bachanon

what a strange coincidence. i went to the car show and had tapioca too(at the shepherd teahouse location). my nephew and i had chai cream tapioca. funny.

i've wondered the same thing. the waterway village townhomes are on "riva row", streetside. the proposed riva row lofts/midrise was to be on the waterway. there is currently no sign up and i've read no local news concerning it's status.

Cirque Du Soleil's Varekai Houston Auto Show Angelika Theater berryhill tamales Zimm's The Woodlands Town Center get out, and have a nice weekend

i believe there is a construction fence up around the site now. i've heard that they have scaled down the original plans. the rendering published when it was announced some years back was quite impressive.

i think that corporations determining to focus operations in closer proximity to high density, mixed-use environments is good news for everyone. there will be new companies move to houston (or expanding local corporations) who are too large to be based in places like the woodlands or sugarland and the figures of this last year may turn out to be an anomaly.

Woodlands 2004 Commercial Activity At Record Levels Accounts For 34% of the Total Positive Absorption in Houston by The Woodlands Operating Company The Woodlands had 528,098 rentable square feet (rsf) of positive office absorption for Class A, B and C office buildings in the year 2004, according to Dan B. Leverett, vice president of commercial for The Woodlands Development Company. This accounts for 34% of the total positive absorption Houston city-wide of 1,565,898 rsf, according to the year-end CoStar Office Report for the Houston Office Market.

Waterway Marriott Receives First AAA Four Diamond Rating The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center, which opened just over two years ago, has received its first AAA Four Diamond rating. The hotel is the only new addition to the list of Houston-area AAA Four Diamond hotels, which also includes The Houstonian Hotel, Club and Spa; The Westin Galleria Houston; The Westin Oaks Houston; and the Renaissance Houston Hotel Greenway Plaza. The Woodlands Waterway Marriott Hotel & Convention Center's rating, officially announced today by AAA, will appear in the hotel's listing in the 2005 AAA Texas TourBook

Construction to Begin on Town Green Park by The Woodlands Operating Company Officials with the Town Center Improvement District (TCID) and The Woodlands Development Company (TWDC) recently signed an agreement to begin construction of Town Green Park, the seven-acre

TWOC Changing Its Name To Reflect New Focus by The Woodlands Operating Company The Woodlands Operating Company, L.P., developer of The Woodlands, Texas, is changing its name to The Woodlands Development Company and adopting a new logo, according to Thomas J. D

that's great! that means that two tapioca tea businesses are opening downtown. SWEET!

actually, it takes about 35 minutes to get downtown via the hardy toll road. of course, i never drive downtown during rush hour.

wow, i new he was older. i guess i thought he'd live forever. he made an extraordinary impact on design in houston. i'm truly sad to see him gone.

kudos to sugarland. these new "downtowns" will take cars off of the freeways. for instance, why live in sugarland and come to the galleria to shop when you have high-end retailers closer to these new concentrations of wealth and residences. consider the woodlands' residents who used to travel to the galleria area several times a month who now go there less because of the stores opening in the woodlands. there were some surveys done (pre-market street) of woodlands area shoppers. they found that more than 80% were shopping in houston at least twice a month. more than 95% said they would not drive in to houston if the same stores were here. several of the stores listed as favorites are now here: urban outfitters, cheesecake factory, william sonoma, pottery barn, sur la table, storehouse, smith & hawkin, etc. unfortunately, i could not find the survey to provide a link. i believe it was linked through the market street website or town center. Woodlands Town Center this is good for the environment and may eventually provide the format for less intracity travel. think "outlying urban villages" that will eventually be connected to the central city by commuter rail. in my perfect world, the vast acreage that would begin to be available between these centers of activity could be returned to natural habitats, farms, etc. ok, coming back to earth now.

i know some of you get tired of me tooting the woodlands' horn. however, if planned appropriately, neighborhoods with mixed incomes can live in harmony. here in grogan's mill there are 100K dollar homes on the same street as 275K dollar homes across the golf course from million dollar homes with 65K dollar townhomes around the block and section 8 housing near the local elementary and intermediate schools, all connected by hike and bike trails. everyone shops, learns, works and plays together. most of the time you have no idea who lives where or what their living situation is. it's the large concentration of lower income housing, coupled with bad management/maintenance of infrastructure that becomes the problem. an environment with mixed incomes eliminates many of these issues. what occurs is better amenities for everyone, better culture, better understanding.

From the January 24, 2005 print edition Shared resources puts new spin on development Christine Hall Houston Business Journal In private real estate deals, the developer puts up the money to get the construction ball rolling. For public projects, the financing comes through government sources. But for projects on a grander scale, the huge undertaking may be more than private developers or a public entity can handle. In these instances, the two groups come together to form a public-private partnership. A public-private partnership is a contractual agreement between a public agency (federal, state or local) and a for-profit corporation, according to the National Council for Public-Private Partnerships. Through this agreement, the skills and assets of each sector are shared in delivering a service or facility for the use of the general public. In addition to the sharing of resources, each party shares in the risks and rewards potential in the delivery of the service and/or facility. Some of Houston's most successful developments have been the product of visionary and gutsy entrepreneurs who have managed to leave their mark on the city's commercial real estate landscape without public financing. Examples include the Galleria, Highland Village (see story on page 6B) and the Boardwalk in Kemah. However, in addition to the developments created with minimal government help, Houston has many successful examples of developments created through public-private partnerships, including Minute Maid Park, the MetroRail and the Main Street Project. Nevertheless, larger cities are laggards when it comes to public-private partnerships, according to Terry Montesi, principal and CEO of Fort Worth-based Trademark Property Co. "Cities like Dallas and Houston are often the last to adopt creative public-private partnerships," he says. "Smaller cities are usually the first adopters, and that may end up costing Houston." Hoping to change that perspective, Trademark collaborated with The Woodlands' Town Center Improvement District to get the Market Street project under way. The 34-acre Market Street features a Main Street-styled shopping and entertainment center with high-end retailers, public art projects and a Central Park, complete with a live performance stage. Baltimore. Md.-based Development Design Group Inc. is the architecture firm, while Gensler is handling the office design. Main street style "There's no question that the number of tenants that are here wouldn't have been here if Market Street was built conventionally," Montesi says. "There are a number of tenants who report having their top units in the country right here." The partnership has enabled Market Street to put in place several different options for maximum usage. Instead of using property taxes to pay the developer back, the Town Center Improvement District will use sales tax dollars. "We estimate $1 million a year extra sales tax for the state of Texas." says Frank Robinson, president of the TCID. They also developed Central Park which can be used for leisure activities, a Wi-Fi hot spot and as an entertainment center. The fountain, after turned off, can be utilized as a stage. "With all of this, Market Street becomes a destination," Robert Kinnear, TCID's chairman. "Everyone I have talked to says Market Street adds so much to The Woodlands." Kinnear also estimates that Market Street will create between 1,200 and 1,500 jobs over the next year. The partnership has allowed for the approximately $1 million worth of public art to be displayed throughout the project. "The projects are very expensive when you factor in the parking garages and public art," Montesi says. "But the details are what makes the project different." The project also spawned others, including Town Green Park, adjacent to Market Street, that will be used by the general public. Market Street does not stop there. The partnership garnered an opportunity for Market Street to help nonprofit organizations. In addition to using parking meter money for its Change for Charities program, Market Street also gave money and space to The Woodlands Children's Museum. Putting together a public-private partnership is challenging, says Robinson. "A lot has to be decided on between the entities, and you have to understand the limits," he says. "Once you have that education and experience, you know what to do for the next time." Outside the big box Although larger cities such as Houston may be late adopters of the public-private concept, other experts say competition is what gets companies involved. "It's the competitive nature that drives demand for the public-private partnership," says Sue Darcy, a principal with Knudson and Associates, which provides Texas urban planning, economic development services and landscape architecture. "When real estate took a downturn in Houston, companies needed a creative way to attract developers." Public-private partnerships are by no way a new concept, but now that it is more accessible as a tool, cities are realizing the potential, says Patti Knudson Joiner, also a principal with Knudson and Associates. As far back as the 1970s, cities around Houston, such as Sugar Land and League City, have been using partnerships to garner new development. "Sugar Land has been using tax abatement for office buildings for the past 25 years," Joiner says. "League City, although it has stayed relatively the same size, partnerships drove how they turned out geographic land use." Darcy says Sugar Land used the same economic development tools to develop its Town Center, which combines retail, office, hospitality and public entities. A focus on more green-oriented communities has also affected development, Joiner says. "The appearance of the community creates an environment that has high quality development, landscaping and the whole package," she says. Both women say that cities should use public-private partnerships to end up with something better. "A community shouldn't just be offering incentives without a market," Joiner says. "Incentives tend to make it faster, but there is a whole argument that if Tax Increment Reinvestment Zones (TIRZ) continue, some of the projects would have happened anyway." Hot, hot, hot Public-private partnerships is a sizzling market, according to John Stainback, managing partner of Stainback Public/Private Real Estate. He estimates it to be a $50 billion to $75 billion market which includes sports arenas, convention center hotels, city halls and other commercial development. Stainback helps the public side of the partnership from the pre-development stage through the construction process. Recently bringing his company to Houston, Stainback is working with the City of Winter Park, Fla. to build a $30 million City Hall/Retail/Garage project, and has started a mixed-use development in Chapel Hill, N.C. He has written a book called "Public/Private Finance and Development: Methodology, deal structuring and developer solicitation," that is in its third edition. "My belief is that most projects can't be done by either the public or private entity alone," he says. "There are so many complex requirements that they can't do it separately, which has caused my business to explode." Stainback says that Houston has a long track record of the private sector driving business. However, he adds, there could be more. The partnerships generate taxes and jobs, and in fact, Stainback often works with private-private partnerships. "You can get other government entities to team up with major government entities for the sharing of costs and risks," he says. Houston's future For a region that proposes to double in population over the next 20 years, Joiner has some words of advice. She suggests that public policy, whether or not it concerns a TIRZ, should be employed to try to influence a land use pattern, so people will choose to build in Houston. "There is a capacity to make things happen," she adds. "The city can create an environment where the new population is inside the city limits, rather than in a suburb." In addition, Joiner says that 80 percent of all single-family homes are built outside the city limits every year, with the region breaking records in terms of 42,000 home starts in 2004. She says this prompts developers to question if less than 20 percent of homes are building inside Houston every year over the next 20 years, what will the region look like then? "People will continue to drive 30, 40, 50 miles for their daily commute, or they can live where there is already things like water, sewer and police serving the area," she says. "If not, will we continue to push development out?" Although land inside the city limits may be more expensive, there is still land available, Joiner says. The objective is to find an efficient way to market that land for use. "What people need to do is to be efficient about the fact there is land and use the right tools to have a positive partnership." chall@bizjournals.com

i'm glad you asked that question 27. it's a tea and tapioca bar/cafe concept that is uber cool. their other location on shepherd and westheimer is a wi-fi hotspot. they are great people. it has about the same price points as starbucks.

welcome to the forum jonah. one item to consider: downtown and midtown did not have all of the infrastructure improvements 8 years ago. there were no stadiums, no light rail, no cotswald project, etc. over 2 billion dollars have been spent preparing downtown for an urban renewal. there is a real buzz, actually, a freight train (IMHO) of interest in the revitalization of downtown/midtown houston.

peggy noonan, former reagan and bush 1 speechwriter, has a great commentary on the speech at the wall street journal. LINK i like president bush; however, i think she's on to something. personally, the speech left me a little tired. it was a little too something...... pres bush is a plain spoken man and this speech was anything but.

ouch! i think our issues are a little different. the original statement was concerning home styles. builders build what people will buy. i have to agree with your statements, pineda. builders should be held to the same standard as realtors. however, even with the laws in place for realtors, non-disclosure is commonplace.

seeing as they are using existing board members, i can only assume that they didn't need or want to pay for a full time lobbyist. maybe the make up of the texas state legislature has changed in a way that they feel the need to keep an eye on things. it will be interesting to see what unfolds.

i think the woodlands high school holds under 2000 kids. maybe it's a new standard. i hope so.

remember the 70s? new neighborhoods, on the north side anyway, had a "tudor" selection, a contemporary model, a plantation home, the traditional. yeah, there would be one contemporary to 100 of everything else, but at least it looks more interesting (IMHO) than these red brick, two tree neighborhoods. i place the blame on the people buying these things.

price tower is great fun.....if i may say so. thanks for the entry. i look forward to more posts like this one.

yet another blight on our dear city's skyline. the original renderings were better. it aches to see this waste in the same frame as philip johnson's buildings on post oak. an utter travesty. ughhhh!

welcome to the forum Sooner&RiceGrad.