Sugar Land

Fort Bend County, Industrial Properties, Redevelopment, Sprawl, Sugar Land

4 Comments

Late Update, 12/16: The implosions are back on, scheduled for December 19th.

Update, 12/8 3:30 pm: FortBendNow is reporting that this weekend’s implosion has been canceled and will be rescheduled later.

Fort Bend County fans of large building implosions won’t have to drive all the way into Downtown Houston to watch the next big boom. It’s gonna be taking place right in the heart of Sugar Land, this weekend! Johnson Development Corp. will be knocking down an old furnace house and a bin building — 2 metal structures from the former Imperial Sugar Refinery — this Sunday morning at 7. The ongoing demolition project is necessary so the company — part of a public-private partnership with the Texas General Land Office and the City of Sugar Land, run by private equity firm Cherokee — can create a giant historic-themed development on the surrounding industrial acreage, celebrating the area’s rich history of refinement. The Imperial Sugar Company, no stranger to refinery explosions itself, shut down the plant in 2003.

77498, Demolitions, Fort Bend County, Implosions, Industrial Properties, Proposed Developments, Redevelopment, Sprawl, Sugar-Land

12/02/10 5:00pm

Will They Ever Get to Play the Houston Flood?

Critters, Fort Bend County, Quicklink, Real Estate Marketing, Sugar Land

10 Comments

WILL THEY EVER GET TO PLAY THE HOUSTON FLOOD? In a rare and surprising victory for regional realism, prospective fans have chosen to name Sugar Land’s new minor-league baseball team the Skeeters, the Atlantic League team’s management announced yesterday. Defeated at the baseball ballot box: also-rans the King Canes and Lizard Kings. Fans should be able to watch the Skeeters and swat mosquitoes from $8 seats in Sugar Land’s new strip-mall-inspired open-air stadium on the banks of Oyster Creek by the 2012 season. While one rendition of the new team’s logo pictures a mosquito piercing a baseball with its proboscis, an animated version (featured at the top left of every page on the team’s new website) depicts it angrily and repeatedly stabbing into Fort Bend County on a map of Texas. (See also less-charitable responses to the name from Around the Loop and Deadspin.) [Skeeters News; previously on Swamplot]

77498, Attractions, Fort Bend County, Hazards, Mosquitoes, Proposed Developments, Real Estate Marketing, Stadiums, Sugar-Land

11/23/10 2:40pm

Comment of the Day: Build It and They Will Drive Up

Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Strip Centers, Sugar Land

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COMMENT OF THE DAY: BUILD IT AND THEY WILL DRIVE UP “Why couldnâ€™t they just carve it out of a field of cornâ€¦?” [Mies, commenting on New Sugar Land Minor League Stadium Easily Assembled from Standardized Suburban Parts]

77498, Attractions, Proposed Developments, Stadiums, Strip Centers, Sugar-Land

11/22/10 7:52pm

Comment of the Day: Sugar Land Shopping Outings, Between Innings

Comments, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Quicklink, Shopping, Strip Centers, Sugar Land

4 Comments

COMMENT OF THE DAY: SUGAR LAND SHOPPING OUTINGS, BETWEEN INNINGS “Maybe this is a new suburban form of mixed use development. Who says you canâ€™t pick up your prescriptions, grab a venti latte and watch a ball game all at the same place?” [Matt, commenting on New Sugar Land Minor League Stadium Easily Assembled from Standardized Suburban Parts]

77498, Attractions, Comments, Houston Architects, Mixed Use, Proposed Developments, Shopping, Stadiums, Strip Centers, Sugar-Land

11/22/10 12:58pm

New Sugar Land Minor League Stadium Easily Assembled from Standardized Suburban Parts

Houston Architects, Proposed Developments, Strip Centers, Sugar Land

21 Comments

Building a baseball stadium can be a complicated job. But the latest drawings released by PGAL, the architecture firm that’s been doing design work for Sugar Land’s new minor league ballpark, make it look like the project’s designers are doing their best to break down the process into some easily understood components, which should make the task simpler to comprehend for whichever design-build contractor is selected. Can you build some bleachers? Great! How about a brickface strip center, or maybe one of those drive-up apartment complexes? Knew you could! Now just wrap it around the outside from 1st to 3rd base, and you’ve pretty much got it.

77498, Apartment Complexes, Attractions, Houston Architects, Proposed Developments, Stadiums, Strip Centers, Sugar-Land

Home Decor

08/26/10 12:16pm

Sweetwater Golf Course Confection: A Sugar Land Fairy Tale

Home Design, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Sugar Land, Sweetwater

12 Comments

Just what is it that gives this Sweetwater chateau that authentic French je ne sais quoi? Could it be the multipurpose wine room? The big-enough-for-giant-pancakes breakfast area? The Vince Young seal of approval? No telling if any actual chateaus were harmed in the making of this grand home, but that’s all likely ancient history anyway — this place dates from the last century!

Listed earlier this week for just under $3.5 million, this little cul-de-sac palace backs up to the grounds of the Sweetwater Country Club and packs in 4 full bedrooms and 3 full and 3 half baths — all in just 7,744 sq. ft. Many delights await you in this photo tour:

77479, Home Decor, Home Design, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Sugar-Land, Sweetwater, Theming

Home Design

08/13/10 12:47pm

Wright Style: A Long View in Sugar Creek

Homes for Sale, Sugar Creek, Sugar Land

25 Comments

This low-slung sorta Usonian-style home mounted between the Sugar Creek and Riverbend country clubs in Sugar Land was built in 1975 by and for Houston builder H.A. Lott, known for his work constructing the Astrodome, among many other local buildings. The home was designed by local Frank Lloyd Wright devotee Karl Kamrath of MacKie and Kamrath Architects. After a few recent updates of the granite countertop, mosaic tile, and vessel-sink variety, it went on the market last month — for $1,080,000.

77478, Home Design, Homes for Sale, MacKie and Kamrath, Modern Design, Open Houses, Sugar Creek, Sugar-Land

First Colony

07/30/10 9:55am

First Colony Mall’s Used-Car-Dealer Valet

Malls, Parking, Quicklink, Retail, Sugar Land

2 Comments

FIRST COLONY MALL’S USED-CAR-DEALER VALET Your keys, please? A local used-car dealership is the new sponsor of the “free” valet parking service at First Colony Mall in Sugar Land. Independent used-car giant Texas Direct Auto, which has its roots in eBay (and still sells most of its cars online), now has its blue and white umbrellas parked in front of the Cheesecake Factory and on the mall’s interior street near Kona Grill, with valets ready to take your car. The company’s main dealership is just 5 miles north of the mall, on the 59 feeder road. And yes, the company does take trade-ins. [Ultimate Fort Bend]

77478, First Colony, Malls, Parking, Retail, Sugar-Land

Development Restrictions

06/25/10 11:23am

Making the Title Insurance Pay

Development Strategies, Lawsuits, Quicklink, Retail, Sugar Land

12 Comments

MAKING THE TITLE INSURANCE PAY A Harris County district court has ordered Stewart Title Guaranty to pay $2.8 million to a Sugar Land developer after the title company failed to pay out on a title policy. Back in 2007, Ponderosa Land Development was hoping to build a Chase Bank branch at the corner of Settlers Way and Highway 6. AmeriPoint Title, the title company for the transaction, had obtained title insurance from Stewart Title to cover its work. But AmeriPoint’s title search failed to uncover a deed restriction on the property that specifically prohibited banks from being built on that site: “Stewart Title only offered to pay $200,000 of the $1.83 million title policy, arguing that the land was not worth that much. [Ponderosa’s James] Chang says the purchase price was dictated by the value of the property with the ground lease to JP Morgan and planned sale of the bank to an investor upon completion. Ponderosa is now free to sell the vacant property. Houston Suds has had a contract to buy the site for $953,000 since November 2008, but could not close the transaction and build a car wash until the legal matter was resolved.” [Houston Business Journal; previously on Swamplot]

77479, Banks, Car Washes, Developers, Development Restrictions, Development Strategies, Lawsuits, Sugar-Land

Quicklink

04/19/10 11:45am

Sugar Land Experiments with Flashing Yellow Arrows

Sugar Land, Traffic

10 Comments

SUGAR LAND EXPERIMENTS WITH FLASHING YELLOW ARROWS Coming soon: the greater Houston area’s first-ever flashing yellow arrow left-turn traffic lights, in 5 signals around the Sugar Land Business Park near West Airport Blvd. and Dairy Ashford! Will you know how to handle them? “The flashing yellow ‘instinctively implies caution,’ which is the preferred reaction when drivers make judgment calls about turning left into a gap in traffic, said city officials. . . . When approaching the intersection, a solid red arrow indicates a required stop â€“ left turning drivers must stop. Drivers must also stop at a solid yellow arrow. A flashing yellow arrow requires motorists to first yield to oncoming traffic and pedestrians before proceeding to turn left. A solid green arrow permits drivers to turn left while oncoming traffic stops. . . . ‘Weâ€™ve targeted these initial intersections as part of a phased approach intended to allow residents to become familiar with FYAs [flashing yellow arrows] before utilizing the lights in more densely travelled areas,’ said Assistant Public Works Director David Worley. ‘Our selection of the Business Park will give us the opportunity to refine the timing and ensure education of our motorists.’ Following a six-month study period, the FYAs will be considered for implementation along Eldridge Road, a major north-south corridor through Sugar Land. In addition, a policy will be developed that specifies a process for selection of future intersections.” [Fort Bend Now]

Sugar-Land, Traffic

Development Restrictions

04/16/10 11:17am

When All Those Corners Were Itching for Banks

Development Strategies, Lawsuits, Quicklink, Retail, Sugar Land

4 Comments

WHEN ALL THOSE CORNERS WERE ITCHING FOR BANKS Coming soon to a courthouse near you: Ponderosa Land Development Co. and the bank corner that got away: “Ponderosa bought nearly an acre in Sugar Land three years ago from Gateway Financial for a price of $1.8 million. The land at the corner of State Highway 6 and Settlers Way was purchased for development of a JP Morgan Chase Bank branch. Over the past five years, Ponderosa has built about 50 bank branches in Texas for Chase Bank. [Ponderosa’s James] Chang says Ponderosa had already secured a long-term ground lease with the bank, and an investor was lined up to buy the property once the building was complete. Shortly after the land acquisition closed in April 2007, Ponderosa demolished a gas station that was operating on the site to prepare for construction of the bank branch. In the process, Ponderosa learned that the Sugar Land site carries a deed restriction prohibiting construction of a financial institution. The alleged oversight on the part of AmeriPoint [Title] in conducting a title search put the brakes on development. ‘Missing the restriction was kind of an important miss,’ says Chang. Stewart Title wrote a title insurance policy based on AmeriPointâ€™s work. . . . Ponderosa filed suit in July 2008 to recover the $1.8 million land purchase price. The firm is also seeking $1.6 million for three years of lost profits. Ponderosa tried to collect on the firmâ€™s $1.8 million title insurance policy, but Chang says Stewart Title claims the diminished value of the land is $200,000.” [Houston Business Journal]

77479, Banks, Developers, Development Restrictions, Development Strategies, Lawsuits, Sugar-Land

Avalon

02/25/10 7:33pm

Neighborhood Guessing Game Over: Old River Side

Fort Bend County, Home Decor, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Sugar Land

7 Comments

Our winner in this week’s game was SeÃ±orbanity. Congratulations — you’re the newest member of the Rice Design Alliance — via a one-year individual membership donated by the organization. Thank you, RDA! We’ll also recognize a neighborly guess and award second place to Jayci.

Sweet! So where can you find this home?

77479, Avalon, Fort Bend County, Home Decor, Homes for Sale, Interiors, Neighborhood Guessing Game, Sugar-Land

Briargrove

12/07/09 9:05am

Openings and Closings: Lost Outpost of the Space Cowboys

CityCentre, Dearborn Place, Deer Park, Johnson Space Center, Lower Westheimer, Montrose, Nightlife, Openings and Closings, Restaurants, Retail, Sugar Land, Town and Country Village, Webster, West University

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A quick roundup:

Closing in January: NASA hangout the Outpost Tavern, an army barracks building turned spacesuit-and-bikini-festooned party site, down NASA Rd. 1 from the Johnson Space Center at 18113 Kings Lynn St. Memorialized in the appropriately named Clint Eastwood “one last time for the has-been astronauts” flick Space Cowboys, the bar and burger joint had to be partially rebuilt in early 2005 after a short in a neon sign caused a small fire. Second-generation owner Stephanie Foster reports the property has been sold to new owners who “plan to build something new on the site, perhaps a service station or shopping center.” Fans of the Outpost Tavern’s many good ol’ days will drown their sorrows on-site in a 3-day-long goodbye-party bash, January 8-10.
Closed, Just a Month After Opening: The new 7,000-sq.-ft. prototype Bailey Banks & Biddle store in CityCentre. The new owners of the former Zales mall mainstay declared bankruptcy in August, but went ahead with the store’s planned move from its old location across the street at Town & Country Village anyway. Other local Triple Bs didn’t get the grand-opening treatment before going dark: “The Galleria and Willowbrook Mall locations are in liquidation, while The Woodlands Mall store and the new CityCentre location are expected to go dark on Dec. 24 following liquidation sales, according to store employees.”
Open Only for One Last Big Sale: Brian Stringer Antiques, strung along West Alabama just east of Shepherd in a few separate buildings for the last 40 or so years. Stringer and his wife will retire to their turreted 14th century chateau — a former fortified hospital built by monks for victims of a mysterious skin disease — in the French countryside between Bordeaux and Gers. But lucky us, they’ll stick around Houston long enough to sell the majority of their stock of European antiques, reproductions, and fabrics at 40 percent off, Joni Webb reports: “The French house is so charming â€“ you really feel like youâ€™re in the South of France, except for Houstonâ€™s traffic out the front window!” When you’re done shopping there, Webb commands:

be sure to also stop in at Ginger Barberâ€™s Sitting Room which is next door. Further up the street is Tara Shaw and Heather Bowen Antiques. Continue up W. Alabama to Antiques and Interiors on Dunlavy, Boxwood and The Country Gentleman, then hit up Foxglove and Alcon Lighting.

If you havenâ€™t passed out from exhaustion yet, turn around and head back to Brian Stringerâ€™s and go the other way on W. Alabama. Stop at Jane Mooreâ€™s, then at Ferndale, go to Brown, Bill Gardner, Made in France, and Objects Lost and Found. Back on W. Alabama, continue on to Thompson and Hansen, The Gray Door, Chateau Domingue, Indulge on Saint Street, and 2620 on Joanel.

More openings and closings:

Houston Heights

09/02/09 5:05pm

The Path of Commuter Rail