By Jay Socol, Public Communications Director
It's been a long time since Economic Development Director Natalie Ruiz and I talked rumors versus reality in terms of restaurants, retail, and more. This episode of "Is This a Thing?" covers a lot of ground, including flip-flop scenarios about In-N-Out Burger.
Using examples of Academy and Gander Mountain, Nat also gives great insight into why vacant properties stay empty so long.
Total run time: 44:09
- 00:00 - Show open.
- 02:20 - University Drive: Kinds of businesses interested in University Town Center, its challenges; announcements by fall, then construction.
- 05:45 - Chimney Hill: The Republic Steakhouse and Primrose Path; drive-thru Starbucks looks like a thing; what else has potential; the REAL story about In-N-Out Burger.
- 10:36 - Burger Mojo update.
- 11:50 - Century Square: Review of all the recent openings + what else is coming soon. How sustainable are all these businesses?
- 15:43 - Northgate: Seeing more restaurants and retail interests. Food truck park. Small grocery has to be on the horizon.
- 18:15 - Texas Avenue: Ace Hardware, Red Lion.
- 19:15 - Pappadeaux status.
- 22:05 - Honest talk about Harvey Road.
- 26:15 - Why "available" buildings aren't always...available. Example: The old Academy building.
- 30:15 - Status of the Gander Mountain building.
- 32:35 - Jones Crossing: Status of H-E-B and more.
- 33:37 - Chef Tai's Urban Table (I botch the name).
- 34:15 - CapRock and Tower Point: Rx Pizza, Casa do Brasil, Ground Shuttle Transit, The Yard, Bottleneck Wine Bar, offices and more.
- 36:05 - Gringo's now has a building permit. Walk-On's moving forward. TaD's Louisiana Cooking.
- 37:05 - Stella (from the owners of Harvey Washbanger's).
- 38:13 - New car dealerships.
- 38:40 - Dunkin' Donuts -- anything?
- 41:00 - Big boxes hit pause on new developments in 2017. Now, "the Amazon Effect" has forced brick-and-mortar brands to be creative with new online partnerships.
- 43:51 - Show close.
Transcript:
Jay Socol (@jaysocol) is in his ninth year as College Station’s public communications director. A 1991 graduate of Texas A&M. Jay has also been communications director for the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service, public information officer for the City of Bryan, and news director at several Bryan-College Station area radio stations. A native of Breckenridge, he also serves as president of the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers.
If you found value in this blog post, please share it with your social network and friends!