According to LHEDP President Mark Mitchell, more than 217,000 unique vehicles pass the city of Humble on Hwy. 59 per day, while 44,000 cars travel FM 1960 daily. He said it is important for the city attract residents and tourists to the city.
"We have to make sure that our strategies are strong in terms of being able to gravitate those people into the city," he said.
In the last three years, the city of Humble has seen an increase in office, logistics, manufacturing and flex space, Mitchell said. Between 2017 and mid-June, the Lake Houston area has had 5.8 million square feet of space that has been completed, is under construction or has been announced. Meanwhile, the city of Humble has gained or will gain 1.7 million square feet.
"We don't include any retail in this, we don't include any hotels in this—this is all essentially commercial space, office space, medical space," Mitchell said. "This is all good space that lends itself to the strategy of diversifying the Humble tax base from a strong sales tax to a more balanced sales tax and ad valorem tax."
Council Member David Pierce asked Mitchell if the Lake Houston area market is saturated with industrial space. He referenced an empty 685,000-square-foot warehouse in Humble Mitchell had said the LHEDP and city were trying to lease.
Mitchell said he believes the specific dimensions and build of the warehouse space in Humble is going to make it stand out from other spaces in the area.
"What you're seeing, I think, is some older products, but these newer developments they're filling them up," he said.
The LHEDP has also been working with the city to bring a grocer to the city of Humble, Mitchell said.
"We're actively trying to find a good retail grocer for city of Humble central business district," he said. "We have a couple of options in the central business district that we think makes sense, but again it is hard right now for a retailer to get their head around spending that kind of capital to do a store."
