- Houston First Selling Key Downtown Parcel Next to Convention Center Hotel Site [Prime Property]
- Apartments, Strip Centers Not What Dickinson Had in Mind for 45 Acres Off I-45, Hughes Rd. [Galveston County Daily News]
- Alabama Company Acquires Waterstone Apartments, Saying Nearby Exxon Campus Will Strengthen Market [Houston Business Journal]
- 4 League City Property Owners Given Preliminary Approval To Secede from Historic District [Galveston County Daily News]
- Blairs Selling ‘Legendary’ $5.4M Estate in Grogan’s Point [Woodlands Villager]
- $5M Bill Coats Bike Bridge Opens Up Hard-To-Reach Areas of Hermann Park Near Brays Bayou [Houston Chronicle]
- $12M Expansion of Fairmont Pkwy. Completed [abc13]
- Adult Novelty Store in Front of Tomball Walmart Has Agreement Not To Sell Items That Would ‘Offend Walmart Customers’ [abc13]
- Antiques Show Coming to GRB This Weekend [Culturemap]
Photo of Blair House, 205 Grogan’s Point Rd.: Woodlands Villager
“The agency that runs the city’s convention business is selling a prominent downtown parcel for what it hopes will become a retail and residential development.”
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Instead of “hoping” to get residential/retail development on the site, why not REQUIRE such development on the site via deed restrictions or other contractual agreements with the buyer?
This is how HISD screwed themselves on the sale of their old administration building. They sold to the highest bidder and “hoped” they would build something like the fancy mixed use rendering they were passing around. Instead we got a Costco and and LA Fitness.
When you consider that HISD pockets more than 50% of every tax dollar paid by the property, they might have made more money in the long run by GIVING AWAY their land to someone who would have developed it more intensely.
Bernard, have you seen that Costco’s parking lot on a weekend? HISD is making plenty in sales tax there.
Spoonman,
HISD is not making anything on sales tax, as HISD does not collect a sales tax.
Well, that’s embarrassing.
I went to the Blair House website to check this thing out.
It’s hideous inside!
Why is it that people who have the money to buy a house like this in the first place, have no clue as to what is tasteful in home decor?
If you do not pocess the skill yourself, and not everyone does, then please hire someone who knows what they are doing.
Please!
HISD makes money from property tax, which is governed by value. Costo doing a lot of business would suggest a high value would suggest a high (property) tax bill. So spoonman wasn’t that far off.
.
Sure a (fill in your favorite type) development would have been better, but why should someone in city government be the one to decide what goes there? Why trust them to come up with the market data on what “should” be there. While free people making decisions with their own money doesn’t always come up with the answer *I* would like, 9 times out of 10 I’ll take what someone putting their own money at risk with the hopes of filling a need and making a profit comes up with before I’ll take what the government decides to force on me.
I can’t believe no one has made a tacky classist comment about not selling items that would offend the customers of a Tomball Walmart.
HISD selling that land to Costco was a great decision, imo. Having a Costco 3 miles from my house is a dream come true and I will forever cherish it. :)