So Corpus Christi maybe getting a water park with high rise rides, a lazy river and a wave pool.
Only it may not be by the company most local citizens believe. This water park will not be the Schlitterbahn that many people have been told about and expect.
This park is set to be built adjacent to Whataburger field and construction should begin by August.
Wow that is really soon. The planning of this park has been going on for more then two years now, according to reports. Really, we haven't heard much about this park or the planning of this park publicly in the last year. Well this could explain all the road repairs and new roads being constructed in that area. How coincidental.
It was only after a meeting on Tuesday with the Port of Corpus Christi Commissioners, that they approved to selling the land to the project developers. The land was previously owned by the Port.
Now for the interesting part. The company that bought the 5 acres in the high value area of the Port is, Durlame LLC. Durlame, does that name of a business sound like anything? Well it should. The partners in this business group are Bill Durrill and Joe Adame among others. That is right our mayor, Joe Adame, who also votes on 3 positions of the Port Commission. Mr. Durrill also owns Concrete Street Amphitheater and BrewsterSt. Icehouse, while it has been reported that Mr. Adame has some stake in Whataburger field as well.
So how much did the Port decide to sell these high value 5 acres for? A measly 50,000 dollars. Yep only 10,000 dollars an acre. You cant even buy a home lot on the southside of town for less then 18,000 dollars. But they got these 5 acres for 10,000 dollars each. Wow now that is a sweet deal.
As the story goes, two years ago a Houston based company had plans for a public-private partnership on that same acreage. That area would have included a water park, shops, and restaurants.
The Houston based company abandoned the idea after our city would not sign a letter of intent for the project and the Port agreed not to sell the land. How many times have we seen that happen, Bass Pro Shop, the Boardwalk, the Outlet Malls. Too many.
Sometime last year Mr. Durrill approached a company about designing a water park for that same area. Now for something that should make you say hmmm.
Mr. Adame purchased the rights to develop that land. He then assigned the lease to his own company, Durlame LLC. Which paid the Port 1.2 million dollars to extend their developmental option to a 99 year lease. So you see if the Port were to have sold that land to the Houston based company they would have to have refunded part of that 1.2 million dollars. So by not selling to the Houston company the Port made out and by selling the acreage to Duralame LLC. for such a cheap price, the group made out as well.
Once the Port declared that the land as surplus, which it could have done for the Houston based company, it decided to sell it. Here's another kicker. How many bids do you think were placed on that land that sold for only 50,000 dollars? Only one. The only bid was placed by Durlame LLC. for 50,000 dollars and sold immediately,
Now why is this such news you ask? Because in April Schlitterbahn announced it had plans to bring one of its water parks to the Corpus Christi area. So the good ole boys that run this city decided they better cash in before someone from the outside does. You see Schlitterbahn has been facing the same problems that the Houston based company faced 2 years ago. The city is unwillinging to work with outside companies. They have not offered Schlitterbahn any prime real estate to build on. Now Schlitterbahn must consider building on land owned by a private golf course on the island.
What are the odds this city will support two water parks? Slim to none. This city has a problem supporting two of anything unless it is a fast food chain or a taqueria.
This city may lose out on another opportunity to bring in an outside company to establish a proven revenue generating business. But hey as long as the pockets of the people that run this city get fatter, they are happy. As long as the people that run are city are allowed to make these type of deals, pushing new business away, we will never reach full economical potential for Corpus Christi.
Just an opinion, tell us what you think.
Agree or disagree at least we learn what the PEOPLE think.
9 comments:
This is soo true. It is sad that THEY don't want better for us. We could have gotten so many new jobs for our unemployed, but it wouldn't have benefited them in anyway. They have pasted up soooo many things. It's no wonder that after people graduate from collage want to leave as fast as they can. I know I was one of them who was ready to get out of this town. The only reason I came back is because I have family here. Two water parks would be great, but I'm hoping at the least they give us one. I will not be holding my breath. From MIchelle
@Michelle thank you for your comment and for following our site. It is true that by bringing in large outside companies the city would be creating more jobs for our unemployed, yet we dont. It is also true that most people when reaching the age to determine whether they wish to stay here or move to another city, they choose to move. That is because we do not offer the job market that most other cities our size do and that is sad. Two water parks would be great but you have to ask yourself why know? Why did they not allow the Houston based company to construct this water park? Was it because at that time no one else wished to build one? It just all seems alittle shady to me. Look around our city we cannot keep to of anything. Two malls barely. Two baseball teams nope. Two marinas nope. We just dont support twos. We will see what happens in the coming months and hopefully I am wrong. But like you said I am not holding my breath either.
I don't know if people know this, but this city is fat and not in a good way. I think if the Mayor wants to do good for our city he will ban new restraints from opening up. I mean really how many choices do we need? Please give us a fighting chance and give us some activities that will Help us in many ways. Not to mention that it is boring as hell in this town. From MIchelle
@Michelle thank you for your comment. Yes this city has been voted the fattest city in America and obesity is a big problem here and nation wide. I do not agree that we should ban new restraurants from opening here because that discouages new business and new jobs and so forth. I do agree that we as a society need to make better choices as to what we eat and where we eat at. You are correct in saying that this city does not provide many things to do for the public. They rely on the beach and the bayfront to entertain people. Look at San Antonio with Breckenridge park, with all its trail and walk ways. People want to go there just to get outside and exercise. Look at our city we have no real parks. Cole park is a joke and we have little to no trails to walk or ride on. For a city that prides itself on being a tourist town, we have very little for tourist to do. But maybe someday it will change.
CC has so much potential but yes, it's a big empty. The beach area itself could be so much better. This article highlights the reason things don't change there. I'm trying to find reasons to retire there and the biggest reason so far is that it's only 2 hours away form San Antonio.
@Drunkin Sailor thank you for your comment, it is always nice to hear from our followers. You are absolutely right this city has so much potential but has nothing to retire to. We are one of only a few cities that I know of that has beach front property but yet has no beach resorts, no beach shops or restraurants. If people actually believe that tourists come here for a beach covered in seaweed for most part of the year, they are wrong. Look at cities like South Padre their whole economy is based off of their beach front. San Antonio is another city that uses its resources very well. The one thing that San Antonio does not do is shove everything into one area. They spread things out throughout the cities so that the tourists must travel and see other parts of their town. Smart. It is the old grocery story trick. You dont put your hottest selling items in the front of the store, you put them in the back and let the customers travel through the store in hope they buy something else. Our city does not do that. We here at Loose Topics would love to see you and your family retire here, and hopefully our city will have something to offer you and other retirees at that time.
Interesting our local newspaper just wrote an article on the new water park that is going to be built across from Whataburger field. They have Mr. Durrill quoted as saying that the only reason he is doing this project is because of his 3 kids. Now I do not disagree that one reason he is doing this is becasue of his children, but it is not the main reason. The main reason is because he, along with his partners, want to cash in on the water park money before Schlitterbahn. And if by some chance, which I believe is liekly, that Schlitterbahn does not open here, they will be the only game in town. So it sounds very nice to everyone to say oh I'm doing this for my children, but lets be honest they are doing so that they may have a monopoly on that area down there.
I can see how he can say "its because I have kids" but I think we know him oh too well to know that he's not thinking of the kids. He's thinking about all the money like always. Everyone is hurting in this community, but like always its not affecting him. I hope people see why he is doing this and not go to his water park. I know it would be jobs that we desperately need, but we could have gotten someone better to bring us a water park. From MIchelle
So interesting. Hopefully it doesn't to too much "harm" for the town. We recently just found a few great Sandusky Ohio water parks that the kids just love. Thanks so much for sharing this article. Normally people don't think of what actually goes into building those huge water parks.
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