The Fulshear Marketplace property discussed includes a total area of 33.3 acres divided into four areas, Fulshear Assistant City Manager Brant Gary said.
“We looked at this project and we re-evaluated all the homes,” said Anderson Smith, a partner at Capital Retail Properties, which is developing the project. “We felt that this could be a great public-private partnership. A mixed-use project that has not been seen in [the Greater Houston area] before.”
The city will invest between $100,000 and $2.5 million for the project, Fulshear Mayor Aaron Groff said.
“Much of that may come in the form of credits, through impact fees,” he added.
Community Impact Newspaper has reached out to the city for more information regarding the project's timeline.
Michael Hsu Office of Architecture will design the entire project, Smith said.
Areas 1 and 2 are being considered for commercial development and include roughly 12 acres total, Gary said. Area 3 is to be used for drainage and trail improvements by the city and includes about 6 acres and Huggins Road right of way.
Area 4 is under 16 acres and for residential development, but the specifics have yet to be determined, Gary said
According to a presentation delivered by Gary, the development agreement includes the following:
- The development should be classified as a master-planned community.
- The residential area, including the proposed high-density and multifamily developments, should include no more than 30 units per acre or 450 units total as well as site plan approval from the senior developer.
- Access points should coordinate with the Texas Department of Transportation and Fort Bend County.
- Rights to select fees, parking and the initial maximum for utilities should be secured.
- A site just under 30,000 square feet for City Hall for lease should be reserved.
- Creek crossings should not require additional permits in the donated area per approved site plan.
- Architectural standards before permitting should be met; miscellaneous items per state law requirements should be met; and term agreement and/or cancelation should be possible.
“Right now, if you look around the Houston suburban area you have The Woodlands' Market Street and CityCentre [and] LaCenterra, but there’s a lot of high-income population that is moving even further west,” Smith said. “You really don’t have any restaurants or resources or services, so when we start looking at this on more of a grand scale, we need more gross leasable area. We need more buildings to be able to put on the ground.”
Some components of the project continue to derive from the comprehensive economic development plan as well as from some of the studies conducted recently, Groff said.
“It’s good to see some of that work over, and it’s not just this council; it’s the previous council’s work coming to fruition,” he added.
