I may be totally wrong about this, but I want to ask: is B-CS going through a recession? I mean, we are kind of tied to the economy of Houston, which is tied to the oil business still pretty heavily, and that has taken some hits earlier this year, and I believe we're starting to see some of that.

It's really subtle, but a lot of construction projects have either slowed down or disappeared. There's been almost nothing on the College Station New Development list except a few apartment complexes and some activity around Tower Point (and even those aren't exciting, unless you really really like fried chicken), and there's other some other lack of development signs:

- Closed-down restaurants like Taste of China, La Botana that are good locations but have no tenants
- Very little progress on Atlas or Century Square
- No further construction at Walmart shopping center
- Delay of Southern Pointe, so we still have to deal with a derelict race track Texas World Speedway for another six months.
- The Loupot's building redevelopment appears to be canned too
- No work on the large subdivision Mission Ranch off of Holleman Drive South.

Just a couple of years ago we were hearing about exciting things happening to Northgate (like Legacy Point, which now mostly consists of a new apartment building, 1/3 of the original shopping center, and the demolished parts hastily converted into an open field, or Century Square which demolished the old University Apartments but now is mostly gated off), or the new Walmart center and the new development in that area (a pharmacy, rumors of a CFA).

So much for the "what BCS needs" threads, I'm just waiting for anything to happen, and I think there's a reason (and not blaming the lack of progress on Kyle Field's work). What do you think?

The housing market seems to show that we are booming. The hotel market seems to be booming, there is almost one on every corner now.

Housing is only one part of the picture. Generally a booming housing market goes hand in hand with a booming wider economy, but not always. The OP asks a fair question, and one that is a tad trickier to answer in detail than it might appear.

Agree with booming!

SAWGunner makes alot of good points. Also think about the percentage of our local economy that comes from the plastic of parents all over the state. As a free standing economy we are below the national average in disposable income. Thank goodness those boys from Woodbolt International came in with their $80,000 average salaries, and Atlas is an amazing facility, but they can't do it alone. Many of the things we love about making this a home keeps us from riding the leading edge of the good times. And the oil patch layoffs were felt right here I think we are in the beginning stages of a recession.

College Station is a suburb of whatever city the A&M students parents live in. The "residents" cannot support the apartments, restaurants, retail stores that are in this town. The vast majority of their revenue is on the credit cards of the parents. And when the general view of the economy is not upbeat the kids will be constrained unlike when the economy is growing. So I expect unemployed parents will tell kids that eating out every meal is no longer acceptable. I know a few restaurant owners and the great recession and high food/transportation costs have really hurt them. One restauranteur I know went from four locations to one. The 3 ok locations went to marginal and and they decided to concentrate to their one very profitable one. The current oil bust will have an effect in kids spending money.
This is why I try to in all circumstances try not to spend money I don't have in hand. If COCS has a drop of 25% in their sales tax revenue that is unencumbered like HOT funds, paying to staff and the equipment for all their new digs proposed in the bond package will likely be a challenge.

The salary and raise freezes at TAMU for several years didn't help either, considering the impact to the local economy the Big School and its employees have. A LOT of those folks cut way way back on purchases, eating out, etc.

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I've said it for years. There are no large companies with the "good jobs" everyone talks about. The University and it's satellite agencies are the largest employer. I don't see a crapton of new Biocorridor type companies flooding in and hiring by the hundreds and thousands. It's not happening. All the "jobs that are coming the Brazos Valley" are still "coming".....

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And this, times squadpillion.

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I've said it for years. There are no large companies with the "good jobs" everyone talks about. The University and it's satellite agencies are the largest employer. I don't see a crapton of new Biocorridor type companies flooding in and hiring by the hundreds and thousands. It's not happening. All the "jobs that are coming the Brazos Valley" are still "coming".....

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This....and our local elected congressman ran on a platform of "knowing how to create jobs", and little else.

Compared to other states and cities hit by the 'recession' I don't think we should complain to much. I view the word recession as being relative. And relatively speaking I think our economy is prospering.

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I've said it for years. There are no large companies with the "good jobs" everyone talks about. The University and it's satellite agencies are the largest employer. I don't see a crapton of new Biocorridor type companies flooding in and hiring by the hundreds and thousands. It's not happening. All the "jobs that are coming the Brazos Valley" are still "coming".....

Most of the upper tier of folks in town are either in business for themselves, doctor, lawyer, or college professor. This has always been the case, and will continue to be that way.

A number of houses are being bought up by Aggie parents from Houston or Dallas to house Billy and his friends whilst they join the "Blinn Team"... There are a number of older folks moving in to retire, and that puts pressure on the housing market as well. The downside of that is older housing like the duplexes on the San streets getting cheaper and cheaper, and crime going up.

I live here, and work for a company in Seattle because I can live wherever I want. It's cheap to live here, and I'm from here. The upside to that is I get paid Seattle money, and not BCS money, which is good for me.

So, no, there's no recession... Just the Microplex being the Microplex.

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I wouldn't be that optimistic. For those saying that the housing market is good, where are things being built? Granted, there's at least two big student complexes a year (the slums of tomorrow), and Southgate is rebuilding (sorta for that same purpose), but there's not even a lot of S/F homes being built. Between February 2013 and October 2014, here's what I noticed in terms of brand new S/F homes:
- A small part of Castlegate II (CS)
- Some near that subdivision just east of the Wellborn community (CS)
- Finishing out that mostly-complete subdivision SW of IG&N and Koppe Bridge (CS)
- A few new homes in a new phase of Pebble Creek (CS)
- Maybe a dozen or so new homes in Indian Lakes (CS)
- A cluster of homes near Tower Point (CS)
- Some more new homes near that subdivision off of Old Reliance Road (B)
- Some homes north of Miramont on the other side of FM 1179 (B)
- Some new homes here and there in Traditions (B)

That's represents over a year and a half of growth in a city that's supposedly over 100k, and even in the last 5 years growth has been pretty flat. Let's look at some of the previous "big developments":

2010: Tower Point [still rather undeveloped, even five years later]
2005: Highway 40 and a slew of new restaurants around University Drive [very big news at the time], Tejas Center [also big], then the Culpepper Plaza redevelopment [all within a few years],
2000: Rapid development of Rock Prairie Road and points south
The early half of the 1990s also saw the development of major stores: Albertsons, Randall's (both 1991), Sam's Club (1992), the Cinemark movie theater, Target (1992), the first renovation and expansion of Walmart (1995, just 7 years old at the time), H-E-B Pantry (several)

What happened to the bio-corridor explosion we were supposed to see?

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I mean, we are kind of tied to the economy of Houston

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No. We are most certainly not. The economy in B-CS is propped up by the state. Anything from the oil patch is gravy.

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I mean, we are kind of tied to the economy of Houston

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No. We are most certainly not. The economy in B-CS is propped up by the state. Anything from the oil patch is gravy.

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I would argue that we are, though not directly through O&G.

1. If we go with the assumption of that the economy is propped up Joe Aggie's parents, then our economy is tied to wherever they are, and a lot of times that's from Houston.
2. Anyone who commutes to Houston for work but lives here--and that does include a significant amount--means that our economies are tied.
3. The oil bust in Houston led to the functional demise of the Ramada Inn and the subsequent ownership by Leonard Ross.
4. A lot of the big donors and game-goers are from Houston, so if something goes wrong there that will affect us during football seasons.

Of course, TAMU is the biggest employer far and away and that will be a steady anchor (assuming that Sharp's meddling doesn't get worse, or something otherwise goes south, which it absolutely could), but to say that Houston's economy doesn't affect us is a bit foolhardy.

Agree 100% O&G in the area is dead. That's a huge hit for the non-university residents.

Sounds like things are so bleak here you guys ought to sell out and move to Vermont or some place.

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I hate snow, so Vermont ain't happening, but Florida is looking nice,

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B/CS is a great place to live and raise a family, but not everybody agrees with me. and it has a unique economy. Impossible to tie it to one thing or another. I work from home and many of my clients are in Austin. I'm sure there are plenty in south CS that commute to Houston. Then you have the university, which is still growing (plenty of jobs).

To suggest that real estate is flat I think would be short sighted. Builders here can't build houses fast enough and houses on the market sell in days not weeks. Land prices here are still very reasonable. We built a house here that might cost 50% more in parts of Austin - a lot more bang for your buck here. The phase we built in is going to be built out inside of a year, even though it had a 2 year build out.

Closed-down restaurants like Taste of China, that are good locations but have no tenants

- No further construction at Walmart shopping center

These are two horrible bellwethers to choose.

That location for Taste of China was previously a Cigar bar/retaurant that didn't last long and Taste of China was disgustingly dirty inside and I'm sure only survived because of very cheap labor. But it's a horrible location... I forget it is there all the time until I'm driving by.

And the Walmart/Old Albertsons is in the same boat. That location is hard to get in and out of, and what huge business is going to go in there? Walmart seems to have enough space for the store it has there. Big empty grocery stores seem to only be reused if the local government buys it and transforms it into something owned by the city (See School in Hearne, and whatever is in the old Appletree over in Bryan.

Some good points: none of the restaurants that have closed recently came as any surprise to me: bad locations, bad food, bad service, bad scores from health dept., etc.

What a great thread..
I do take exception to the idea that home building is " slow" here. We bought an older 70's era place to use for football type weekend living 2 years ago. We have decided to turn the place into our retirement home over the next year to 18 months. I have talked to 4-7 builders/ remodelers over the last few weeks and they ALL say the same... "We are booked solid for at least a year" .....
I talked to em all about the new influx of people like me heading to B/CS starting about now and they all agree that " we" will change the face of the area over the next 20 years. As my generation retires and possibly hundreds of us a year " come home" to Aggieland we will be bringing the equivalent of those six figure job lifestyle AND tax base with us. We won't be earning those six figure incomes here but we will , mostly, continue to live and spend like the " dream job" people yall have been promised. Plus we will NOT be burdening the system with school age kids, targets for the cops etc that a 48 yr old engineer would bring . If only a hundred of us a year decide to retire in Gods Country the impact will be tremendous.

Short answer for the OP: No.

^^^^^^ This!. Especially the last sentence.

Just to be clear I am NOT anti-retiree...I hope to be one some day! But I've traveled in and lived in a lot of communities that seem to consist of well off retirees and not at all well off folks in their prime age groups, and said communities did not seem to be doing well. Quite a few places in Arizona and Florida come to mind.

Most developers are full of crap.
They pitch ideas to get buy in from cities/counties in terms of incentives.
They pitch ideas to stores/restaurants/hotels/whatever to get lease agreements.
They pitch ideas to investors to fund their snake oil business.

At the end of the day, they look at the bottom line of estimated cost vs estimated revenue vs capital raised and have to make a decision.
Many, if not most, never make it past the sales pitch phase.

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This is a revolving door community for the most part.

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One would think the bio-corridor would have helped with that situation, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen.

Maybe mfbarnes can teach us a thing or two about the O&G industry and how it can support our community.