over the last several years, TheNiche is extremely risk-averse. He knows that talk is cheap. And like yourself, he advocates that Pearland should be cautious in forging agreements with local businesses. That goes for all businesses, not just HEB. They definitely should not hire any former attorney of the City of Houston.

Anybody got any wine?

[Pearland Guy]

Just wanted to follow up on this. It's nearing the 2 year anniversary of HEB getting approved @ Pearland Pkwy & 518 with their plans to build a store asap & get in on their books for 2012 7 bringing all the jobs and tax base that all supporters were in favor of. Any news of their intent to build a store here?

 

It's begining to look like a long term hold which will slow down any future growth at that intersection without the hard corner available.

[IronTiger]

The H-E-B store in Galveston was a dated Pantry store. Suppose that (not that it makes any difference) H-E-B was losing money on the store, and felt that Ike was a good exit plan. If it wasn't doing poorly, they would've rebranded it as an H-E-B before 2008 and continued on.

 

Picture of mine taken in August 2008, just weeks before Ike.

[EatSleepMOD]

They are building it fast now. Sorry no pic, but noticed a great deal of progress over the last couple of weeks.