Dallas ( May 27, 2010)

Meeting with the Dallas parks and recreation director, Mr. Paul Dyer:
Major topics discussed:
* Studies undertaken and underway to determine the needs and improve the city's parks and recreational facilities,
* Current park developments underway,
* Planned parks and recreational facility developments in the city,
* Use of eminent domain to acquire property for such developments,

Mr Dyer during the discussion...


Meeting with the Dallas Mayor, Mr. Tom Leppert:
Topics discussed:
* Current development and redevelopment efforts underway,
* Extensive nature of public-private partnerships, coupled with large scale public projects like the convention center hotel development,
* Current efforts towards sustainable development and efforts to integrate such endeavors in all municipal related developments,
* Efforts to redevelop currently empty buildings across the city; about seven such buildings were acquired by the city, three of which have been sold to new developers,
- Forward thinking and prospective challenges facing the city.

Here we are with the mayor…
.
and...

We also met with M/s Teresa with the city sustainable development, Mr David from the city design studio and Mr Karl from the office of economic development. We discussed wide ranging development and redevelopment related topics including:
* Master planning for development and redevelopment needs,
* The Trinity River Project development,
* Transition to Form-based zoning and its impact on development activities,
* Homelessness issues and city's efforts to tackle the challenge,
* Intra-governmental relationship with neighboring municipalities particularly with respect to development issues,
* Relative comparison of city's development, redevelopment efforts and overall investment attractiveness compared to other cities,
* Outlook towards the future.

We also visited two projects in the afternoon:

The first project was aloft, a trendy hotel a block or so away from the city hall.
This project represents the first re-adoptive use of a historic building for aloft hotel. Per the owners, it is the 44th aloft hotel of about 54 total to date with 30 or so more to come through the end of the year...
The Project:
* was built on a warehouse bldg built by SantaFe railroad as a warehouse,
* utilized historic tax credit a s a result of the historic nature of the bldg,
* is targeted to be a mid market range hotels ($100-150/night),
* has about 193 rooms, about 17 different room types on each of the nine floors,
* has about 60% occupancy rate currently (average city wide occupancy is about 50%)
* currently about 30% of occupancy comes from OTA(Online Travel Agents),
* Utilized historic tax credits and TIF funds,

Here are some snaps of the 'exposed'...and trendy look and the rooms.





We then Visited Craig's Ranch in McKinney:
This is a project based on the new urbanization concept:
The project:
* started with an initial 1,125 acres of land purchase back in Sep 2000,
* Is planned to become self sustaining upon completion,
* incorporates professional golf course, residential, commercial, employment, recreational and educational facilities,
* is being developed in phases; most of the single family residential development is close to completion,
* utilizes multiple public-private partnership including TIF, 380 agreement and municipal districts.
* appears to have been effective both in concept planning and development approaches
* principally utilizes private funding sources.

Here's a snap of the overall development concept model...

Houston Day 2 (May 25, 2010)

Day 2 in Houston included several project site visits.

We started the day by visiting the New Hope developments on Gulf freeway and Canal Street
These developments:
* are targeted to provide housing for very low income people (from $7,460 to $22,350/ year), particularly those with backgrounds that preclude them from the normal cycle like recovering addicts,
* mainly funded through private funding and donations,
* also utilized some city and state funding,
* helps support those in dire need through 'rainy day' reserves,
* promotes common area usages like kitchens, tv areas and libraries to promote interaction and reduce relapses and depression,
* charge rents sufficient to cover operating costs and a small replacement reserve.

The Gulf Frwy development also served as a redevelopment effort to tackle rampant criminal activities in the area. Per the New Hope folks, the city was instrumental in the redevelopment effort as a way to mitigate the criminal activities in the area.

Here are some snaps of the New Hope developments.


We also visited The City center Project on I-10 and Sam Houston Tollway
The development:
* is undertaken by Midway Companies,
* uses a project manager that deals with all aspects of the development from inception to completion,
* developed on site previously known as Town and Country Mall,
* purchased the cite and terminated all leasing contracts with the then existing tenants,
* redeveloped the area from grounds-up except for the three parking garage structures,
* equity funding mainly with pension funds (particularly Michigan teachers)
* no public funding to maintain total control of development,
* each development type is owned by separate entities affiliated with Midway Companies,
* currently two office buildings built (one is 100% occupied and the second is about 70% leased),
* current retail occupancy is about 60% and residential is about 72% (mainly to high net worth individuals),
* hotel is operates as Hotel Sorella; mainly focused on attracting guests related to the nearby energy corridor,
* all buildings are built to LEED standards but not certified,

Here are some snapshots of the development...

Houston Day 1 (May 24, 2010)

We kicked our Houston off with a visit to the city planning department. We met with M/s Marlene Gafrik, Mr. Brian Crimmins, Mr. Richmond Coward and Mr. Ryan Albright.

The major topics discussed included:
* the zoning environment, and lack thereof. We particularly discussed
- the advantages of the virtually no zoning requirements in the city. While TIRZ and districts can set their own requirements, there are no preset zoning requirements in the city.
- The perception of developers regarding the lack of zoning requirements - overwhelmingly positive as developers enjoy the freedom to do what the market dictates.
- The impact of deed restrictions, which are almost absolutely enforceable except in very limited exceptional circumstances.
* Developer's tendency to use the city as a model to test products,
* Infrastructure planning; the need to build redundancy due to the lack of predictable development patterns. Developers are required to put infrastructure requirements for their developments beyond those provided by the city,
* Impact of the geographical expansion of the city, especially to the west and the issues of sprawl,

We also visited the Green Building Resource Center. The center:
* is LEED Gold,
* reused about 85% of furniture,
* focuses on reducing the lifetime cost of buildings by initial increased costs in design and implementation.

Here are some of the snapshots of the green resource center...





We also visited two projects in the afternoon:

We first visited the WestAve project. This development:

* is located on Kirby and Westheimer on the west side of the city,
* is developed by the Gables group
* is a mixed use development,
* has about 397 residential units and retail components (about 195k sf of retail space in two floors)
* second floor retail space is also a flex space...it can be converted to office space if market dictates,
* currently about 89% occupied for residential and 41% occupied for retail,
* has a diverse tenant mix, mainly young professionals and recent grads,
* has a very contemporary look and aims to capitalize from the urban and trendy nature of young professionals.

Here's a snap of the development...

San Antonio Day 4 (May 20, 2010)

Day 4 in San Antonio involved several project visits:

We visited the Frederick Building, The Alamo Architects bldgs, and the San Antonio River Improvement Project.

Our first visit of the day, the Frederick Bldg, was an eye opener. This development is located in the eastern side of the city. This predominantly african american inhabited part of the city is part of an empowerment zone. Such an empowerment zone provides tax credits for businesses hiring local people living in the zone. It is also located within a TIF area.

The project:
* appears to have stagnated...no visible recent development activities,
* is currently up for sale, (asking about 8 million...)
* has a few offices in the ground floor of the bldg,
* historical tax credits are available due to the historical nature of the bldg.
There is not much to say about this project

Here are some snaps of the bldg...



The next project we visited was the Alamo Architects: This is a LEED silver building.
The project has some cool features that exhibited true creativity...some of the fence like structures are made of the bottom side of concrete from the floor. There is a huge golden ball like structure hanging in the middle of the walkway...apparently it was a structure made for the pope's visit to SA in the 80's.

This project:
* was a warehouse...its an adaptive reuse,
* is located within IDZ (Infill Development Zone) that allows long term usage flexibility,
* included a significant amount of material reuse during construction.

The neat and creative stuff I mentioned earlier...






We also visited Marty Wender...one of the most energetic persons...to say the least. He relayed the story behind some of his notable developments and shared some practical experiences. He discussed in detail how he approached grounds-up development on a remote location. He also shared his approach to long term view towards development and the merits of holding-out.

We finally visited the San Antonio River Improvement project along the river banks of the San Antonio River. We met with Steven at the San Antonio River Authority. He gave us a lengthy and detailed tour of the first phase of the river improvement project that is already completed.

The project:

* demonstrates the impact of public initiatives to jump start and direct development projects,
* shows that new developments are already springing up alongside the improvement and property values have increased AS a result of the improvement project,
* includes both restoration and renovation works,
* is done in sync with keeping the primary economic drivers of the city as well as protecting and mitigating the flooding impact of the river.

Here are some snapshots of the project...

San Antonio Day 3 (May 19, 2010)

We started the San Antonio part of our tour with a visit to the city planning department.

We met with Mr. Patrick Howard, Mr. Jesus Garza, Mr Ray Herrera and M/s Sylvia Cortez from the planning and development services department, Mr. David McGowen from the city center development office and M/s Betty Feldman, the city architect.

The major topics discussed included:
* Upcoming projects including the new federal courthouse and police headquarter projects,
* general approach to incentives provided to developers (particularly use of municipal districts and TIRZ funding),
* approaches to planning and economic development in the city,
* code compliance monitoring and enforcement issues,
* approaches to sustainability related issues.

We then visited two projects, both currently owned by Mr. Ed Cross, one of the prominent developers in the city.

While we did not originally planned to do so, the city folks advised us to visit a seemingly abandoned project at the intersection of Broadway and I-35. This huge skeletal concrete structure, was a subject of several legal battles between the current and former owners. The new owner, Ed Cross informed us that the legal issues are likely over and the development activities will resume in a matter of weeks.

Ooops...I forgot to snap some pictures of this project...perhaps I was counting the seconds to leave the are???

The next project we visited was The Vistana. Mr Cross agreed to take time off his busy schedule to give us a tour of the project...I am very grateful to him as setting the visit was my responsibility and it almost did not happen...

The Vistana:
* is located on Santa Rosa and Commerce,
* is widely regarded as one of the key and successful redevelopment projects in the city,
* developer spent considerable resource and effort at the initial planning stage (about 40% of architectural time spent on ground floor planning and design),
* Started in spring of 2006,
* has about 247 units and about 240 different pricing structures,
* exhibits an contemporary approach to finish-outs with open fixtures,
* has public-private partnership aspects,
* has about 96% current occupancy rate for residential, 40% occupancy for storage units

Here's a file I got from the project website.

Austin Day 2 (May 18, 2010)

Day 2 in Austin involved project site visits.

We visited The Ronald McDonald House, the Mueller Airport Redevelopment Project, The Seaholm Powerplant Project and The Hill Country Galleria.

We also had lunch and discussions with Judi Fort and Sherri Gothart-Barron at the TX Dept of Agriculture. Some of the major topics discussed included:
* rural economic developments and available incentives,
* need for small towns to focus on business retentions rather than lure relocation,
* priority industries targeted by the state (includes aerospace and defence, IT, energy, education, petroleum refinery).

Our visit to the Ron McDonald House was mainly focused on understanding the sustainability features of the project. It is a LEED Platinum project. Some of the sustainable features that stand out include:
- 50% reduction in irrigation and water cost,
- about 108 kw generated through solar panels...sufficient to provide power to about 15 rooms,
- about 94% of the space has view to the outside,
- about 83% of the space gets natural light.

Here are some snapshots of the project and some of the gadgets involved in the green way of life...




We then visited the Mueller Airport Redevelopment Project, which is located near the Ron McDonald House.

This project:
* had a PUD zoning (there is some flexibility in changing uses in response to market changes)
* has a very large green space and park areas within the development,
* focuses on an eco-restoration system for the green areas,
* has about 600 residential units sold,
* has about 85% leased of the 640 apartments available,
* about 25% of residential units are designated affordable,
* has a PPP( public Private partnership) element as it lies in a TIF zone and there are agreements for TIF reimbursements.

Here is a snap of the development model.




The final project we visited for the day was Hill Country Galleria. This project is a massive commercial establishment that fell victim of the economic recession. It was foreclosed and is currently owned by a group out of Connecticut. There are several issues that are presenting challenges besides the economic recession including co-tenancy requirements that trigger and/or preclude enforcement of market rental rates and occupancy related lease conditions.

Austin Day 1 ( May 17, 2010)

Day 1 in Austin started with a visit to the city hall. We met with several officials.

Some of the topics discussed included:

* redevelopment of the 2nd Street Corridor and plans for 6th street redevelopment,
* use of TIFs/ PID's in the downtown area (2/3 of Downtown is in a PID), there are also participation election options for small businesses,
* The issues with view corridors for the Capital Building. There are requirements to make sure there is sufficient views of the Capital.
* use of a one-stop shop for expedited planning department related issues.
* inspection and code enforcement related issues (major violations are framing and plumbing)
* green initiatives and the use of LEED; the use of city’s own rating system which is largely compatible with LEED standards.

Here's a snapshot of the city folks we met:




We then visited the Austonian, a visible landmark of the city. It seems to me the Austonian is perhaps the tallest structure in the city... it is visible form most downtown areas.

The project:

* started as 188 units but is currently 166 to 168 units because of unit combinations,
* has an average sf of 2,400 sf,
* aims to combine four distinct features (convenience, true luxury, exclusivity and privacy),
* has a lawn full-size pool, cabanas, dog park, outdoor kitchens etc on the 10th floor...truly neat stuff,
* has highest floors open to all residents (55th floor is open to social events and 56th floor is a cool fitness center with an awesome panoramic view...( though it proved scary for me as am mildly altophobic)...

Here are some snaps of the panoramic views and the project...







We also visited the Chestnut Commons development, a strangely multi-colored townhouse development project by the Austonian developers. I think this project makes sense in that it appears to be targeting the middle income individuals and may prove feasible, despite the minimal, if any, glaring distinct features attributable to it.