ESPN Artcile DREAM STOPPING BUILDING PROGRESSION IN HOUSTON

Bizarre
http://espn.go.com/nba/news/2000/1004/800144.html

Rockets star accused of 'mothballing' properties

HOUSTON -- Some local real estate observers credit Houston Rockets
star Hakeem Olajuwon with blocking more than basketballs.

They say his unwillingness to develop some downtown real estate has blocked ongoing revitalization of the city's core, the Texas Journal of The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

Rather than move forward with publicized plans to redevelop some of the seven downtown properties he has acquired since 1994, the NBA's all-time shot blocker's buildings are "being inventoried and mothballed," according to downtown developer Bill Franks.

Perhaps Olajuwon's best-known property is the long-abandoned World Trade Center, across from Enron Field. Olajuwon beat out several other bidders to buy a 10-year lease for $400,000, then announced plans to convert the eyesore into condominiums or a hotel.

He and his partners decided against the ideas, however. Only one of Olajuwon's properties has seen any redevelopment activity.

"I look at each property separately," Olajuwon said. "Whether I decide to develop or sell, it's a business decision."

He added that his adherence to Islam prohibits him from certain activities, such as paying interest on borrowed money or dealing in alcohol sales, which largely eliminates the hotel business.

As a result, the World Trade Center continues to be a blight in an area rejuvenated because of the nearby ballpark.

Jack Rains, former chairman of the Harris County-Houston Sports Authority, was among those trying to buy the graffiti-stained building initially with hopes of razing it and creating a park. He has remained critical of Olajuwon's handling of the site.

"The building has sat there for two years, and all he's done is show it to people to sell it," Rains said. "They've been acquiring properties and
announcing grandiose plans and then wind up doing a lot less than they
say they're going to do."

Others say Olajuwon is just being a good businessman, buying low and selling high.

"He's just trying to find good deals, just like any other developer or investor," said downtown broker Reggie Bowman of Reggie Bowman
Properties, who has worked with Olajuwon. "He's a smart investor."

According to the Journal and Houston Chronicle, Olajuwon is negotiating to sell the World Trade Center lease for as much as $8 million. A 17-acre tract Olajuwon bought last year for less than $2 million is under contract to Dallas-based Trammell Crow Co. for more than $10 million,
according to an unidentified source cited by the newspaper.

The one property Olajuwon is developing is a 72-year-old former bank building he is converting into a mosque.

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Discombobulation Imminent