Ingleside: Base shuts on 9/30/10

[pirate44]

Local interests say planning for future can start in earnest

By fanny s. chirinos Caller-Times
July 7, 2006


A year ago, the question was whether Naval Station Ingleside would close. Since December, the question has been: When? Now, the answer is expected to be Sept. 30, 2010.

Jimmy Anderson, director of the Navy's BRAC Program Management Office, said an announcement of the official date is expected next week. Federal employees had heard, and Anderson confirmed, that the date is expected to be Sept. 30, 2010. As word of the date spreads, many of the feelings of uncertainty have been replaced with anticipation of what will come.

"I think we're past the economic slump," said Josephine Miller, executive director of the San Patricio County Economic Development Corp. "Business slowed down when Ingleside's closure was announced, but we're busy, busy, busy. It's picked up again and we're moving. We've got plenty of planning time and plenty of options."

When President Bush approved the Base Realignment and Closure commission's final closure list in December, people who counted on the base personnel's spending power had had seven months of getting accustomed to the news. It wasn't easy, Miller said.

But, projects along the La Quinta Ship Channel such as the proposed La Quinta Container Terminal, three pending liquefied nitrogen gas sites and new large metal fabrication projects at Kiewit Offshore Services and Gulf Marine Fabricators have brought in business and workers.

The base closure means an estimated loss of 7,015 direct and indirect jobs to the area. The annual pay associated with those jobs exceeds $364 million. Naval Air Station Corpus Christi also was significantly realigned in the process. The loss of the Mine Warfare Command and HM-15 helicopter squadron means another 1,000 jobs gone.

Ingleside Mayor Elaine W. Kemp said the date doesn't make much difference because officials have said the closure would be gradual. She's confident other businesses will fill the void left by the Navy, a sentiment shared by Ingleside City Manager Walter Hill.

The official closure, when announced, will be welcome news because it would give Ingleside an availability date for that property, Miller said.

"Time is money and people need to know when the property will be available," she said. "We said it was going to be 2009 or 2010, so the date is not a shock."

Some federal employees had not been given the date as of Thursday evening. David E. Garza, an engineering technician, said he would be glad to hear the date.

"At least now we'll have an end date and it puts our jobs into perspective," Garza said. "We maintain the ships and at least we know the ships will be gone by September 2010 and we'll have to be gone by then, too. It's an important date."

[big daddy russ]

Man, that's going to be a huge blow to the economy down there. With any luck, though, those new plants will be up and running soon enough.

I just hope everything works out down there. My dad just had his house appraised about a year ago. Worth more than twice what he paid for it in 1995. It's almost 2,700 sq. ft. and is in a nice little neighborhood, so I told him to go ahead and sell it ASAP. He's stubborn, though, and didn't want to. He could've sold it, got into something cheaper in a different area (Corpus, maybe... my mom works there and my dad contracts out all over the U.S., so it would be more convenient) and then bought it back in about five years without any payments for the rest of his life.

And so are the days of our lives.

[CalallenWildcat]

For some reason, the Portland housing market has gone CRAZY since they announced the Ingleside closing. I know of a 53 year old house that right now is on the market for a million. But it's on the water and it is 3600 square feet...but it's not uncommon for houses to be worth a lot more than they were.

We bought our house three years ago...it's now worth 75% more than it was then.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by CalallenWildcat
For some reason, the Portland housing market has gone CRAZY since they announced the Ingleside closing. I know of a 53 year old house that right now is on the market for a million. But it's on the water and it is 3600 square feet...but it's not uncommon for houses to be worth a lot more than they were.

We bought our house three years ago...it's now worth 75% more than it was then.
Is that house in North Shore?

I believe it about the housing boom over there. That's the "rich" town in the area, and it's only 10-15 minutes from the base. That new subdivision just outside of North Shore is going for well over $100K and it's not even all that great. Pretty much a box made of bricks. One of my friend's moms was telling me about a $175K house in that same neighborhood that was a standard 3/2, about 1,600 sq. ft. Not a bad house to live in, just nothing I'd pay almost $200K for.

Another one of my friend's stepdads has a friggin' awsome Mediterranean-style house on Elm Street. It's on a bluff overlooking CC Bay. Bought it for about $150K back in 1998 and it's probably worth $800K by now, judging from the selling price of one of the houses down the street.

Granted, my buddy's mom is a real estate agent and his stepdad owns a construction company, so they got a great deal on the house in the first place and then added on another floor, a two-level back deck that is connected to a stairway down the bluff, and a pier, but he got it all done at cost.

One of my best friends bought a house over there right after he got married. It was in that neighborhood right behind First Baptist Church. Paid $90K for it and it was kind of run down. Had to do a lot of work himself. He bought it in November of '04.

I'll bet he's kicking himself in the butt now.

[SintonFan]

I think if properly managed, the base closing will benefit the whole area better than the base did. A container port there could be a major boost to the whole area.

[CalallenWildcat]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
Is that house in North Shore?

I believe it about the housing boom over there. That's the "rich" town in the area, and it's only 10-15 minutes from the base. That new subdivision just outside of North Shore is going for well over $100K and it's not even all that great. Pretty much a box made of bricks. One of my friend's moms was telling me about a $175K house in that same neighborhood that was a standard 3/2, about 1,600 sq. ft. Not a bad house to live in, just nothing I'd pay almost $200K for.

Another one of my friend's stepdads has a friggin' awsome Mediterranean-style house on Elm Street. It's on a bluff overlooking CC Bay. Bought it for about $150K back in 1998 and it's probably worth $800K by now, judging from the selling price of one of the houses down the street.

Granted, my buddy's mom is a real estate agent and his stepdad owns a construction company, so they got a great deal on the house in the first place and then added on another floor, a two-level back deck that is connected to a stairway down the bluff, and a pier, but he got it all done at cost.

One of my best friends bought a house over there right after he got married. It was in that neighborhood right behind First Baptist Church. Paid $90K for it and it was kind of run down. Had to do a lot of work himself. He bought it in November of '04.

I'll bet he's kicking himself in the butt now.

Yeah, my house is in N-Shore.

There's a new section of North Shore across from the Clubhouse that has one of the worst locations in the neighborhood (high traffic Broadway and Northshore Blvd). Those houses are all around 1,800 square feet and they are all built really close together. They are "starting" in the 170s. I know that a lot of them are 200k on up.

Those houses in the area behind First Baptist are starting to go for 140k on up...it's getting ridiculous.

Our house is a 3,000 square foot house on a quiet street on the other side of Broadway from the Bay. We bought it for $225k and paid cash for it 3 years ago. Sold our old house for 180k. Now that old house could easily sell for 250k. The one we are living in now could sell for $375k or so...and if we converted some of the 2500 sq. foot attic, I'm sure it could go for $500k easily.

It's ridiculous.

[CalallenWildcat]

Originally posted by SintonFan
I think if properly managed, the base closing will benefit the whole area better than the base did. A container port there could be a major boost to the whole area.

Container port is going in at La Quinta. They have already started building over there. Though I don't know why they can't have two container areas.

http://www.laquintatradegateway.com/

[big daddy russ]

I noticed they've already started putting containers up. Still, I've heard with the devastation to the Port of New Orleans, CC Bay may begin to ease some of the burden. Last I heard, they were talking about opening up terminals at both LaQuinta and NAVSTA Ingleside. The facilities are there.

[CalallenWildcat]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
I noticed they've already started putting containers up. Still, I've heard with the devastation to the Port of New Orleans, CC Bay may begin to ease some of the burden. Last I heard, they were talking about opening up terminals at both LaQuinta and NAVSTA Ingleside. The facilities are there.

I hope they do open terminals at both. I know that La Quinta alone is supposed to provide 7,000 decent-paying jobs when it gets to full capacity (which might be one of the reasons why the Portland housing market is so hot right now)

[SintonFan]

Corpus and Ingleside both have the potential to become majors players in Container imports(and exports). The left coast is beyond capacity and shippers are frantically looking for new ports. The golden age of shipping for the coastal bend is in it's infancy. Look out, this area will greatly benefit from this. With Toyota in SoSA and other major companies coming to SA this whole region will blossom.:cool:

[CalallenWildcat]

Originally posted by SintonFan
Corpus and Ingleside both have the potential to become majors players in Container imports(and exports). The left coast is beyond capacity and shippers are frantically looking for new ports. The golden age of shipping for the coastal bend is in it's infancy. Look out, this area will greatly benefit from this. With Toyota in SoSA and other major companies coming to SA this whole region will blossom.:cool:

Well, if the job totals are correct for La Quinta, we could see GP moving to 5A soon :eek: And if they do open a terminal at NAVSTA Ingleside, I could see them moving to 4A and 5A as well.

BTW, that new freeway facility through Gregory is being built in part due to the La Quinta terminal. Does anyone know what the Freeway Construction (is it a freeway?) in Sinton is related to?

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by CalallenWildcat
Well, if the job totals are correct for La Quinta, we could see GP moving to 5A soon :eek: And if they do open a terminal at NAVSTA Ingleside, I could see them moving to 4A and 5A as well.

BTW, that new freeway facility through Gregory is being built in part due to the La Quinta terminal. Does anyone know what the Freeway Construction (is it a freeway?) in Sinton is related to?
.
It's basically supposed to complete the loop all the way around Sinton eventially. Right now we just have 77 south to 77 north on the west side of town.

[CalallenWildcat]

Originally posted by SintonFan
.
It's basically supposed to complete the loop all the way around Sinton eventially. Right now we just have 77 south to 77 north on the west side of town.

That will help y'all out because you don't want heavy container trucks going though that beautiful downtown. Then again, downtown won't be able to rely on out-of-town traffic either.

The Butter Churn may have to decrease prices...have you been there lately? It's outrageous! Back Street all the way

[SintonFan]

Originally posted by CalallenWildcat
That will help y'all out because you don't want heavy container trucks going though that beautiful downtown. Then again, downtown won't be able to rely on out-of-town traffic either.

The Butter Churn may have to decrease prices...have you been there lately? It's outrageous! Back Street all the way
.
Lunch at Butter Churn... dinner at Back Street.:thumbsup:

[IHS Fan]

BTW, that new freeway facility through Gregory is being built in part due to the La Quinta terminal. Does anyone know what the Freeway Construction (is it a freeway?) in Sinton is related to? [/B][/QUOTE]

that overpass in gregory is supposed to be for hurricane evacuation.

[CalallenWildcat]

Originally posted by IHS Fan
BTW, that new freeway facility through Gregory is being built in part due to the La Quinta terminal. Does anyone know what the Freeway Construction (is it a freeway?) in Sinton is related to?

that overpass in gregory is supposed to be for hurricane evacuation. [/B][/QUOTE]

That's the reason they are giving...but I went to the Metropolitan Planning Organization meeting when they discussed the building of it and the major reason is the trucking traffic that the La Quinta Terminal is going to bring in.