Officials expect by the spring at the earliest developers will break ground on the Riverbend at Clear Creek development. The project includes several components, some of which have preliminary work underway.
Once complete, the plan is for Riverbend, which is located along North Wesley Drive just east of I-45 and just south of Clear Creek, to have multiple high-end apartment buildings, senior housing, restaurants, retail shops, office space, a marina with about 40 boat slips, an amphitheater and an Aloft Hotel, said David Hoover, League City director of planning and development.
Hoover compared it to the Kemah Boardwalk, which is also a regional destination for families.
“We think it’s gonna have a different impact, but ... it’s truly a place people will get in their car and drive to,” he said.
One apartment building—Marina Bend Apartments at Clear Creek—already sits on the property, as it has for years. But once the other buildings and attractions are complete, Riverbend will create its own “economic engine” sustained by the people who live, work and play there, Hoover said.
Art will be a large part of the development. Sarah Greer Osborne, the city’s director of communications and media relations, is leading an effort to bring art to the city and is working with a Houston-based studio to focus on art at Riverbend with building murals, signs and more, she said.
“We’re excited about that,” Osborne said.
Riverbend will also be the site of monthly or even weekly events run by the development’s management. At the outdoor amphitheater, officials hope to see regular performances, such as music or plays, Hoover said.
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In the years since its conception, Riverbend has gone through design changes along with different architects, financers, developers and other stakeholders. Additionally, work would likely have already started if COVID-19 had not come into play, Hoover said.
“It’s had, shall we say, obstacles or difficulties to get the ball rolling,” he said.
But now officials are getting excited to see how Riverbend might become another attraction for those who visit the area to see Space Center Houston and other nearby destinations.
“It’s great ... because it’s the first thing you see when you’re coming into town,” Hoover said.
