TV Star Buys In Houston
Controversial reality TV star buys a $1.9 million Houston property — and he wants to flip it
While Cypress teen phenom Danielle Bradbery put her city on the entertainment map by winning NBC's The Voice, a different kind of TV star is now the talk of the town after his company closed on a $1.9 million commercial property in this residential suburb.
But unlike the adorable 16-year-old gal who's now the pride and joy of the Northwest Houston suburb, the "suave" Armando Montelongo of A&E's Flip This House isn't a reality show personality you want lurking around your hood.
The 42-year-old purchased Northchase Place located at 13700 Veterans Memorial Dr., a 75,000-square-foot, four-story office building erected in 1983 whose owners needed to offload prior to the end of the year. Former proprietor Khoshbin Torrey Chase LLC of Irvine, Calif., sold the commercial space for under $30 per square foot, much lower than its 2013 appraised value of $2.7 million.
"Commercial real estate is greatly undervalued in Houston, which currently allows for some of the best buys per square foot in the country."
"Commercial real estate is greatly undervalued in Houston, which currently allows for some of the best buys per square foot in the country," Montelongo said in a statement delivered to the Houston Business Journal.
"Not only did we purchase the property at a great value, we also believe that the Northchase is a high-quality asset with a diverse tenant mix that will continue to attract quality companies for the long term."
The San Antonio native who calls himself America's No. 1 real estate investor doesn't have the cleanest reputation though. While Montelongo is on target to rake in $200 million from infomercials, "educational" seminars and a company that's valuated at $80 million, the complaints have been piling up.
It may be that his high-priced motivation seminars that teach "get rich quick" schemes are surging in popularity — because people struggling through desperate times take desperate measures — but entities like the Better Business Bureau, which classified his company with an F rating, warn about his business practices in the real estate market.
Montelongo is all about the money — what investor isn't?
But let's just hope that locals don't get screwed while he plays tycoon in a relatively family-oriented community.