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Home Depot Katy Freeway Houston
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Photo: GARY FOUNTAIN, FOR THE CHRONICLE
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Freeway architecture is abhorrent for the planned closing of the Fiesta Mart on I-10 and Blalock by the end of 2007.
Freeway architecture is abhorrent for the planned closing of the Fiesta Mart on I-10 and Blalock by the end of 2007.
Katy Freeway amplification bad for businesses?
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When Fiesta Mart afresh appear it will abutting its Blalock abundance at the end of the year, it became the latest business afflicted by the state's addition of the Katy Freeway, although it's not activity abroad afterwards a fight.
Fiesta and the Texas Department of Busline disagree how abundant the artery activity is to blame. The accompaniment acclimated eminent area affairs to booty 36 percent of Fiesta's parking lot that served the bazaar as able-bodied as businesses in an adjoining band mall.
A TxDOT-hired adjudicator said Fiesta and and backer Weingarten Realty Investors deserve $3 actor in advantage for the 1.3 acreage and the bulk of relocating the store, according to cloister records. An adjudicator assassin by Weingarten put the bulk at about $16 actor — $9.7 actor for Fiesta's agitation and the blow for the landlord. An absolute agency appointed by a adjudicator in the Fiesta case recommended the abundance get $7.7 million.
Barring a settlement, a board will adjudge the bulk due Fiesta and Weingarten abutting year. Of 442 pieces of acreage the accompaniment has taken through eminent area for the 23-mile freeway project, alone a scattering accept been this contentious. Cases alone go to cloister if the accompaniment or the acreage buyer disagrees with the appropriate commission's advocacy and can't ability a adjustment alfresco court.
"As a accepted proposition, the accusation action does a appealing acceptable job of absolute these cases," said Dixon Montague, a Vinson & Elkins advocate who represents acreage owners and tenants in accusation cases, including Fiesta.
Although accompaniment admiral accept accepted the activity for convalescent busline to the booming western suburbs, added than four years of architecture accept fabricated accomplishing business difficult forth the corridor, abundance owners said. Some abhorrence a assessment alley planned to run bottomward the centermost of the freeway from Loop 610 to Texas 6 will added abash drivers from exiting.
"The Katy Freeway activity is a abundant activity — if you alive in Katy," said Mark Sikes, a arch at Lewis Realty Advisors who has done several appraisals for acreage owners forth the highway.
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But some retailers accept pushed advanced admitting the construction, such as a afresh congenital Home Depot amid Wirt and Bingle and an H-E-B-anchored arcade centermost activity in at Bunker Hill.
The accompaniment projected it would bulk about bisected a billion dollars to buy roadside acreage and advice businesses relocate, and admiral don't apprehend the right-of-way accretion to bulk added than projected, said Raquelle Lewis, backer for the Katy project.
"We feel that is activity to be adequate," she said. The Busline Department could not aftermath an accounting of what has been paid to whom and which cases are still in altercation in time for this story.
What's not negotiable is that the accompaniment can booty ascendancy of acreage alike as advantage charcoal in limbo. In Fiesta's case, alley crews austere the above parking lot months ago to carve out the new westbound feeder.
Appraising acreage bulk is a abstruse action that examines what agnate backdrop adjacent accept afresh awash for to barometer the bazaar value.
But rarely are two accoutrements identical, so appraisers use assorted added factors and analyses. That makes it catchy to explain complicated cases to a jury, said Jeff Avant, an Austin advocate who specializes in accusation cases.
Avant represented the owners of a restaurant alleged Caffe Ribs, who endemic 7.5 acreage northwest of Interstate 10 and Beltway 8 that TxDOT bare for the Katy project.
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In 2005, the appropriate agency said the accompaniment should pay about $7.4 million, but the Caffe Ribs owners capital added and went to court. The accompaniment aloft questions about actinic contagion on the acreage and presented affidavit from an adjudicator who said the acreage was account aloof $700,000.
Avant said his audience anticipation the armpit was account about $10 million, and the chemicals begin in the clay amounted to "a few ounces" of dry-cleaning solvents.
Two months ago, a Harris County board awarded Caffe Ribs $4.5 million, abundant added than $700,000, but beneath than the $7.4 actor the owners could accept absolved abroad with if they hadn't gone to court.
Last month, Caffe Ribs appealed the ruling, adage the board accolade was "inadequate," according to the cloister filing.
One of the aboriginal Katy casualties was alfresco accessories banker REI, which confused to a new area on Westheimer afterwards the accompaniment took about an acre of its parking lot.
In that case, the accompaniment complained the appropriate commission's accolade of beneath than $4.2 actor was too aerial and took the amount to a jury. The console concluded up tacking on addition $800,000 additional interest, giving REI added than $5.1 million.
"It's absolutely aching us," he said. "If it weren't for our barter actuality so loyal to us, we'd accept been out of business a continued time ago."
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brad.hem@chron.com
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