Development East of Highway 6

[dazed2010]

I'm ignorant on the subject: does anybody know why the area east of Highway six is so underdeveloped relative to the area at the west?

It seems like development on Highway 30, especially, would have spilled over further east when the Post Oak Mall was built back in the 80s...

[keyser]

I'm ignorant on the subject: does anybody know why the area east of Highway six is so underdeveloped relative to the area at the west?

It seems like development on Highway 30, especially, would have spilled over further east when the Post Oak Mall was built back in the 80s...

I'm sure there are a lot of reasons and that I don't know several of them. One I was made aware of not too long ago has to do with the flood plain that exists to the East of Highway 6. In addition to limiting development within the floodplain itself, it would require additional infrastructure for utilities (esp. water, sewer) on the other side of the floodplain. This has evidently limited some of College Station's development of that area - College Station has not even annexed the areas that were agreed to be in its eventual annexation area.

Some other reasons I can think of include historical development and the fact that Texas A&M is very much on the West side of Highway 6. But, development is now beginning to expand more to the East, especially up in Bryan.

[Bryan Guy]

I'm ignorant on the subject: does anybody know why the area east of Highway six is so underdeveloped relative to the area at the west?

It seems like development on Highway 30, especially, would have spilled over further east when the Post Oak Mall was built back in the 80s...

I think you can answer that question with two reasons. One is that B-CS has traditionally grown on a north/south basis with the majority of that growth being to the south. Its been that way since A&M located south of the city of Bryan and its just kept going...much to the detriment of Bryan...and escalated seriously beginning in the mid 80's. If you look at a map of B-CS its definitely a long, slender dot on along Hwy 6. Hopefully, if Bryan's efforts pan out they can pull some of that growth to the east and west. The second reason for a lack of much development in the area just south of University and east of Hwy 6 is that a very large chunk of it, though in the city of College Station, is in the Bryan school district. The district's negative stigma with a lot of locals and developers has led to a lack of interest in that area. My personal feeling is that this trend is changing. I think Bryan's annexation of a strip running along Hwy 30 and other developments will eventually result in growth for the city.

[LocalAg07]

BISD seems to have gotten itself in a pickle with this attendance zoning issue... I attended Sam Rayburn M.S., and there is definitely a socioeconomic gap between it and Long/SFA. Although I understand Bryan's concerns for income/race/class distribution, I would hate to see development in East Bryan hindered because current & prospective residents move elsewhere to avoid living in a 'bad' school zone. It seems like no matter what they decide, BISD/City of Bryan would be 'robbing Peter to pay Paul,' so to speak.

[dazed2010]

Thanks for the info.

[Bryan Guy]

BISD seems to have gotten itself in a pickle with this attendance zoning issue... I attended Sam Rayburn M.S., and there is definitely a socioeconomic gap between it and Long/SFA. Although I understand Bryan's concerns for income/race/class distribution, I would hate to see development in East Bryan hindered because current & prospective residents move elsewhere to avoid living in a 'bad' school zone. It seems like no matter what they decide, BISD/City of Bryan would be 'robbing Peter to pay Paul,' so to speak.

I know. Whereas the high school attendance zones passed with smooth sailing the middle school situation appears ready to drag well into 2007. I see the concerns of parents living in Wheeler Ridge, Tiffany Park, Park Meadow, etc in that SFA (their proposed new middle school destination) has had pretty lackluster performance lately but I think they're looking at it from the current status quo. The new attendance zone for that school cuts the portion of NW Bryan that it pulled from before and pretty much takes its students from around downtown through central Bryan and east to Boonville. SFA might not resemble the current situation at all given that proposed zone. Rayburn is always going to have more growth given its location as the school farthest to the east in Bryan ISD...especially with the new high school location less than a mile away. I don't think the SFA proposed attendance zone will hamper development in east Bryan b/c the areas that the new zone are largely already developed. Most of the land that would be subject to new development is still in the Rayburn and/or Davilla zones. I just know I wouldn't want to be on the the committee that had to come up with these zones or the board that has to chose them.

[keyser]

I know. Whereas the high school attendance zones passed with smooth sailing the middle school situation appears ready to drag well into 2007. I see the concerns of parents living in Wheeler Ridge, Tiffany Park, Park Meadow, etc in that SFA (their proposed new middle school destination) has had pretty lackluster performance lately but I think they're looking at it from the current status quo.

Warning: I'm one of those people living in Tiffany Park, so I do have a vested interest, and I'm likely to just start venting here - I really don't mean to even disagree with your comment - it's just an opening to ramble on...

Looking at the status quo is true to an extent. But, what it comes down to, is that no one I have met around here sees any way that the proposed move is better for the kids in our neighborhood, and everyone I've talked to sees it as worse. I haven't even heard anyone who supports the new district claim that this is better for our kids. The arguments for it deal almost entirely with achieving more socioeconomic balance, and that this might be better for some of the other students in the district. On the other hand:

- You have all the students in this area currently going to a middle school that's pretty good - at least ranked acceptable. You're about to move these kids to a school that's been ranked academically unacceptable. True, it may change (and I'd expect it would), but I don't see how this helps our kids at all.

- It's clearly much more of a pain to get from this area to SFA than it would be to get to Rayburn - driving into downtown Bryan vs. going a little way up the Bypass. This is one of the most clear-cut issues. To be honest, I think a lot of people bring this up because it's something that can't be argued against, but I don't think it's the main reason people oppose the move.

- There was support for the school bonds in this area - I believe this was one of the stronger regions in support of the bonds (though I'm not certain). But, these were supposed to be to relieve overcrowding and repair schools, not to be an excuse to engineer some sort of social goal. We feel like we're being used as guinea pigs, just to cover up more fundamental problems in the other schools.

- If reducing overcrowding alone were the issue, the problem could be solved without moving students from an "academically acceptable" school to an "academically unacceptable" one. That's part of why you see no objection to the high school boundaries - it's not like anyone is being moved to a noticably worse situation. If Rayburn's where all the growth will be, then split it's current district and put half the people into Davilla (plus maybe pull a few from the North end that currently go to Jane Long). They could easily address just the overcrowding issue, though it might lead to socioeconomic imbalance.

- Most people moved here in large part because of the good schools. Bowen elementary was a big selling point for me, and we knew our kids would go to a "good" middle school. Living in this part of town (and I'd include Copperfield and some of these nearby areas), I could reasonably tell my College Station friends that the education (at least until High School, and arguably even then) was as good as they would get in the College Station schools. Working at A&M, I already see lots of bias against the Bryan schools in general. The property value differences between the two districts are clear. By making this move, it seems to me to be diluting the one "strong" area of Bryan.

- The redistricting feels like Bryan schools would be striving for "uniform mediocrity." I think most in this area would have preferred to see some sort of push to, say, make Rayburn a top-notch (e.g. at least "Recognized") school, rather than trying to blur things together to make everyone average.

- The other aspect that no one seems to bring up is that "socioeconomic level" of an area is determined in large part by the schools. Good school lead to higher property values, and thus higher socioeconomic level in the region. They might find that if they send kids from a higher socioeconomic area to worse schools, then after 10 years or so the "high socioeconomic area" isn't so high any more. And, as schools get reputations for being "good" or "bad", that's going to reinforce the socioeconomic levels in those areas.

- Lastly, this region isn't static. Many people in Bryan, particularly those in this region, could choose to move to College Station if we wanted - we're already some of the closest people to CS geographically. Much of the reasoning seems to treat Bryan in a vacuum - as if College Station, with its quite different "socioeconomic balance" and generally higher-quality schools weren't right next door. Even the folks wanting to balance socioeconomic status look only at Bryan - never mind the differential that would probably then be created between College Station's schools and Bryan's.

- For all these reasons, pretty much everyone here believes our property values will drop if this move is made. Even those without kids who would be affected oppose it.

I don't think the SFA proposed attendance zone will hamper development in east Bryan b/c the areas that the new zone are largely already developed.

I think you're probably right, as far as residential development goes - pretty much the only things in this region undeveloped are either floodplain or clearly commercial (Park Hudson, area near the bypass). But, I do think it will lower residential property values around here.

As a side note, I get kind of sick at these neighborhoods constantly being referred to in the Eagle articles as "affluent". Tiffany Park is certainly above average, but not what I'd usually think of as "affluent" - I think of places like Miramont and Traditions when I think "affluent". Maybe you would call Park Meadow "affluent", but Wheeler Ridge? And, compared to College Station neighborhoods, I think it's ridiculous to call any of the three affluent - there are many neighborhoods in College Station that are significantly more "affluent" than any of these.

[LocalAg07]

"As a side note, I get kind of sick at these neighborhoods constantly being referred to in the Eagle articles as "affluent". Tiffany Park is certainly above average, but not what I'd usually think of as "affluent" - I think of places like Miramont and Traditions when I think "affluent". Maybe you would call Park Meadow "affluent", but Wheeler Ridge?"

Hahaha, I thought the same thing. I think it's a lame attempt by the B/CS media to promote the haves vs. have-nots perception surrounding this issue...Traditions=Affluent. Wheeler Ridge=not so much. Nice try, B/CS Eagle... This adds to the sentiment that I think a few 'have-nots' have that these 'affluent' residents are elitist/snobs/subtle-racists who don't want their children exposed to those 'not like them.'

Although I am generally a proponent of socioeconomic balance, keyser brings up many good points as to why Bryan's current proposal is weak. I have not once heard the school board say that they are going to work to bring SFA/Long up to Rayburn's "standards" (although an 'acceptable' rating is hardly anything to rave about). Social experiments are not the answer; families that do not benefit from it are not going to "take one for the team," they're going to load up the U-Haul and perpetuate the imbalance by 'getting the heck outta Dodge.' Maybe BISD should view this as a fact of life in the school district, and pioneer new education initiatives that address the root issues. I recently read an article describing how school districts are now more segregated than ever, and this is AFTER a the Supreme Court declared this unconstitutional...my point is, people are going to find ways to avoid 'uniform mediocrity' and forced mandates, and choosing another option (College Station Schools), will make Bryan's bad situation even worse.

[Bryan Guy]

I agree with both of you, Keyser and Localag07. I'm a Copperfield homeowner and own property and work at my family's business in Park Hudson as well so, though I'm not a parent, I feel I have a vested interest in the area and Bryan as a whole. Trust me, I think busing kids from SE Bryan to central Bryan is ludicrous. Bryan should've learned that lesson already. I was one of the "fortunate" kids growing up in Bryan during the 80's and 90's. Though my parents owned a home in Copperfield I had to travel to Lamar for 5th, Carver for 6th and Anson Jones for 7th grade. Unlike my earlier elementary shools these campuses were nowhere near our home and posed a great transportation dilemma to my dad and mom who were struggling to build a business and teach at the time. My dad would drive me to school everyday that he could because the bus came at 7 a.m. and then in the afternoons I would ride the bus home and arrive there at about 5 p.m. Not to mention, the location of the latter two campuses forced me to travel into economically depressed areas daily and attend schools that were literally next door to the "projects". Families left Bryan in droves during that period and College Station began its surge in growth that hasn't stopped yet. That movement has left Bryan in the shape that its in now. Most of the affluent families, or those who could move, did and took the tax base with them. My family was one of them and Anson Jones was the last campus I attended in BISD. We moved to College Station and I attended a brand new school in growing part of College Station. I'm not saying that the kids that grow up in socially depressed areas deserve or ought to go to older schools in those neighborhoods. All kids deserve to go to a nice campus in a safe neighborhood. However, what family is going to move to a town where their kid has to travel miles everyday to attend school in a neighborhood that few people would choose to move to. Keyser is right to say that the school board is fooling themselves if they think more families won't move just across the city limits.

I guess I was just trying to see the brighter side of the proposal the board seems to be leaning towards because they seem to definitely be doing so. I agree that the board needs to come up with another proposal and/or redraw the proposed attendance zones. I do think that SFA would improve should this proposal be accepted but is that really the responsibility of parents and kids living in SE Bryan? Surely there's a better way to keep the numbers relatively close at 4 middle schools than this plan.

[LocalAg07]

BRYAN'S 5th TIF: East Bypass Development

"Bryan weighs fifth tax zone

By APRIL AVISON

Eagle Staff Writer

An Indiana developer is requesting Bryan's participation in a tax zone that would finance infrastructure for a retail center at the corner of Briarcrest Drive and Earl Rudder Freeway.

Officials with Lauth Property Group have not identified the retailers that will occupy the 60 acres available for development. The first phase of the project will include about 450,000 square feet of retail space, which could accommodate at least one big-box tenant, developers said Tuesday. A minor anchor and five smaller buildings also are planned for the first phase..

AT A GLANCE

Indiana-based Lauth Property Group will have a public hearing on its 282-acre tax increment reinvestment zone at a Bryan City Council meeting Jan. 23. The developer is planning a retail center at the corner of Briarcrest Drive and Earl Rudder Freeway. If the tax zone is approved by the City Council, a portion of property taxes collected in the area can pay for infrastructure surrounding the planned retail development.

Dan Barkes, a representative of Lauth Property Group, said he expects to announce the anchor stores "within the next few weeks."

The development will be constructed behind the Garlyn Shelton car dealership and next to the Brazos Center in an area referred to by city officials as Bryan's future business corridor.

"This project serves an area that the city of Bryan has identified as something that we need to go after," said David Storrie, Bryan's director of special projects, who processes TIF applications. "We need more retail in Bryan. Retail brings sales tax."

The tax zone, if approved by the City Council, would not divert sales tax from the city's general fund, Storrie said.

Lauth Property Group is under contract to buy 60 acres from Jack Lester and has an option to buy another adjacent 200 acres to the south if future phases of the development are desired. The proposed tax zone covers about 282 acres, including the Brazos Center.

Once the tax zone is in place, the city can use tax increment financing to fund construction within that zone. A portion of the property taxes collected after the zone is established is placed in a fund and used to repay the city's debt issued for projects in the area.

Projects such as Lauth's request are commonly referred to as TIFs.

According to preliminary estimates, the city will be asked to issue $6 million in debt, and pay for infrastructure improvements totaling $5.6 million. The money will go toward landscaping, concrete, paving, sewer and electrical work, among other items. A bridge may need to be built over a creek in the area, said Mike Gentry, an area attorney representing the Lauth Property Group.

The developer also is asking to use city funds to extend Wildflower Drive into a north-south corridor between F.M. 158 and University Drive, Gentry said.

"The value of a TIF in this case is the city and county's participation in infrastructure will significantly enhance transportation," he said. "There's significant value to the city in having a north-south thoroughfare from [F.M.] 158 all the way to University Drive. The TIF will enable the development of that property with the infrastructure in place."

According to a preliminary plan filed Dec. 12 with the city, the first phase of the proposed "Bryan Towne Center" is expected to add $46.7 million in assessed value by 2010. Each year as the value rises, more tax increment is collected to pay off the city's debt.

After 20 years, or once the debt is repaid, the TIF is dissolved and the property tax increment goes into the city's general fund.

If approved by the City Council, the Bryan Towne Center project will be the city's fifth tax increment finance zone. Similar zones are active in the Traditions golf and residential community and Park Hudson office park. Applications establishing TIF zones have recently been approved by the City Council for a zone near William Joel Bryan Parkway and Villa Maria Road, and in downtown Bryan.

Storrie said municipalities can have numerous TIF districts, as long as they feel confident that the property values will rise in the approved areas.

"The biggest risk to a city that has a bunch of TIFs is if they don't meet financial expectations," he said. "That puts the general fund at risk."

Lauth officials said Tuesday they expect to break ground on the development in June, and construction will take about a year to complete.

[LocalAg07]

From Lauth Property Group's Website (www.lauthproperty.com):

"Retail Real Estate Development and Retail Leasing with Lauth Retail

Since 1977, Lauth Retail has been committed to developing innovative retail centers. Each project is precisely tailored for your store and its customer, ensuring satisfaction and success.

Lauth has significant experience in all aspects of retail real estate acquisition, development, construction, management, ownership and disposition in everything from high-end lifestyle centers to grocery anchored neighborhood centers.

Feasibility and Planning

Site Selection and Acquisition

Development

Construction

Marketing and Leasing

Ownership and Financing

Asset and Property Management

We take pride in knowing that the biggest and best names in retail have chosen us to develop their locations.... among them, Target, Kohl's, The Home Depot, Kroger, Circuit City, Bath & Body Works, Dick's Sporting Goods, DSW, Pier 1 Imports, and Wild Oats."

[Bryan Guy]

We take pride in knowing that the biggest and best names in retail have chosen us to develop their locations.... among them, Target, Kohl's, The Home Depot, Kroger, Circuit City, Bath & Body Works, Dick's Sporting Goods, DSW, Pier 1 Imports, and Wild Oats."

Well I guess this takes the question out of who the "big box" development might be. I mean, we've theorized on this site and referenced info provided by friends, colleagues, etc but this pretty much knocks it out. Of the chains mentioned above which one would have any probablility of locating in Bryan: Target? Kohls has already announced they're going into the old Appletree at Culpupper Plaza and the rest are already represented in the local market or aren't real players in TX in general.

[dazed2010]

I've heard that both Target and Old Navy are moving from Texas Avenue to this new location. I'm not sure true that is

[rcj0618]

I've heard that both Target and Old Navy are moving from Texas Avenue to this new location. I'm not sure true that is

I've heard they are not moving, but adding additional locations. The College Station stores will stay where they are.

[LocalAg07]

Target to lead Bryan center

By APRIL AVISON

Eagle Staff Writer

Developers planning an upscale regional retail center at the southeast corner of Briarcrest Drive and Earl Rudder Freeway announced Tuesday that Target wants to be the first major tenant.

The announcement was made during a Bryan City Council workshop meeting Tuesday afternoon. Officials with Indiana-based Lauth Property Group said they are continuing to work with retailers, restaurants and junior anchors to complement Target, which, at 126,800 square feet, would serve as the development's centerpiece.

"If they're doing business in Texas, we're talking to them," said Bob Oliva, Lauth's vice president.

Target is the first to announce its plans to establish a store in the 60-acre Bryan Towne Center development behind the Garlyn Shelton auto dealership. Preliminary plans show at least two restaurants, three junior anchors and more than a dozen smaller retail stores could open on the site.

The development, which will open in July 2008, is expected to add $46.7 million in assessed value to Bryan's tax rolls by 2010.

[kurian]

There is a large floodplain just east of highway six that would prevent much developement. However, there is developement over near Briarcrest and Boonville Road.

[citykid09]

There is a large floodplain just east of highway six that would prevent much development. However, there is development over near Briarcrest and Boonville Road.

The developers of the movie theater site said that there would be about 3 restaurants in front of the theater what happened to that? Now they have a sign out there asking restaurants to locate there.

[Bryan Guy]

The developers of the movie theater site said that there would be about 3 restaurants in front of the theater what happened to that? Now they have a sign out there asking restaurants to locate there.

The city of Bryan has already issued the following building permit:

29-Jan, 06-1976, 940 North Earl Rudder Frwy, Cotton Patch Caf

[keyser]

You've already got Bryan Town Centre in the works and there are two large neighborhoods (Riverstone & Gartenheim) in the works for FM 1179.

This is the first I've heard of these neighborhoods. I found a plat for Riverstone, but nothing about Gartenheim. Do you know if there is any information out there about these?

[bcnet]

This is the first I've heard of these neighborhoods. I found a plat for Riverstone, but nothing about Gartenheim. Do you know if there is any information out there about these?

Here is a link with a little info on Gartenheim. 55+ age limited developement.

Gartenheim Ranch

[Scotch]

Gartenheim Ranch info on previous thread.