Kipplinger Rates College Station as Top 10 Great Cities to Raise a Family

For all of you that already live in the Brazos Valley (or God's Country as I like to call it), this article will probably come as no shock to you!

http://www.kiplinger.com/features/archives/10-great-cities-for-raising-families.html

The article is spot on, identifying the great public schools, low crime rate, low unemployment, affordable housing and proximity to large cities.

Great Video from Texas Real Estate Center Re: Housing Outlook

Lots of great stuff here covered in about 5 minutes:

http://recenter.tamu.edu/video/videoPlayer.asp?vid=79

Happy Viewing!

Downtown Bryan Queen Theater Sold. Redevelopment Plans in the Works

The Eagle reported this morning that the Queen Theater in Downtown Bryan has been purchased by the non-profit Downtown Bryan Association for $185,000.

According to the article, the Theater needs quite a bit of work, and will be renovated in three phases.  Estimated renovation costs are between $800-900k.  Plans for the building after renovation include offices for the Downtown Visitors Center, Community Entertainment Venue and Communications Center (not sure what they mean by this).

I'm looking forward to see how this project turns out.  The price of the building considering its location/history/unique facade seems very reasonable.  Getting the Queen renovated is a critical move for the continued rejuvenation of Downtown Bryan, as the property is one of the first things that greets your eye if you enter the area from College Station along South College/Main.  A polished update that brings the building up to 2010 standards while keeping is historical charm could make the Queen the crown jewel downtown.

Adjacent property owners will most likely enjoy a bump in property value once the Queen gets her face lift, and momentum in Downtown Bryan continues to grow.

New College Station High School Moving Forward

The City of College Station just passed the budget for the new College Station High School off of Barron Rd. The total budget for the new High School is just over $100 million.

The new High School should improve traffic on 2818 and Wellborn Rd, but is definitely going to increase traffic on Barron/40.  The new High School will help support the growth of South College Station, and will give the B/CS four high schools by 2012.

Read the full article here:  New High School Details

Proposed Millican Reservoir Up for Debate

KBTX recently published an article talking about a proposed reservoir that would dam the Navasota River, and create a 71,000 acre lake.  Read the full article here.

The State is worried about water conservation during the next 50 years, but a lot of residence with land on/around the river are opposed.

With the population growth of Texas, water issues like this will continue to be hot topics from here on out.

Lots of Improvements in Bryan

The Eagle has a great article talking about the $40 Million in improvements happening in Bryan right now.  Read about it here.

College Station Property Tax on the Rise?

According to the Eagle, it looks like College Station property taxes might be making a slight hike during the next fiscal year:

http://www.theeagle.com/local/CS-may-implement-tax-increase