Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Realtor group focuses on helping city to grow

Marketplace \| Services \| Contact Us \| Community \| Arts & Entertainment \| Local Guides

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Tuesday, June 20, 2000

Realtor group focuses on helping city to grow
It supports bond proposal, property tax increase

The Corpus Christi Association of Realtors has always been involved in backing political issues that benefit property owners and real estate sales. But look for them to be even more involved in supporting measures that stimulate the overall growth of the city, said the association's new CEO.
   David Cheek, the realtors' CEO who started earlier this month, said the real estate group has a clear mission to support issues related to growth in the city. The benefit to their profession can be summed up in one word: Jobs.
   "There's a very clear connection between jobs, growth and real estate sales," said Cheek, founder of David Cheek Appraisal Service and past president of the association's board of directors. "A community that's growing in jobs and (if) the economy is thriving, then there is more real estate being bought."
   The membership has been especially interested in the city's job growth since last year, when they established it as a priority, Cheek said. The association is in favor of either the city's $29 million bond proposal or the 2.9-cent property tax hike as both ideas that will stimulate more growth and more jobs.
   "We support the City Council's position that the city needs to grow out of our economic difficulties," Cheek said. "And we feel that the bond issue and the sales tax issue are pro-growth and we will be supporting those. We think both are good as far as economic development and the improvement of infrastructure that the city needs."
   A one-eighth cent sales tax increase earmarked for economic development is a good idea, too, Cheek said.
   "When there would be a tax increase that would be for the benefit of the overall city and promote growth, then we would support that as we are supporting the sales tax issue."
   The bigger the jobs, the greater the multiplier effect throughout the economy.
   "In the oil bust, we lost higher-paying jobs and a lot of those were replaced with lower-paying jobs in the service industry," Cheek said. "And though service-industry jobs are important, if we could attract industry that has higher-paying jobs, the more that would trickle through the economy."
   Cheek's first two days on the job was spent at a Texas Association of Realtors conference in Austin for training new leaders of Realtor boards. But Corpus Christi real estate is not new to him. He's been involved in it since his first job with Myers Real Estate in 1972.
   Cheek originally came to Corpus Christi to teach, but that only lasted a year before he began to pursue a career that started with a college elective class in real estate. What he likes about the real estate business is that it's never static.
   "It's interesting to meet so many people," he said. "You get to know the city. No two days are the same. You're in the office, out of the office. There are so many things that you get to do. It just doesn't get boring."
   Free seminars
   Group One Real Estate is set to answer questions prospective homebuyers and sellers may have about homes with a free real estate seminar next week.
   The real estate agents and loan officers will discuss issues such as buying and selling a house, loan qualifications, tax credits, property management, how to prevent foreclosure and career opportunities in real estate. People can attend up to three sessions that evening. Sessions are available in either Spanish or English.
   The seminar is set for 7 to 9 p.m. June 29 at Windsor Park Church of Christ, 4420 S. Staples St.
   Group One also has plans to present a seminar of the inspection process in the fall, said Sarah Graham, broker.
   Loft living on display
   The public is invited to take a peek at Corpus Christi's style of loft living, when the doors open to some of the just-completed lofts at 319 N. Mesquite St. The open house is 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday.
   A ribbon cutting is set for 6 p.m. Wednesday at 21, a nightclub also located in the Weber Building. The band J.T. and Coldfire will provide bluesy tunes for the event.
   The lofts include a gas fireplace, an alarm system and a 100-square-foot storage area elsewhere in the building. The apartments range from 1,100 and 1,500 square feet. Rent ranges from $1,200 to $2,000 per month.
   The lofts are a development of P2R, a group of three investors from Corpus Christi and Galveston. Slattery & Story Architecture in Houston designed the lofts.



Business reporter Andrea Jares can be reached at 886-3678 or by email at jaresa@caller.com. On Real Estate is published every other Tuesday in the business section.

[ Printer-friendly version ]
[ Subscribe to newspaper ]

SEND THIS PAGE TO A FRIEND

[an error occurred while processing this directive]