Metalworking company Tool-Flo Manufacturing Inc., which manufactures tools for the aerospace, medical, automotive, and oil and gas industries, broke ground on a new 15-acre headquarters in Pearland's Lower Kirby Urban District on May 9. The company will relocate its Houston headquarters at 7803 Hansen Road, and move into a 75,000 square-foot facility at 14745 Kirby Drive, Pearland, near Merrit Medical and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Compressor International Corp. "When we drove down Kirby Drive and I saw those light fixtures out in the middle of the street, I knew there was more here than just a business park ... everything was right for this, and they had enough land," said Dennis Flolo, president of Tool-Flo Manufacturing. "We spent a lot of time searching for property. We looked all the way  from the Houston Ship Channel, all along the Beltway 8 corridor and in through the Clear Lake area, and nothing seemed to work. We pulled in on Kirby Drive, and we immediately felt like we were home."   Tool-Flo broke ground on its new headquarters in Pearland on May 9.[/caption]   The Pearland facility is slated for completion in late June 2018, officials at the Pearland Economic Development Corporation said. Kajima Building and Design Group designed the new Tool-Flo Manufacturing facility. "As we raise the profile [of Pearland] you start to get a caliber of company, and other companies want to be where those companies are," said Matt Buchanan, president of the Pearland EDC. The 1,200-acre Lower Kirby Urban District is a mixed-used development along the Beltway 8 and Hwy. 288 that consists of commercial, office, retail and industrial real estate. Recent developments in the district include the opening of biotech company Lonza Houston Inc., which broke ground on a new headquarters in 2016 at the district. Lower Kirby Urban District will also be home to a $300 million mixed-use development Ivy District, which is a live, work, play concept by Hong Kong-based developer American Modern Green Development Houston LLC. A groundbreaking date hasn't been set to date. Plans include townhomes, retail and restaurant space, hotels, office buildings and green space. The city of Pearland and the Pearland EDC are funding roadway infrastructure in the Lower Kirby Urban District.

Pearland City Council approved an agreement with American Modern Green to extend South Spectrum Boulevard from Hwy. 288 to Kirby Drive as well as an extension of Promenade Shops Drive.

American Modern Green will finance the $3 million extension of South Spectrum Boulevard to Hwy. 288 and Promenade Shops Drive.

The city and the Pearland EDC are financing $5.76 million for the extension of South Spectrum Boulevard to Kirby. The city and the Pearland EDC will receive reimbursements for the project from the two management districts. American Modern Green will additionally contribute $1 million to the Kirby extension.