Guest Lecture
Dr. Sam Harrison and Mr. Mike Gentry were guest lectures in our class and spoke of the process it takes to develop a property. Dr. Harrison told the story of how the land near Briarcrest and Hwy. 6 entered his family. I found it very hilarious that the land was actually won in a poker game by his great grandfather in 1902.
Maroon runs deep in Dr. Harrison's blood. His great-great grandfather was a member of the first class at Texas A&M where he lived in a tent his freshman year. Dr. Harrison also attending Texas A&M, but he assured us he did not live in a tent.
The land Dr. Harrison and Mr. Gentry spoke of used to be in the town of Boonville. There were freed slaves buried in the small town and the men had to be cautious of potentially finding artifacts while in the process of developing.
There are many hoops you have to jump through and regulations that need special attention while developing land. Dr. Harrison mentioned $250K that had to be spent in order to remove contaminated soil from the land and dumped in Austin, Texas (serious..not just me being an Aggie here). He also had to remove the new soil he spent so much on to build a retaining wall afterwards.
Overall I really enjoyed having these two men as guest speakers. They really brought the class up to speed on what it's really like trying to develop a property and they did so lighthearted and with humor.
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