First American Bank Corporate Headquarters

[marc]

That's so odd: I mean the time it is taking to complete this. What is the story?

By the by, i haven't been in the B/CS area since 1999. What has been happening since then? Good things for the area or stagnation? I seems TX cities have been fairing well over the past few years. Have these twin cities benefitted as well?

Pix. anyone? My mother was an accountant for the Purchasing and Stores Dept. of TX A&M for twenty years before she passed away.....hence, i haven't returned to the area in ages.

thanks,

m.

[citykid09]

A lot is happening here! The old Ramada Inn on Texas Ave is becoming a huge mix use project, with shopping, housing, a hotel (Ramada), and I think offices. A new upscale 5 story upscale Best Western is going up in Bryan with retail around it. A new regional shopping center is under construction in Bryan, and Target is the first anchor in the first phase of the project. There is a lot more! If you haven't been here since 1999, you probably would not recognize Bryan/College Station, because so much as changed, and so much is changing.

[dazed2010]

Agree with the poster above. A lot is going on...both on campus and around town.

Traffic wise: the widening of Texas Avenue is getting close to completion, and Tx-dot is reworking the Rock Prairie Road Exit off Highway 6. I don't think Highway 40 was around...at least not in its present state, in 99...and development continues to march south.

Work will begin soon...I think 2009...on the George Bush Drive/Wellborn road intersection. If I remember correctly, TX-dot has come up with a very interesting design for how to do it...George Bush will be buried beneath the railroad tracks and traffic not turning on to George Bush off of Welborn will...I think...go strait without stopping on an elevated road. The trashy apartment complex on the corner will be mostly torn down, I believe, which is good news for the city aesthetically.

Two very large...and, most agree, very ugly, football/track practice facilities are nearly completed on Welborn road South of Kyle Field.

Downtown Bryan is a completely different place. Restoration began in full force I think in the early 2000s and I doubt it's ever looked better.

You should come and visit for a weekend...basketball games are half-priced in December and traffic is very light without students in town, so you could drive around and re-acquaint yourself with the town. Central park is nice this time of year and a drive through Santa's Wonderland is always fun. Also, the George Bush Library has just been reopened after an extensive renovation...so that's worth looking through. It'd be a nice relaxing way to spend a weekend.

[marc]

Agree with the poster above. A lot is going on...both on campus and around town.

Traffic wise: the widening of Texas Avenue is getting close to completion, and Tx-dot is reworking the Rock Prairie Road Exit off Highway 6. I don't think Highway 40 was around...at least not in its present state, in 99...and development continues to march south.

Work will begin soon...I think 2009...on the George Bush Drive/Wellborn road intersection. If I remember correctly, TX-dot has come up with a very interesting design for how to do it...George Bush will be buried beneath the railroad tracks and traffic not turning on to George Bush off of Welborn will...I think...go strait without stopping on an elevated road. The trashy apartment complex on the corner will be mostly torn down, I believe, which is good news for the city aesthetically.

Two very large...and, most agree, very ugly, football/track practice facilities are nearly completed on Welborn road South of Kyle Field.

Downtown Bryan is a completely different place. Restoration began in full force I think in the early 2000s and I doubt it's ever looked better.

You should come and visit for a weekend...basketball games are half-priced in December and traffic is very light without students in town, so you could drive around and re-acquaint yourself with the town. Central park is nice this time of year and a drive through Santa's Wonderland is always fun. Also, the George Bush Library has just been reopened after an extensive renovation...so that's worth looking through. It'd be a nice relaxing way to spend a weekend.

Thanks for the updates! I am in Houston for the holidays, so i think that on my trek to Austin i will stop by B/CS for a night. AND i did forget about the Santa's Wonderland that we used to drive through.

By the by, RENOVATING the Bush Library??????????? Wasn't it built just a few years ago? Did they add something to it? Here in LA, they expanded the Reagan Library to fit Air Force One and Marine One Helicopter. It is awesome!

What is B/CS current population? AND with Houston spreading like wildfire, are there commuters who either live or work in Houston and commute to B/CS?

m.

[CDeb]

AND with Houston spreading like wildfire, are there commuters who either live or work in Houston and commute to B/CS?

I know of a couple.

[dazed2010]

What is B/CS current population? AND with Houston spreading like wildfire, are there commuters who either live or work in Houston and commute to B/CS?

A few...though I think they'd have to be insane to do it, lol.

The population of Bryan is a little less than 70K, and the population of college station is about 83K.

By the by, RENOVATING the Bush Library??????????? Wasn't it built just a few years ago? Did they add something to it?

The library was opened in 1997....and this renovation had a lot to do with updating the technology. It's much more multimedia focused, from what I've been told.

Here's a little snippet from wikipedia:

On April 23, 2007, the permanent exhibit closed for complete renovation (though the temporary exhibit gallery remained open, hosting the popular "Traveling White House in Miniature" exhibit). Since it reopened on November 10, 2007, the permanent exhibit features (like many other presidential libraries), a replica of the Oval Office; unlike those presidential libraries, visitors will be able to fully enter the replica, sit behind the president's desk, and have a souvenir photo taken.

I hope you get a chance to make it through!

[keyser]

Well, after years of basically no progress (though there were some new concrete entrance signs put up recently), it seems the work is now officially stopping on this building. The building permits have now expired:

http://www.theeagle.com/local/b3-042708-STRICTLY

Now I really wonder what will be done with this hulking unfinished shell. There's been too much put into it (plus there would be additional cost) to just tear it down. It's too far along to do much else with it besides finish it. Yet, there are evidently fundamental problems that make it unlikely that finishing it is a financially practical option. My best guess is that it will now sit there indefinitely, slowly deteriorating for the next 20+ years. Does anyone know what generally happens to buildings in such a condition? I'm not sure I recall seeing too many buildings that end up like this.

Now that I think about it, though, I believe there might also be some similarly "permanently unfinished" office space (though less noticable than this 10 story building) that was put up on Briarcrest (near Villa Maria).

[Scotch]

The building that currently houses the Texas A&M University System Headquarters sat vacant, but was just a shell with no facade work, if I remember correctly.

Any bets that Adam will try and see if the A&M system needs a new HQ?

[Bryan Guy]

The building that currently houses the Texas A&M University System Headquarters sat vacant, but was just a shell with no facade work, if I remember correctly.

Any bets that Adam will try and see if the A&M system needs a new HQ?

You're right. The HQ building on Tarrow was nothing but a concrete shell for probably a decade before A&M bought it and completed it. There were several structures like that that began in the early 80's but were victims of the Texas bank crash of '84-87. Most sat vacant for quite some time. The St Michael's Academy building on South College was originally going to be an office park that sat incomplete for years. The Crystal Park Plaza building at Hwy 6 & Emerald Pkwy was never completed and it sat there with broken out panes of glass for close to 10 years up until the mid '90s.

Adam has already tried to get A&M to take his house as a living trust donation but they turned it down. I'm assuming that was so he didn't have to pay the $50K+ a year in property taxes on it.

I don't know Mr. Adam personally, but from what I do know, he doesn't like to lose. He will finish that building. There are some pending lawsuits between him and the 1 or 2 general contractors who were on the job before his own Madison Construction took it over recently. With his luck he'll probably get back all of the money he paid those companies and use it to complete the building. I just wish it'd be over with already. I drive by that thing everyday would really like to see it completed. It will be a great addition to B/CS when it finally is done....if I remember from the original groundbreaking news it was the largest building between Houston & Dallas to break ground in decades if not ever.

[Smitty]

You're right. The HQ building on Tarrow was nothing but a concrete shell for probably a decade before A&M bought it and completed it. There were several structures like that that began in the early 80's but were victims of the Texas bank crash of '84-87. Most sat vacant for quite some time. The St Michael's Academy building on South College was originally going to be an office park that sat incomplete for years. The Crystal Park Plaza building at Hwy 6 & Emerald Pkwy was never completed and it sat there with broken out panes of glass for close to 10 years up until the mid '90s.

Adam has already tried to get A&M to take his house as a living trust donation but they turned it down. I'm assuming that was so he didn't have to pay the $50K+ a year in property taxes on it.

I don't know Mr. Adam personally, but from what I do know, he doesn't like to lose. He will finish that building. There are some pending lawsuits between him and the 1 or 2 general contractors who were on the job before his own Madison Construction took it over recently. With his luck he'll probably get back all of the money he paid those companies and use it to complete the building. I just wish it'd be over with already. I drive by that thing everyday would really like to see it completed. It will be a great addition to B/CS when it finally is done....if I remember from the original groundbreaking news it was the largest building between Houston & Dallas to break ground in decades if not ever.

Don Adam's timing on the sale of his cable business was right before the internet boom. Had he waited 2-3 more years he would have gotten 10 times more. The timing of the sale of First American to Citi Group was ok.

His latest bank in Orlando American Momentum was not well timed. He came into the Florida market at the top of the housing bubble in late 2006.

Miramont is a huge drain and was a big mistake. That huge home he built was also a big mistake as their will never be a buyer in the future. A home like that in Highland Park would be ok.

He had a Gulfstream G5 and sold it. I know he still has a Lear45, thats a nice plane. I would have bought a Falcon 50 myself as it can fly coast to coast and to Europe.

I would have to guess ego is his biggest enemy. I know he is generous man and a Christian. That makes him ok in my book.

Should he ever need any business advise I would be more than happy to assist. Alternative energy is the future IMO.

[ChannelTwoNews]

Didn't realize that this was actually finished... and opened, albeit in late 2010

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/Bank_Moves_Into_Its_New_Recognizable_Tall_Home_111813204.html

[zaphod]

Yeah, I went by it one evening and there were cars in the parking lot and a few floors did have lights on. Part of the building is hollow though if the sun is behind it.

I don't know why tall buildings are so cursed in this town. I'd love for College Station to have more of a "skyline".

[IronTiger]

The old "Plaza Hotel" will be demolished or resurfaced as student apartments with commercial below. But the Lofts did poorly...

[EllenOlenska]

Now, I apologize, in advance. I'm a long time viewer, first time poster in this forum. I attended A&M for my undergrad and many of my friends are still there so, when visiting I decided I'd take a few snapshots of buildings in this section. To keep it fresh, you know. Next time, I'll get to the places at Northgate. Funnily, I had a friend who told me (what I took to be a tall tale) that the CIA had offices in the building (something I didn't very much believe) but I do not know who operates out of it, and a security guard comes around after you if you linger in the parking lot, as I did to take these pictures.

[EllenOlenska]