Between the pickleball court idea and rec center, I think this is an elaborate scam to not have to sell it and have an actual loss.
Macy's Debacle - What went wrong [Staff Edit OP]
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Last: 5 hrs ago by Craig Regan 14
Yeah, seems to me they're protecting a huge capital loss from finalizing. The ongoing opex is easier to digest as they're formalizing their "plan."
I don't understand the what is exactly would go in rec center. Surely not just a big gym. The town has plenty of places to work out. What exactly will this include? Why is there a push for this? The last mayor really wanted a Y. Is there some survey that has people clamoring for a rec center whatever that is? I just don't run into anyone saying they wish had a Y or a rec center. Maybe I just don't know the right people
Big Rec Center...
The City builds a workout arena...
So we run private businesses out of business...
Reduce the tax base...
Costing the citizens millions...
But hey! We did a thing and it made some leaders look like they had a plan all along!
The City builds a workout arena...
So we run private businesses out of business...
Reduce the tax base...
Costing the citizens millions...
But hey! We did a thing and it made some leaders look like they had a plan all along!
I'd kinda like another option besides Golds out south. There are quite a few near campus.
MsDoubleD81 said:
I'd kinda like another option besides Golds out south. There are quite a few near campus.
Tons of options. Not listed is the gym near Lowes at Fitch. Not sure on what options they offer I do Tonal at home.
fitness facilities south college station
Here are some fitness facilities located in South College Station:
## Southside Rec Center
- **Address:** 633 Bizzell St, College Station, TX 77843
- **Phone:** (979) 458-6937
- **Rating:** 4.8 (53 reviews)
- **Amenities:** Basketball court, wheelchair accessible.
- **Website:** [Southside Rec Center](https://recsports.tamu.edu/facilities/southside-rec/)[1].
## The Cycle Station Fitness Studio
- **Address:** 707 Texas Ave Suite 100 E, College Station, TX 77840
- **Phone:** (512) 701-7030
- **Rating:** 5.0 (48 reviews)
- **Features:** Black-owned and women-owned, wheelchair accessible.
- **Website:** [The Cycle Station](https://www.thecyclestationfitnessstudio.com)[2].
## TruFit Athletic Clubs - Bryan Towne Center
- **Address:** 3155 Wildflower Dr, Bryan, TX 77802
- **Phone:** (979) 774-5364
- **Rating:** 4.5 (943 reviews)
- **Amenities:** Child care, sauna, basketball court.
- **Website:** [TruFit](https://trufitathleticclubs.com/gym-near-me/tru-fit-texas/college-station/bryan-towne-centre/)[3].
## MaretHouse Fitness Boutique Club
- **Address:** 1411 Wellborn Rd #300, College Station, TX 77840
- **Phone:** (979) 999-1820
- **Rating:** 5.0 (59 reviews)
- **Amenities:** Swimming pool, gender-neutral restroom.
- **Website:** [MaretHouse Fitness](https://www.marethousefitness.com)[4].
## Gold's Gym College Station
- **Address:** 200 Brentwood Dr E, College Station, TX 77840
- **Phone:** (979) 764-8000
- **Rating:** 3.9 (259 reviews)
- **Amenities:** Sauna, personal training.
- **Website:** [Gold's Gym](https://www.goldsgym.com/collegestationtx/)[5].
## Snap Fitness Bryan
- **Address:** 4282 Boonville Rd #130, Bryan, TX 77802
- **Phone:** (979) 776-7627
- **Rating:** 4.9 (50 reviews)
- **Website:** [Snap Fitness](https://www.snapfitness.com/us/gyms/bryan-tx/)[7].
## Crunch Fitness College Station
- **Location:** Near University Plaza.
- **Features:** Group fitness classes and personal trainers.
- **Website:** [Crunch Fitness](https://www.crunch.com/locations/college-station)[9].
These facilities offer a variety of workout options and amenities to cater to different fitness needs and preferences.
Citations:
[1] Southside Rec Center https://recsports.tamu.edu/facilities/southside-rec/
[2] The Cycle Station Fitness Studio https://www.thecyclestationfitnessstudio.com
[3] TruFit Athletic Clubs - Bryan Towne Center https://trufitathleticclubs.com/gym-near-me/tru-fit-texas/college-station/bryan-towne-centre/&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=gmb
[4] MaretHouse Fitness Boutique Club https://www.marethousefitness.com
[5] Gold's Gym College Station https://www.goldsgym.com/collegestationtx/
[6] Jazzercise Bryan College Station St Anthony's Catholic Church Gym http://jcls.jazzercise.com/facility/jazzercise-bryan-college-station-st-anthonys
[7] Snap Fitness Bryan https://www.snapfitness.com/us/gyms/bryan-tx/
[8] College Station, TX 77840 - Gold's Gym https://www.goldsgym.com/locations/tx/collegestation/
[9] College Station Gym with Personal Trainers & Group Fitness Classes https://www.crunch.com/locations/college-station
[10] College Station (South), TX | Hot Yoga, Pilates & Barre Workouts https://www.hotworx.net/studio/collegestation-south
[11] Best gym in College Station? : r/aggies - Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/aggies/comments/12l2ktz/best_gym_in_college_station/
[12] Orangetheory Gym Near You In Southern College Station, TX https://www.orangetheory.com/en-us/locations/texas/college-station/11655-fm-2154-suite-200
[13] 2501B Texas Ave S, College Station, TX 77840 - Planet Fitness https://www.planetfitness.com/gyms/college-station-tx/
[14] BCS Fitness: Personalized Fitness Programs, Nutrition, & Wellness ... https://www.bcsfitness.com
[15] Gym in College Station, TX, 77845 - Anytime Fitness https://www.anytimefitness.com/gyms/2939/college-station-tx-77845/
No material on this site is intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. See full Medical Disclaimer.
Not many of those are in South College Station.
The more I learn about this the more it smells like Ex Mayor Moonbeam was gonna get his YMCA no matter what it cost taxpayers, and whether we wanted it or not.
MsDoubleD81 said:
Not many of those are in South College Station.
Except for that huge Gold's at Tower Point, or the RowHouse on the 6 Feeder just north of BS&W.
There are plenty… PLENTY of places to work out. There's a group that walks at the mall, who are *very* well connected politically. This is what you need to focus on.
Someone needs to task Slippin' Jimmy down there with some fancy sneakers to get some answers.
MsDoubleD81 said:
Not many of those are in South College Station.
This request for more gyms/workout places "closer to South College station" seems way off topic since the mall is not in south college station.
I just did a google.maps search and found 7 gyms.closer to south college station than the mall... and that includes the planet fitness on Texas and Sw parkway
And the proposed Mall Rec Center will not be in south CS....
I'll just add these comments regarding the mayor's interview. All this talk about tax RATES is smoke and mirrors. School districts and cities always want to talk about the tax RATE. The mayor says we have a low or reasonable property tax RATE. Well, total property tax collected, scaled to be per housing unit or per capita, is a much more informative measure of tax burden. It represents the amount of money the city is collecting from its citizens via the property tax, and spending. If you want to talk about efficiency, you should talk about total spending, total tax collections that fund that spending. Total property tax dollars per citizen or per housing unit is what should be compared across cities.
When property values go up 10% and a city cuts the tax rate 5%, that is not a reduction in the tax bill presented to homeowners. That is not a reduction in the money the city gets to spend. Efficiency is low spending per service provided, or low spending per person, or low spending per housing unit. It is not a low tax rate.
Also, he says 'opportunity cost'. Well, if we had not purchased Macys, $7.5 million in 2022 would be worth what, today, if properly invested? Or, since the city is not going to buy into the stock market (I trust!), the city could have paid off $7.5 million of bond debt in 2022. That's one measure of the opportunity cost. But there is more, since the city not only bought Macy's but impeded a private development. What is the opportunity cost of impeding that private development? We lost the tax dollars that would be flowing into the city from the private business investment that was, lets say, 'crowded out' by the city's purchase of Macys. And, with that private investment, the city would also have not incurred those ongoing monthly charges to maintain that old Macy's building. So the cost of purchasing Macys + impeding the private alternative was $7.5 million in 2022, plus yearly tax revenue, minus not paying monthly maintenance costs to keep Macy's from deteriorating. And every month that old Macy's sits there, the costs (maintenance costs minus lost tax revenue) keep increasing. Yet the COCS - even Yancy - sit around wondering how they can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, while monies continue to flow out of city coffers.
(Yes, if we sell the place for $3 million at some future date, count that as a positive in this calculation.)
As someone(s) said earlier in this thread, why did COCS pay so much more than the appraisal, however, imperfect, and so much more than the transaction price from six months earlier?
When property values go up 10% and a city cuts the tax rate 5%, that is not a reduction in the tax bill presented to homeowners. That is not a reduction in the money the city gets to spend. Efficiency is low spending per service provided, or low spending per person, or low spending per housing unit. It is not a low tax rate.
Also, he says 'opportunity cost'. Well, if we had not purchased Macys, $7.5 million in 2022 would be worth what, today, if properly invested? Or, since the city is not going to buy into the stock market (I trust!), the city could have paid off $7.5 million of bond debt in 2022. That's one measure of the opportunity cost. But there is more, since the city not only bought Macy's but impeded a private development. What is the opportunity cost of impeding that private development? We lost the tax dollars that would be flowing into the city from the private business investment that was, lets say, 'crowded out' by the city's purchase of Macys. And, with that private investment, the city would also have not incurred those ongoing monthly charges to maintain that old Macy's building. So the cost of purchasing Macys + impeding the private alternative was $7.5 million in 2022, plus yearly tax revenue, minus not paying monthly maintenance costs to keep Macy's from deteriorating. And every month that old Macy's sits there, the costs (maintenance costs minus lost tax revenue) keep increasing. Yet the COCS - even Yancy - sit around wondering how they can turn a sow's ear into a silk purse, while monies continue to flow out of city coffers.
(Yes, if we sell the place for $3 million at some future date, count that as a positive in this calculation.)
As someone(s) said earlier in this thread, why did COCS pay so much more than the appraisal, however, imperfect, and so much more than the transaction price from six months earlier?
Another thought, if the rec center is such a good business decision for the mall get CBL to foot the bill for construction. The city can operate it.
What is driving these ideas and decisions?
I honestly don't understand the underlying philosophy of civic government at play here.
The city needs control?
Do what others do?
I want my name on some plaques on buildings?
I honestly don't understand the underlying philosophy of civic government at play here.
The city needs control?
Do what others do?
I want my name on some plaques on buildings?
Sell the property
Price it low, get rid of it
Price it low, get rid of it
I'm sorry, I haven't watched the interview, did the mayor imply that the City bought the building from Macy's? If so, that's not true.Hornbeck said:
One of his talking points was that Macy's owned the building, and they could sell it for storage.
I have to believe that Macy's covenants would include you can't sell to a storage place, or a place of worship. I assume that the entity that owned the mall before CBL acted somewhat like an HOA. Can one of you commercial real estate types add some color here? The computer nerd has no clue.
This may have already been covered. The building sold for $3.50M, from Macy's to West Valley JMYL, LP in January of 2022. The City subsequently acquired the building for well north of $7MM, nine months later, in October of 2022, from JMYL, LP. The appraisal districts property deed history seems to be curiously missing the deed from Macy's to JMYL, LP, and shows a deed record from Macy's to the City of CS, which doesn't exist.
Correct, storage would not be allowed without an amendment to the owners association covenants, which would require approval from CBL, JC Penny, Dillard's, and the owners of the other boxes. They would have no reason to approve mini storage as a use, and would not. That's smoke and mirrors by the mayor.
Quote:
What is driving these ideas and decisions?
I honestly don't understand the underlying philosophy of civic government at play here.
Nah, she was able to save the Freddy Spaghetti concert in less than 24 hours and somehow make the Harvest Fest a profitable venture for her city.
I think this is more their Jamm
I think this is more their Jamm
That's what I thought, but just wanted to get that out there.
Is the city manager somehow immune to being dismissed? Given the claim by elected officials that he refuses or delays answering questions from those same elected officials, I am not sure why he still has a job. Further, if he was in charge during all of this, can he be dismissed for cause? But maybe there is more to the story.
(Apologies if this was covered above.)
(Apologies if this was covered above.)
If only we had Ron Swanson running the city.
It's as if they are scared of him.
Does he work for them? They seem to think it's the other way around.
Does he work for them? They seem to think it's the other way around.
REComBKR85 said:
This may have already been covered. The building sold for $3.50M, from Macy's to West Valley JMYL, LP in January of 2022. The City subsequently acquired the building for well north of $7MM, nine months later, in October of 2022, from JMYL, LP. The appraisal districts property deed history seems to be curiously missing the deed from Macy's to JMYL, LP, and shows a deed record from Macy's to the City of CS, which doesn't exist.
The appraisal district may not have recorded when the property changed hands, but it's here at the Brazos Co. county clerk search.
West Valley JMYL, according to the deed, is at 227 Pawnee St. in San Marcos CA, suite 101, and as of 2018 to present shows up as Steele Roofing. It's even in the Street View, but unrelated to the Tyler company of the same name. This is their website. Why would a California roofing company buy the Macy's building under a false name, and if they aren't, who's hijacking their address? The plot thickens.
I get the impression that there's politics afoot between the council member getting stalled and the mayor. The mayor knows this looks bad.tamufan said:
Is the city manager somehow immune to being dismissed? Given the claim by elected officials that he refuses or delays answering questions from those same elected officials, I am not sure why he still has a job. Further, if he was in charge during all of this, can he be dismissed for cause? But maybe there is more to the story.
(Apologies if this was covered above.)
For those that wished to address council directly about this.
The next full council meeting agenda has yet to be posted. There was a meeting at 10am this morning
The next full council meeting agenda has yet to be posted. There was a meeting at 10am this morning
they held the property less than a year so it was a short-term capital gain which would be taxed as ordinary income
A big tax bill even though they doubled their money
A big tax bill even though they doubled their money
Craig Regan 14 said:
For those that wished to address council directly about this.
The next full council meeting agenda has yet to be posted. There was a meeting at 10am this morning
We need at least 10 to get 10 minutes to speak. Even if you don't want to speak, please sign up with us and come for moral support. Clap really loud, too.
Again, I'm not a mathematician, but I did a little bar napkin figuring.
Assuming Lewis bought for $3.75M, Property taxes to the city alone would be ~$20k / yr. Close to double that from CSISD. Now, assuming he did a total revenue of $1M a year, tax revenue to the city would be ~15k / yr. Now, that's not much, but... Increased foot traffic to the mall and increased tax revenue there, he's paying the Common Area Maintenance, not the taxpayers, and there's the other hidden taxes in utility payments, making it tough to figure, but we're not way underwater on a moldy building we paid 2x market for, along with the $120k a year we spend on it.
For someone that has "Economics" in his Ph.D, the mayor sure looks like "Bernie Madoff" to this Aggie.
Assuming Lewis bought for $3.75M, Property taxes to the city alone would be ~$20k / yr. Close to double that from CSISD. Now, assuming he did a total revenue of $1M a year, tax revenue to the city would be ~15k / yr. Now, that's not much, but... Increased foot traffic to the mall and increased tax revenue there, he's paying the Common Area Maintenance, not the taxpayers, and there's the other hidden taxes in utility payments, making it tough to figure, but we're not way underwater on a moldy building we paid 2x market for, along with the $120k a year we spend on it.
For someone that has "Economics" in his Ph.D, the mayor sure looks like "Bernie Madoff" to this Aggie.
Can't just a couple speak at the beginning under "hear visitors"? Each person gets 3 minutes. Or is Macy's on the agenda?
We could. Craig was trying to get more time, with a group of 10 concerned citizens. I think we get 10 minutes either way, even if it's not on the agenda.
Short of a pitchfork mob, I think this is a way to get a fair amount of time to speak
Short of a pitchfork mob, I think this is a way to get a fair amount of time to speak
My suggestion is put a group together and use the 10mins in a concise, factual, pointed message with 100 (or whatever) additional signatories. That will be much better than 3-4 of you giving potentially disjointed messages for 3mins each.
REComBKR85 said:
The building sold for $3.50M, from Macy's to West Valley JMYL, LP in January of 2022. The City subsequently acquired the building for well north of $7MM, nine months later, in October of 2022, from JMYL, LP. The appraisal districts property deed history seems to be curiously missing the deed from Macy's to JMYL, LP, and shows a deed record from Macy's to the City of CS, which doesn't exist.
Can someone map this timeline of the City trying to buy the property to Jim Lewis effort to buy the property?
Something smells here, because the Mayor said in the interview that the City's efforts predated Jim Lewis efforts, yet Jim Lewis was unaware that the City was actively bidding against him while he was sharing the details of his deal with the city (per the FOIA dump)!
Furthermore, if the city knew there was a private company about to pull the trigger, why didn't they stop trying to acquire it themselves - this totally flies in the face of what the mayor said about acquiring it because the private sector only wanted a storage compoany!?!? I kind of wish WTAW would have dug a little deeper on the interview about the timing of the private interest in acquiring the building conflicting with the City's interest.
Even looking at the rate they delude themselves. A year or so ago I posted on here with a list of 21 cities in Texas. The 10 that were immediately larger and smaller than College Station. CS was pretty much smack in the middle of the pack. Some cities like the Woodlands had tax rates that were substantially lower. CS DOES NOT have a low tax rate compared to cities of its like size. It has tax rates that are average and roof top values higher than many comparable cities (see Bryan next door).tamufan said:
All this talk about tax RATES is smoke and mirrors. School districts and cities always want to talk about the tax RATE.
May 11 2022 Ruiz wanted to have an agreement with Macys owner with Lewis help so it seems like all was good then
June 9th Lewis sends email to Ruiz saying she screwed him So a lot changed in 3 1/2 weeks
June 9th Lewis sends email to Ruiz saying she screwed him So a lot changed in 3 1/2 weeks