Item: City Presents Budget Update

From the Huntsville Item [Aug. 20]:

City Approves Extension of Raven Nest Lease

The Item reports [Aug. 18] that the Huntsville City Council unanimously approved a five-year extension with SHSU on the lease on Raven Nest Golf Course:

City Manager Bill Baine recommended the council approve the five-year extension of the lease on the 18-hole golf course, operated by the university’s PGA golf management program, at its last regular meeting Aug. 3. Council members at that meeting discussed issues associated with the lease, such as fixing drainage problems that have plagued the course.

Approval of the lease was originally a consent item on Tuesday night’s agenda, but council member Lanny Ray asked that it be open to further discussion, saying he wanted to mark the significance of the decision. Ray also said he supported the notion, also discussed at the council’s last meeting, that SHSU would buy the golf course outright to retire the debt associated with its construction “so we can continue our philosophy of retiring debt.”

In response to concerns that the lease extension would prompt new and unexpected expenses for repairs to the golf course, Baine assured council members that he would bring to them requests for funds that exceeded the city’s $30,000 cap on spending without council approval. City Attorney Leonard Schneider suggested adding the spending cap to the motion to approve the lease extension. Major J. Turner said the spending cap was already in place and would be superfluous to the motion.

Baine also reassured council that SHSU President Dr. Dana Gibson was willing to discuss construction of a downstream retention pond.

Council looking at Raven Nest lease

From the August 4 Item:

Discussion Tuesday night on the prospect of renewing the city’s lease with Sam Houston State University on Raven Nest Golf Club gave way to public recognition of the positive and productive partnership still developing between the university and the city.

The Huntsville City Council expects to consider renewal of the lease of the 18-hole golf course at its meeting in two weeks. Tuesday night, City Manager Bill Baine recommended council members renew the five-year lease on the facility, which was constructed by the city and is leased to SHSU, which operates the course and cafe. Baine told council members that SHSU intended to review purchase of the golf course and that the university was losing money on the venture by covering the $250,000 debt service associated with its construction.

Council members expressed concern over the cost and appropriateness of fixing drainage issues on the property, caused at least in part by development in the Lake Road area, and asked for reassurances from City Attorney Leonard Schneider that the lease they will consider is both “legal” and “smart” for the citizens of Huntsville.

New Hotels Could Be on The Horizon

Today's Item reports on possible new business coming to Huntsville:

Two new hotel developments could be a step closer to reality in Huntsville if the proposed projects find favor among the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone board of directors on Monday.

Proposals for a Hampton Inn and Marriott Hotel project will be presented by Glenn Isbell, special projects director for the City of Huntsville.

The SHSU campus is mentioned, specifically:

Similar projects were proposed to TIRZ earlier this year, including a Hampton Inn & Suites north of Raven Nest Golf Course and on the south side of Smither Road west of Interstate 45.

Buffalo Lodging LLC of Arlington proposed a four-story building, consisting of 93 units, along with an indoor pool and spa and 1,000 square feet of meeting space. Construction square footage totaled approximately 60,000 square feet, and the estimated appraised value for the hotel was $5 million.

Another proposal from K Partners Hospitality Group of San Antonio was discussed by TIRZ for two hotels and a conference center on 13.28 acres of land east of Interstate 45 that housed the Sam Houston State University Agriculture Center. The deal that was projected to be finalized in December 2007 did not materialize.

Hotels Planned At SHSU Location

Construction of a project expected to benefit Huntsville and Sam Houston State University could start in early 2008, according to an August 23 Item article:

The Texas State University System regents have agreed to sell the property housing the SHSU Agriculture Center off Interstate 45 to K Partners Hospitality Group of San Antonio.

K Partners will pay $2.7 million for 13.28 acres and plans to build two hotels and a conference center.

Raven's Nest Golf Club will be accessible via a tunnel that runs under I-45 and connects the golf club with the agriculture center property.

The majority of the agriculture center’s operations has been moved from the I-45 location to the Gibbs Ranch off state Highway 75 North.

Frank Krystyniak, director of SHSU’s Office of Public Relations, said the regents have approved the property sale, but the deal will not be finalized until December.

Item: Bearkat Mania kicks off Monday at SHSU

The August 21 Item gets a little confused between “Nest” and “Village.” Of course, there’s no point in getting "raven" mad about their typo – deal with it:

Raven Nest, apartment-style living on campus, opened up for upper-class students this year. Joellen Tipton, Director of Residence Life, said Raven Nest has been a big hit with students and said she has heard nothing but good things from the residents and staff.

Houstonian: SHSU acquires Raven Nest course in deal to establish golf program

From the Houstonian:

Sam Houston State University's ever evolving campus has now added another 'appendage' to its repertoire, as it now owns the Raven Nest Golf Course.

Raven Nest Golf Course, built in May 2003, was bought by the university today to sponsor the Professional Golf Association affiliated Professional Golf Management program, which is beginning its first year at SHSU. PGM is a program for college students wanting to break out in the professional golf world in a variety of careers.

"This is the first year of the PGM program," sophomore Andrew Lewis, Professional Golf Management major said. "Our first meeting started on Monday and our first tournament is supposed to be on Sunday September 12 at noon. It's official school property on the first [of September] but we've been able to practice since the 24th."

The multi-tee course expands to 7,001 yards of green and is located on I-45 South near Montgomery Road.

Agriculture Center Awaits Judgment

From the Houstonian:

The Sam Houston State University Agricultural Center may soon be replaced by a hotel/convention center.

Houstonian: Raven Nest set to open Thursday

From the Houstonian:

The new Raven Nest Golf Course was recently completed. The first tournament at the course, the First National Bank Master's Challenge, was held on April 25 and the course is scheduled to open to the public Thursday. The 7,001-yard course is located at 457 Interstate 45 South in Huntsville and it is designed for golfers of all skill levels.

On the first hole, the green tee is 430 yards away from the hole, the white tee is 450 yards, the blue tee is 515 yards and the black tee is 536 yards away.

In order to successfully master the first hole, the Raven Nest Web site says, "The key to playing the hole rests on a straight tee shot avoiding Robinson Creek which parallels the hole on the entire right side. Long hitters will have an opportunity to go for the green in two shots with a normal prevailing wind coming from behind the player."

Houstonian: Golf course/convention center progressing quickly

From the Houstonian:

The Huntsville City Council will make its final choice on the architect to design the new city golf course by March 6, said Bob Hart, city manager. Anticipated completion date is fall 2002.

Last Thursday, Hart announced a contest to name the golf course. Officials hope the city’s history, long-standing relationship with Sam Houston State University and the topography of the land will be taken into consideration when people make up names for the 18-hole course.

The course is being built off Interstate 45 West on 154 acres of university-owned land behind Huntsville Memorial Hospital. Twenty more privately-owned acres were bought by the city to complete the necessary acreage.

SHSU is leasing the land to Huntsville on a 30-year contract for $40,000 a year. Other benefits to SHSU will be in the form of monetary savings, such as discounted greens fees for faculty, staff and students. Important to the university is the travel time and money that will be saved by having a home golf course for the Bearkat golf team. The team now has to go out-of-town to four different courses, Hart said.

Today@Sam: Regents Approve Five New Degrees

Five new degrees, one each in finance, forensic science, and victim studies and two in multimedia authoring, were approved Thursday by Sam Houston State University's governing board.

Bobby K. Marks, Sam Houston president, was also authorized to continue negotiations with the city of Huntsville toward an agreement to build a golf course on university property.

In other business, the regents awarded a contract to Spaw Glass Construction of Houston for the $10 million renovation of the Lowman Student Center, a project that is expected to begin this fall and be completed in about two years.

In other action, the board approved purchase of 9.62 acres of land at Bowers Blvd. and Sycamore.