HomeMy WebLinkAboutEDA 2013-07-26 Minutes City of North Richland Hills Economic Development Advisory Committee
City of North Richland Hills Council Workroom
Friday, July 26, 2013
MINUTES
Board Members Present:
Ms. Cindy Brewington, Edward Jones
Mr. Bob Brown, Bates Container
Ms. Janet Golightly, Golightly's Gallery
Mr. Jim Makens, The Makens Company
Mr. Randy Moresi, North Hills Hospital
Mr. Mark Wood, Howe/Wood & Company
Board Members Absent:
Mr Mike Rigby, Liberty Bank
Mr. Thomas Hervey, Allen Samuels Dodge Hyundai
Representatives for Absent Board Members.
Mr. Kevin Coder for Allen Samuels Dodge Hyundai
Guests:
Steve Koons, Community improvement Task Force & Oversight Committee
Staff Present.
Mr. Mark Hindman, City Manager, City of NRH
Mr. Craig Hulse, Economic Development Director, City of NRH
Mr. Robert Lung, Economic Development Specialist, City of NRH
Ms Phyl Baloga, Administrative Secretary, City of NRH
The Economic Development Advisory Committee was called to order at 11.46 a.m. by
Jim Makens. The minutes from our April 25, 2013 meeting were approved
unanimously. Jim Makens turned the meeting over to Craig Hulse at which point he
welcomed everyone.
UPDATES
North Richland Hills Economy
The City of North Richland Hills is continuing to experience positive economic growth.
NRH has gained over 60 new businesses in the last two years. However, in regard to
taxable sales, the City is currently trailing from last year because of the increased of on
and off ramp closures. Eleven ramps have closed during the road construction, some
being permanent. As mentioned before, this calendar year will be the most
encumbersome due to the number of ramp closures but the City should see relief in
2014.
Due to the Census isolating our labor force because of our size we show a positive
trend of being overall lower than the State of Texas and also Tarrant County.
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From a development standpoint, the City has had over $75M in new construction
permits which are an 87% increase over the previous fiscal year. The majority of this
$75M is due to Ron Huggins current construction. Besides the City of Keller, and the
Alliance Corridor we are growing single family homes like no other city. Our single
family homes permits out number Mansfield which is encouraging. To date we have
had 155 single family starts and anticipate 200 by the end of this fiscal year. The new
start permit value is $250,000 and the homes should sell for over $300,000.
Commercial construction is over $14M which is up by 180% with taxable sales barely
up.
Development Projects
WinCo, is a grocery store with headquarters out of Boise,ldaho. This project will be
around $20M but will add about $30M in sales. The property that they will be using is a
former car wash and a former L shaped retail strip. WinCo designates themselves as a
supermarket low priced leader They currently have 85 stores, and are a privately held
company. WinCo will be open seven days a week and are rated just below Costco and
above H-E-B in the Consumer Reports Supermarket Ratings.
The Aldi grocery store will be located north of North Tarrant Parkway on Davis.
Because unexpected items such as concrete and trash were tossed into a pond years
ago, the dirt must be removed along with the trash and replaced with new dirt for proper
compaction. The process of removing the concrete and trash, and dirt compaction
needs to be completed before construction can start
Kroger Marketplace will be the new 123,000 sf anchor at the corner of North Tarrant
Parkway and Precinct Line Road. The value of having a Kroger Marketplace at this
location is significant. Local property owners are very excited about this large, high
quality brick, and stone development. Having this Kroger Marketplace will be filling a
void and draw in people from other areas. They will carry items equal to Aaron Brothers
and Michaels. There will also be a deli, sushi bar, furniture and apparel. There will be
eight pad sites available at this site equaling a $23 million capital investment.
Other developments that are significant are,
• Boulevard 26 Kroger Remodel---they lease this building and are investing $1.8
million on this remodel The timing of this remodel will help revitalize this area
along with the construction of the new City Hall should provide an incentive to
other businesses along Boulevard 26 south.
• Applebee's on Loop 820 has been challenged with the road construction and
their numbers are down by 10-15%, but still decided to invest in this location.
The remodel was done in a day
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• The 99 cent store reopened in its former location on Rufe Snow Drive. That is a
well maintained shopping center and the 99 cent store's presence will draw
people back.
City Facilities/Land Disposition
The ground breaking for the future City Hall took place on April 5, 2013. With the street
leading into the future City Hall named "Road to the Mall" it was necessary to rename
the street. After much discussion the new name for the former "Road to the Mall" has
now been named..."City Point Drive". The City purchased the vacant land owned by
Sonic so that it could be used for a nice entry way into the New City Point development.
Road construction into the development will start in September/October with the
construction of the building early next year.
The City was awarded a TxDOT grant to beautify the area south of 820 and 26
Landscaping has included the use of brick and stone, plants and mature trees This
project is funded 100%.
In the next couple of months you should see a sign installed in front of the current City
Hall (Loop 820 Temporary City Facility). Nothing has been formalized as of yet but
Craig Hulse and Mark Hindman have been meeting with different groups on how to list
the property. Possible use could be office space and/or hospitality.
Property#1, (South of Loop 820 east of Rufe Snow Drive). The former recreation center
will be demolished due to the high cost of maintenance There is a lot of interest for
restaurants, but could also be considered for a hotel
Property #2, (North of Loop 820 east of Holiday Lane). The City owns eight properties
east of City Hall and could be assembled to sell together. The City has talked with two
groups that could work with homeowners to make the space available which would be
from; Maplewood, to the creek, to the loop.
North Tarrant Express Update
This is the worst possible time for NRH businesses 2013 has seen more ramp
closures than any other time. The Holiday Lane off ramp is scheduled to be open in
November as is the Iron Horse Bridge, in time for the holidays The progress made on
the 820 expansion is extremely visible and we are beginning to see the dedication to
completing this project on time Some ramps have been relocated for better traffic flow
and a few have closed. The Rufe Snow Bridge is open from west to east but still closed
east to west for at least another couple months. Completion date for this portion of the
North Tarrant Express is mid-2015.
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On Going Programs
One of our most recent local projects is the Wayfndinq signage project. NRH is
currently participating in a joint venture with Hurst. These signs will be permanent signs
and have met all of the TxDOT requirements There are 9 regional destinations and
they are marked in red. Hurst will be indicated by a green sign and NRH will be
recognized by blue. We currently have a prototype sign up at Mid Cities and Hawk
heading eastbound. We will have 21 locations in our City. As of this date Hurst has no
signs up from this project They are waiting on their prototype.
To date we have 20 businesses who have participated in the BIG program
Total City investment has been $224,000 with the businesses putting in $2.6 million of
their own. The return on investment has been an extremely successful business
retention/expansion program. The businesses seem to cluster themselves together.
There is a grouping on Bedford Euless Road, Davis Blvd and Rufe Snow. As one
business remodels it spurs interest in nearby businesses, hence the cluster effect. One
of our most successful participants is Niki's Italian Bistro. Also, the Scott Beck
Construction Company located at 4028 Rufe Snow Drive has remodeled the entire
building and continues to improve with ornate landscaping. Darcorp Asset
Management, LLC owners of 5750 Rufe Snow will be changing their appearance to a
new, clean, professional look as shown in handout pictures.
In the past year the City has transitioned SHOP NRH over to a Facebook model. There
are over 1.1 billion people on Facebook with 16 million businesses subscribing this past
year. Last year there were 7.5 million. Economic Development advertises on the water
bills, the Economic Development website, on the City's website and allows businesses
to post coupons and events. By transitioning to Facebook it requires less manpower
than SKEDS and has already had more attention than Skeds provided.
Craig Hulse then opened the meeting for any questions and answers. Upon completion
of general question and answers the meeting was adjourned by Jim Makens at 1 06
p.m.
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