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Development / Far West Houston Next Retail Frontier Grand Parkway Residential Growth Triggers Projects
Nancy Sarnoff
Houston Chronicle

THE Grand Parkway is a good example of how new highways shape a city's growth.

It is on track to be Houston's newest traffic loop beyond Beltway 8, running alongside some of the most quickly growing residential neighborhoods in the Houston area. At the moment, at least four developers plan major shopping and office centers along it, or close by.

The developers cite the area's strong demographics, freeway improvements and the growing number of residents in far west Houston and in Katy, as reasons for planning projects there.

"That area is growing extremely rapidly," said Mac Haik, who's planning to build a $27 million retail and office project along the Grand Parkway.

The real estate maxim that retail follows rooftops is evident here.

Over the next five or six years, builders in and around Katy are expected to put up 25,000 new homes, said Lance LaCour, president and CEO of the Katy Area Economic Development Council. The average size of a family in Katy is about three people.

"You multiply that times 25,000 and it's pretty significant," LaCour said.

Following the lead of Katy Mills Mall, the first major shopping destination built in this area, smaller centers have started to appear.

Last month, a new J.C. Penney opened near the corner of the Grand Parkway and Interstate 10. The 97,440-square-foot store, which has wider aisles than a typical store, a hair salon and portrait studio, is expected to be part of a larger shopping center planned for the site.

For now, the area lacks the level of development seen in more established communities like The Woodlands or Sugar Land: the so-called lifestyle center. Essentially big outdoor shopping malls, these projects typically consist of upscale shops lining pedestrian walkways and surrounding a parklike setting that's supposed to act as a gathering spot for the community.

"It's the wave of the future," LaCour said.

Main Street Style
Early next year, construction will start on LaCenterra at Cinco Ranch, a retail and office project designed with an "old town Texas" theme.

"It harkens back to when all activities were centered around a Main Street," said Woody Mann, president of Vista Equities, the firm developing the project.

Located at the corner of Grand Parkway and Cinco Ranch Boulevard, LaCenterra will include 80,000 square feet of office space atop 175,000 square feet of retail.

Talbots, Chico's and Eddie Bauer are just a few of the retailers that have signed up for space in the center.

The demographics in the area back up this development. The average household income within a three-mile radius is more than $114,000.

Other developers have also taken notice.

Mac Haik Realty will soon begin construction on the first phase of an 18-acre commercial development at the Grand Parkway and Kingsland. This project, called KingsPlace Park, is to include about 50,000 square feet of retail space along with several restaurants, a bank and a space for professionals.

There's also room on the site for an office building of up to 100,000 square feet, Haik said.

"We're talking about a village-type concept with lanterns up and down the walkways and streets in front of the retail," he said.

LaCenterra will also include a large portion of office space that will be built on top of the shops.

Yet To Be Leased
None of that space has been leased yet, but like homes, it's difficult to lease space before it's built because tenants "want to smell it, touch it and feel it to know it's a real deal," said Garrett Ashmore of Trammell Crow Co., which is leasing the space for the developer.

Ashmore said the growing number of rooftops, improved traffic routes and a shortage of places to shop and lease top-class office space are driving development in this area.

"You kind of have the perfect storm for this kind of development," he said.

Other firms are betting on these factors, but aren't ready to show their cards.

Simon Property Group and the Mills Corp. are developing a large retail complex in two stages at the northeast corner of Interstate 10 and the Grand Parkway near the J.C. Penney.

A 300,000-square-foot center planned for 30 acres will be called West Grand Promenade, and The Grand will comprise 1.2 million square feet of space on an adjacent 120-acre site.

And just west of The Grand, the Hines realty firm is working on The Village at Katy.

Hines expects to work with other developers to build a hotel, residential units and retail space there.

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