Susan Hilton College Station Real Estate
Realtor & Vice President of Sales of Bryan College Station Real Estate
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Living Here Category
Meeting Energy Demands During a Texas Summer in College Station
May 21st, 2012 Categories: Living Here, News
Texas summers are hot. And, for those of us willing to face the statistics, it only looks like they’re getting hotter. But that’s fine, so long as we have a roof over our heads with well ventilated air-conditioning, and a car with enough antifreeze to get us to and from work without having to succumb to the overbearing outside heat. Right?
Meeting the energy demands of the State of Texas hasn’t been any real issue for many years. But after the overpowering heat of last year’s summer, and the extended heat waves that threatened to bring an entire energy industry crashing down, people are beginning to wonder. For the first time in a long time, people are beginning to have real concerns as to whether the state of Texas is ready to meet their energy needs. And whether you live in Dallas, San Antonio, or Bryan-College Station, if the state isn’t ready to meet our demands for energy consumption, you are going to feel it.
So why the sudden overwhelming demand? Texas has managed to meet energy needs for decades, so why is the state in a sudden crunch? Some might say the effects of global warming are causing our homes to struggle resisting the climbing heat; and last year’s record breaking weather could hardly be offered as a rebuttal. But there are numerous other factors, the most prominent of which is the climbing growth of Texas’ population and economy.
In the last decade alone, Texas’ population has grown by over 4.2 million residents. Texas House Speaker, Joe Straus himself, claims that Texas has “by far the largest electric usage of any state—roughly equivalent to Kansas, Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Mississippi combined.” That is a lot of electricity. It helps that Texas is also one of the largest states in the Nation, and quite consistently the hottest. But there is no getting around the fact that Texas’ economy is growing rapidly, and this economic prosperity is driving up electric demands at a rate that would put many other nations across the globe in a back-breaking position.
So, as a Bryan or College Station home owner, the next obvious question is: will Texas manage to meet the energy requirements for the Summer of 2012, and the several, if not innumerable summers following? The answer is yes. Texas will meet the energy demands of the state. Why? Because it has to.
To offer a (perhaps) more credible answer to the above question, Governor Rick Perry confidently proclaims that “based on current weather expectations, Texas has the capacity to meet consumer needs over the 2012 summer months.” Even Lt. Governor David Dewhurst, referring to the record hot summer of 2011, claims that “since then, the Legislature has worked closely with state agencies and generators across Texas to ensure we are prepared for 2012.”
All this political talk vaguely ensures that everything will be okay and whatnot. But the real question is how are they going to ensure we will meet the energy demands of 2012. Governor Rick Perry has this to say:
“To prepare for this summer the Public Utility Commission and ERCOT have taken some specific steps. The PUC is working with transmission and distribution companies to make better use of demand-response programs, which were created as part of their energy-efficiency requirement. ERCOT is continuing to expand its interruptible load programs, which allow large industrial and commercial users to voluntarily reduce consumption during periods of peak usage.”
So in laymen’s terms, the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and the Electric Reliability Council Of Texas (ERCOT) are taking measures to ensure better energy efficiency requirements throughout the state, and to work on their response programs to unexpected/sudden increased consumer demands (from extended heat waves, etc.).
Efficiency and reliability are all good and great, but another matter, probably the most important matter, is the development of new, affordable, and reusable energy sources. These solve all the problems and are the solutions to long-term energy demands. So what is Texas doing about this?
In Lt. Governor David Dewhurst’s report on future energy demands, he claims that “Texas’ energy resources are as diverse and abundant as our booming population.” Believe it or not, this is almost an understatement. Texas has remained at the forefront of the nation’s energy industry, and through the use and gradual growth of diverse, renewable energy sources, Texas is actually paving the way for the entire Nation’s future energy policy. Texas is currently invested in Wind Energy, Hydropower, Ocean Power, Hydrogen, and all of the non-renewable fuels, from Nuclear to oil to natural gases. In fact, Texas’ growing use of wind turbines has lead the nation in the amount and percentage of energy produced, reaching over 3% of the states’ energy production in 2007, and climbing steadily ever since. Texas is also ranked first in the nation for solar resource potential, having a virtually unlimited solar energy supply.
All statistics aside, the irrefutable reason that Texas is pushing and leading the nation in the direction of new, innovative energy sources is because of the high demand in our state. Texas needs more energy to match the growing population, industry, and rising heat. And, as humans, we respond well to necessity. Texas will meet the energy requirements for 2012, and as the population grows and the summers remain hot as ever, Texas will continue to meet the energy requirements due to the growing investments and discoveries in the energy industry. So residents of Bryan and College Station, rest assured: this summer shouldn’t get too hot, so long as you stay indoors.
PS – Susan Hilton is Bryan College Station, Texas’ real estate specialist in foreclosure sales and real estate agent career building so if you need help – CALL! 979-219-3970
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Demolition and Renewal: a History of the Plaza Hotel in College Station
May 19th, 2012 Categories: Community Events, Foreclosures, Living Here, Texas A&M University
Almost every Bryan/College Station resident would admit to driving past the abandoned Plaza Hotel occasionally in their weekly routine, if not daily. The seventeen story concrete shell stands at the intersection of Texas Avenue and University Drive, arguably the two busiest streets in the whole city. And after 6:30am on Thursday, May 24th 2012, this once pivotal structure will be reduced to nothing more than a pile of shattered concrete and useless rubble.
If you’ve driven through the city of College Station in the past few weeks, it’s likely that you’ve noticed the unusual vacancy of the Plaza Hotel. Not that you would be expected to notice a parking lot or diminished business: instead, it is the actual building itself which you would’ve noticed. The windows of various apartments and hotel rooms appear to almost open up to the sky behind the structure. I myself have viewed this spectacle on a few sunset evenings, when the sky behind the Plaza Hotel was painted with the various colors of sunset, the different tones of orange, pink, or Easter purple leaking through the hollowed frame of the seventeen story structure. It’s more than evident then, peering up through the cracks in the concrete frame, to understand how completely abandoned the Plaza Hotel had become. And to hear now that the building will be imploded this upcoming Thursday, you might not be entirely surprised.
But how did this pivotal structure, the hotel that has had such a powerful presence in the history of our growing city, come to such an abrupt end? In such instances as this, it is sometimes important to understand the buildings past in order to appreciate the present circumstances.
What we know today as the Plaza Hotel actually began as a Ramada Inn, the first foundations of which were laid in the late 1950s. Joe Ferreri, the constructor of the Ramada Inn, was approached in the 1950s by Earl Rudder of Texas A&M. Attracted to Ferreri’s success as a drive-inn restaurant owner, Rudder approached Joe with the proposition to construct a badly needed hotel on the Corner of Texas Avenue and University. After appearing hesitant about the project due to his lack of experience in the hotel industry, Rudder encouraged him forward, getting the young businessman to wonder how much different it could be than the food industry.
So Joe began to build. By 1960 the Ramada Inn opened, looking far different than the Plaza Hotel that we know today. The Ramada had been a quaint, two story Inn with an Olympic swimming pool, faculty club, banquet hall, and just over 150 rooms. But this quiet corner served as a focal point for the College Station and Texas A&M community.
The Ramada Inn had immediate success and was consistently pushed to over 90% of its overall capacity. In fact, the hotel had such great business that Ferreri was pressed to expand. In 1980 he began the construction of a new high-rise for his Hotel, and in just one year an additional seventeen story tower was built: making the shell of the structure that you see today.
But despite the initial success of Ferreri’s expanded hotel and the overall consistent business he was receiving from the community at large, only a few years after the construction of the Hotel’s new high-rise, Joe Ferreri was forced to sell the Ramada Inn. In the early 1980s there was a major economic recession, much like the most recent economic events of the late 21st Century. Rising interest rates on the debts incurred from Ferreri’s construction, along with the overall state of the economy and slowing business, forced Ferreri out of his prized construction. The result was a loss of over 32 million dollars in assets and personal funds. Ferreri was left only with his home, a single car, and his family.
Since then what began as the Ramada Inn has switched ownership several times, becoming most recently what it is known as today: the Plaza Hotel. And it would appear that a similar fate befell the success of the Plaza Hotel’s business, the inevitable slip to bankruptcy that caused the hotel to close its doors for the last time in 2010.
Unfortunately, the story does not end there. After the abandonment of the Plaza Hotel, the twelve acre site of prime real-estate has become a hot-spot for crime, vandalism, and drug use. Criminals have been simply unable to avoid the alluring pull of an abandoned, seventeen story shelter full of furniture, walls, and glass. Security has been gradually increasing over the past few months, but authorities have become hard-pressed for the funds to support the coverage of such a broad area when the use of civil authorities is generally looked for elsewhere. So what is the result? Demolition.
The demolition project has been delegated to the local Civil Engineering Company, Mitchell and Morgan. Veronica Morgan is the lead Civil Engineer in charge of the implosion, which is currently set to occur around 6:30am this Thursday, the 24th of May. The event will be free and open to the public. Veronica Morgan herself hopes the implosion “will be an event for the community.” Many are certainly looking forward to the removal of the towering Plaza Hotel, which has been described by as an ‘eyesore’ to the community at large.
While future construction in the Plaza Hotel area is still unclear (there has been speculation about student housing, shopping/eating centers, night clubs, etc.), it is obvious and in popular demand that the archaic, outdated shell of the 1960s Ramada Inn be destroyed and replaced with a more aesthetically appealing structure. While the overall value of the land has decreased 28.7% from 2008 to 2010, it is still located in a prime location with an excellent promise of prosperous business. The city allegedly has had multiple propositions processed over the past several months, and the entire community is excited to find out what the future will hold.
PS – Susan Hilton is Bryan College Station, Texas’ real estate specialist in foreclosure sales and real estate agent career building so if you need help – CALL! 979-219-3970
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Would You like Some Lemonade? Help Our Brazos Valley Kids!
May 16th, 2012 Categories: Community Events, Family, Living Here
Driving through the twin cities a couple weeks ago, Bryan and College Station, it was not unlikely that you ran upon a lemonade stand or two. These small makeshift stands littered the city and were stationed upon many street corners and in front of numerous bigger businesses. Star wars characters greeted some customers, while enthused young girls in yellow shirts and bows sold lemonade to others. There were kids who chose to blow bubbles to draw in his customers, while other kids opted for large booths with loud music to draw in attention. And of course, there was the always traditional modest sized lemonade stand and signs operated by some.
When kids were asked what they were going to do with the money they earned, some replied they were going to “spend it!” Others decided to give the money they raised to their church. The main point is that the children learned how to work for money and learned that they had the freedom to decide what they were going to do with the profit they earned. They were allowed to feel grown up and allowed a taste of the real world. This type of experience excites children and allows them the freedom to make decisions for themselves.
Sunday May 6 was Lemonade Day in 31 cities across America and Canada, including Bryan and College Station. When Lemonade Day first began, it included about 2,700 kids. Now, more than 120,000 kids across these 31 cities participate in the day. Lemonade Day was started as a program to give experience to children, teaching them entrepreneurship skills. Kids learn to plan, start, and operate a business through their experiences with Lemonade Day.
Kids were offered the chance to mark their lemonade stands on a map online that would be available to the community on Lemonade Day. The stand locations were given the opportunity to be published not only to the online map, but also to Facebook, Twitter, and via email.
The goal is to prepare children to be empowered future citizens. Upon registering, each child received a backpack that contained an Entrepreneur Workbook, teaching them 14 lessons that are a central part of Lemonade Day. They learned how to create budgets, how to set profit-making goals, how to serve customers, how to repay investors, and how to give back to the community. In addition to learning how to perform these skills, they also learned the value of the skills. The children are also taught how to set goals for themselves, how to problem solve, and how to gain self-esteem which will aid them in their future endeavors for success.
On Lemonade Day, children are allowed to keep all of the money that they make and are encouraged by adults to spend some of their money, save some of it, and share some of it with others less fortunate.
Lemonade Day teaches kids a very special and specific set of skills from financial literacy and economics, to college readiness and career, to life skills and personal development, and of course academics. The financial literacy and economics that the kids learn include subjects like capital equipment and consumables, supply and demand, credit, debt, gross and net income, marginal utility, return on investment and compound interest. To prepare kids for college, they are exposed to critical thinking and collaboration, interest in attending college, civic responsibility, customer service, teamwork and problem solving and presentation skills and design. Children also learn life skills and personal development such as leadership, the belief that attaining goals is within reach, personal productivity, self-direction and time management, social responsibility and charity, high order thinking and social skills and self confidence. The day also increases the kids’ academic capacities such as math calculations, reading and interpreting data, and oral and written communication.
Lemonade Day offers an online website for kids to register and sign up on. Lemonade Day sponsors and partners include many businesses and individuals in the area, including Dick and Linda Lester, Lenae Heubner, Atmos Energy, Double Dave’s Pizzaworks, James and Paula Lancaster, Research Valley, Len and Nancy Berry, Mathnasium, Caldwell Companies, AgniTEK, Wells Fargo, Research Valley Funds, Blue Baker, Documation, Copy Corner, Kroger, Ecolyse, Brazos Valley Small Business Development Center, College Station ISD, Bryan Broadcasting, The Eagle, Chamber of Commerce, Bryan ISD, Sideshow Creative, the City of College Station, KBTX Media, Brazos Monthly, KAMU, Mays Business School, AbouTown Press, KAGS, and the City of Bryan.
If you like to help out with and work with children, then you may want to consider becoming a volunteer for Lemonade Day. Volunteers are necessary to run Lemonade Day and are needed to stuff backpacks that are given out to the children to teach them entrepreneurship, spread the news about Lemonade Day by distributing materials to local schools and youth organizations, register youth to participate at special events going on in the community, and lastly you can help out by blogging, tweeting, or sharing information about Lemonade Day online or through Facebook!
PS – Susan Hilton is Bryan College Station, Texas’ real estate specialist in foreclosure sales and real estate agent career building so if you need help – CALL! 979-219-3970
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Want to Chill with Yogurt in Aggieland?
May 15th, 2012 Categories: Living Here, Where Am I?
Cooling down on warmer days is a necessity when you live in College Station, Texas. The highs in the summer exceed 100°F and even just driving in your car can cause you to sweat profusely. Thankfully, we have learned different coping mechanisms to help dial down the severity of the heat. Personally, I carry prefer ice packs and cool rags when I’m really desperate, but I’ve also become partial to large glasses of sweet iced tea. Spending the hottest hours of the day in the air conditioning or at the local pool are other popular options. Still, others have discovered the many frozen yogurt businesses that have popped up around town.
When Spoons Yogurt came to College Station, I heard the rumors. I still remember the frenzy it caused. Every night, the line to get frozen yogurt from Spoons went well out of the door. Students wore t-shirts with Spoons logo plastered across the front, and conversations often centered around how many frequent spooner rewards kids had racked up. After buying a certain amount of frozen yogurt, you won a free shirt or one of several prize options.
Over the next few years, I remember watching several frozen yogurt places pop up around town. Now, Aggieland would not be complete without its array of frozen yogurt shops. Spoons has three locations total now, and six other companies have also appeared recently around the town including Red Mango, Yogurtland, Froyoyo, Tutti Frutti, Happy Yogurt, and Project: Yogurt.
This craze began six years ago in South Korea, eventually crossing the Pacific over into California. The first froyo chain, Pinkberry, opened in the US opened in West Hollywood in 2005. The store was opened in a location with bad parking conditions, the owner never anticipated how successful her business would be. People flocked to Pinkberry, parking illegally on the blocks surrounding the store, desperate for their froyo. The city was reported to have been taking in close to $15,000 each month from parking tickets from Pinkberry customers alone.
Customers love the concept of self-served, pay-by-weight dessert. It gives the customer more freedom than he or she has ever before had. Upon walking in, you can select what size bowl you want, then what flavors of frozen yogurt you prefer. Each froyo machine contains three flavors, two individual flavors and one that is a combination of the other two. Individuals are also allowed as many sample cups as they want to sample as many or as few flavors as they prefer. Customers can fill their bowl with however many flavors, and however much they would like of each flavor. After selecting the froyo, customers make their way to the toppings bar. A plentiful selection of chopped fruits and berries are offered to sprinkle onto your frozen yogurt. Cereals, granola, and nuts abound in another topping section, and finally candy bar bits and pieces are also available. After topping your froyo, you can cover your creation in any variety of sauces or whipped cream.
One of the strongest attractions to frozen yogurt is the fact that if you exclude the toppings, the frozen yogurt itself is about half the calories of ice cream, high in calcium, non fat, and contains millions of probiotics including lactobacillus bulgaricus and streptococcus thermophilus. These live and active cultures offer your body many health benefits and boost your immune system, increase joint health, and help with flexibility. Not only does froyo appeal to the individual with a sweet tooth, but also to the health conscious individual looking for a healthy option for dessert.
Spoons Yogurt
Spoons Yogurt was started by a group of students in a Mays Business Fellows program on campus working on a project for a business model. The students then pitched their idea to a former Aggie who was anxious to open a business in the area. Spoons quickly became one of the most successful new businesses in College Station.
Popular Flavors: Chocolate Malt Milkshake, Snickerdoodle, and Root Beer Float
Price Per Ounce: $0.39
Addresses:
| 1509 South Texas Avenue College Station, TX 77840 (979) 446-0085 |
2305 Boonville Road Bryan, TX 77808 (979) 776-5670 |
943 William D. Fitch Parkway College Station, TX 77845 (512) -535-4883 |
Website: spoonsyogurt.com
Project: Yogurt
This business donates 10 percent of sales to charities in town. Partnering with five local non-profit organizations in the area, Project: Yogurt also provides a drop box for customers to donate change or bills to the charities. Project: Yogurt was able to donate $1,300 to charities in the first quarter the store was opened.
Popular Flavors: Dreamy Chocolate, Birthday Cake, and So Espresso
Price Per Ounce: $0.39
Address:
725 East Villa Maria
Bryan, TX 77802
(979) 823-1783
Website: projectyogurt.com
Red Mango
This business is part of a Korean-based chain headquartered in Dallas and an international franchise. Like Pinkberry, it originated on the West Coast and began the froyo trend. Red Mango also offers fruit smoothies and parfaits.
Popular Flavors: Pomegranate, Madagascar Vanilla, and Raspberry Cheesecake
Price Per Ounce: $0.39
Address:
614 Holleman Drive East
College Station, TX 77840
(979) 696-1840
Website: redmangousa.com
Froyoyo
Froyoyo not only sells your typical frozen yogurt, they also offer a special type of froyo called “Only 8.” This signifies that certain froyos they serve is made up of the following eight things: water, fructose, grade A Kosher whey, whey protein concentrate, maltodextrin, natural flavoring and stabilizers, calcium, and active yogurt cultures.
Popular Flavors: Yellow Cake Batter, “Only 8” Vanilla, and Peanut Butter
Price Per Ounce: $0.39
Address:
913 Harvey Road
College Station, TX 77840
(979) 703-4465
Website: froyoyo.com
Yogurtland
This business is one of over 130 locations nationwide. They offer unusual toppings that keep customers on their toes, such as Asian red beans and lychee fruits. Yogurtland creates their own proprietary frozen yogurt, allowing them to offer the lowest prices for froyo in town ($0.30 per ounce).
Fruit-infused water is free to all guests as well.
Popular Flavors: Double Cookies and Cream, Key Lime Bar, and Fresh Strawberry
Price Per Ounce: $0.30
Address:
1800 South Texas Avenue
College Station, TX 77840
(979) 693-1500
Website: yogurt-land.com
So when you are driving around College Station and are ready for a cup of frozen yogurt… Call me! I might meet you there.
PS - Susan Hilton is Bryan College Station, Texas’ real estate specialist in foreclosure sales and real estate agent career building so if you need help – CALL! 979-219-3970
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Sidewalks of Castlegate
May 3rd, 2012 Categories: Community Events
This might be one of the most overlooked amenities in the Castlegate Subdivision. If you, live there and have not utilized them, you are missing out. These sidewalks cover most of the neighborhood and provide a shortcut to Forest Ridge Elementary. Dogs, kids, and runners love them.
You have seen them, dogs and their owners. Dogs love the the sidewalks as they lead the way on their leashes. Most dog walkers have real doggy bags on their leashes. It is exciting to see and know that the sidewalks are clean of debris for everyone. The sidewalks are wide enough for dogs and their owners can walk and still give way to other pedestrians. If you have a beagle, like me, you know that having a wide sidewalk helps. I promise, my beagle Riley-Puppy, does not lift his nose from the ground the whole time we are on a walk. Sometimes I think he is hunting for a beagle that smells just like him. He will always leads the way around the 2.25 mile sidewalk straight to our front door.
Kids love the sidewalks because it leads them straight to Forest Ridge in the morning. It is thrilling to see all the parents that ride their bikes next to their kids every morning. Kids need sidewalks to ride bikes. Recently, I saw that the sidewalk was cleared of all the underbrush that was between the sidewalk, fence and Forest Ridge. This way kids can be seen. Thank you, city of College Station and Castlegate HOA!
You may not know this, but the sidewalk changes in elevation more than you realize. You do not notice the hills in the car, but when you are running your legs will not miss them. These sidewalks are so much better than running on graded street. There is a half mile downhill, and you guessed it, a half mile uphill around the northeast sidewalk. There are flats, curves, wooden bridges and lots of turn offs that lead to other streets in the neighborhood. Read some of the shirts people are wearing while running. You will see several people with running event shirts while training on these sidewalks. 5K, 10K, ½ marathons and marathons shirts are running past you all the time.
Hopefully, if you have not utilized the sidewalk in Castlegate, you will now. Spring is among us so get out there and walk your dog, ask your kid if they want to be a bike rider today or go for a 10 K run.
Keep them clean and keep it classy.
Steve Santos “My REALTOR”
PS - I’m Steve Santos, I do what I say I will do, some times more just never less
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