El Paso Texas Real Estate Daily

An agreement that would bring an upscale shopping center to El Paso could be a week away. The owner of the Farah property, Paul Foster, and developer, Regency Centers, are asking for 12 million to demolish the Farah building.

If they can come to an agreement, most of the city representatives are willing to give an eight million dollar tax break by freezing the property value for the Farah property and rebating sales tax dollars generated by retailers in the new shopping center.

However, City representative for district one, Ann Morgan Lily said her vote would be contingent on the shopping center being more like a lifestyle center; something different from other local shopping centers.  The majority of council agreed that the center would forfeit the city’s money if they acquired more than ten percent of their retailers locally.

“If you come to the city and ask for a subsidy or tax rebate there will be conditions you must meet.  We’re not just going to give it to you without any conditions,” said Emma Acosta, the district three representative.

The city is already seeing a large outburst of public opinion in the form of petitions with hundreds of signatures for, but mostly against the deal.  If there is an agreement, then the county would be asked to put in four million.

On Thursday the city will decide if to vote on the deal in a special meeting Monday or during city council on Tuesday.

Credits: KDBC

The South Texas Medical Center is the hub of San Antonio’s multibillion-dollar health care industry.

By early next year, it will also be the home of a $10 million Spectrum Athletic Club.

Spectrum is based in El Segundo, Calif., and San Antonio. The company already operates 12 athletic clubs in Southern California and another eight in the Alamo City.

Spectrum President and CEO Matthew Stevens says the company, in a unique partnership with the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, plans to develop a 40,000-square-foot athletic club in the heart of the Medical Center. Stevens says it will be located off of Merton Minter Boulevard near Babcock Road and should be open by the spring of 2009.

Credits: San Antonio Biz Journals

The city will use $8 million in bond money to remove a leaky fountain and fix the cracked floor on the plaza of the Judson F. Williams Convention Center, but property owners won’t pay for it.

The El Paso City Council agreed to use the revenue of the sale of the bonds to pay for the improvements, and to use the Hotel Occupancy Tax to repay the debt.

“Taxpayers in El Paso are not paying for the improvements,” said William Studer, deputy city manager.

Bonds will be sold over 20 years at an interest rate not to exceed 5.95 percent, which means the city could end up paying up to $14 million.

The higher-than-usual interest — which city officials deemed normal for this type of transaction — bothered West Side resident Ric Schecter, who said the proposed plan was not effective.

“It will cost you ($14 million) to do an $8 million project,” he said. “Certainly, you can find a better way to finance this project.”

City officials, though, said the sale of bonds is a viable way to fix the broken-down fountain near the Abraham Chávez Theatre and the cracked floor of the plaza that came as a result of water leaks in the fountain.

A $20 million expansion and renovation project of the convention center in 2001 included the cracked floor and fountain, but when money began to run out, those two projects were scrapped.

Still, Eastridge/Mid-Valley city Rep. Steve Ortega said getting the projects done is important because they will help the city attract more visitors. “To bring big conventions to El Paso, we need to make sure our facilities are up to par,” he said.

Credits: El Paso Times