St. George Place is a neighborhood in Houston, Texas. St. George Place is located outside the

610 Loop Interstate 610 (I-610) is a freeway that forms a loop around the inner city sector of the city of Houston, Texas. I-610, colloquially known as The Loop, Loop 610, The Inner Loop, or just 610, traditionally marks the border between the ...

and inside

Beltway 8 Beltway 8 (BW8), the Sam Houston Parkway, along with the Sam Houston Tollway, is an beltway around the city of Houston, Texas, United States, lying entirely within Harris County. Beltway 8, a state highway maintained by the Texa ...

in the

Uptown Houston Uptown (more commonly called The Galleria Area) is a business district in Houston, located west of Downtown and is centered along Post Oak Boulevard and Westheimer Road ( Farm to Market Road 1093). The Uptown District is roughly bounded by ...

area. St. George Place was formed out of portions of an older subdivision, Lamar Terrace, in the early 1990s.

History

Lamar Terrace was established in the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

era.Snyder, Mike.
Houston's zoned neighborhood fights change
" ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

''. Monday December 18, 2006. Retrieved on October 13, 2012. The subdivision opened in 1949.Vaughn, Carol.
Rebirth in St. George progresses / Decade of changes transforms community
" ''

''. Wednesday October 11, 2000. ThisWeek1. Retrieved on October 14, 2012.

Adnan Khashoggi property deals and foreclosure

In 1982 the front companies of the Saudi citizen

Adnan Khashoggi Adnan Khashoggi ( ar, عدنان خاشقجي, ‘Adnān Khāshuqjī; 25 July 1935 – 6 June 2017) was a Saudi businessman and arms dealer known for his lavish business deals and lifestyle. He was estimated to have had a peak net worth of ...

began buying houses in Lamar Terrace. From 1982 to 1985 Khashoggi-controlled companies purchased 75 houses. Mainland Savings Association and Summit Savings Association of Dallas had provided the financing. Triad America, a

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

-based company owned by the Khashoggi family, had plans to build a complex including a skyscraper and a 1,000 room hotel on a strip of land east of Lamar Terrace.Drummond, James.
Foreclosure move filed against Khashoggi subsidiary's homes
" ''

''. Monday May 5, 1986. Business 1. Retrieved on October 14, 2012. Triad had acquired the site in the mid-1970s.Bernstein, Alan.
Saudi linked to Iran arms had deals here
" ''

''. Saturday December 6, 1986. Section 1, Page 35. Retrieved on October 14, 2012. In 1983 the company said that it had suspended the project. In 1985 Triad sold the hotel site to Mainland and gained a line of credit. In 1986 Summit, which had loaned $5 million ($ in current money) to Triad Properties Corp., a subsidiary of Triad America, filed loan foreclosure proceedings in order to repossess 47 of the houses. In 1986 Summit declined to foreclose on the houses. Later in 1986, the houses were foreclosed upon.

Urban blight

By the late 1980s

urban blight Urban decay (also known as urban rot, urban death or urban blight) is the sociological process by which a previously functioning city, or part of a city, falls into disrepair and decrepitude. There is no single process that leads to urban deca ...

had been affecting Lamar Terrace. In 1989 Ralph Bivins of the ''

'' said that some houses of the Lamar Terrace area "are dilapidated rental properties with trash, tires and old cars littering the lawns."Bivins, Ralph.
Investor's swoop into Galleria-area neighborhood a surprise/Ink barely dried as cleanup starts
" ''

''. Wednesday November 11, 1989. Business 1. Retrieved on October 13, 2012. In the early 1990s Lamar Terrace had been named the " Galleria Ghetto". Cindy Gabriel of the ''

'' said that Lamar Terrace "stood in sharp contrast to its Galleria neighbor with dilapidated post World War II-era homes, abandoned cars, stray animals and high crime."Gabriel, Cindy.
St. George revives `Galleria Ghetto'
" ''

''. Thursday April 18, 2002. ThisWeek 1. Retrieved on October 13, 2012. In 1987 Robert L. Silvers, an investor, visited the Lamar Terrace area after having been away from Houston for a long period of time; he expressed shock upon seeing the state of Lamar Terrace. Silvers said that the community was a "disaster."Canon, Kim.
Uptown upgrades moving forward
" ''

''. Wednesday February 28, 2001. ThisWeek 1. Retrieved on October 14, 2012. In 1989 Silvers said "You're between

Tanglewood Tanglewood is a music venue in the towns of Lenox and Stockbridge in the Berkshire Hills of western Massachusetts. It has been the summer home of the Boston Symphony Orchestra since 1937. Tanglewood is also home to three music schools: the ...

and the Galleria and you're sitting in a slum." In 1987, Chris Chandler, a political candidate for

Houston City Council The Houston City Council is a city council for the city of Houston in the U.S. state of Texas. Currently, there are sixteen members, 11 elected from council districts and five at-large. The members of the Council are elected every four years, w ...

District G, said, as paraphrased by Kim Cobb of the ''

'', that Lamar Terrace was the "most troubled sector" of District G "and could stand a thorough cleanup by the Solid Waste Management Department."Cobb, Kim.
District G candidates target area's service gaps as their first priority
" ''

''. Saturday October 24, 1987. Section 1, Page 19. Retrieved on October 14, 2012.

Redevelopment by Robert Silvers

Because residents expected The Galleria to expand westward and create a powerful commercial property market, they had voted out the Lamar Terrace deed restrictions. In 1989 Lamar Terrace had houses that were smaller and older relative to its area. In that period many investors had considered buying properties in the area, because Lamar Terrace was in proximity to Uptown. Silvers began buying property in Lamar Terrace in the late 1980s. He finalized a purchase of 50 Lamar Terrace lots formerly owned by

on Tuesday November 10, 1989. Most of the Khashoggi lots were vacant. He later purchased 47 more lots from the same agency.Marshall, Thom.
Seeking a balance in redevelopment
" ''

''. Wednesday October 16, 2002. A29 MetFront. Retrieved on October 14, 2012. Silvers eventually had purchased in total 107 lots, all from the Federal Savings & Loan Insurance Corporation. Silvers tore down various rental houses that had been poorly maintained.Wallstin, Brian. "Houston's Big Experiment." ''

Houston Press The ''Houston Press'' is an online newspaper published in Houston, Texas, United States. It is headquartered in the Midtown area. It was also a weekly print newspaper until November 2017. The publication is supported entirely by advertising ...

''. Thursday December 30, 1999
1
Retrieved on October 13, 2012. Silvers held regular meetings with property owners of Lamar Terrace. Patricia Knudsen, the city's acting planning director at the time, told Silvers to consider establishing a public improvement district. A lawyer told Silvers that he could establish a tax-increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ). When a TIRZ is implemented, tax revenues are immediately frozen. A "base year" assessed values is placed on the properties owned by the taxing entities that participate in the TIRZ. As the development progresses, tax revenues may increase due to an increase in property values. The extra taxes are reinvested into the TIRZ zone. The lawyer also told Silvers that the State of Texas permitted TIRZs to petition to establish zoning ordinances. On December 12, 1990, Houston's Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone No. 1, serving St. George Place, became the first TIRZ in Houston. Silvers had asked the

for twenty years of future property tax revenues so he could rebuild Lamar Terrace. The taxing entities participating in TIRZ #1 included the City of Houston, Harris County, and the

Houston Independent School District The Houston Independent School District (HISD) is the largest public school system in Texas, and the eighth-largest in the United States. Houston ISD serves as a community school district for most of the city of Houston and several nearby and ...

. The TIRZ had a $12 million tax base in 1992. In 1993 the Houston City Council passed a zoning ordinance for St. George Place. The St. George Place boundaries expanded in 1993 to include their current boundaries.

Development of St. George Place

New home construction was slow in St. George Place. To promote home building, Silvers founded Ironwood Homes, and that company began building houses. The activity from Ironwood Homes attracted other home builders. Silvers said that he had not planned to or desired to become a developer.Wallstin, Brian. "Houston's Big Experiment." ''

''. Thursday December 30, 1999
2
Retrieved on October 13, 2012. In August 1999 the St. George Place Civic Association incorporated, allowing for residents to more easily interact with the TIRZ board. In 1999 Silver said that while he was glad that St. George Place had improved, he was frustrated by the slow pace of development. He said that he wished he had never established the TIRZ, since in doing so, he was not making as much money as he would if he had immediately sold the properties that he had purchased in the late 1980s. Around 2000 new infrastructure such as sewer and water facilities was being installed to service the newly built houses, because the infrastructure built to serve Lamar Terrace was not adequate for servicing the new houses. In 2002 Silvers, as paraphrased by Thom Marshall of the ''Houston Chronicle'', said that he had "planned for development of the zone to be finished by now" but that "it's only reached the halfway mark ..because the city will not file condemnation lawsuits to take properties from investors who are not developing them." In 2006 the TIRZ had a tax base of over $160 million ($ in current money). During that year, Mike Snyder of the ''Houston Chronicle'' said that St. George Place residents "enjoy mostly new, upscale homes, well-maintained streets and easy access to shopping, entertainment and major employment centers."

Government and infrastructure

The St. George Redevelopment Authority, with a nine member board appointed by the

, administers St. George Place. Most board members are property owners and residents. The St. George Place TIRZ is the only one in which there is a zoning ordinance and the only zoned area in the City of Houston. Mike Snyder of the ''

'' said "Zoning, however, has not insulated St. George Place from the kind of land-use battles that are common in a city where neighborhood leaders often feel powerless to influence the form of development springing up all around them." Snyder said that the zoning was perhaps the most "cherished asset" in St. George Place. St. George Place is divided between City Council District G and City Council District J. In the 1990s and 2000s (decade), St. George Place/Lamar Terrace was in Council District C. In the 1980s it was in Council District G. Houston Fire Department'
Fire Station 28
is located at 3100 Chimney Rock @ Dolores. The neighborhood is served by the

Houston Police Department The Houston Police Department (HPD) is the primary law enforcement agency serving the City of Houston, Texas, United States and some surrounding areas. With approximately 5,300 officers and 1,200 civilian support personnel it is the fifth-largest ...

Midwest Patrol Division. St. George Place is in Texas's 7th congressional district.

Cityscape

The current St. George Place and the former Lamar Terrace area are bounded by West Alabama Street, Chimney Rock Drive,

Richmond Avenue Richmond Avenue is a major north-south thoroughfare on Staten Island, New York. Measuring approximately , the road runs from the South Shore community of Eltingville to the North Shore community of Graniteville. Street description Richmon ...

, and South Rice Avenue.Golightly, Glen and Melanie Markley.
HISD meets opposition to planned school
" ''

''. Saturday October 23, 1993. A29. Retrieved on October 13, 2012. The community of west of

The Galleria The Galleria, stylized theGalleria and also known as the Houston Galleria, is an upscale mixed-use urban development and shopping mall located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas, United States.Sixth Ward preservationists post YouTube pleas
" ''

''. Monday January 8, 2007. Retrieved on October 13, 2012. In 2000 the houses were priced from $350,000 ($ in current money) to $450,000 ($ in current money). As of April 18, 2002, 242 new houses had been built in St. George Place, with 50 of them being built from January 1, 2002 to April 18, 2002. During the same period, 150 older houses and 80 vacant lots for development had remained. During that period, Bill Hutz, president of the St. George Civic Association, said that he anticipated for the old houses to be completely replaced with newer houses in a five-year period. In 1999, when discussing the lack of development with Silvers, Brian Wallstin of the ''

'' said " om an aesthetic perspective, Silvers has a point. The juxtaposition of low-slung ranch houses interspersed with towering multistory brick manses gives St. George Place the look of a bad haircut." Prior to Silvers's investment and redevelopment, Lamar Terrace had a lot of front-yard mechanics and neglected houses. By 1999 the neglected properties had been demolished and the mechanics were no longer in business. By 2016, home and land values in St George Place (often listed in Lamar Terrace subdivision in real estate listings) had increased substantially, with moderately-used and brand-new homes priced from $575,000 to $1,500,000. ($ to $($ in current money). Map of St. George Place Management District with original & revised TIRZ 1 boundaries: https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1oa0c_CGlyhQ0MHqQGMllxswfAf0cxx48&usp=sharing

Demographics

In the 1990s, many of the individuals renting houses in Lamar Terrace were low-income Hispanic people.Robinson, James.
Sounds of demolition/Lamar Terrace makes room for school
" ''

''. Saturday September 30, 1995. A33. Retrieved on October 13, 2012. In 2016, those demographics have evolved to wealthy empty-nester and young professional families of many different nationalities.

Education

Public schools

St. George Place is served by the

. St. George Place is zoned t
St. George Place Elementary School
and Tanglewood Middle School (formerl
Grady Middle School
. St. George Place students are zoned to

Margaret Long Wisdom High School Margaret Long Wisdom High School, formerly Robert E. Lee High School, is a publicly funded secondary school located in Southwest Houston, Texas, United States 77057. The Houston Independent School District, the 7th largest school district in the ...

(formerly Lee High School) and may choose to attend Lamar High School or Westside High School.Home Page
as of May 9, 2005. '' Lee High School''. St. George Place Elementary School, an facility, has a capacity of 750 students. It serves areas east and west of the

; the bulk of its boundary is south of

Westheimer Road Westheimer Road () is an arterial east–west road in Houston, Texas, United States. It runs from Bagby Street in Downtown and terminates at the Westpark Tollway on the southern edge of George Bush Park, stretching about long. The street was ...

, north of Westpark Drive, east of Fountainview, and west of Weslayan; there is also a section bounded by Westheimer, the

, the Buffalo Bayou, and a set of railroad tracks. Besides St. George Place itself, the school also serves

Afton Oaks Afton Oaks is a deed-restricted "Inner Loop" upscale residential community of approximately 525 homes in Houston, Texas, United States Afton Oaks is located inside Interstate 610 (Texas), Interstate 610 near the Galleria and Highland Village. Th ...

Larchmont Larchmont is a village located within the Town of Mamaroneck in Westchester County, New York, approximately northeast of Midtown Manhattan. The population of the village was 5,864 at the 2010 census. In February 2019, Bloomberg ranked Lar ...

, and the Weslayan area. The building has various color-coded "pods" in which classes are concentrated; the color scheme was used to assist young children. It has science rooms, a multi-purpose room with a stage, fine arts rooms, and a combined media center and library. Molina Walker Architects Inc. designed the facility while Heery International Inc. constructed it for a cost of $14 million. The new campus of the Mandarin Chinese Language Immersion Magnet School (MCLIMS) is located adjacent to St. George Place Elementary School. The facility, which has a price tag of $32 million, uses a sun and moon theme. The 2012 HISD Bond financed the construction. Groundbreaking occurred in December 2014.

History of schools

In 1993 HISD was planning to build a middle school on a site in Lamar Terrace. HISD officials planned to convert Grady Middle School into an elementary school, and have the Lamar Terrace middle school serve students from Grady, Piney Point Elementary, and Pilgrim Elementary. Ron Franklin, a member of the HISD school board, said that the Lamar Terrace area was the only affordable land in the area, and that a new middle school in the area was needed. Several Lamar Terrace area residents opposed a plan to place an HISD middle school in the neighborhood. In 1995 HISD was buying properties to demolish them to make room for the new Lamar Terrace-area school. Ultimately HISD had acquired 94 lots for a site for the new school,Marshall, Thom.
Seeking a solution in Playground War
" ''

''. Friday January 10, 2003. A21. Retrieved on October 14, 2012. using its

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

powers, and all of the houses were demolished. HISD had spent $10 million to clear the lots. As of 2000 no school had yet been built, because no bonds to build new schools had yet been approved. By 2002 HISD had not yet developed the property, and the district stated that it did not know when it would begin developing a school there. A public relations employee of HISD stated that the district acquires parcels of land just in case that a school may be needed there. By 2003 HISD had not yet developed the property. St. George Place Elementary opened in 2006.School Histories: the Stories Behind the Names
"
Archive

. Retrieved on October 14, 2012. Most of the funds used to develop the school came from the HISD bond while some came from the TIRZ. Prior to the school's opening, St. George Place was served by Pilgrim Elementary School.Pilgram Elementary Attendance Zone
"
Archive

. Retrieved on October 14, 2012. St. George Place was the successor of the charter school School at Post Oak, which was held at a YMCA and formed to relieve overcrowded area schools; about 180 students were to transfer from School at Post Oak to St.George Place.

Public libraries

The closest library is the Jungman Branch of the

Houston Public Library Houston Public Library is the public library system serving Houston, Texas, United States. History Houston Lyceum and the Carnegie Library The Houston Public Library system traces its founding to the creation of the second Houston Lyceum in 1 ...

Parks and recreation

The city of Houston operates the Grady Park at 1700 Yorktow

The Gerald D. Hines Waterwall Park is within a 3 block walking distance of St. George Place.

References

External links

St. George Place
* Rockwell, Terry (letter to editor)
So far, TIRZ working
" ''

''. Tuesday December 19, 2006. {{coord missing, Texas Neighborhoods in Houston 1949 establishments in Texas 1990 establishments in Texas