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Dallas

The Trinity River Corridor Project received one of the nation's top design awards from the American Institute of Architects. It will create 36,000 permanent jobs and enhance economic development in Dallas' south sector. Dallas' tax base will increase from numerous multi-use developments that will draw businesses and residents to the surrounding area. Area amenities will include the Calatrava Bridges, an Audubon Center, the Great Trinity Forest, boat launches and an equestrian center. After nearly 10 years to get this far, a redesign of the Trinity Parkway could estimated to add at least five more years to the anticipated completion date of 2014.

A vote to determine whether the Trinity Parkway, which was part of the original plan approved by Dallas voters in 1998, should be moved from between the levees of the Trinity River Corridor was defeated in the November election. Honorary Chairs of the "VOTE NO! Save the Trinity" campaign were Tom Leppert, Laura Miller and Ron Kirk.

The Parkway design has been reduced from eight lanes to six with four of these by the lakes, which have been expanded to be twice as big. To put the Parkway and the Park in perspective, just south of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge, the park is approximately five football fields wide and the Parkway will take up the area from the 40 yard line to the goals of one of those fields (120 feet). There will be five access points from the Trinity Parkway into the park and also pedestrian/bicycle access at half-mile intervals.

Going ahead with the current plan will provide a necessary reliever route to improve traffic flow near downtown. The Vote No! side also said taxpayers will get maximum value for their investment since tolls, federal and state dollars will be used to pay for 90 percent of the cost of the new parkway. They argue that other methods to answer sorely needed transportation improvements, such as double decking IH-35 or Industrial Blvd., have been repeatedly examined and found to be much more costly than the current proposed parkway design.

Fort Worth
The Fort Worth City Council has authorized its staff to draft interim development restrictions that would apply to the new construction of residences and other noise-sensitive uses within the noise impact area of the Joint Reserve Base and Naval Air Station in west Fort Worth. Joint Land Use Study Policy Committee Chairman Chuck Silcox, a Fort Worth City Council member, along with builders and developers and representatives form the North Central Texas Council of Governments recently met to discuss their concern with what is going on and how the land use could have an adverse impact on the future of the base. They argues that encroachment issues need to be addressed now and the outcome could mean the difference between thousands of jobs and a strong local economy-or layoffs and business closings which could cause funding cuts and potentially force the base to close.

Keller
The City of Keller has announced that due to this year's excessive rains and its continued difficulty with erosion control and tree protection, they will toughen inspections and enforcements related to these items.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

The Greater Fort Worth Builders Association recently unveiled a new logo, designed by the Brand One Agency.

Rocco Fana, has been named to be the new Executive Officer of the GFWBA. He previously served as EO of Ohio's North Coast Building Industry Association (NCBIA), a chapter of the NAHB.

Shane Golden of Venetian Custom Homes was named GFWBA's 2007 Builder of the Year and Richard Davis of Lift-Aids was 2007 Associate of the Year.

GFWBA Member, Clyde Anderson of Cabinet Specialists was named NAHB's 2007 Associate of the Year.

The GFWBA will host The Spring Tour of New Homes™, its annual scattered-site tour of homes that spans seven counties. The dates are April 19-20, April 25-27, and May 2-4.

Operation Forever Freedom (OFF), a visionary program to help returning veterans with housing and transportation, is the brainchild of Centurion American Development's founder/CEO Mehrdad Moayedi. Wounded veterans returning from the Iraqi War are candidates to receive assistance through a children's playhouse project engineered by Centurion American and built by Fort Worth-based Cheldan Homes and its founder Joey Goss. Goss agreed to build the company's smallest-ever home - a sophisticated two-room playhouse - as part of a fund-raising program for the charity. Proceeds from raffle tickets will be used by Operation Forever Freedom for a wide range of products and services needed by injured veterans. In late January, the winning raffle ticket was drawn and the home was awarded to a four-year-old Colleyville girl.

Diana Reynolds has joined Lee Lighting as an Outside Sales Rep for the Arlington Showroom. She has been in the lighting industry for nine years and worked with commercial and residential builders, interior designers, and architects.

CITY NEWS

The City of Fort Worth has been considering the implementation of roadway impact fees for some time to accommodate record growth in the far-flung areas of Fort Worth. The City claims to have a $1 billion backlog of street needs resulting from this growth, which leaves residents sitting in traffic on two-lane country roads that need to be expanded into six-lane arterial streets. However, the development community in the Fort Worth area is concerned that Fort Worth's proposed fees are significantly higher than any other Metroplex City. After much effort, the development community was allowed to have meaningful involvement in the process, which began as exclusively a city process. An advisory committee was appointed to study the economic impact of these fees on the city and the city had given every indication that the implementation of impact fees would be delayed until the results of the study became available, which would likely not be until late in 2008. However, that plan changed dramatically when council members called for immediate implementation of impact fees at 50 percent of the amount originally proposed. The development advisory committee has taken immediate action to work with city officials on a compromise. Under state law, Fort Worth must set a fee for each of its 27 regions. Under the original proposal, the area inside 820 would have been largely exempt, but the fees in other areas would have ranged from a few hundred dollars to $6,102.

Comparitively, Dallas, North Richland Hills, Grapevine, Hurst and Euless don't charge road impact fees at all. Frisco charges the highest fee in DFW with a maximum fee of $4,000 (at least double that of most other cities). In some instances, the new proposed Fort Worth fee structure would have increased the fee as much as seven times that of the current roadway impact fees imposed. Developers expressed worry that the fees would make Fort Worth less competitive, driving business elsewhere.

Under the compromise discussions, the Fort Worth Star Telegram reported that new homes in most regions would have an impact fee of $1,500, with lower fees in two regions of town and no fee in most neighborhoods inside Loop 820. The compromise would also allow lower fees for projects that bring jobs or help improve traffic, such as mixed-use developments that allow people to walk from homes to jobs or shopping. The City Council is expected to vote on the impact fee April 29.

STATE NEWS

The TCEQ has announced changes to the Storm Water General Permit (TXR150000). The permit will take effect March 5, 2008, and any builders with an existing permit need to renew by June 3, 2008. Important changes include no annual billing of Water Quality Fee, new application fees, new dates of provisional coverage, change in the definition of “construction site operator,” and changes to the SW3P requirements.

The Texas Association of Builders has been asked by the Environmental Protection Agency to take part in policy making discussions about new Clean Air Policy standards it plans to impose. New law could make DFW subject to losing certain federal funding privileges because of its poor air quality ratings.

www.dfwhousingfacts.org Spreads the Positive Message about DFW Housing

Television and radio ads are now being heard and billboards noticed throughout the Metroplex to to say that it's OK to buy a house despite the dour reports about the nation's real estate market.

A group of high-profile developers, civic leaders, real estate industry icons and residential developers in North Texas has launched an extensive advertising campaign, designed by Anderson Hanson and Blanton, directing people to learn the good news at www.dfwhousingfacts.org. The site contains home-buyer testimonials and quotes from real estate experts, including Ross Perot Jr., whose company, Hillwood, is one of Tarrant County's largest developers, and Ebby Halliday, founder of Ebby Halliday Realtors, one of the area's largest residential brokerage firms. The site is also loaded with information, research and statistics about such topics as price stability, affordability and the economy. In all, contributors have already pooled together over $700,000 in donations and Jody Hanson predicts that very soon the firm will reach its goal of raising $800,000 to support the good news effort.

PEOPLE
Hotchkiss Insurance Agency announced that Wanda Starks, Benefits Department Manager for its Dallas location, has earned the prestigious Registered Health Underwriter¨ (RHU¨) professional designation from The American College, Bryn Mawr, PA. The RHU¨ program was established in 1979 to raise professional standards and improve the methods of selling and servicing disability income and health insurance. Wanda's additional designations include Chartered Benefit Consultant (CBC), and general lines agent for life, health, property and casualty. She is also an active member of the Dallas Association of Health Underwriters (DAHU).

Demographers promoting DFW as the "last frontier" in positive housing news.

- Nearly 20 percent of Americans, who moved between 2006 and 2007, moved to Texas.

- Texas passed New York as home to the most big companies in the latest list compiled by Fortune magazine. Texas now - boasts 58 headquarters, three more than New York, the previous No. 1, and California, with 52.

- Dallas-Fort Worth added more than 162,000 residents between July 2006 and July 2007, more than any other metro- - - - area growth in America.

- Area homes have been undervalued by 30 percent, which has driven those in search of spacious and affordable homes - to the area.

- Affordability, climate and desire to be near the kids (who have relocated here for jobs) have made Texas second only to - - Florida for retirees.

- Oil and gas production in the Barnett Shale (on the Fort Worth side of the Metroplex) has served as a buffer to the North - - Texas area from much of the job loss and economic downturn affecting the rest of the country. Barnett Shale activity is - - - responsible for creating more than 83,823 permanent jobs and pumping more than $8.2 billion into the local economy.

- We Like 'em Big & Fancy. North Texas home sales in the $700,000 to $800,000 range were up 22 percent in 2007 from - - the same time period in 2006. Homes priced $900,000 to $999,999 were up 12 percent, and the sale of properties - - - - priced at more than $1 million increased by 16 percent.

Important News for Ongoing Projects with Permits Issued Prior to March 5.
The local Stormwater Environmental Compliance Alliance, LLC offices have received numerous inquires from builders with questions about the Texas Construction General Permit renewal. They believe many builders are still unaware of the need to renew existing permits. The new requirement impacts all builders/developers who have ongoing construction sites that were permitted prior to March 5th, 2008. The state's existing permit expired March 5th, and The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality has allowed a window of 90 days (until June 3rd) for renewal of existing permits. Any construction site that is currently permitted to discharge stormwater under an existing Notice of Intent ("NOI") must file a new NOI with the TCEQ, and of course, pay a new fee. In addition, it typically requires some revision to existing Storm Water Pollution Prevention Plans (SWPPPs).

Builders who DO NOT need coverage after June 3, 2008, may opt to allow their permit to expire on that date. (In other words, they are completing construction and the site will reach Final Stabilization by June 3rd.) All existing permits active and not renewed by June 3, 2008, will be considered expired on that date. Submission of a Notice of Termination (NOT) for NOIs submitted prior to March 5, 2009 is not necessary.

Under the new permit, the application fee and the annual water quality fee have been combined into a one-time application fee. The fee is $225 for NOI applications submitted online and $325 for those submitted via regular mail. The new permit includes changes to the definition of "operator," and other changes regarding the required notices to be posted on site. The new permit and additional information are available online at- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - : http://www.tceq.state.tx.us/permitting/water_quality/stormwater/TXR15whattodo.html

Fort Worth Adopts Flat Roadway Impact Fee
After more than two years of study, The Fort Worth City Council finally ruled in favor of a flat fee of $2,000 charged to new homes, apartment units and businesses to help with the need for building more roads in rapidly growing suburban areas. The fee averages out to about 40 percent of the maximum allowable fees. Law stipulates that the money can only be used to build new roads.

City staffers estimate that in outlying areas, a $700 million backlog exists in the construction of arterial streetsÑ the multilane roadways that connect subdivisions to shopping centers, schools and jobs. The issue took on new importance in the past six months, as neighborhood groups demanded that the council help deal with congestion. A series of fees ranging from zero in eight central city zones to thousands of dollars in outlying areas was considered. Consumer groups from the fast-growing parts of north, northwest and southwest Fort Worth, where many new homes have been built in recent years, pressed for variable fees in hope that they said would provide an incentive for developers to build in other areas where adequate roads already exist. However, the council dropped the idea of variable fees under pressure from developers and other real estate interests, who argued that setting variable fees would drive new stores and businesses to surrounding cities.

Three Texas Cities Rank Best for Family Relocation
Fort Worth-Arlington ranks No. 4 among the best large metropolitan areas to relocate an entire family. A study conducted by Primacy Relocation and Worldwide ERC ranked cities by health and housing markets, percentage of nearby top-ranked colleges, in-state tuition, and a green living index. Austin/Round Rock (No 3) and San Antonio (No. 5) were also among the top-ranked regions. Pittsburgh was first and Indianapolis/Carmel, Indiana was second in the rankings.