Astrodome to Learn Future Shortly

as reported by the Houston Chronicle (www.chron.com)

Harris County officials plan next week to unveil three scenarios for the Astrodome — ranging from demolition to a multi-purpose redesign that could accommodate a planetarium, a movie soundstage and other attractions — and a revised master plan for Reliant Park that could include a new arena and hotel.

Willie Loston, executive director of the Harris County Sports and Convention Corporation, which operates the county-owned Reliant Park complex, said price tags for the Astrodome could range from $100 million to demolish the Dome and replace it with green space to $500 million for a full-fledged, bells-and-whistles revamped Dome, financed in part with non-public money, that could offer entertainment and technology options for tenants.

“We're not making recommendations, we're not making proposals,” Loston said. “We're saying that one of these three things could happen to the (Astrodome) building.”

The master plan for Reliant Park will include demolition of Reliant Arena, which would be replaced by a new arena attached to Reliant Center on the north end of the Reliant Park and augmented, if development partners can be lined up, with a hotel and parking garage attached to Reliant Center.

The master plan, and the three options for the Astrodome, would be in keeping with Harris County Judge Ed Emmett's charge that the county should adopt a plan for the Astrodome's future by the end of the year. How that plan would be put into action, however, is still undetermined.

“What I can tell you is that it is an almost unanimous feeling among the commissioners' court that this need to be a public decision,” Loston said.

If the Dome is demolished, it would be replaced by a park-like setting rather than parking spaces, Loston said. And demolition, he said, would be more complicated than it was for Texas Stadium in Irving, the Dallas Cowboys' former stadium, which was ringed by three freeways with no other buildings nearby.

“This (the Astrodome) is in the middle of an operating complex,” Loston said. “I've got football games I'm getting ready for (at Reliant Stadium) in two months.”

The other options start with the same premise: The Dome's outer shell would remain standing, but the interior would be gutted, removing seats, concourses and skyboxes, and a 300,000- to 400,000-square-foot floor would be installed at street level above the current Dome floor, which is 32 feet below street level.

“When you walked into the Dome, you would walk right onto this new floor surface,” Loston said. “We would be getting rid of the hole in the ground and rehabbing the building.”

Potential uses in a basic reconfiguration could include a planetarium and a institute for science, technology, education and mathematics, established through non-public funding. With portable seats, the Dome also could accommodate sports events, indoor festivals or events in conjunction with the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.

The third option — “the second option on steroids,” as Loston described it — would include space for meeting rooms, conference rooms and laboratories, built on what are now the Dome's fifth and seventh levels, plus a collection of museums and a movie soundstage.

Loston said the Sport and Convention Corporation will not recommend to county commissioners which plan, if any, to approve.

“We don't prefer anything,” he said. “We are stewards who are trying to give decision-makers a range of options.”

The proposal to demolish the dilapidated Reliant Arena, which in recent years has housed rodeo events, the last season of the Houston Comets WNBA team and the USA Gymnastics national championships, came as county officials discussed the master plan for the entire park area, not just the Dome.

“The master plan will include a plan to add space to Reliant Center to replace what was lost (with the arena's demolition),” Loston said.

That could include a new arena attached to Reliant Center along with a parking garage and a hotel tower, located on the Fannin Street side of the complex, to accommodate conventions and other events at the center.

AstroWorld Site Sold to Developer

AstroWorld, the old Six Flags amusement park site on the South Loop, sold to The Mallick Group of Fort Worth, TX. The site had been vacant since Six Flags Inc. shuttered AstroWorld in October 2005. The new owner bought the 104-acre tract across the freeway from Reliant Stadium in May for an undisclosed amount. The local seller was Angel/McIver Interests LP, of Conroe, TX, which paid $77 million for the dirt in 2006. Mike McIver and David Angel gained quite a bit of local notoriety for themselves when they acquired the "prime" property.

However, they local consortium never unveiled plans for the property, which is linked by light rail to the Texas Medical Center. Speculation was rampant that a mixed-use development that included retail stores, medical space, commercial offices, a hotel and apartments would be a good fit. Access to restaurants and stores for Texans home games was thought to generate a large amount of interest from regional retailers and commercial developments along the South Loop have had good success.

Michael Mallick, the new owner, says he would be just fine if no one knew his group owned the old AstroWorld site. But the cat got out of the bag. His phone has been ringing for the past two weeks since the deal was completed. “We have a few groups that have come to us that have proposals that want portions of it,” says Mallick. The Mallick Group acquired the site as an investment because, as Mallick says, Houston is a great place to invest. He’s not sure what will become of the land, but he says a decision will probably be made around the end of the year.

The group might hold the property for three to five years; sell it in its entirety once the market turns around; or sell it off in pieces. “We’re just going to sit back and see what happens,” says Mallick.

The Mallick Group invests in all commercial property types except industrial. It also develops real estate, such as the Horseshoe Bay Resort Marriott Hotel northwest of Austin. The group has also developed single-family homes in Fort Worth in public/private partnership with the City of Fort Worth.

Houstonians Spend Far Less on Designer Coffee

From notes and quotes in the Houston Business Journal and the Denver Business Journal:

It seems that Houstonians are fooled by all the hype surrounding designer coffee beverages from Starbucks and other national coffee retailers. Mint.com, an online personal finance website, has posted it's lists of cities that spend the most and the least on designer coffee. Houston made the Top 10 list for Least Amount spent yearly on coffee, coming in at an average of $310/year per person in 2009 and around $27/month thus far in 2010. San Antonio made the spend the most list at an expenditure of $377/year per average person.

"Now, this will come as no great surprise, but Seattle -- Starbucks world headquarters -- tops the list, at $674 spent per person per year. In Seattle in the wintertime, you drive to work in the dark and come home in the dark, so you need something to keep you from running off the road into Puget Sound. Also not surprisingly, Las Vegas comes in at No. 2, with $391 spent on java in a year. After a long night of dissipation, it's a safe bet you'll need a strong slug of coffee."

Rounding out the Top 10 in yearly expenditure(s) comes :Portland, Ore. ($388); San Antonio, Texas ($377); St. Louis ($376); San Jose, Calif. ($366); Tucson, Ariz. ($362; must be iced coffee); San Francisco ($358), tied with New York; Denver; and Phoenix ($352)."

Cypress, TX Cinemark Gets XD Theater

Reported by the Houston Business Journal via Cinemark:

As part of its ongoing strategy to revamp theaters and equip them with next-generation technology, Cinemark Holdings Inc. said Friday it's opened two new XD auditoriums - one in Lakewood, Colo., and one in Cypress. The auditoriums allow the Plano-based movie theater company to bring 2D and D-3D movies to audiences through high-tech JBL sound systems and digital projectors. The theaters feature wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor screens, plush seats and a surround sound system with 30 speakers. The company already has two XD auditoriums in Texas, including one in Plano.

The new Cinemark 12 XD auditorium in Cypress opened May 28 at 25720 Northwest Freeway. Lakewood’s auditorium has been open for about two weeks. The new auditoriums are surfacing at a time when moviegoers and concession sales are buoying Cinemark’s revenue. Cinemark saw its first-quarter revenue jump 21.3 percent due to stronger attendance and higher ticket prices and concession revenue per patron.

For the first three-month period ending March 31, admission sales jumped 22.5 percent to $343 million. That was due to an 8.1 percent jump in moviegoer attendance and a 13.3 percent increase in average ticket prices.

Houston Jobs More Secure in 2010

This piece of good news from a report in the Houston Business Journal:

Houston companies have been doing 93 percent less downsizing so far in 2010 than the same period last year, according to new figures released this week by global outplacement consultancy Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.

Through April 2010, there were just 1,430 announced job cuts in Houston, down from the 19,423 job cuts from January to April 2009. The biggest cuts during that time period came from Schlumberger Ltd. and LyondellBasell, according to Challenger. In 2009, Houston-based employers announced 31,029 job cuts.

In January 2009, Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) announced it would lay off 5 percent of its work force, then two months later said it would have to make even more cuts. Meanwhile, LyondellBasell subsidiary Equistar Chemicals LP also performed a couple rounds of layoffs.

Job cuts in Texas overall fell nearly 64 percent between 2009 and 2010. There were 3,373 job cuts in April 2010, down from 9,322 cuts during the same month last year.
Layoffs during the first four months of this year were also down by 84 percent from the same four-month period in 2009.

Houston and Texas are both mimicking the nation, which saw the number of planned job cuts announced by employers drop sharply in April to 38,326, 43 percent fewer than the 67,611 in March, according to Challenger.

The consultancy said May marks the beginning of what is typically the slowest job-cutting period of the year. However, with the pace of downsizing already below pre-recession levels, the summer slowdown may not be as significant this year, it said.

Texas Ranks High for Relocation

This from MSN Real Estate:

Texas was the ninth most popular destination for interstate relocation in 2009, with an inbound rate of 55.4%. Census estimates show the state actually brought in the largest influx of people. In terms of the total number of inbound and outbound moves, Texas ranked second only to California. These facts all came together to make Texas the #9 relocation spot for last year.

Taco Cabana Introduces Brisket Soft Tacos & Happy Hour Pricing

Local Tex-Mex favorite Taco Cabana is now offering brisket-filled fresh tortillas at its restaurants, officials announced this week with other changes. The San Antonio-based restaurant chain, which operates about 41 Houston area stores, will invest in a series of enhancements to its restaurants, adding new menu items and unveiling an advertising campaign.

Starting April 26, Taco Cabana put its first new item on the menu: a hickory-smoked, shredded brisket taco, either in barbecue or salsa flavor. Taco Cabana is also adding a daily Happy Hour and new packaging, streamlined menus and counter displays. Taco Cabana will launch its new ad campaign on May 3.