TWS on last leg

[kbrewmr2]

I watched the meeting via webcam, and did note that Crumpacker was there and I also heard MFW was. Sam Crumpacker and Will Faules did speak on our behalf, as well as some others. ~8-9 months minimum to go through all the plans, approvals, traffic and enviornmental studies, etc. was the timeline I understood from what I heard. That would all have to be done before dirt and such started to be moved.

The City Council seemed to be all about them some owner's rights (as a defense against saving the speedway) and were also all about them some "something for nothing" kinda stuff where the developer (and eventually new home buyers) took the cost burden for everything and then they'd get to annex it later and grab all the tax revenue (forgetting that by annexing them they'd also have extra costs in servicing that area too). Sigh.

[AI#97]

find a few of my posts on the Save TWS facebook page as well as other facebook pages. There is a LOT of "if's" involved and the biggest is IF they can find financing/investors to risk the cost of development based on Taxes being $0.60/$100 value higher than within the city limits. I don't see it happening. The city council asked all the right questions, but they did point out they have no right to tell the owner what to do with the property. The ONLY reason the city liked the idea of the MUD is that they would have some say in traffic flow and "design standards" of all the improvements...ie no more strip clubs or public storage buildings. The current development plan is a mess. It does not meet ANY of the current College station traffic flow or growth patterns nor does it take into account traffic flow out onto TX 6 or the pipeline rd on the backside of the property. All things that are going to affect the Turtle Creek neighborhood which is where all the rich a-holes live. Also, MUD's for CS must have a minimum 1 acre lot. The city will probably grant an exception. I also emailed the council member who during the meeting made a HUGE math error regarding taxes. He surmised that the increase in taxes on a $300,000 house would "only be about $400/yr". He was wrong as it would ACTUALLY be $1800/yr on the same house and $900/yr on a $150k house. Basically a 13th house payment. I haven't received a response...LOL!

Anyway, the Fork isn't stuck in TWS....YET. The Owner has to find investors willing to risk an attempt to sell property with the highest tax rates in the area (25% higher) with ZERO EMS from college station. Not a formula for success. So while the city wants it all to happen, someone has to find stupid rich people to invest in it.

I watched the meeting via webcam, and did note that Crumpacker was there and I also heard MFW was. Sam Crumpacker and Will Faules did speak on our behalf, as well as some others. ~8-9 months minimum to go through all the plans, approvals, traffic and enviornmental studies, etc. was the timeline I understood from what I heard. That would all have to be done before dirt and such started to be moved.

The City Council seemed to be all about them some owner's rights (as a defense against saving the speedway) and were also all about them some "something for nothing" kinda stuff where the developer (and eventually new home buyers) took the cost burden for everything and then they'd get to annex it later and grab all the tax revenue (forgetting that by annexing them they'd also have extra costs in servicing that area too). Sigh.

[Fbody383]

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/T...296510221.html

Anybody think it's not a done deal? Good thing there's a huge housing deman in BCS.

Maybe a friendly racecar "drive by" in the neighboorhood for the new homeowners... just for fun.

[Pranav]

It's my mission to break below a 2:00 before they shut down. I was getting closer until I blew my motor there last month.

Let me rephrase that, it's my mission to break below a 2:00 before I blow another motor at TWS again.

[AllZWay]

It is hard to believe that it will be official in just a few more months.

[ShadowBolt]

It is hard to believe that it will be official in just a few more months.

I agree. Does not feel real. The new purposed track is spending tons of money fighting the land owners.

JJ

[mach1]

anyone know if we will be running both directions for the TWS event?

[ShadowBolt]

anyone know if we will be running both directions for the TWS event?

I vote yes. I know several others did not like the idea.

JJ

[Storm Trooper]

I vote yes. I know several others did not like the idea.

JJ

Yes from me :-)

[AI#97]

http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/T...296510221.html

Anybody think it's not a done deal? Good thing there's a huge housing deman in BCS.

Maybe a friendly racecar "drive by" in the neighboorhood for the new homeowners... just for fun.

I'm likely being overly optimistic, but yes, I think the track will close but I am not shedding a tear till I see asphalt getting ripped up. The project was stated last year to be a $90 million deal, now $55M....? It also says he "hopes to break ground in June" which tells me there are no set plans for bulldozers to come in or contracts in place to do so or a design to start contracts on. The fact that the city JUST NOW decided they wanted to accept design review of the development to make sure it meets the planning of CS going forward tells me that the "development" is back at square one again.

Major hurdles to overcome:

1. Interest rates are rumored to be going back up and that always scares off investors in BIG Developments.
2. There are only two entrances to the development for 1400 homes. TX 6 and through Pebble Creek. Those folks in PC don't want all that traffic coming through their neighborhood. Imagine morning and evening rush hour for that many homes...times 1.4 cars per home average.
3. Property taxes will be higher by a lot out there than living in the city AND you will not have EMS services. you get Volunteer FD and Sheriff's dept. CS has no plans to annex as they would need to build a fire station and add several police officers. CS doesn't have the tax revenue to do so any time soon. CS would likely wait till the development...IF the development ever reaches 50% build out.
4. Town and jobs are growing to the west...follow the new walmart and the new A&M Health Science Center. Folks don't want to drive all the way across morning school traffic to get to work when there are houses out on that side of Bryan headed to Snook. There is also an excess of flat farm land that doesn't require millions in removing a 50 year old race track.
5. TxDot is gonna have to pay for a new overpass at the entry to the neighborhood...good luck.
6. New housing in CS is not moving as fast as it was 18 months ago. Builders have a lot of inventory in town....why build outside of town if it costs more?
7. Well, it just doesn't make sense when there is plenty of cheaper land closer to town.


Like I said, I am going to remain optimistic. I even told Charles Von Schmidt (Blue Bonnet Racing Circuit) to find out what the magic number is to buy TWS. There is always a magic number and I have always thought this might be a dog and pony show to bump the perceived value of the property so someone would buy it and let the current owner scoot away with a profit for just sitting on the property. I believe they are short on finding the money to develop the property and a bunch of small town home builders don't have the funds to jump in and buy lots any time soon. Too risky to tear the place down in this market when you could sell it as a race track and possibly double their money to just walk away tomorrow as opposed to taking the risk and MAYBE building out 30% of the home sites over the next 10 years. The housing demand in CS is student housing and they don't want to live 10 miles from campus...nor do they need to. If I were the current owners of TWS, I'd cash out ASAP for say $10-13M, and take that money back to Houston where the market is booming for people needing housing for all the jobs coming to town.

I'm going to keep my dark sparkly goggles on and fingers crossed.