Texas Medical Center Restaurant And Bar Market

[sevfiv]

apparently the fire wasn't that huge, but MD Anderson faculty tower 1 was evacuated just in case.

there were a LOT of fire trucks heading that way, though

[sharpfan09]

I heard when the transformer at US 59 @ Kirby exploded. I was at school when I heard the explosions. All of us students were shoked to see black smoke climbing into the air. The electricity went out and we were all terrified. The school finally decided, two hours later, to release us. I took the adbantage and took a picture of it from Lamar High School from the third floor...

It was a shoking scene.

[woolie]

cool pic, sharpfan.

[Triton]

Did anyone see the commercial discussing the huge growth of the Texas Medical Center? They talked about the unprecedented growth and that the TMC is larger than El Paso, Fort Worth, and San Antonio combined (something like that). Anyway, it's supposed to talk about the TMC tomorrow at 10pm on Channel 2 (KPRC). It will discuss the benefits and the complaints people have about the growth of the fastest growing cityscape.

Edited January 4, 2008 by Triton

[lockmat]

Was it a commercial by Channel 2 for an upcoming story about that?

[musicman]

Was it a commercial by Channel 2 for an upcoming story about that?

Did anyone see the commercial....

[Lectro]

I think its going to be on Channel 11. I could have sworn I saw a commercial on 11.

[lockmat]

I was asking if it was produced BY Channel two for a story. It could have been produced by TMC.

[musicman]

I was asking if it was produced BY Channel two for a story. It could have been produced by TMC.

...most likely not if it is going to be on the ch2's 10pm news. they have their own producers.

[KimberlySayWhat]

I, too, think it's going to be on channel 11. I thought I saw a promo for it to air tonight. But now I can't remember which news I was watching last night.

[MidtownCoog]

I thought this was going to be on Ch 11 not Ch 2.

The "bigger than El Paso, Fort Worth, and San Antonio" was a rip off from the Chron.

But the Chron said the "The TMC was bigger than d/t Dallas and Ft. Worth combined".

With the Belo/DFW connection I assumed they didn't want to look too rinky dink in comparision.

[CyberCyco]

So this aired at 9.30p today on CBS KHOU...I missed it. Did anyone see it? They have an associated story on KHOU.COM website I linked below...No real new information, just seems to be an extension of what was put in the chronicle. I hope they post the video soon. Interestingly, it is under the section "special advertising" on the KHOU.COM website. Not completely sure why that is. The medical center just continues to amaze me.

http://www.khou.com/topstories/stories/kho...er.c38b266.html

[lockmat]

SA, El Paso and Fort Worth? Is that even saying much?

Edited January 5, 2008 by lockmat

[houstonsemipro]

All I can say is, WOW!

[ricco67]

I TIVO'ed the report and it gave basically the same information that we have on here. Nothing new except they mentioned how Devonshire is whining about being in the middle of the action.

[Triton]

Sorry about that everyone. I didn't realize it was KHOU. I only caught a glimpse of the commercial.

Anyway, did it mention any specific projects from the Texas Medical Centre or was it all broad and general about its expansion?

[lockmat]

Sorry about that everyone. I didn't realize it was KHOU. I only caught a glimpse of the commercial.

Anyway, did it mention any specific projects from the Texas Medical Centre or was it all broad and general about its expansion?

the link posted above has the video.

[house567]

I just loved the part from Dr. Sollenburger "how BCM is working with the neighborhoods".

NOT!!!

[Trae]

I really don't know why those in the residential neighborhoods would be complaining. It looks pretty dumb.

[moni]

Interesting show on the discovery health channel. It is set in Houston at the Methodist Hospital and follows doctors and patients in their quest for bariatric surgery. Always nice shots of Houston.

http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/big-medicine/about.html

[Porchman]

From the Chron: Dr. Feigin made city a major player in pediatric medicine

Dr. Ralph Feigin, who transformed Houston into one of the nation's premier centers of pediatric care, died Wednesday. He was 70.

A tireless advocate for children's health in Houston and worldwide, he grew Baylor College of Medicine pediatrics from a small, barely funded department into the nation's biggest and best funded, made Texas Children's Hospital one of the nation's elite children's hospitals and trained almost half of Harris County's current population of pediatricians.

Mrs. Porchman frequently commented on how remarkably energetic and very kind Dr. Feigin was. She loved his brown bag sessions when he was President at BCM.

[CoolBuddy06]

From the Chron: Dr. Feigin made city a major player in pediatric medicine

Dr. Ralph Feigin, who transformed Houston into one of the nation's premier centers of pediatric care, died Wednesday. He was 70.

A tireless advocate for children's health in Houston and worldwide, he grew Baylor College of Medicine pediatrics from a small, barely funded department into the nation's biggest and best funded, made Texas Children's Hospital one of the nation's elite children's hospitals and trained almost half of Harris County's current population of pediatricians.

Mrs. Porchman frequently commented on how remarkably energetic and very kind Dr. Feigin was. She loved his brown bag sessions when he was President at BCM.

This is so shocking. I do see Dr Feigin many times a week PICU at Texas Children's. He's such a pleasant man. When they began searching for a new Physician-in-Chief a few months back, I wonder why he's retiring when he still looks strong. Little did I know that he's battling cancer. Two months, two icons in medicine gone!

[PJB]

If a condo association near the medical center wanted to redevelop itself, is that feasible?

30 year old complex but the buildings are shot, not worth bringing up to speed. Owners love the location but understand the financial constraints. 8+ acres of land but could easily have 3X as many condos as currently exist. Is it at all feasible for the owners to work with a developer to level and rebuild with many more units?

[TexasVines]

probably not the best time to attempt something like this

you will need to work out the logistics of relocating those that currently live there....with the additional room this should not be as hard because you could build something new, reloacte, then demo for the old and build new.....but can you find a developer that will be "all in" for the existing residents living in new condos before they can start to build the ones they will profit from

you will need to work out who will own the underlying land.....will part of it go to the developer while they are developing the new units then those buyers will become a part of the existing association after completion or will the existing association keep control of the land while the new developer builds the new units

will the existing association wish to try and make any profit for themselves off of the new units.....will it be a true profit or the value of being in a new condo

most importantly is who will be stuck with what if things do not pan out....will the existing association have to buy up the unsold units at a preset price.....or will the developer be able to rent them out while they wait to sell them.....or will the association be stuck with half completed units when the developer walks away

can you get 100% of the residents behind it.....no matter what the bylaws say about majority rules and the asociation making decisions......do you really think EVERYONE will be on board and someone will not drag out the lawyers....muchless that someone will feel their new unit does not have the same views or the same "anything else" as their old unit and will want to drag out the lawyers

I do not see any reason it could not be done, but in this market and with the added complexities of current residents I feel it would be extremely diffucult to pull off

[TheNiche]

If a condo association near the medical center wanted to redevelop itself, is that feasible?

30 year old complex but the buildings are shot, not worth bringing up to speed. Owners love the location but understand the financial constraints. 8+ acres of land but could easily have 3X as many condos as currently exist. Is it at all feasible for the owners to work with a developer to level and rebuild with many more units?

The short answer is no. And I say this from the standpoint of a real estate developer and also as an owner of one of those condos.

1) Anybody trying to develop condos, pretty much anywhere, is considered a hack right now. Lenders and equity partners want nothing to do with you. They won't even look you straight in the face.

2) It isn't even really possible right now to get financing to redevelop as a different land use, such as apartments, and if it were, 8+ acres would yield too many units to do all in one phase, and the holding costs of the remaining land would be excessively high. Some of the condos could be managed as apartments until the second phase were to start, but the underlying land value wouldn't allow them to cash flow positively, and that's going to be a key criterion for the project.

3) The area that I'll bet that you're talking about does not have crappy demographics or much of a crime problem, but it also isn't exactly a A++ location. The area around the TMC is short of those, and the ones that there are have land that is valued for TMC institutional buyers. You need to be north of Old Spanish Trail to generate genuine interest from lenders and equity partners.

4) Getting a quorum at a condo association meeting is oftentimes tricky enough. You'd probably need to get some kind of a supermajority of owners to vote for the plan or possibly change your bylaws. But as word spreads that this was being put on the table, I guarantee you that you'll eventually get your quorum...only the people that turn out will be disproportionately those that don't understand what's going on and that are all freaked out and that don't trust anybody about what they're hearing. The folks that are for it...or even that understand it...won't be as emotionally driven, and therefore won't supply as much turnout. Nothing captures a vote quite like fear. Also, the condo association would need to hire a broker to coordinate the transaction. But I can't think of any (smart) broker that would take this on. Even if the seller could legitimately sell, the market right now is not supportive of buyers/developers. There's too much risk on both ends of the deal.

[editor]

With eight acres of land near the Medical Center, maybe you should approach TMC about buying you out. Institutions like that are about the only ones who are going to embark on major projects for a while.

[PJB]

Thanks for the input. We know this would be a HUGE project and not something that wouldn't happen soon so we're not concerned about the "current" economic issues and know that, if those don't improve, this isn't do-able.

We know our residents/owners pretty well. We think we might have a better chance at this than selling outright. There are probably more who would hold out because they're so attached to the general location (and tank that deal) than who would balk at a total redevelopment. The association and current members aren't looking to make a profit but to get into a new unit (that doesn't have the kind of original design defects common in the ones built 25-30 years ago).

We just started an ad hoc committee to look into this. Your comments will be very helpful. We know that the association would most certainly need to authorize someone to bind it rather than others having to deal with the typical (flaky) condo board/association process. If you have any more suggestions, comments, advice, we would certainly welcome them.

Niche, you "guessed" pretty good! We know about some of the issues you raised all too well but we've spent a long time educating around here and there's pretty much no good news for these older complexes: poor design, poor building, deferred maintenance, lousy condo management companies who give really poor advice to lay board members... = functionally obsolete. We may be crazy to look into this but it feels better than sitting by and watching the place decline. You are absolutely correct that a circus of paranoia is the fastest way to get quorum. Getting one to do business based on reality and facts is MUCH more difficult but we're getting better at it. Your accuracy makes me wonder which complex you're in but I won't ask.

[TheNiche]

Your accuracy makes me wonder which complex you're in but I won't ask.

Mine is on 12.4 acres, so it isn't the same one. But all of the condos back in there seem to have similar demographics and board politics. If you think it is confusing for neighbors to figure out how one another tick, imagine trying to figure out how to sell this area to prospective retailers. It's the just about the densest, poorest, best-educated neighborhood in Texas!

I put together a simple model earlier this year to figure out the break-even land price that it would take to compensate the average owner by the full market value of their unit and determined that any deal shy of $42 per square foot would not make money. There were commercial parcels advertised at list prices ranging from $40 to $110 per square foot along Almeda Rd., but it was unclear that those prices were achievable. If the land price could be gotten up to $50psf, then the average owner would pocket $16,200 from their sale (a 21% premium over market value as condos). But honestly, I think that it is going to be a little while before that is realistic.

In the mean time, you might investigate what is allowed per the bylaws with respect to total retrofitting and submetering of plumbing on the property. It'd definitely result in a cost savings on water bills and also fewer flood damage expenses.

[PJB]

Submetering would require a near complete replumbing of the property because the lines were run like an apartment, multiple drops to each unit that are shared by at least two and usually at least four units. We're looking at the retrofitting option now and have been for a couple of years. It isn't looking good. To do this, we'll have to raise fees so much that the property values will fall.

We'd have to get super approval for a special assessment (or change the bylaws, which are generally awful anyway) and I'm guessing about half of our owners couldn't pay one, even if it were in installments.

On those psf figures you quoted, are those land sf or condo sf?

Really appreciate your willingness to share info. We'll all feel better whatever decision we come to if it's based on facts. (We're one of the oldest complexes in the area. I suspect the others will be facing the same issues over the next 5-10 years if they don't start getting information and taking some corrective actions now but I'd also guess it's impossible to get their attention until there's some kind of implosion.)

Edited October 16, 2008 by PJB

[TheNiche]

Submetering would require a near complete replumbing of the property because the lines were run like an apartment, multiple drops to each unit that are shared by at least two and usually at least four units. We're looking at the retrofitting option now and have been for a couple of years. It isn't looking good. To do this, we'll have to raise fees so much that the property values will fall.

We'd have to get super approval for a special assessment (or change the bylaws, which are generally awful anyway) and I'm guessing about half of our owners couldn't pay one, even if it were in installments.

My understanding is that there are meters that can be installed directly on the pipes to track water usage, complete with RFID signals so that meter reading is easy and unintrusive. They don't come cheap, but then neither does a water bill where individuals have no incentive to repair leaks, replace bad toilet flappers, or to conserve water. Also, a water bill is less visible to the prospective buyer than are maintenance fees, so property values may increase irrespective of water conservation.

If all you did was to submeter, meet the TCEQ requirements about faucets, showerheads, and toilets, and then perhaps replace a few of the old gaskets, I'd be really surprised if it didn't make sense. You might even be able to find a company that would finance all or part of the upgrades based upon savings from reduced property-wide consumption.

On those psf figures you quoted, are those land sf or condo sf?

Land