November 2007

News

11/13/2007

Caldwell Companies weaves a sense of community into development projects

Fred Caldwell, president of Caldwell Companies, said his company strives to go beyond the bricks and mortar to include spirit in each commercial and residential development project the company undertakes.

“We have a vision – we want to build a sense of community in to everything we do,” Caldwell said to Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce members at the General Membership Luncheon on November 13. “If we help make the fabric of our community stronger, it will be a better place to live,” he added.

Caldwell described two flagship development projects the company has recently launched in the Cy-Fair area: The Towne Lake master-planned community off Highway 290 and the Remington Square office complex off Beltway 8.

Towne Lake

This week Caldwell Companies celebrated the soft grand opening of the first phase of the 2,400-acre Towne Lake community near the corner of Barker-Cypress and West roads. The community is purposely located near Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District ’s Richard E. Berry Educational Support Center and the newly-renamed Lone Star College District’s Cy-Fair campus.

Caldwell said the focal point and backbone of Towne Lake is a 300-acre, interconnected lake system. These waterways will provide recreational opportunities and will serve as an avenue for residents to travel around the community.

“Our lake will be the fourth-largest in the Houston area,” Caldwell said. “We are moving dirt now. It will be the centerpiece of the community and is designed to connect people.”

The community was originally planned to encompass the first 400 acres Caldwell Companies purchased in the area in 2004 until an opportunity came along to purchase the adjacent 2,000 acres.

David Weekley and David Powers are building homes in Towne Lake ’s neighborhoods, and Lennar's Village Lifestyle Communities and K. Hovnanian's Four Seasons are developing an active adult community.

The master plan includes the construction of about 3,000 homes – townhomes to large homes on half-acre lots - ranging in price from about $180,000 - $2 million in the next 10-15 years.

In addition to water-front attractions, there will be hike-and-bike trails, fitness and community centers and parks spread throughout Towne Lake .

About 15 percent of the overall development would be a mixture of retail, office, church and medical facilities. One-hundred-and-ten acres near Highway 290 is being planned for a future suburban employment center.

Caldwell said the development has a historical theme and will honor great moments and people in Texas history.

Remington Square

Caldwell said his company is clearing a site off Beltway 8 between West and Fallbrook for Cy-Fair’s first “Class A” office complex – the 390,000-square-foot-plus Remington Square .

Phase one should be completed in November 2008.

“This project is centered around a central park area,” Caldwell said. “It is hard to get people out of their offices these days – they send e-mails to each other when they could get up, walk down the hall and talk to each other. The goal is to build something so compelling that they want to go down to the park area to have lunch and talk about a project or issue they are working on.”

Caldwell said Remington Square will also feature a retail area with restaurants, a fitness center, bank, dry cleaning business, and others. There will be a training center on site with a staff available to assist tenants in setting up training sessions, meetings and other events in the common area.

“Our goal is to make your life better,” Caldwell said. “We want to make your employees more productive and your company more profitable.”

Caldwell is a leading developer in Houston ’s residential and commercial real estate industry. He has been involved in the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce for many years and is a past chairman of the board. He is also chairman of the Cypress-Fairbanks Educational Foundation Board of Trustees.

For information about Towne Lake , got to www.townelaketexas.com , and for information about Remington Square and other Caldwell Companies developments, go to www.caldwellcos.com

11/01/2007

Panama Canal expansion will have ripple effect on local roads and rail

With plans underway to expand the Panama Canal by 2014, local and state transportation planners need to be planning for an increase in container traffic in Texas ports and the toll that could take on the Houston region’s existing roadway and rail infrastructure.

A study conducted by the Texas Department of Transportation’s Government and Public Affairs Division has found that the Panama Canal expansion project will have a profound effect on Texas ports and the roads and rail lines that serve them.

James Brogan, a consultant with Cambridge Systematics Inc., updated members of the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce’s Transportation Committee November 1 on the Panama Canal expansion plans and the TxDOT study that offers recommendations that will need to be implemented in order to accommodate the increase in flow of container traffic arriving at the Port of Houston by truck and railcar.

The Panama Canal expansion project is the waterway's largest renovation since it opened 93 years ago. The nearly $5.3 billion expansion project will double the 50-mile canal's capacity and allow wider vessels to squeeze through with more cargo. Close to two-thirds of the cargo that now passes through the canal is carried by ships importing to, or exporting from, the United States . China is the second-largest user.

“That means about 7,500-9,000 containers will be aboard these ships when they arrive at our port,” said Bill Rowden, the Cy-Fair Chamber’s Transportation Committee chairman. “Imagine that each container generates approximately three ‘truck trips’ within the immediate area. That means that the new ships can generate between 22,500 - 27,000 truck trips.”

“In addition,” Rowden added. “Statistics suggest that 50 percent of all the freight in those containers will be delivered within a 300-mile radius of the port. Imagine the potential additional volume required for our highways, bridges and rail lines.”

Rowden said infrastructure upgrades will be required to handle the additional traffic volume and that requirement puts strain on an already overburdened highway budget.

Brogan said that full realization of the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC) initiative will help ensure that the state is able to absorb expected growth in freight traffic. It is critical that transportation planning activities explore different approaches to ensure sufficient rail and/or truck capacity.

Some key policy recommendations in TxDOT’s Panama Canal report include:

• Continue TTC development

• Fully integrate freight issues within existing planning and programming activities

• Capitalize the Texas Rail Relocation and Improvement Fund

• Work with partner agencies to identify and improve key network bottlenecks, both highway and rail

• Develop a program to provide matching funds to offset dredging costs at key ports

• Capitalize the Texas Port Access Account Fund

The Port Authority of Houston is working to get ready for the expected increase in container shipping from Asia after the Panama Canal project is completed.

Voters approved $250 million in bonds on November 6 and will seek another $300 million in funding in a future bond election. The $250 million would go toward building two more docks, 160 acres of container yards and security enhancements.

11/01/2007

County Judge says bond issue will not increase taxes

Harris County Judge Ed Emmett told Cy-Fair Chamber of Commerce members that the pending Harris County bond issue, which will be decided by voters in the November 6 general election, will not increase the Harris County property tax rate.

“We ( Harris County Commissioners Court ) have pledged that there will be no tax increase,” Emmett told the Governmental Affairs Committee on November 1. “If the bond issue was $1.5 billion or $1.6 billion, we couldn’t have made that pledge so we cut back on it.”

Harris County registered voters will go to the polls November 6 to vote on six propositions totaling $880 million in bond funds.

Those six propositions include: (Proposition 1) $190 million for road projects; (Proposition 2) $95 million for park bonds; (Proposition 3) $195 million for a central processing facility and adult detention center downtown; (Proposition 4) $80 million for a new forensic center and parking for the Harris County Medical Examiner’s office in the Medical Center; (Proposition 5) $70 million for a new Family Law Center in downtown; (Proposition 6) $250 million for Houston Port Authority projects.

Emmett said the county has been polling voters on where they stand on each of the six propositions. He said early on the Family Law project – Proposition 5 – received the least support. The strongest support went to Proposition 6, which will fund Houston Port Authority projects.

Transportation members asked Emmett how the road bond funds would be divided if Proposition 1 passes. They said they would like to see a good share go to Cy-Fair area projects.

Harris County Precinct 3 officials say they are out of money and will launch several projects in the Cy-Fair area if funds are made available through the bond election.

Emmett said the funds are distributed through a formula that takes in to account the number of road miles and needs in each Precinct.

“This replenishes the Commissioners’ funds,” Emmett said. “It is no surprise that Precincts 3 and 4 go through their funds a lot faster (than Precincts 1 and 2) because there is more development in those areas.”

Cy-Fair Chamber member Jim Robertson asked when the park bonds would be sold if Proposition 2 passes.

Emmett said the park funds would be sold as needed.

Bonds that will fund the road and bridge projects, downtown central processing facility and adult detention center, forensic center and parking for the Harris County Medical Examiner’s office in the Medical Center, and the Port projects would be sold almost immediately. The county is working on the design for the Family Law Center so it would probably not be long until those bonds are sold, he said.

The bond funds are meant to fund county projects through 2011, Emmett said.

He said that looking in to the future he has concerns about needs that are looming in unincorporated parts of the County, which has 1.5 million residents.

Emmett said the City of Houston has changed its annexation policy so that it is annexing far fewer residential neighborhoods. However, many of the developers of those communities counted on Houston to take over the maintenance of roads in those neighborhoods eventually. Because that is not happening, the County could be required to repair and maintain many roads that are located in aging neighborhoods.

“That will be an expensive proposition,” Emmett said.

Archived News

10/07/2007 New President named at the Cy-Fair Houston Chamber of Commerce

10/07/2007 Update for November General Membership Luncheon

10/07/2007 Cy-Fair Chamber Herd Stampedes into 2008

10/07/2007 Non-profits join forces to raise funds for barrier-free playground at Matzke Park

10/01/2007 Chamber announces 2008 Board Officers

10/01/2007 Chamber members urged to support CFISD bond election

10/01/2007 Group launches campaign supporting Cy-Fair ISD bond election

10/01/2007 H-E-B Cypress Market Set to Open Oct. 24

10/01/2007 Commuters are catching on to Cypress Park & Ride

08/28/2007 Volunteers help Bus Buddies program during first day