HCC IS PLANNING A STUDENT DORM BUILDING TOO, AT ALABAMA AND ALMEDA 
A report from Houston Community College says the commuter school is “in the early stages of planning” its own new dorm complex on the 6 acres of land it bought late last year at the northeast corner of Alabama and Almeda, just southeast of the system’s central campus. The only building currently on the site is the trashed but still brightly painted 107-year-old house at 1625 Alabama St. (pictured at top left) that most recently served as a temporary satellite space for DiverseWorks.
The dorms, which would include first-floor retail space and a parking garage, would be modeled after the Tobin Lofts at Alamo Colleges’ San Antonio College in San Antonio (bottom photo). They’d be built and leased out by a private company “until the business makes a predetermined return on its investment,” according to the report. “After approximately seven years, the complex would be given to HCC to own and manage from then on.” [The Chalkboard] Photos: HCC (top); Tobin Lofts (bottom)
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HCC has been spending a lot of money expanding lately. The HCC Southeast College bought up a block of houses in my nabe a few years back, then property across the street from it and I heard last week they’re buying another 5.5 acres across the street which happens to be a huge strip center right on the feeder of the 45 and Woodridge.
http://www.loopnet.com/Listing/15033880/6969-Gulf-Fwy-Houston-TX/
Not sure what their strategy is. They opened a campus in Qatar a few years back too. They seem to have a lot of taxpayer funds to play around with. I’m sure their staff is well paid too (cough,cough).
I guess passing that $425 million bond issue back in Nov. of 2012 means that HCC is swimming in money. Even though it was put on the ballot as the HCC board complained about falling state aid and the need to expand classrooms, within a week, we’ve seen them getting into the High School business down on Almeda Road, and now the dorm business for a Community College. Since I would think most students enrolled at HCC do so part time, I’m not sure I’m understanding why student housing is considered more of a priority than classroom space.
There was an intact one story wooden house on the site until about 2 weeks ago, when house movers whisked it off (who knows where). The last time I saw it, it was on one of those improvised house moving trailers, ready to tow.
I’d like to see the overall strategy for HCC. They are starting to compete with a lot of other stakeholders in the community for rare resources (land, student housing, magnet schools, tax dollars, et al).
Follow up – drove by this morning, and the one story is still sitting there on it’s little trailer. So technically, the house pictured is not the only building still on the site.
Not sure why a community college would need dorms…