FEASIBILITY STUDY 3 — Restaurant Pad Site — Fuqua, Houston, TX Pre-Purchase Feasibility Analysis
Pre-Purchase Feasibility Analysis
Due Diligence & Feasibility Studies
Houston · Harris County · Texas
The Situation
A developer was evaluating a pad site in front of a major retail center on Fuqua in Houston for a fast-food restaurant development. The listing stated that detention was already provided by the retail center — a common representation on pad site listings that is not always accurate under updated criteria.
What JRH Found
The listing's detention claim was outdated. Updated City of Houston criteria now require 100-year storm conveyance to the detention pond — a standard the existing retail center storm sewer system did not meet. Bringing the conveyance system up to current standards would require rebuilding the entire existing storm sewer infrastructure at a cost that far exceeded the value of the pad site.
The Recommendation
Do not purchase.
The Result
The developer avoided a pad site that appeared shovel-ready but would have required a complete storm sewer rebuild to permit. The detention-already-provided representation in the listing was technically true under old criteria and practically false under current standards — a distinction that JRH identified before the purchase.