Sugar Land Going Downhill (Houston, Katy: 2013, layoffs, safe neighborhoods)

[Htown2013]

This is a huge loss for the Sugar Land area:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bus...e-18073782.php

Unfortunately I hope that doesn't cause long term business like Whole Foods and Churrascos to leave. It already lost a Sprouts.

Sugar Land has potential - I don't understand why it's performed so poorly with retail and commercial the past few years.

[WRM20]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

This is a huge loss for the Sugar Land area:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bus...e-18073782.php

Unfortunately I hope that doesn't cause long term business like Whole Foods and Churrascos to leave. It already lost a Sprouts.

Sugar Land has potential - I don't understand why it's performed so poorly with retail and commercial the past few years.

It's not surprising, since most of Fluor's customers are in or near the Energy Corridor.

I remember when that building in Sugar Land was built, and when the mid-80's hit, Fluor compressed all of the employees into a fraction of the space. When I heard that, I was really glad I didn't work for Fluor.

[NigerianNightmare]

Originally Posted by Htown2013

This is a huge loss for the Sugar Land area:

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/bus...e-18073782.php

Unfortunately I hope that doesn't cause long term business like Whole Foods and Churrascos to leave. It already lost a Sprouts.

Sugar Land has potential - I don't understand why it's performed so poorly with retail and commercial the past few years.

This doesn’t mean it’s going downhill. It just means it’s getting less commercial. Local businesses could probably take that space but Sugar Land at the end of the day is a suburb and so it losing commercial business doesn’t damper it in any significant way. Sugar Land also actively chases away a lot of development in the area because they’re selective. They wouldn’t want to lose Fluor but I think it’s a bit of a whatever when the towns already madly successful.

[Bornhouston]

I'm not sure why the OP keeps on pushing this narrative that Sugar Land is going downhill. I noticed they insinuated the same thing in the other thread they started titled Sugar Land closing Sprouts.

If you read the article, it states that Fluor was seeking office space in Sugar Land and was not able to find a newer office building with the square footage it needed in Sugar Land. Thats because the office market vacancy rate is low in Sugar Land. Its low because there is a demand for office space in the area. Which suggest the desirability of the area. Fluor was able to locate the space they required in the Energy Corridor because the office vacancy rate in that area is high due to the oil and gas downturn.

Also, i'm not sure why the closing of a Sprouts is being used to suggest that Sugar Land is going downhill. Sprouts made a business decision to close multiple locations based on a restructuring of their business model. Has nothing to do with Sugar Land.

[DaBears02]

Sugar Land is not going downhill at all lol. It’s by far the most all inclusive outer suburb in the greater Houston area.

[Houston Area Man]

The immigrant population is smart. Why should I shop at Sprouts/WF when I can get the same thing at H‑E‑B for a lesser price?

[gwarnecke]

I don't see this move as a negative reflection on Sugar Land as much as a negative reflection on Fluor (Houston office has done a poor job of drumming up business, has been through rounds of layoffs and can't fill their oversized campus, hence the need to move to a smaller and less expensive office footprint) and perhaps a less-than-positive reflection on the Energy Corridor (still oversupplied with office space, nearly a decade after the start of the oil bust).

Also, FWIW, I work in the Energy Corridor and many of my colleagues commute from Sugar Land, so I doubt this Fluor move will result in a huge exodus of SL employees to Katy and West Memorial.

It will be interesting to see what becomes of the old Fluor campus, seems to be a prime spot for redevelopment. But as has been discussed ad nauseum on this forum - any development that ignores the unique SL demographics and customer preferences will likely struggle.

[WRM20]

Fluor sold(or is selling) the Sugar Land property. They tried to get some incentives from SL, but none were forthcoming.

[usc619]

I don’t ever see Sugarland going down considering most people move there to get away from Houston and enjoy good schools and safe neighborhoods.

[Houston Area Man]

Originally Posted by usc619

I don’t ever see Sugarland going down considering most people move there to get away from Houston and enjoy good schools and safe neighborhoods.

I agree. It is actually one of the safest cities in the USA.