by Forrest Wilder In June, Gov. Rick Perry, Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Speaker of the House Joe Straus announced that Chevron—one of the world’s largest and most profitable corporations—would be handed a $12 million grant from the state of Texas for building an office tower in downtown Houston. As we wrote at the time, the Chevron subsidy was a perfect example of the problems with the Texas Enterprise Fund and forced the question of whether the company would’ve created the estimated 1,752 jobs anyway. Click here to continue reading.
Monthly Archives: November 2013
-
-
Sugar Land’s tax rate ranked lowest among Texas cities (Fort Bend Sun)
Submitted by City of Sugar Land
Sugar Land again has one of the lowest tax rates in the state, according to a Texas Municipal League survey of 657 Texas cities.
-
The Baby Boomer effect on Houston’s new home markets (HBJ)
Shaina Zucker, Houston Business Journal
As Baby Boomers age, their preferences and the sheer size of the generation are having a great effect on Houston’s living situation.
-
Why Flood Insurance Is Likely Going to Cost More in Texas (State Impact)
Richard Rivera stands in front of a red sticker that marks his house as “uninhabitable” due to recent flooding. Photo credit: Mose Buchele
By Mose Buchele
It’s been three weeks since a flood swept through Richard Rivera’s Austin, Texas home. There’s still a dead car, washed up by the waters, deposited on his front yard. A crack has formed on his concrete driveway. A result, he says, of the deluge. He doesn’t know where his air conditioning unit floated off to. His home bears the red sticker, left by city inspectors, that deems it uninhabitable.
-
Interactive: American Community Survey Home Values by County (Texas Tribune)
By Ryan Murphy and Corrie MacLaggan
Only three large counties in the nation saw significant growth in home values from 2007 to 2012, according to a U.S. Census Bureau report released this month, and two of those counties — Bexar and Travis — were in Texas.
-
A look inside one of The Woodlands’ most luxe neighborhoods (HBJ)
Shaina Zucker, Houston Business Journal
A shrouded neighborhood within the Woodlands has become a place over the years where local executives and ex-athletes can find solace from prying eyes.
-
Houston’s biggest landlord responsible for neighborhood problems (KPRC)
by: Joel Eisenbaum
The single largest owner of single family homes in Houston is responsible for problems in neighborhoods across the city and is causing a drain on public resources and taxpayer dollars, according to Houston’s city attorney.
-
Pearland ranks as top U.S. suburb based on affordability (HBJ)
by Shaina Zucker, Houston Business Journal
If affordability is the goal, Pearland ranks as one of the top suburbs in the country based on its price point. The suburb, which lies southeast of Houston, ranked as No. 4 on the 10 Most Affordable Suburbs in America list — bested only by Midwest City, Okla.; Moore, Okla.; and Cimarron Hills, Colo.
-
Houston’s apartments could see New York’s ‘micro-unit’ trend (HBJ)
Shaina Zucker, Houston Business Journal
As Houston’s hot multifamily market sprouts big development throughout the area, the types of units within those projects may soon see a “tiny” transformation.
-
Houston’s economy to be among fastest growing next year (HBJ)
-
Jury sides with homeowner in Urban Living commission dispute (Chron.com)
By Erin Mulvaney
A Harris County jury sided with a homeowner in a dispute over a commission payment an Inner Loop realty firm claimed it was owed.
The verdict came down from the jury Tuesday afternoon after about a day of deliberation. The jury also said the Urban Living would be responsible for paying about $150,000 in legal fees to the man they sued. An attorney for the company said it would move to delete these fees at a later hearing.
-
Strong October sales further deplete Houston’s housing inventory (HAR Newsroom)
HOUSTON — (November 19, 2013) — Twenty-nine consecutive months and counting. That’s how long Houston home sales have held to positive territory. Home buyers sent housing inventory levels down to 3.1 months in October compared to 4.4 months one year earlier, but they also contributed to a record total dollar volume.
Click here to continue reading
-
Public Invited to Comment on Preliminary Flood Maps (Guidry News)
Leaders from Harris County, Texas and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are asking the public to participate in a 90-day appeal/comment period for preliminary flood maps that have been issued for the coastal areas of the county.
-
Petition seeks end of plan to remove chunk of forest from Houston park (Chron.com)
By Carol Christian, Houston Chronicle
A grass-roots group is asking city and county officials to go back to the drawing board on a plan to remove trees along Buffalo Bayou in Terry Hershey Park for the sake of detention basins.
-
Outgoing planning director has seen a lot of change in Houston (Houston Chronicle)
By Mike Morris
Houston’s director of planning and development, Marlene Gafrick, will step down from her post Nov. 29 after 33 years with the department and more than eight years as director. The 55-year-old Branson, Mo., native moved to Houston in 1980, fresh out of school at Missouri State University.
-
Houston Chronicle re-publishes Houston city council endorsements
-
HBJ Exclusive: Houston’s next master planned community to break ground
Shaina Zucker, Houston Business Journal
Charlotte, N.C.-based Crescent Resources LLC has plans to break ground on Houston’s next master planned community in December in northeast Houston.