Coventry Development Corporation Houston, Inc. announced Aug. 6 specific plans for development of phase one of the Springwoods Village Town Center, set to begin construction in early 2014 along the west side of I-45 between Springwoods Village Parkway and the Grand Parkway.

Phase one plans include construction on 250 luxury apartment homes, a full-service hotel, office space and up to 100,000 square feet of retail space. The town center will be part of the $10-billion, 1,800-acre Springwoods Village mixed-use community planned to embrace sustainable, eco-friendly living.

The location of the new center will be near the planned Town Lake with a shaded public outdoor plaza and water feature, adjacent to the ExxonMobil campus under construction along I-45.

"It's a really important part of the community to have this kind of downtown district," said Keith Simon, executive vice president of the CDC Houston. "Now you'll be able to venture out on foot and have some variety. Given all the employment with Exxon and Southwestern [Energy], there is quite a demand for hotel space."

Along with the CDC Houston, development partners for the project include Fein, Woodbine Development Corporation and Patrinely Group.

Fein is in charge of constructing the high-end apartment complexes along Lake Plaza Drive with retail space on the ground floor of the property. The company is building an additional 342-unit Belvedere apartment complex in Springwoods Village on Holzwarth Road.

Woodbine Development Corporation will spearhead plans for the soon-to-be-announced hotel coming to the town center, which will offer expansive meeting and event space. Simon said there are plans to construct additional hotels in the town center to accommodate more residents and visitors in the future.

Patrinely Group is expected to build a series of office buildings, potentially totaling 1 million square feet of space at the town center to accommodate both small and large tenants with retail stores in the ground floor areas. The company is also developing a 515,000-square-foot headquarters for Southwestern Energy, the fifth largest producer of natural gas in the nation, in the town center. More than 1,000 employees will be located in the company's new facility, scheduled to be completed in late 2014.

"We're projecting [town center construction to be complete] sometime in the second half of 2015," Simon said. "That's kind of an important milestone for the whole community. There will be a substantial population living in the Springwoods Village in the second half of 2015. By 2015, about 12,000 employees and about 1,200 residents [will be in the area]."