Got to have a talk with a very good friend close to the HEB portion of the deal today and here's the rundown on everything that could have been:
-As early as the beginning of 2010, HEB had an agreement for the land with Ainbinder.
-Over the course of the Spring of 2010, Ainbinder and HEB were working out the details on how the deal would work.
-The Land value there is High ... really high ...
-HEB planned to utilize up to 10 acres for a store that would be very similar to their 'Hybrid' store (Mix of normal HEB + Central Market) on Buffalo Speedway just south of 59 near Rice Village
-Somewhere in late Spring, Walmart came in to make their own bid (yes, this was after the developer had agreed with HEB)
-HEB officially declared their deal dead in mid June, barely two weeks before the information leaked about Walmart
-Ainbinder is making over $50.00/sq ft. At 24 acres, thats over $50 Mil for the property in total, and over USD $30mil for Walmart's share of it.
-Walmart purely outbid HEB, after the agreement had been made
CONCLUSIONS
Ainbinder had a deal, then they broke it to sell to Walmart. And while Walmart tells Spring Branch Neighbors 'its our land, we bought it, we can do whatever we want with it', HEB tells Montrose folks 'We'll spend an extra few million to give you some greenspace, and put our store on stilts, then give you three designs to choose from as a community.'
There's a novel idea ... actually working and listening to the community.
A 'Hybrid Store' (mix of Central Market + normal HEB) would have been TOTALLY out of place there (READ: More Sarcasm).
Good show Walmart.
Why on earth does the city want to do business with Ainbinder? Really? Is this what our local government is choosing to do with our Tax Dollars? Really?
Wow. Really?
Dude, this just gets worse and worse. Looking at Ainbinder's website, examples of their past developments have been about 90% your typical suburban big box stores (Lowes, Home Depot, WM, etc) with no sense of community architecture.
ReplyDeleteThe only urban experience Ainbinder seems to have is with River Oaks center.
This is depressing, we could have had a Buffalo Market type of store!!! ARRRGGGHHH!!!
Walmart also uses cheap suburban designers and architect firms, mostly from DFW and Arkansas areas.
ReplyDeleteAinbinder refers to the River Oaks box as an example of their fine urban architecture...brutal. The City should NOT be offering incentives to this kind of land-owner, period. Their motivation is the biggest cash grab, all else means nothing. I doubt any of Ainbinder's dealmakers live near this proposed site...or any Walmart for that matter.
ReplyDeleteMakes me sick to my stomach that we were so close to having such great development happen in our community but Wal-Mart had to come in and mess it up. Screw you Ainbinder and Wal-Mart.
ReplyDelete