Big plans in the works for former TI campus
Developers hope to bring economic infusion to Stafford
For more than four decades, the Texas Instruments manufacturing facility 20 minutes southwest of downtown Houston was the economic engine of Stafford. Its sprawling campus of nearly 200 acres housed as many as 1,000 workers.
Dallas-based TI decided it would be better served with a more modern facility and the old buildings began emptying out in 2012, creating a financial and physical loss in the Fort Bend County community.
Now, the Dallas developers who purchased the property late last year believe they have the right formula to remake the site into a thriving commercial development that would spark new interest in this largely industrial area along the Southwest Freeway.
“TI came out here when there was nothing but farms. It became a catalyst for housing, retail and schools,” said developer Adam
Schiller, managing principal of StreetLevel Investments. “The same site can be that catalyst again.”
The plan for the 192 acres includes a mix of shops, restaurants, apartments, hotels and offices.
The project, the developers said, will represent the next generation of mixed-use development, with such concepts as an artisan food hall and a rotating selection of artists and designers selling unique items like handmade chocolates, jewelry and leather goods.
“People are looking for something that’s different,” said StreetLevel managing principal Brian Murphy.
‘The best eating’
The company’s partner on the project is Provident Realty Advisors, which is redeveloping downtown Houston’s historic Texaco building into a luxury apartment tower.
The $500 million Stafford project will receive financial incentives from Fort Bend County.
It will have a 70 percent county tax abatement for 15 years and the developers could be reimbursed for as much as $52 million worth of infrastructure improvements made to the site, including new roads, landscaping, water and sewer systems and public parking garages.
The reimbursement will come from county taxes generated from the development through the newly created East Fort Bend Development Authority.
The new development has been designed for 350,000 square feet of retail and dining concepts, 2,400 residential units, office space, two hotels, a health club, entertainment and green space all in a “walkable urban center.”
Design firms Gensler and TBG are involved in the project.
Some of the original TI buildings will be preserved and repurposed.
The food hall, for example, will occupy a 50-year-old structure of about 15,000 square feet. It will house local chefs and purveyors who will operate what will become a year-round culinary destination, the developers said.
“Houston is the best eating town in the country,” Schiller said.
The project also will have a central park featuring live music, patio dining, community events and a farmers market. There will be public parking garages as well as street parking. Heritage oak trees on the site will be preserved.
The project at 12201 Southwest Freeway at West Airport Blvd. will be sustained in part by a significant daytime population from those who work around it.
StreetLevel’s sister company, Edge Realty Partners, is seeking tenants for the space.
The project will be built in phases over perhaps 10 years.
Boosting the economy
The developers are moving ahead despite Houston’s slowing economy. With a lengthy project timeline, they said they figured there would be an oil downturn at some point. And there’s still a lot of work to be done on the site in the way of infrastructure.
StreetLevel sold a 25-acre portion of its site fronting Murphy Road to an industrial developer, and apartment developer JLB Partners purchased 60 acres for a portion of the multifamily construction.
About 380 apartment units are expected to be under way this summer.
In a statement, Stafford Mayor Leonard Scarcella said the project would “create an urban core for Stafford and act as an important economic generator.”
Schiller and Murphy have a retail leasing and marketing background. Their business partner, Dan Watson, was previously director of retail investments with Archon Group, a real estate unit of investment bank Goldman Sachs.