Creekside Park New Homes

We have finished creating a photo gallery for all the model homes that home builders have in Creekside Park The Woodlands.

You can visit Woodlands New Homes or you can click here to see all model homes in Creekside Park, the newest village in The Woodlands. Sit, relax and watch the photo gallery and let us know if you'd like us to show you around.

Remember, buyer representation does not cost you anything.

Happy New Year!!!

Real Estate Market

Hi there, I just wanted to let you know that we're getting ready to celebrate Christmas, work a little bit during the week and then receive the 2008 with all the energy.

Our team is preparing a series of reports for the home sales in 2007 in The Woodlands which I'll be posting soon...probably the first week of January.

Okay, happy holidays to everybody.

Luis Tamborrel, your The Woodlands Real Estate Specialist.

Pie town: New York Pizzeria dishes it up to The Woodlands

Many Americans love pizza and many residents of The Woodlands love their eateries.

The best of both worlds collide with New York Pizzeria, an upscale pizza restaurant with other Italian favorites. This month, the new flavor haven opened to the public. Homemade specialities include lasagna, baked Ziti, fettuccini, angel hair pasta, Pesto pasta and an array of combinations and specialties designed to keep any family satisfied. "Our menu is not just pizza, it's fast casual Italian New York traditional cuisine you see in the city," said Adrian Hembree, franchisee. "You can get pizza by the slice and fresh homemade pasta.

In New York, if it's a good pizzeria its one of the mom and pop shops and its usually a hole in the wall, it's not a standard chain," he added. Owner Anthony Russo offers his homemade marinara sauce to customers for $4.95 for each 26-ounce jar. Russo began his career in 1978 at the age of 12, according to Hembree. Hembree said the Russo family roots in fine Italian cuisine. "(Anthony Russo's) dad was from Italy and he would squeeze the tomatoes himself," Hembree said. "His father had a restaurant in Galveston and his father brought interns in from Sicily," Hembree said. "He grew up cooking with these great chefs, his family being Italian and having the recipes from the family."

Hembree said at this homemade Italian pizzeria, customers get a little bit of everything. "The clientele (should) appreciate everything made fresh," he said. "Everything is made on the premises and we have medium-priced entrees and large portions." Diners can bring along their own bottle of wine to enjoy with their meal.
Delivery and home catering services also are available. "We have New York native customers that drive from the Galleria to have our food," Hembree said. "It's a neat compliment about what he's (Russo) doing."

Hembree added the restaurant also promotes fast service, as well as home delivery options for other menu items besides pizza. "Delivery is free ... we offer counter service for lunch" Hembree said. "You can have lunch in less than 20 minutes." Hembree said the pizzeria has spent a long time developing itself as a brand through it's homemade recipes and now with its modern architecture. "When you walk in you smell the aroma of the sauce cooking in the back and the breads warming in the ovens," Hembree said. "It's an awesome experience. Nothing is better than when you make it homemade."

The New York Pizzeria is located at 3335 College Park Drive. The restaurant in The Woodlands is the first in Montgomery County. But Hembree said the company may scout out future locations, including in The Woodlands, with a goal of trying to space them out every five miles. He said that the expansion likely would not include more than two additional restaurants in the area.
The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Cable provider to upgrade Shenandoah's service

Charter Communications, the lone cable television provider in Shenandoah, has promised city officials that improvements are being made to the company's service in the city.

"A cable system or broadband communications system is difficult to manage," Kevin Allen, Charter's director of government relations, told the City Council at the Dec. 12 meeting. Allen outlined a number of additional services Charter was bringing to the area, as well as initiatives being undertaken to improve the system's reliability.
Charter had been asked to come before the council to address frustrations the with the service.

"You are the only game in town and what you have available to us has been bad, lacking and we've had no one to discuss this with," Mayor Becky Altemus said.
"Up until now, Charters has been our one horse we can ride (and) I'd have to say bad cable," Councilman Randy Doyle told Allen. "... It doesn't matter what you're introducing if what you have doesn't work." Doyle said his service has been so spotty with Charter that he finally stopped calling to complain. "If I called every time my Internet wasn't available, I'd be calling every other day."

Allen didn't dispute the concerns council members raised, saying work was being done to address them. "You're not going to see me trying to make excuses, because we recognize those problems were there ... particularly with broadband Internet access," he said. The changes at Charter started with the personnel level. Two new people have been brought in to work with the system, Brian Metrossi as the operations manager and Jimmy Neal as the field supervisor who manages repair technicians.

Work has begun on Charter's transmissions system as well, Allen said, including ensuring there are backup power supplies in place to keep service from being interrupted. "Another issue that causes service calls is noise or interference," Allen said. "Our intention is to find a way to get that fixed." Allen added noise issues are noticed more by broadband users than by a television audience. Shenandoah is part of a Charter Communications service area that extends to the west all the way to Katy. The operations plant for the system is located in Oak Ridge North, and the equipment in Shenandoah was some of the first built in the system, Neal said.

The company has also worked to bring a few more services to customers, Allen said. That effort included the launching of several additional high definition TV channels - bringing the company's total to 19 - and offering digital video recording cable receivers. Allen also agreed to update the city more frequently on the work being done to improve the service in the city.

FOX News Center weeks away from opening

Instead of counting in months the much-anticipated opening of a new Fox Sports Broadcast Center in The Woodlands, Fox executives are beginning to count it in weeks.

The facility, slated to open in the first quarter of 2008, will add a wave of high-paid technical jobs to Montgomery County's workforce. "It is wonderful," said Ron Bourbeau, CEO of the South Montgomery County Economic Development Partnership. "Any time you have between 500 and 700 new jobs created ... it says something about the economic viability of this community."

The company purchased in spring 2006 a site on Research Forest Drive south of Technology Forest Drive for Fox Network Center-Houston to transmit broadcasts via cable and satellite throughout the United States. The facility - like the property Fox has encompassed in Houston since the 1960s - will act as master control for FSN Houston and FSN Southwest, two of Fox's networks.

It also will be a hub for other Fox-owned networks, said Tim Sweeney, senior vice president and general manager of Fox Network Center-Houston. A van stationed at a sports game will send the information to The Woodlands' facility, where technical personnel will add commercials and graphics before airing the broadcast. "It is like Grand Central Station for all these arriving entities," Sweeney said.

Describing the center as a "behind-the-scenes facility," Sweeney said - for now - no studio is in the works. However, executives are leaving room on the property to grow if the specific need for a live audience show or new application is identified. While about 200,000 square feet have been developed, the remainder of the 30-acre site will be available for future expansions, Sweeney said, adding there are other needs that haven't been identified. Although the facility has a guarded gated entrance that is attended 24 hours a day, he said the company will open the center for certain groups. "It's not like we'll have a lot of the public coming in and out each day," he said. "But that doesn't mean we can't arrange for folks to see what we do ... ."
Sweeney specifically referred to students and those interested in pursuing careers with Fox. Initially, about 400 people will work at the center, he said, but the workforce will increase as the facility grows.

Sweeney said part of the reason Fox chose The Woodlands for its Houston hub is because of the "wonderful base for the possibility of employees for the future."
Sweeney said the company will hire employees who specialize in everything from technical monitoring to data processing to management. Dan Leverett, vice president of commercial development for The Woodlands Development Company, said the move continues to bring prestige in terms of jobs to the master-planned community. Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Chevron Phillips Chemical Company also built hubs in The Woodlands. "It continues to build on 20 years of success in the Research Forest and Town Center area of relocating world-class companies to our community," Leverett said.

Other networks Fox Networks Group manages include National Geographic Channel, FUEL TV, Fox Reality and Fox College Sports.

Cooper School in The Woodlands eligible for AP award

The John Cooper School is one of a very select group of schools in Texas that has been invited to apply for the Siemens Advanced Placement High School Award.

In a letter from the College Board inviting Cooper to apply for the award, Cooper is named as having one of the strongest math and science AP programs in the state, according to the College Board's Advanced Placement Report to the Nation.
Selection for the award is based on Cooper's participation and performance in Advanced Placement courses in math, science and technology. Approximately 10 to 15 schools per state have been invited to apply for the award.

Cooper students last year earned the highest pass rate in the history of the school by earning scores of 3, 4 or 5 (out of 5) on the Advanced Placement exams. AP scores last year were 97 percent for all AP tests, and 95 percent in math, science and technology, which are the categories that qualified Cooper for the Siemens Award.
The average SAT scores from Cooper's last two graduating classes are 660 in critical reading, 660 in math and 652 in writing, based on an 800 scale.

The Siemens Foundation, in partnership with the College Board, rewards exceptional achievement in AP, recognizing students, teachers and high schools. The Siemens AP High School Award, now in its ninth year, is given out annually to 50 high schools, one in each state. Winning high schools each receive a $1,000 grant to use for science and math education. Head of Upper School Joe Broccoli, who coordinates AP course selection, placement and examinations, has applied for the Siemens AP High School Award on behalf of The John Cooper School. A selection committee will review all applications and determine the winning high schools. Schools will be notified in February and winners will be announced on the Siemens Foundation website.
Above average:
The average SAT scores from Cooper's last two graduating classes are 660 in critical reading, 660 in math and 652 in writing, based on an 800 scale.

Merry Christmas & Happy New Year!!!

We all want to wish you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!...The best wishes for all of you in this holidays and we'd love to help and assist you with our services in 2008.

This year, 2007, has been a bit crazy. The market in Houston has slow down a little, but The Woodlands keeps being strong. Check back soon on this new blog that we started yesterday, we'll be posting market trends, and reports from 2007 for you to get an idea where the ball is heading.

Thank you and all the blessings for 2008!!!

Welcome to Our Blog

Welcome to Woodlands New Homes blog. On this blog we're going to be posting news and comments about The Woodlands and its surroundings.

You're more than welcome to post your comments, thoughts and questions.

Thank you.

Woodlands New Homes Team Members