Conroe, TX New Homes

The following is a list of restaurants and retailers that recently opened or signed new leases in the Houston, Tx area:

SOUTHWEST
- BLU, featuring Euro-Asian cuisine and street foods from around the world, located at Sugar Land Town Square

NORTH
- Amanda Morrison, located at 3800 N. Shepherd

CENTRAL
– Funny Fur pet accessory boutique, located at Lamar-River Oaks Shopping Center
– Shipley Do-Nuts, located at tunnel
- Aware salon, located at 700 block of Prairie

SOUTH
– Tobacco League, located at The Plaza at Amber Lane at 2750 W. Main in League City
– Subway, located at League City Commons Shopping Center at Bay Area Boulevard and West Main
– J&L Resale, located at League City Commons Shopping Center

WEST
– Swirl Tastic, a yogurt and ice cream shop, has leased 2,000 square feet located at The Crossing at Fry Road in Katy, Tx

Source: chron.com

The Houston Independent School District has identified the 1300 block of Capitol in Houston, Tx as the preferred future home for a new High School for the Performing and Visual Arts.

The district has been discussing about relocating the school for years, but it came up again last week at a panel discussion on the future of downtown.

The High School for the Performing and Visual Arts is now at 4001 Stanford in the Montrose neighborhood.

Despite public enthusiasm for the move, it will not happen anytime soon.

No district funds have been identified for construction, according to spokesman Jason Spencer.

The Houston tract, which is now a parking lot, once housed a public school.

Also, the district-owned site formerly served as the home of HISD’s central administration building.

Source: chron.com

According to Freddie Mac, the average on the 30-year home loan jumped to 3.95 percent from 3.91 percent.

Dating to the 1950s, last week’s rate was the lowest average on records.

The average on the 15-year fixed mortgage grew to 3.24 percent, which is up from 3.21 percent, a record low as well.

Rates have been under 5 percent for all but two weeks in 2011.

Source: commercialappeal.com

Houston City Council in Houston, Tx approved a new ordinance that is scheduled to prevent high-rise buildings from going up next to single-family neighborhoods.

The new rule was written in response to the issue over the residential tower planned at 1717 Bissonnet near the high-end neighborhoods around Rice University.

That project, known as the Ashby high-rise, is exempt from the new rule since its developers have already requested a permit for their building.

Source: chron.com

According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, U.S. mortgage activity increased 12.8 percent with long-term mortgage interest rates falling.

Interest rates for 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dropped from 4.21 percent to 4.18 percent with points decreasing from 0.49 to 0.48, the trade group stated.

Rates for 15-year, fixed-rate contracts went from 3.58 percent to 3.53 percent with points unchanged at 0.45.

The association stated that its weekly refinancing index also increased, rising by 15.3 percent.

Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s vice president of research and economics, stated "Coming out of the Thanksgiving holiday, applications increased significantly as mortgage rates dropped to their lowest levels in about two months."

Source: builderonline.com

Currently, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate on Zillow Mortgage Marketplace is 3.9 percent, which is up seven basis points from 3.83 percent at this same time last week.

After growing to 3.94 percent on Thursday, the 30-year fixed mortgage rate remained between 3.93 and 3.91 percent for the rest of the week.

Erin Lantz, director of Zillow Mortgage Marketplace, stated "Mortgage rates have remained low throughout the week and likely will stay at historically low levels for the foreseeable future. This is great news for the nearly 900,000 current homeowners that are projected to take advantage of the revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program by the end of 2013."

Zillow’s real-time mortgage rates are based on thousands of custom mortgage quotes submitted on a daily basis to anonymous borrowers through the site, and reflect the most recent changes in the market.

These are not a weekly survey or marketing rates.

Currently, the rate for a 15-year fixed home loan is 3.24 percent, while the rate for a 5-1 adjustable-rate mortgage is 2.82 percent.

Source: yahoo.com

The usual rate that lenders are offering on a standard 30-year mortgage is back below 4% for the second time this year, according to Freddie Mac.

The rate dropped from an even 4% in Freddie’s survey last week to 3.99%.

The 3.94% recorded in the October 6 report was the lowest in the 40 years that Freddie Mac has been asking lenders across the U.S. about the rate they are offering on the 30-year loan.

The typical interest rate on the 15-year fixed home loan fell from 3.31% to 3.30% in the latest survey.

According to Freddie Mac, borrowers would have paid less than 1% of the loan balance in fees to obtain the loans.

Solid borrowers who shop around can find better rates than those in the survey, and paying additional points upfront to lenders also can lower the rate.

Freddie Mac economist Frank Nothaft stated, "The economy added 80,000 net jobs in October, below the market consensus forecast, but employment gains over the prior two months were revised up by 102,000 and the unemployment rate fell to 9.0 percent, the lowest in six months. Factory orders improved in September, yet the expansion in the service industry slowed in October."

Source: latimes.com

Downtown Houston, Tx is rich in office space.

An ambitious new revitalization plan looks to create a major shopping district there as well.

The recently released Houston Downtown Management District study calls for a shopping district along four blocks of Main Street and seven blocks of Dallas Street.

The shopping district would connect Main Street with the George R. Brown Convention Center/Discovery Green area as a pedestrian-friendly retail and restaurant environment.

Macy’s would remain the core tenant, being renovated as a mixed-use building.

Currently a parking garage, the Sakowitz building would convert to retail on the ground floor, while the other floors remain parking spaces.

Many projects in the study are already underway, according to Angie Bertinot, director of marketing and retail development for the Downtown District.

On Dallas from Caroline to the Hilton Americas-Houston, the Downtown District is widening the sidewalks and making lighting improvements, she added.

She stated, funding for projects underway is coming from the Downtown District and property owners.

Connecting various pockets of downtown pedestrian activity that are currently isolated from each other is one purpose of the plan , she added.

Already, there are six downtown hotels along Dallas, Bertinot stated.

Source: chron.com

The following is a list of restaurants and retailers that recently opened or signed new leases in the Houston, Tx area:

CENTRAL
– Settlement Goods, located at 3939 Montrose
- Crystal Children & Teacher Supply, located at Plaza in the Park

NORTH
– Frost Cupcakes & More, located at 25 Waterway Avenue in The Woodlands
– Learning Express Toys, located at 8000 Research Forest Drive in The Woodlands
– Honey Baked Ham, located at Westlake Plaza, 7576 FM 1960, Humble
- Big Lots, located at 7323 FM 1960 Road

SOUTH
- Marci’s home furnishings store, located at 18049 Upper Bay Blvd., Nassau Bay Village Shopping Center

SOUTHWEST
– TX Third Coast MMA, located at 14021 Southwest Freeway
– Sunshine Foot Relax store, located at Lee Ho Plaza at 9440 Bellaire
- Smoothie Factory, located at First Colony Marketplace Shopping Center at 4610 Highway 6 South

NORTHWEST
– Say Ahhh! Pediatric Dentistry, located at Copper Grove Shopping Center at Texas 6 and Huffmeister
- Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, located at Hollister Pointe Shopping Center at 13167 Northwest Freeway

WEST
– Quick Weight Loss Centers, located at Westgate Market Shopping Center on Interstate 10 at Fry Road
– Menchi’s Yogurt, located at Town Square Shopping Center on Highway 6 at West Road
– Xtreme Nutrition, located at Town Square Shopping Center
- China Inn Café #6, located at Town Square Shopping Center

EAST
- Golden Corral Buffet & Grill, located at 14010 Interstate 10 East

Source: chron.com

Houston, Tx men who may want to treat themselves with a luxurious shave have some new options.

Two spa-like barber shops have selected The Woodlands, Tx as the site of their first Houston-area locations.

The Art of Shaving Spa recently opened its first full-service Barber Spa in Texas in The Woodlands Mall.

The concept, which combines traditional barber services with aromatherapy skin services, was introduced New York City in 1996.

Shaving specialists are on hand to offer assistance on grooming and product selection.

The Boardroom Salon for Men has opened in Market Street – The Woodlands.

The space combines a 1920s country club and a spa salon experience offering haircuts, hot lather shaves, massages, facials, hand and foot grooming, coloring and body waxing.

Customers may play chess in the dark-paneled lounge before or after an appointment.

In 2004, the salon started in Dallas.

The Art of Shaving products are used at The Boardroom Salon.

Source: chron.com