Friday, June 20, 1986/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local Alpha Gamma Rho buys ‘frat row’ site 3K|T ( -TWlS 3NLY UJKKr ' Tou... By Olivier Uyttebrouck Staff Writer The Alpha Gamma Rho fraternity iccaine the first at Texas A&M to onunit itself to a ‘fraternity row’ ite] buying two acres of land adja- ent to Southwood Valley, immedi- itely east of Wellborn Road. ^■he fraternity purchased the lot une 5 from Area Progress Corp., a and development company owned )y W illiam Fitch who has developed mndreds of acres in south College itation, including the Southwood /alley residential area. A 30-bedroom house has already )een designed and nlay be com- ileted as early as December of this /eai. said Richard Williams, Alpha [lamina Rho vice president. He said he fraternity’s national organization las guaranteed the $650,000, 30- eat mortgage on the house. Pat Victory, co-adviser for Alpha II [lamina Rho, cited other developers’ toning difficulties as one of the rea- ;ons the fraternity decided to go vith the Wellborn Road property, ^■he Area Progress development :overs approximately 20 acres with oom for eight lots. Fitch has also agreed to provide a commons area that the fraternities can develop into a recreation facility. Victory says his fraternity hopes that other fraternities will follow their lead and buv lots near theirs. which runs $400,000 to $500,000. Jones and his father Edsel, who have developed land southeast of A&M between Wellborn Road and F.M. 2818, have been planning a fra ternity row between Luther St. and “I 'll go out on a limb and say that there will not be a fra ternity row unless somebody puts up the product for them. ” — Real estate developer Don Jones. CuMfip- Phil Ljungdahl, financial control ler for Area Progress, says he has spoken with the Sigma Chi fraternity and expects them to make a final de cision this week on a 2.5 acre lot. The Battalion was unable to con tact Sigma Chi officials to comment on their decision. But there are other local devel opers that are still attempting to de velop their own fraternity row. One local land developer, Don Jones, is skeptical that other frater nities would be able to afford the 20 percent down payment neccessary to build a fraternity house, the cost of Walden Pond apartments for 18 months. The Jones’ approach is different from that of other fraternity row plans. They are negotiating with de velopers in Austin and San Antonio to build the houses and then lease them to the fraternities. Don Jones says few fraternities will be able to pursuade their na tional organizations to bankroll the large down payment neccessary for purchasing a lot and building a house. Often the down payment alone can run as high as $ 100,000. “I’ll go out on a limb and say that there will not be a fraternity row un less somebody puts up the product for them,” he says. “Fraternities don’t have financing power but what they do have is leasing power.” He estimates that the total cost of the project would amount to roughly $7 million. He adds that lenders have been hesitant to make real estate loans since the real estate market went bad in 1983. State and federal govern ment examining commissions have in fact placed a moratorium on many- lending institutions prevent ing them from making real estate loans, he says. Rezoning approval has proven to be an obstacle for rival developers L.G. Crum and William Scasta, who would like to turn a 10 acre lot im mediately east of Texas Ave. be tween Holleman Drive and South west Parkway into a fraternity row. At an April 17 Planning and Zon ing Commission hearing, the rezon ing was opposed by a group of area residents who feared that the zoning change might open the way for apartment constuction on the prop erty, City Manager A1 Mayo says. What s up I nflt Friday j |U ^STUDENT GOVERNMENT: applications for External Com- V I nmnications and Public Relations will be available through I! the summer months. Please come by 221 Pavilion from 9 a.m. to /> n.m. to pick up applications. For more informa tion call 845-3051. [COLLEGE OF SCIENCE: any junior or senior in department H of biology, chemistry, mathematics or physics 1 p his current major grior to catalog 107 am viottsly taken the English Proficiency Exa to means m ii that din in the l on the l tbe, wfti). i cat I registration is required. PRYAN/COLLEGE STATION TENNIS ASSOCIATION: will sponsor a tennis tournament June 27-29. Applications can be picked tap in the Intramural office. Entry fee is $ 10. * Deadline for application is today. For more information J| call 846-4489 or 593-3969. If AMD CHESS CLl/B: will meet at 7 p.m. rn 5 more information c all Luis, 8 16-5903. 3, 0111 v:!r. )enint> ait \ere the ^ -.ii ray rain nearest h bordei !i • ol the lii niouslv -e to warn ap i to intern;! ■".iles in t :>