Podcast: Is This A Thing? How the At Home deal was sealed (Episode 7)
By Jay Socol, Public Communications Director
Home decor superstore At Home has announced it will occupy the property that was formerly Gander Mountain on Earl Rudder Freeway in College Station. That’s great news for consumers, but also for those in the economic development business since empty box stores along a major highway is not the image you prefer.
On this edition of Is This A Thing?, College Station’s Economic Development Director Natalie Ruiz and Oldham Goodwin Group EVP Clint Oldham talk about how the At Home deal came about, how fragile this deal – and all eco-devo deals, to be honest – really was, and how retail attitudes are no longer cowering from The Amazon Effect.
Total run time: 15:46
- 00:00 – Show Open
- 01:20 — Conversation started last summer when Gander Mountain was rumored to close.
- 02:28 — What happened when CS initially reached out to At Home.
- 03:40 — Some expansion of this facility will need to happen.
- 04:30 — When Oldham Goodwin engaged Gander Mountain ownership.
- 05:25 — Among the challenges of that property.
- 07:07 — Among the positives of this location.
- 08:33 — The effectiveness of a CS-OGG partnership to make the deal happen.
- 09:35 — What people don’t see: How close deals are to NOT happening.
- 10:50 — Other areas in College Station where OGG is working.
- 11:30 — Could’ve announced this sooner, but didn’t want to jinx the deal!
- 12:38 — Conditions this year feel different regarding which retailers are ready to expand.
- 13:33 — Amazon Effect not as smothering; brick and mortar still matter.
- 14:30 — Guesses on when At Home will be ready to open? (Spoiler: Nope)
Related Links:
- City of College Station Economic Development Website (GROW.cstx.gov)
- Podcast Archive
About the Blogger
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.
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Why doesn’t College Station have a Waffle House?
By Jennifer Prochazka, Economic Development Manager
On Monday, I received an email asking a simple question: Why has the City of College Station not reached out to Waffle House or made plans to build one in our community?
Since Waffle House is the mecca of waffle aficionados across much of America, the question is reasonable — and it’s one we hear a lot.
So why don’t we have a Waffle House?
Restaurants such as Waffle House are planned and built by private businesses. We proactively recruit many companies, including restaurants, and we’ve pursued Waffle House for several years. Unfortunately, its management has repeatedly said it has no plans to expand to College Station anytime soon.
The role of the city’s Economic Development department is to identify commercially zoned property with good visibility and access that companies such as Waffle House would find attractive. We then help that business navigate our development and permitting processes.
I’m a big fan of waffles and would love to see a Waffle House in College Station. If you have an influential contact who could change the company’s decision and bring a location here, you’d be a local hero.
Get to work!
About the Blogger
Jennifer Prochazka has been the city’s economic development manager since 2016 and has been with the City of College Station since 2000. She previously worked in Planning & Development Services. Since 2015, Jennifer also has been an adjunct economic development specialist with the Texas A&M Engineering Extension Service. She is a 2001 graduate of Texas A&M (Environmental Design) and earned a master’s in Urban Planning from A&M in 2002.
Photo Copyright: dehooks/123RF Stock Photo
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Podcast: Chef Wade Barkman dishes on The Republic and Primrose Path
By Jay Socol, Public Communications Director
After 10 years of owning and operating The Republic Steakhouse in College Station, executive chef Wade Barkman is finally building his own restaurants – an updated Republic, plus a brand-new concept that shares a common slab – from the ground up.
In this podcast, Wade talks about life leading up to this point, and what people can expect with these new properties.
Total run time: 32:03
- 00:00 – Show open.
- 01:00 – PART ONE: Wade starts from the beginning, including how he found Texas A&M, moved on to culinary school, then California, Vegas (thank you, Aggie Network) and finally back to CS in 2006.
- 08:20 – Wade finds his restaurant location — home to three or four previous ones. (Can you name them?)
- 11:42 – The highs and lows of Chimney Hill: Why did Wade stay?
- 14:30 – How he found a concept — The Republic — that the town needed, even if he wasn’t a steakhouse guy.
- 17:48 – Why dozens of restaurants have come and gone in 10 years, but The Republic has survived. “I would not wish this business on anyone.”
- 19:47 – PART TWO: The Republic is being recreated + Primrose Path, a “gastro-pub wine bar.”
- 21:13 – The differences between the old Republic and the new one.
- 24:14 – What is Primrose Path going to be?
- 26:58 – Will you miss the old building, or take anything with you to the new place?
- 28:07 – How was your development experience with the city of College Station?
- 30:11 – Sometime in fall 2018: Republic will open, with Primrose Path doing so about a month later.
- 30:49 – What’s your guilty pleasure in terms of food?
- 31:49 – Show close.
Transcript:
About the Blogger
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.
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Is This A Thing? What’s coming to CS and what’s not (Episode 6)
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:
About the Blogger
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.
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CS primed for bright 2018 – but don’t take our word
By Colin Killian, Public Communications Manager
No one is surprised these days when College Station gets ranked among the nation’s top college towns, as a great place for business, or as one of the best places to live.
The criteria publications and financial websites use to compile those rankings are usually based on data from the past year. The lists are usually divided into population categories, too.
A website called CardRates.com is different. This week it was bold enough to make predictions about what’s ahead by publishing a list of “10 cities Primed for Economic Growth and Opportunity in 2018.” It included cities as small as 5,178 people (Evansville, Wisc.) to as large as 947,897 (Austin).
By now, you’ve probably guessed that College Station made the list. Why else would we be blogging about it? But you may be surprised that we are ranked No. 1.
That’s right. CardRates says College Station’s economy could be as good as it gets in the entire country in 2018. In developing the list, CardRates took factors such as pay, cost of living and unemployment rates into consideration.
Here’s what they had to say about us:
College Station is located roughly equidistant from Houston and Austin. Although the city has seen a population increase of about 25 percent over the last 10 years, College Station, with fewer than 120,000 residents, is large enough to offer city amenities, while still being small enough to maintain that hometown feel.
College Station’s unemployment rate is well below the national average at 2.7 percent, the lowest among the cities on our list, and the median household income has grown more than 80 percent since 2000. The city’s largest employer is Texas A&M University, which has its main campus in College Station, and is nationally recognized as a Land-, Sea-, and Space-Grant Institution.
Here’s the full list:
We already knew we were doing pretty well, but it’s nice – and a bit exciting – to know others feel the same way.
About the Blogger
Colin Killian (@ColinKillian) has been with the City of College Station since 2010 after serving 23 years as associate media relations director for the Texas A&M Athletics Department. Killian has also worked as a reporter and editor for the Corpus Christi Caller-Times and Lewisville News. A native of Hobbs, N.M., he graduated from Texas Tech with a bachelor’s degree in journalism/political science.
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Podcast: Is This A Thing? Dallis family’s Burger Mojo
By Jay Socol, Public Communications Director
Talk about a down-and-dirty episode…
Economic Development Director Natalie Ruiz and I met after hours in our neighborhood – using a portable recorder – to talk about a new restaurant concept coming to College Station.
It’s called Burger Mojo and is the latest restaurant venture for the Dallis family, which is best known for Cafe Eccell and La Bodega.
“We are very excited to be able to develop this class A location at the main crossroads of our community,” Costa Dallis said. “To be neighbors with both the brand new Embassy Suites Hotel, as well as such a strong local brand as Aggieland Outfitters, is an opportunity we count ourselves fortunate to have.”
Natalie explains what the Dallis family has in mind, where it will go, and how that business will fit into its surroundings.
Total run time: 4:20
About the Blogger
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 serves as president of the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers.
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