At the bottom of the one-page website, Manlove posted a disclaimer that said:
But the Corps’ permit application says:
That may be hard to read on a smart phone, so let me retype the 85 word sentence.
“18 U.S.C. Section 1001 provides that: Whoever, in any manner within the jurisdiction of any department or agency of the United States knowingly and willfully falsifies, conceals, or covers up any trick, scheme, or disguises a material fact or makes any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or representations or makes or uses any false writing or document knowing same to contain any false, fictitious or fraudulent statements or entry, shall be fined not more than $10,000 or imprisoned not more than five years or both.”
Simplifying that statement, one could say, “”Whoever, in any manner…uses any false writing…knowing same to contain fictitious statements…shall be fined not more than $10K or imprisoned not more than 5 years or both.”
Shifting Stories
Against this backdrop, consider the number of inconsistencies between the original Army Corps’ public notice and Manlove’s new promotional website for the developer. Differences include:
The name of the applicant
The size of the development
The number of boats that the marina can hold
The amount of land being preserved for nature
Even the amount of fill being added to the floodplain, which is the main issue as far as the Corps is concerned.
Corps’ Public Notice states flood plain will be elevated from 45 to 57 feet, but developer’s web site now says more than 62 feet. This represents a loss of almost 2000 acre-feet of flood plain storage, but no compensating adjustments are disclosed.
All of these issues raise serious questions which the developer has refused to to address publicly. However, the Manlove-created web site does claim that they will meet AFTER the comment period is over. Sorry! That’s too late.
Inconsistencies in Second, Separate Permit, Too
The developer’s engineering contractor, CivilTech, applied for a permit in June, 2018, to begin excavating the marina. The company told the County that all excavated material would be hauled off site and sold. Based on these assurances, Harris County Flood Control had no objection and the City approved the excavation permit.
FOIA request of HCFCD records shows that excavation permit application was based on all material being hauled off site. However, the Corps Public Notice says it will be used to raise buildings.
Now, however, the Army Corps in its public notice says the fill will STAY on site to raise the elevation of buildings. Because the marina will immediately fill back up with river water, the fill dirt should reduce floodplain capacity.
Meanwhile, on February 12, 2019, Manlove published a statement in its promotional website for the developers stating that, “Both the City and County have approved construction and permits have been issued, they have determined that the community will not have an adverse effect on surrounding communities.” (sic)
Copy published by Manlove for developers on 2/12/2019.
Excavation, NOT Construction
To set the record straight, both the City and County deny that a) CONSTRUCTION permits have been issued, and b) that they have made any determination as to whether the high-rise development will adversely affect surrounding communities.
Harris County Flood Control District (HCFCD) did not object to an EXCAVATION permit based on assurances from the developer’s engineering contractor that the excavated material would be hauled away. The City evidently approved the EXCAVATION permit based on the fact that HCFCD did not object.
Luckily, excavation has not yet begun. Hopefully, this inconsistency will be addressed by the developers, their engineering firm and permitting agencies before excavation begins.
I’m not saying these inconsistencies are intentional. Things change. Perhaps CivilTech was planning to reapply for another permit that showed onsite storage of the excavated material. Perhaps the ad agency was unaware of the standard of disclosure that being the official point of contact demands.
Only One Thing is Certain
Only one thing is certain: Kingwood residents affected by this project deserve answers.
For starters, I’d like to know how a 50-story hotel and other commercial high rises can be built on property that’s apparently deed restricted to single-family residential. And then I’d like to know who’s behind this project and where their money comes from.
Dun & Bradstreet lists no assets for Romerica Investments, LLC (the permit applicant) and thinks the company is out of business,
After I pointed that out, Manlove then changed the copy in their promotional website to suggest that “Romerica Group” would be responsible.
But no entity by that name is registered with the Texas Secretary of State,
So Manlove again changed the copy. It now just says, “Romerica” will head the project.
News Flash: “Romerica” by itself isn’t registered with the Texas Secretary of State either.
Stop The Nonsense
It’s time for the Army Corps of Engineers to put a stop to this nonsense. The Corps should deny this permit.
As always, these are my opinions on matters of public policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on Feb. 19, 2019
539 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Screen-Shot-2019-02-19-at-7.11.46-PM.png?fit=880%2C198&ssl=1198880adminadmin2019-02-19 21:10:522019-02-20 10:03:27Stark Contrast Between High-Rise Website Disclaimer and Army Corps Permit Application Form
Searches have revealed 35 companies so far that are registered with the Texas Secretary of State that belong to Gabriel M. Haddad and Fabio M. Covarrubias. Both men use multiple variations on their names, making it difficult to nail down a precise number of companies and partnerships that they control. They also register additional companies and partnerships in other states and countries, making ownership and accountability even more difficult to track.
Romerica Group’s website says they have 12 projects currently “running” in the U.S. and Mexico. However, a review of the company’s many websites found only two related to real-estate development – one in each country. The US project in Kingwood has not been constructed and the website for the development in Mexico shows only conceptual drawings. The Romerica Group website shows nine related entities, discussed below.
Motor Sports Resort
In November 2014, Covarrubias and Haddad bought a race track in Angleton at One Performance Drive in the middle of farmland (see below). Built in 2005, it was originally called MSR Houston. MSR stood for Motor Speedway Ranch. Photos on the site suggest that the tallest building on the property is two to three stories. It sold memberships and track time to owners of high-performance vehicles who wanted to drive fast legally in a controlled environment.
Racetrack in Angleton caters to performance driving enthusiasts. As of 3/21/18, Google Earth showed only a track with some garage space and a few other small buildings.
The Motor Sports Resort site mentions a real-estate company, MSR Houston Real Estate, that was supposedly introducing a master plan for the track by the summer of 2018. The MSR Houston web site does say, “Coming Soon,” but the Texas Secretary of State shows no record of such a company and a google search for it returned no results except the one below. I can find no details of a master plan on the website.
Tramontana and Lotus Driving Academy
The Romerica Group website also claims to have two other automotive related ventures:
MSR Tramontana LLC features a high-performance car. However, the site does not say what the group’s contribution to the vehicle is. It says that they are one-of-a-kind vehicles with “excellent levels of production and development” but doesn’t say how many have been built or how to buy one. Tramontana has a separate, dedicated website. That offers a little more detail. But on their partner page, they list a branding company, two fashion designers, and a web developer. I could find no references to manufacturing partners or where the vehicles were made.
Warning message when you check out from FAMA Design.
Romerica Insurance
Romerica Insurance does not have its own web site. However, it does have several Facebook pages. They sell many different types of insurance, including – ironically – flood insurance. FaceBook also lists an office for the insurance company at the Angleton racetrack.
Romerica Real Estate
Romerica Real Estate does not have its own web site either. The link to Romerica Real Estate from the Romerica Groups Home Page is broken. HAR.com (Houston Area Realors) says that the Romerica Real Estate “page is no longer active.” Same for FaceBook. A Google search returns dozens of other “page not found” error messages. The Texas Real Estate Commission (TREC) shows that the company’s account is “inactive.” TREC also lists the real estate company’s address as the racetrack in Angleton.
The Texas Real Estate Commission lists the Romerica Real Estate, LLC account as inactive even though it has not expired. Note that the TREC also lists the address for the real estate company at the race track.
Torrenova Cuernavaca
Another link from the Romerica Group Home Page goes to Torrenova Cuernavaca. The subhead says it deals with Romerica land in Mexico. Last month, clicking on the link yielded another dead-end search.
However, the Torrenova-Cueranvaca site has since been updated to include concept drawings. It shows no actual photos of anything the “company” has constructed, though the site does list prices. Like the Romerica Group itself, Torrenova Cuernavaca is not registered to do business in the state of Texas (though in fairness, the site is in Spanish).
American Vision Regional Center solicits investments through the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service EB-5 program. EB-5 visas offer a legal pathway into the U.S. for foreign investors, their spouses and family members under 21.
Foreign investors are suing the developers for fraud in Houston district court. (See MARIA DEL CARMEN BORBOLLA AND MARIA DEL CARMEN GOMEZ, CAUSE NO. 2018 – 07276, 157th Judicial Court, Harris County, Tx.)
Clicking on the home page of AmericanVision.com takes the viewer to an unrelated site (AmericanVision.org) that sells religious books. AmericanVision.org is registered to a seemingly unrelated company in Paris, France.
The landing page for AmericanVision.com shows links to four sub-pages: Why EB-5?, Info For Investors, FAQs, and Our Parters. Links to each page are broken. They take you to a “page not found” error message on the bookstore site.
The SEC’s first warning sign: “Promises of a visa or becoming a lawful permanent resident.” The text explains, “Investing through EB-5 makes you eligible to apply for a conditional visa, but there is no guarantee that USCIS will grant you a conditional visa or subsequently remove the conditions on your lawful permanent residency. USCIS carefully reviews each case and denies cases where eligibility rules are not met. Guarantees of the receipt or timing of a visa or green card are warning signs of fraud.”
Copy on the AmericanVision.com About Us Page clearly states that their program was “…designated by the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) to offer Investor Visa / Green Card through the EB5 Immigrant Investor Program.”
Last line of copy shown above seemingly violates SEC guidelines.
To be clear, I am not accusing Romerica or its management of fraud. I am merely repeating US government advice for investors to be cautious in these circumstances.
Numerous questions exist about the people applying for permits to build high-rises feet away from the floodway of the San Jacinto? They surely know that the area where they want to build 25-50 story high rises will soon be INCLUDED in the floodway when new flood maps are approved. Who would build there? Why?
I do not wish to speculate on the motives of the developers. I can only point out inconsistencies that do not inspire confidence. Especially for someone developing what Houston City Council Member Dave Martin has described as a $2.5 billion project. Especially when they’ve shown no evidence that they have ever built anything.
Despite my seven requests for a meeting, the developers have refused to meet publicly to answer questions. Their official point of contact at the Manlove Advertising and PR agency has stated that they may consider one AFTER the public comment period closes.
One can only hope that the Army Corps and TCEQ will exercise due diligence in consideration of these permit requests.
As always, these comments represent my opinions on matters of public policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the Great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on February 17, 2019
538 Days After Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/MSR-Houston-Track.jpg?fit=1500%2C885&ssl=18851500adminadmin2019-02-17 23:27:032019-02-18 11:17:57More Questions than Answers About Romerica Group, Romerica Investments, and Their Supposed $2.5 Billion Project
Kingwood’s Kingwood Lakes Community Association has threatened legal action over a portion of the proposed high-rise development between Lake Kingwood and the Barrington. Developers planned multi-family condominium units on stilts for that area. But deed restrictions limit construction to single-family housing compatible with surrounding architecture.
View from Milan Saunders home in Kingwood Lakes during Harvey. This is why Kingwood Lakes residents are so concerned about the diversion of drainage from the proposed high-rises and condos towards them.
Single-family usually means “one family in one house on one piece of land.” The developers had planned 65′ high, MULTI-FAMILY condos. That would not look anything like the classic homes in either Kingwood Lakes or the Barrington.
Drainage Issues Compound Deed Restriction Issues
Deed restrictions also prevent diversion of drainage onto the property of others. According to the US Army Corps’ public notice, the developers planned to divert runoff into Lake Kingwood. That lake is owned and maintained by the Kingwood Lakes subdivision. Without the permission of the Association, that would also constitute a deed restriction violation.
The letter warns that if development commences, the association will seek “judicial enforcement of deed restrictions, architectural guidelines and protection of its property. Such action may include claims for injunctive relief as well as relevant damages.”
The letter closes by saying that the Association hopes no further action will be required.
Kingwood Lakes addressed the letter to the Army Corps. However, the homeowners’ association also copied officials at Harris County Flood Control and the City of Houston.
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Deck-1-e1532494854628.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=11200900adminadmin2019-02-14 15:11:042019-02-14 15:11:10Kingwood Lakes Threatens Legal Action Over Portion of Proposed High-Rise Development
Romerica Investments LLC has filed permit applications with the Army Corps, City of Houston, and Harris County Flood Control. Romerica Investments hopes to build 5,000 mid-rise condos, a series of high-rise towers ranging from 25 to 50 stories, and a marina to hold 800 40-foot boats and 200 jet skis – all on property deed-restricted to “single-family residential” in a bald-eagle habitat protection zone. The property is near River Grove Park in the floodplain and floodway of the San Jacinto’s West Fork.
However, a title search revealed that Romerica Investments does not own the property on which it intends to build. A search for who does own the property led through a maze of more than 30 other entities in Texas. Two individuals run virtually all of them. The individuals sometimes use different names and different spellings of their names when registering their businesses with the Texas Secretary of State. They also list offices that are sometimes vacant; phone numbers that have been disconnected; and an address on a street that does not exist. In the case of the land in question, they even registered the company under the first name of one man and the last name of the other. Innocent mistakes or part of a pattern? You judge.
In case you’re doing a double take, that’s the first name of one man with the last name of another. They amended that filing last year so that their names now appear as Fabio M. Covarrubias Piffer and Gabriel M. Haddad Giorgi.
Filing for Permit to Develop
Whew! Got all that? Now get this. Romerica Investments, the company that filed the permit application with the Corps, lists Mr. Covarrubias as both manager and director under two different names. Also note that the address on “Nuntucket” for Mr. Haddad does not exist; there is no such street. (Many of their filings use this misspelling. A Nantucket street does exist in Houston.)
Romerica Investments’ management information. Note the different names, addresses and positions for Mr. Covarrubias. Also note the different positions for Mr. Haddad and the misspelling of his street name. Google Maps street view shows rather expensive homes at this address, so “Suite C” seems odd.
Kingwood Marina website suggests that Romerica Group, not Romerica Investments will develop property. It also states that developers believe in “dialog with stakeholders,” but they have refused to meet publicly.
So Many Questions, So Little Time; Developers Refuse to Meet
These observations raise many questions. Despite the developers’ claimed “commitment to dialog with stakeholders at every level,” they have refused to meet publicly to answer questions before the end of the Army Corps’ comment period. I have personally requested a meeting by phone, email, or certified mail seven times in the last seven weeks – all to no avail.
Developers commonly use different companies to acquire, sell, or subdivide land. That doesn’t bother me. The fact that registrations for so many of these companies contain inconsistencies, inaccuracies, misspellings, wrong addresses, aliases, broken links, dead ends and disconnected phone numbers does concern me.
None of the companies shows projects they have completed. Sometimes one company lists another as the owner, but the companies may be incorporated in different states or different countries. Plus they’re selling:
Swampland dressed up as investments in a luxurious lifestyle
My advice: Buyers beware. I use the term “buyers” in a global sense to include officials granting permits. I’m not buying any of this.
As always, these posts contain my opinions on matters of public policy which are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the Great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on February 14, 2019
534 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/RomericaGroup2.jpg?fit=1479%2C1096&ssl=110961479adminadmin2019-02-14 12:56:452019-02-17 19:43:14Search for Owners of High-Rise Properties Leads to Maze of More Than 30 Companies in Texas Alone
Last night, I posted about some problems with the copy in the new website for the high-rise Kingwood Marina project. This morning, The Manlove Agency started changing the copy in many of the FAQs without explanation. Their disclaimer did not change, however.
I have screen captures of the original text. If anyone wants to see it, please email me.
Rather than do an hourly critique of the website, I’m going to give them a day or two to vet their facts. Then I will revisit it. Use extreme caution in the meantime. For instance,:
Their video still says they will have slips for 800 boats. But the Army Corps’ public notice states 640. A huge “disconnect”!
The copy still states that Romerica Group will now develop the property. The Texas Secretary of State has no listing for a Romerica Group. The phone number listed in their website is disconnected. And their name appears nowhere on the permit application.
The copy still says the development will be 364 acres although the Corps Public Notice states 331.
The developer has acquired all of the property in red, but only the portions marked Project Area are included in the current project.
Fixing One Problem Creates Another
Yesterday, I pointed out that raising the property to 57 feet would not make them flood safe. Manlove revised yesterday’s copy to suggest that the buildings will now have an additional five feet of fill beneath them. The developer will now raise them 17 feet above their current elevation, not 12 as stated in the original permit application. This would result in the loss of more than 1800 acre-feet of floodplain storage capacity and could impact surrounding communities.
Offending Copy About Permit Approval Removed
Manlove removed the copy about the City, County and Corps permitting the site for construction after finding no impact on surrounding communities. I confirmed with Harris County Flood Control that they never issued a permit for the property. The Corps is currently evaluating a permit. Hence, this public comment period. I’m confirming whether the City issued a permit to begin excavation.
No Public Meeting
The developers have refused to meet with the community to address the many concerns surrounding this project. I have personally tried SIX times to set up such a meeting. They agreed to have a private meeting with me. I said I would agree if I could videotape it. They refused. So the private meeting was cancelled, too.
As always, the content of this post represents my opinions on matters of public policy. Those opinions are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the Great State of Texas.
Posted on February 13, 2019, by Bob Rehak
533 Days after Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Woodland-hills-map.png?fit=1061%2C1024&ssl=110241061adminadmin2019-02-13 11:44:352019-02-13 12:52:35Manlove Changing High-Rise Website, but Problems Remain
The developers of the proposed high-rise development near River Grove Park launched a new web site today, TheHeronsKingwood.com. In it, they make many new claims designed to put the public’s concerns to rest. It had the opposite effect on me. Why?
They told the Corps the Marina would hold 640 boats. It’s 160 boats larger now. The website video states 800.
The Army Corps thinks the development is 331 acres. The website claims 364.
After telling community leaders they would hold a public meeting before the close of the comment period, they now say after.
After previously touting their connections to an Italian architectural firm, Torrisi and Procopio (which I suspected was a fake site), they now say Skidmore Owings and Merrill (SOM) developed the design. But SOM in San Francisco referred me to their legal department, which did not take my calls. The Italian site was developed in English and registered in Aruba by a Canadian Company.
They now claim that a subsidiary of Romerica Investments, the Romerica Group, will develop the project. They claim Romerica Group has existed since 2007 and is located in Houston. The Texas Secretary of State has no listing for Romerica Group. Neither do Florida, Delaware or Alberta, Canada – other known locations where the developers have incorporated. The phone number listed on the Romerica Group website is disconnected. The office was unoccupied last time I checked several weeks ago.
“Romerica Group” does not appear on any of the permit applications associated with this project at the Army Corps, City of Houston or Harris County Flood Control.
Romerica Investments does not own the property being permitted.
They claim that 25-story condominium towers are single family homes. That’s the world’s largest family!
They say that only the northern half of the development is subject to height restrictions without offering any proof that “single-family residential” deed restrictions have been removed from the southern half.
They claim they’re creating a connection to Hamblin Road (sic), which the Corps Public Notice does not mention and no one in Forest Cove seems to know about.
They claim that “Both the city and county have approved construction and permits have been issued, they have determined that the community will not have an adverse effect on surrounding communities.” This makes it sound like they have been given permits for the entire development. Not true. Neither is the second half of the statement. Developers requested a permit to start excavating the marina. They promised they would haul excavated material offsite. However, things changed by the time the Corps issued its public notice. The public notice states that they will use the fill to raise the elevation 12 feet. Hmmm. Sounds like cause to revoke those permits to me!
They again claim that raising elevations to 57 feet will make the buildings flood safe when the area has flooded over 57 feet at least six times in the last 25 years.
They call roads an alternative mode of transportation!
They think ExxonMobil is spelled Exxon Mobile.
But the best part is this! Read the disclaimer. It’s the most self-generous disclaimer in the history of words. Nobody is responsible for anything the site says. Make sure you read the fine print.
Ain’t nobody responsible for nothin’.
As always, this post represents my opinions on matters of public policy. They are protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP Statute of the Great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on February 12, 2019
532 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Disclaimer3.jpg?fit=1500%2C160&ssl=11601500adminadmin2019-02-12 21:02:162019-02-12 23:27:15High-Rise Developers Make New Claims, Give Themselves Most Generous Disclaimer in History of Words
Romerica Investments proposed high-rise marina property has a long history of flooding. In fact, the flooding which has gotten progressively worse through the years, has stymied one developer after another.
The property flooded 52 times since Lake Houston was built in 1955. That means it floods almost every year. And in the last year (February ’18 to January ’19). it flooded SIX times.
Timeline Shows Link Between Flooding, Sales, Lawsuit
As you review this chronology, clicking on the links will take you to the actual deeds. Here’s a timeline that shows how sales of the property relate to water and flooding. As you review it, remember all deed restrictions run with the land. That means they carry forward from one buyer to the next…unless the original entity imposing the restrictions consents to removing them.
Notice how subsequent transfers summarize restrictions in the earlier transfers: “This conveyance…is made and accepted subject to any and all … restrictions … relating to the property, but only to the extent that they are … shown of record in the herein above mentioned County…”
We could find no documents in county records removing the single-family residential restriction that Friendswood Development Company placed on the property. The developer has provided none to date.
Title and Flood History
1950 – Foster Lumber Company sells 3200 acres to City of Houston for the purpose of creating Lake Houston.
1955 – Lake Houston created.
1973 – City of Houston sells two tracts of land not inundated by Lake Houston to Friendswood Development Company and King Ranch. City puts several deed restrictions on property. The significant ones: 1) No use that could alter the reservoir capacity of Lake Houston through fill or erosion. 2) Any fill must be compensated with excavation immediately adjacent to the fill. 3) City reserved the right to enforce pollution controls on activities up to the 51 foot contour elevation line. This is significant because it would include marina operations. The Lake and river normally pool at 42.5 feet back to the US59 bridge.
1994 – In October, historic flooding hits area. Crest at US59 = 67.30 feet.
1994 – On December 30, Friendswood and King Ranch sell property to Holley-Strother Kingwood Lakes Estates, LTD. Deed restrictions limit property use to “single family residential homes with accompanying greenbelt, park, pool, recreational facilities and for no other purpose or purposes” for a period of 40 years. Also, drainage cannot be altered in a way that affects surrounding property. Finally, before the developers could begin construction, they had to get a declaration of use restrictions affecting all the property approved in writing by the grantor. This would force homebuyers to abide by the deed restrictions, too.
1998 – West Fork crests at 60.1 feet at US59 on 11/15.
2001 – 2007 – River crests above 50 feet inundating Holley-Strother property seven times in seven years.
2007 – June 18, FEMA approves new Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMS). This put a large part of the Holley Strother property in the floodway for the first time. City of Houston also adopted a new ordinance that prohibited the City Engineer from permitting any buildings in a floodway.
Current flood map used by FEMA and CoH is dated 6/17/2007. Expansion of floodway (crosshatched area) kept Holley-Strother from developing land. COH rules prohibit building in floodway. Current developer appears to be rushing to get property permitted before flood maps are updated again. Updates will likely show all high-rise portion in floodway.
2008 – West Fork floods and crests at 62.8 feet at US59 on September 18. Holley and Strother excavate a lake on the southern portion of their land to help build up the level of the Barrington, which is still under construction. On September 30, Holley and Strother sue the City. They claim that the City Ordinance against building in the floodway constitutes “illegal taking” of their land under the 14th amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
2009 – 2012 – Floods above 50 feet inundate the property three more times.
And so history repeats itself. The current rush to beat redrawing of the flood maps reminds one of the events in 2007 and 2008.
I have numerous questions about this project. About the safety of building high rises in an old meander of the San Jacinto. About the wisdom of approving a permit to build such immense structures on the edge of the floodway – when we know the flood maps will soon be revised again. About expanding a marina toward the river when the river is migrating toward the marina at the rate of 20 feet per year.
Who are These People?
Meanwhile, I’m also struggling with questions about the developers. I’m struggling to understand the maze of companies, partnerships, addresses, and registrations in other states and countries. These two men have 19 entities here in Texas alone.
This raises so many questions that I hope the Corps extends the public comment period yet again until we can learn who these men are and where their money comes from. The community needs to understand who we are dealing with. But they have not yet consented to a public meeting despite numerous requests.
As always, these are my opinions on matters of public interest. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on February 6, 2019
531 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/High-Rises-on-Flood-Plain.jpg?fit=1500%2C1013&ssl=110131500adminadmin2019-02-11 18:43:092019-02-12 09:27:14History of Proposed High-Rise Property Tied to Flooding For Decades
Imagine trying to evacuate 640 40-boats before a storm. The biggest threat to water quality is the one thing in this development that needs to be near the river: the marina.
Main Concerns
My main concerns are:
This development appears to violate legally binding deed restrictions. We can find no documents registered with the county clerk that legally change allowable land use from “single family residential” to commercial, retail and hotel high rises.
The developers many websites touting this project appear to violate rules from the SEC, FTC, FINRA, National Association of Realtors, and Texas Real Estate Commission governing real-estate investment advertising. See letter section 15 (e) XX on page 15.
The developers are foreigners who operate through a maze of companies that makes it hard to understand whom the community is dealing with.
The developers are being sued by investors for fraud.
One huge thing I believe we need: Confidence in the legitimacy of the developers.
Their refusal so far to appear at a public meeting to answer questions about their development raised red flags. I found many others. Four pages worth. See pages 16-19 in the letter. A small sampling:
Dunn and Bradstreet reports that Romerica Investments, LLC, the applicant is inactive and out of business. They have no working phone and appear to have no sales, assets, or profits.
The Romerica Group is not registered in Texas even though they say their headquarters is in Houston and that they have been doing business here since 2007.
The initial contact number listed by the Army Corps for Romerica was a “wrong number.” Contact numbers for several of the developers other companies are not in service.
Investors are suing them for fraud in District Court. (See MARIA DEL CARMEN BORBOLLA AND MARIA DEL CARMEN GOMEZ, CAUSE NO. 2018 – 07276, 157th Judicial Court, Harris County, Tx.)
The RomericaInvestments.com website was registered in 2013 and still shows a “Future Home of…” home page.
The people of Kingwood don’t need another Gucci outlet as much as they need freedom from flooding. I therefore called for a moratorium on all flood plain permitting until flood mitigation measures can be put in place and safety restored.
Conclusion
Any one of these factors by itself might be sufficient to deny the permit request. Taken together, they leave no doubt; the negatives far outweigh any positives. According to Army Corps guidelines, the permit must therefore be denied. Too many questions remain unanswered about the developers and the development to approve this permit.
Or send them in their entirety and say, “I agree!” Here’s a customizable word.doc that you can download and send. Remember to insert your name and contact information on the first page and your name again on the last page. You can then send it by clicking on the links in the letter.
I am sending my letter only in a digital format because of all the hyperlinks embedded in it.
Emailed Letters Preferred
The recipients have expressed a desire for electronic versions over paper copies anyway. Electronic makes it easier for them to forward and file the documents; no scanning necessary.
As always, the thoughts in the letter and this post represent my opinions on matters of public interest. They are protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the Great State of Texas.
Posted on February 9, 2019 by Bob Rehak
529 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/boat1.jpg?fit=980%2C759&ssl=1759980adminadmin2019-02-09 18:41:352019-02-09 19:45:49Rehak Letter about Proposed High-Rise Development Spells Out New Concerns
A search for deed restrictions on property proposed for high-rise development turned up some huge surprises today. I had previously posted about height restrictions within Friendswood Commercial Development Guidelines. It turns out that the Friendswood Commercial Development Guidelines do not apply in this case – because the property was restricted to single-family residential. Specifically, I’m talking about the section of land circled below. It’s just south of the Barrington subdivision in Kingwood.
This post deals only with the section in red where most of the high rises will go, but deed restrictions also exist on other related parcels of land in the proposed development.
Relevant Property History Starts in 1994
Some concerned residents and I conducted a title search with the help of the County Clerk’s website and a friendly title company. The land in the circle has changed hands twice since 1994. Friendswood Development company sold it to Holley-Strother Kingwood Lake Estates, Ltd. on December 30, 1994. Holley and Strother sold it to the current owners in 2012. The land has actually been sold more than twice, but only among companies controlled by the same individuals. It’s also been the subject of an eight year law suit related to flood plain issues. More on those items in subsequent posts.
Key Elements of Deed Restrictions
Deed restrictions in the first sale specify four key elements:
Single-family residential
Compatible architecture in harmony with structures on adjoining land.
No alteration of drainage for surrounding areas
Applies to all subsequent buyers for a period of at least 40 years (until 2036)
That hardly looks like single-family residential housing. I talked to experts in city planning, real estate and sales. They all agreed that “single family residential” usually means “one family in one structure on one lot.”
Drainage Deed Restrictions, Too.
Hindering or obstructing existing drainage channels or ditches, which serve adjoining property owners – without the written consent of the owners – is also prohibited. (See Paragraph 8.)
The Corps’ public notice also states that the developer plans to put “285 cubic yards of fill into 771 linear feet of streams adjacent to the West Fork of the San Jacinto.” That would seem to be another deed restriction violation.
I’m not sure about you, but I moved to Kingwood, a master-planned community, because deed restrictions ensured these kinds of things did not happen.
To my knowledge, the developers have not even attempted to gain permission to disrupt drainage from other villages, such as Kingwood Lakes, Deer Cove, Trailwood and Barrington.
Deed Restrictions Binding on Successors
Another key clause in the deed restrictions reads:
Deed restrictions normally “run” with the land. Said another way, when the first buyer sells the land to a second buyer, the second buyer must abide by the same restrictions that the first buyer had, and so forth in perpetuity. Subsequent buyers may add restrictions, but notremove them without the consent of the ORIGINAL grantor. The original grantor in this case was Friendswood Development Company.
We could find no recorded documents on the County Clerk’s web site or in a title search that removed deed restrictions on this property. A former Friendswood executive told me, “If there is not a recorded document removing the restrictions, then they have not been removed.” So…
The Burden of Proof is on the Developers
I am requesting the developers to show the legally recorded document that removes the deed restrictions. However, so far they have not responded to my certified mail or phone calls requesting a public meeting.
The Corps informed me yesterday that the developer has designated Leah Manlove Howard of Manlove Advertising and PR as their new point of contact. Her contact information is:
Romerica Investments, LLC One Performance Drive Angleton, TX 77515 Telephone: 281-487-6767 POC: Ms. Leah Manlove Howard
This raises so many questions that I hope the Corps extends the public comment period yet again. The community needs to understand who we are dealing with.
As always, these are my opinions on matters of public interest. They are protected by the First Amendment of the US Constitution and the Anti-SLAPP statute of the great State of Texas.
Posted by Bob Rehak on February 6, 2019
526 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/SectionDHilighted.jpg?fit=1500%2C1153&ssl=111531500adminadmin2019-02-06 20:09:542019-02-06 20:22:46High-Rise Property May Be Deed Restricted to Single-Family Residential
“Has Romerica Investments done due diligence? Is this project needed?” In my opinion, the answer is no. It consists of condominiums 65-feet high in the flood plain, plus 25-50 story retail, commercial and hotel structures arranged around a marina. That marina is in the floodway of the San Jacinto River’s West Fork.
Looking northwest from the southeastern tip of the proposed high-rise marina district Imagine 50-story high rises in the narrow strip of land between the lake and the Barrington in the background. Look below to see the scale.
But growth in the Humble ISD has slowed from 6% to 1% because of concerns over flooding. The number-one need we have now is to restore safety by mitigating flood risk. This project will worsen flood risk and there is little demand for it – especially in this location. The Corps should deny this permit until the safety of the community can be assured.
Drawn to vertical scale.
The developer plans to build more than 3 million square feet of hotel, commercial, retail and residential space in the floodplain. Yet, since Harvey, we can’t fill all the homes we have – even those on higher ground. About a quarter of the retail space in Town Center and King’s Harbor is still vacant. There’s little demand for commercial space. And existing hotels can handle travelers just fine, thank you.
Previous Attempt to Build Retail Mall in Kingwood Failed
It’s also hard to see how Kingwood’s population would support another shopping mall and theater. We already have a major 1.2 million SF regional mall right across the river in Humble. We also have three theaters with 44 screens within 5 miles. Also, consider that online shopping and streaming services, such as Amazon and Netflix, are stealing market share from malls and movie theaters all over America.
A previous attempt to build a small mall in Kingwood resulted in abject failure. The mall was on the southwest corner of Kingwood Drive and US59. After sitting vacant for years, HCA bought the structure and converted it into a community hospital.
Market Review Does Not Consider Location-Specific Factors
The market review conducted by the applicant mentioned none of this. It focused on job growth in Texas and Houston. It totally ignored the local Kingwood market and site-specific considerations. Conducted before Harvey, the survey has NOT been updated to reflect flooding concerns.
That said, most existing homes and businesses in Kingwood are on much higher ground. Raising this project 12 feet above its current elevation to 57′ won’t raise it out of harms way. Far from it. We’ve had six floods higher than that since 1994 – an average of one every FOUR years. That’s an increase over the previous 65 years when we had just three – one every 22 years..
The build-it-and-they-will-come mentality in post-Harvey Houston invites disappointment down the road. It will create white elephants that leave permanent scars on the landscape after destroying the fragile wetlands that we so desperately need to absorb and store floodwaters.
Raising Elevation Will Raise Costs
However, raising the entire project 12 feet WILL raise costs. And therefore, it will price sales and rentals far above the rest of the market – in an area (i.e., floodplain) that people are wary of after Harvey.
In my opinion, the combination of higher costs, less demand, less traffic, remote location, and local opposition will doom this project from the start.
It does not include any evaluation of local Kingwood-specific factors, such as occupancy rates.
It includes no staples of market analysis such as traffic counts or trading radius.
It does not consider the feasibility of anchor attractions, such as the marina and retail mall. For instance, can the West Fork even accommodate the volume and size of boats in the marina? Will retailers support a mall at the end of a dead-end road, four miles from the nearest highway, devoid of any through traffic, that floods every time we get four inches of rain?
It says comparable projects around the country were surveyed, but makes no mention of them. It contains no competitive analysis.
It reads like a prospectus targeted at investors, but contains no mention of risk.
The authorship of the analysis is redacted; we do not know who conducted the survey or what credentials they have.
Finally, it contains no mention of flooding or Harvey.
These omissions feel like serious flaws in Romerica’s market analysis. The Corps should not approve a permit based on such work. There is no demonstrable need to destroy these wetlands.
Posted by Bob Rehak on 2/1/2019
521 Days since Hurricane Harvey
https://i0.wp.com/reduceflooding.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Harvey-SanJac_182.jpg?fit=2000%2C1333&ssl=113332000adminadmin2019-02-01 11:13:132019-02-01 13:47:50Will High-Rise Marina Project Meet Army Corps’ Criteria for “Needed”?
