news from the west houston association | June 22, 2011
2011 QUALITY GROWTH PARTNERS
TOLL BROTHERS ADDS WEST HOUSTON TO PORTFOLIO
New WHA member, Toll Brothers, recently announced the purchase of 180 acres in Katy. This is the largest Houston area purchase for Toll. The project to be known as Silver Oak will be in development by the end of 2011. 305 luxury homes are planned for the site.
NEWLAND COMMUNITIES' CINCO RANCH TOPS BEST SELLER LIST FOR 2010 SALES
Master planned community Cinco Ranch topped the Houston area sales charts in 2010 with 816 unit sales. Newland Communities' Telfair development was third in Houston with 406 sales.
Member firms are encouraged to submit announcements of major activity for inclusion in WHAnews. All material will be edited by WHA. Links to more extensive reading will be made. No real estate sales or representations will be included.
Send news to Lnelson@westhouston.org
2010 WHA Report to Members (Click for PDF)
In This Edition
Announcing: The Quality Planned Development
Program
Greater West Houston Demographic & Economic Profile
Coming Your Way: The Grand Parkway Segment E--Continuing
the Next Ring
EPA/Corps of Engineers Purpose Expansion of Wetlands
Quality Planned Development: The Mark of a Higher Standard
The West Houston Association unveils its residential and commercial development standards program, Quality Planned Developments--The Mark of a Higher Standard.
"Quality Planned Developments is a
program to recognize those commercial and residential developments that
utilize professional planning and design to enhance quality of life and
provide Greater West Houston with an appealing aesthetic environment," says
Joel Marshall, vice chairman of the West Houston Association Board of
Directors.
Properties meeting or exceeding QPD development standards will be licensed to use the QPD logo and will be promoted as QPD developments.
Chairman of the Quality Planned Development committee and member of the WHA Board of Directors, Peter Houghton says "We are hopeful that West Houston residential and commercial developments will take advantage of the detailed development standards in the QPD program to seek a designation that recognizes quality development and ensures that the Greater West Houston area continues to exemplify a high standard."
The QPD program is launched today at this WHA site (link) and contains the development standards, an application and a discussion of the process to be used in awarding the QPD designations. Applications may be downloaded from this site and returned via email to QPD@westhouston.org per instructions.
GREATER WEST HOUSTON DEMOGRAPHIC & ECONOMIC PROFILE--GROWTH HERE CONTINUES
This summer, the West Houston Association will publish its first profile of Greater West Houston, a 1,000 square mile area in the western portions of the Houston metropolitan area. Following publication of the 2010 West Houston Development Map and the 2050 Land Use Scenario map of Greater West Houston, this new report adds population and employment data forecasted through 2050 revised using 2010 Census data.
The report will be available to West Houston Association members and distributed to area elected and agency officials. It is being prepared for the West Houston Association by CDS Market Research's Charles Savino.
Watch for it next month.
Grand Parkway Segment E--Continuing Houston's next ring
Following TxDOT's $350 million funding commitment, Segment E of the Grand Parkway, construction contracts are scheduled to be let in July and August, 2011. TxDOT has also published a "Request for Information" for SH 99, the Grand Parkway. Information received by TxDOT will allow them to better accelerate development of the Grand Parkway's full 180 mile length. Information is due by July 6th.
The Grand Parkway was designated by the Legislature as one that may proceed with private sector involvement with a Comprehensive Development Agreement or CDA.
EPA/CORPS OF ENGINEERS PROPOSE VAST INCREASE IN "JURISDICTIONAL WETLANDS"
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed on May 2, 2011, a
new draft “Guidance on Identifying Waters Protected by the Clean Water Act”.
This draft guidance intends to clarify the extent of federal control over
construction work in “waters of the United States,” which has been a
continued source of confusion following competing decisions in two U.S.
Supreme Court cases.
The proposed guidance broadly interprets the Supreme Court decisions and, if
adopted, will result in significantly more federally controlled waters that
would require Clean Water Act (CWA) Section 404 permits and would expand
wetland protections to NPDES, oil spills, water quality standards and TMDLs
and water quality certifications.
The proposed guidance and related information are available on EPA’s
website. Public comments are due July 1, 2011. The final 2011 guidance is
intended to supersede a 2003 “Joint Memorandum” and a 2008 Joint Guidance
memo that currently remain in effect.
More information at this
WHA link.
West Houston Association | INFO@westhouston.org | 713.461.9378 F 713.461.3065
820 Gessner Suite 1310, Memorial city plaza II, Houston, Texas 77024
|
|
 |
 |
