Tomball plans 153-acre retail, restaurant complex
The Tomball City Council has approved a strategic partnership agreement that will create the Grand Parkway Town Center at the intersection of Texas 249 South, Boudreaux Lane and the Grand Parkway.
The city hosted two public hearings this month, followed by two affirmative votes by the city council on May 9 and May 11.
“This really says something about the growth in Tomball,” said Bruce Hillegeist, president of the Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce.
The agreement, which is between the city and Municipal Utility District 273, allowed for the city a limited-purpose annexation for the development of the 153-acre tract.
The limited-purpose annexation allows the city to collect 2-cents in sales-tax revenue from any businesses developed on that tract.
The partnership with MUD 273 also calls for the city to provide water and sewer services to the annexed portion.
In November, the city approved a development agreement with MUD 273 and A-K Venture Capital for the 153-acre tract.
“This has been in ongoing discussions for months, and there were several phases that had to be done,” City Manager George Shackelford said. “They had the ability to choose which extraterritorial jurisdiction they wanted to be in, and they chose Tomball’s ETJ, and they had to go through some steps to do that. That is what has taken so long.”
The sales-tax revenue for the first year of operation is projected to generate about $18 million, about $500,000 of which will go to the city each of the first five years, Shackelford said.
After the first five years, the amount will shift with the city projected to receive about 25 percent more.
Houston-based NewQuest Properties has plans to develop the Grand Parkway Town Center on 63 acres of the tract, which will include retail giant Sam’s Club, other major retailers and restaurants.
The Kroger Co. is believed to be one of the retailers, but company representatives declined to confirm any details.
The Grand Parkway Town Center will include 187,010 square feet of retail space and 143,974 square feet of office buildings, which are expected to open sometime in mid 2016.
David Meyers, director of leasing for NewQuest Properties, said they are excited about the development and working to get the retailers for the center to the negotiating table.
“We have a big anchor tenant who won’t go to committee with us until middle to late July . . . If that occurs in July, and we get the green light then the door is wide open for kind of what our plan is,” he said.
Meyers said the projected opening of the Grand Parkway and the expansion of Texas 249 were the drivers to bringing the Grand Parkway Town Center to the Tomball area.
“It opens up a broader market and makes this more regional than it is today,” Meyers said. “Drive times by people living from the east to the west become much shorter, so they will get to the site much quicker which helps to grow and enhance the market.”
There is also the prospect of greater job growth as a result.
Shackelford said the project, if it is as large as projected, will generate as many as 400 new jobs in Tomball. “This could be pretty substantial,” he said.