Although Coventry Development Corporation began work on Springwoods Village in 2008, the developer actually purchased the 1,800 acres off of I-45 and the Hardy Toll Road in 1961, waiting nearly half a century until they found the right job creator to develop around: ExxonMobil.

"[ExxonMobil] saw this giant piece of land on I-45 with nothing on it and eventually got to us and said they were interested in the location," CDC Executive Vice President Keith Simon said. "But they were concerned that there was no infrastructure, no master plan, no nothing, and so what can we do?"

After quickly formulating a master plan for the community, CDC sold 386 acres to the oil and gas corporation and began development on Springwoods Village. The master-planned community will accommodate 35,000-45,000 employees and, at buildout, could provide $5.5 billion in annual gross product to Harris County and another $1 billion annually to Montgomery County, Simon said.

Although buildout is likely 15 years away, Simon said 2015 will see the relocation of 10,000 ExxonMobil and 1,500 Southwestern Energy employees, completion of the neighboring Grand Parkway segments, the first phase of Springwoods Village's Town Center and three residential developments that could house up to 1,200 people.

Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle said his precinct—which includes much of Spring and other North Houston communities—is growing by an average of 80 people per day, and Springwoods Village will only further propel that growth.

"Projects like Springwoods Village really help us in that progression in the growth of our overall region; it's that extra boost when we're already in an amazing time for this region," Cagle said. "Springwoods Village and the ExxonMobil campus, these are the things that fill my heart and make me proud of this precinct. I think these are the things that will help bring people into Precinct 4 [not only] to work, but also to play."

Town Center and amenities

Although Springwoods Village may be within Harris County, retailers, restaurants and amenities within the community will serve the entire region, including south Montgomery County.

Springwoods Village will feature about 1 million square feet of retail development, at least four hotels and a variety of other amenities. Much of the retail development will be within Town Center, a 60-acre parcel of multi-use development. The four to 10-story buildings, which compose much of Town Center, will house retailers and restaurants.

"[Town Center is] based on the idea of a central main street that has shops and restaurants on the street level and then office and residential and other uses above the shops and restaurants," Simon said.

Simon called a plaza on its east end the "heart" of Town Center, as it will house a full-service 300-unit hotel with meeting space, a multi-family rental project and locations to host events while connecting to nearby Town Lake Park. The plaza will be part of the 15 acres within the Town Center that will break ground in 2014 with completion scheduled for 2015.

Development will continue on the western portion of Town Center over the next three to five years and will include a major conference hotel. Simon said Coventry anticipates two more hotels in Springwoods Village—an extended-stay hotel and a select-service hotel—and several more hotels will likely be constructed around the community to service the major corporations within Springwoods Village.

"That's going to drive a whole new hotel submarket," he said. "So we programmed four to five hotels in Springwoods Village, but there's really going to need to be more than that to support that much employment."

Springwoods Village will also house several amenities and services, including medical, fitness and education. Simon said an announcement should be made early in 2014 regarding a health care provider that plans to construct facilities on 23 acres from the Grand Parkway to Mossy Oaks Road.

Paula Lenz, executive director for the North Houston Association, said Springwoods Village and the ExxonMobil relocation will continue to have a significant, far-reaching economic impact on the region. Lenz said she believes support services and businesses will spread throughout the area as a result of the development's growth.

"Those kinds of supporting entities, like hotels and the medical side of it, other companies who are going to serve ExxonMobil and residents within Springwoods Village—that's a whole range of services that will have to come into this area to serve the employees," Lenz said.

Land has also been reserved for a Spring ISD school, likely an elementary school funded through future bond proceeds, Simon said. Most of the community's residents will be serviced by Spring ISD, although some on the western edge will attend Klein ISD schools. He said there are also plans to construct a fitness center, and CDC has had discussions with YMCA regarding a possible facility.

Residential and commercial

Once construction is complete, Springwoods Village will have up to 5,000 homes and apartments with an estimated population of 15,000, as well as 8 million square feet of commercial development.

ExxonMobil may be relocating 10,000 employees to the Springwoods Village campus, but thousands of other employees will also relocate to the community. Ron Smith, director of support services for Southwestern Energy, said the first phase of the new corporate complex will be a 10-story, 580,000-square-foot office building, planned for completion in December 2014.

Smith said Southwestern Energy hopes to relocate its 1,550 Houston employees by late 2014, early 2015.

"We were trying to build a campus community, and we felt that Springwoods Village would be an excellent campus community," Smith said. "We think that our families will be able to work there and have easy access to restaurants and to shopping and to day care facilities and other things right there in the community."

A timetable has not been set for the second phase of construction on Southwestern Energy's campus, Smith said, but there are plans for a second, 10-story, 500,000-square-foot building to accommodate future growth and allow for 3,000 employees at the 26-acre corporate headquarters. The corporation could add a third phase, pushing the complex to as large as 1.3 million square feet.

Simon said another Houston-based corporation—which could be announced next year—has purchased 10 acres south of Southwestern Energy for the construction of a corporate facility. Other sites available for corporate headquarters include 20 acres along I-45 and 40 acres adjacent to the Grand Parkway.

Several Southwestern and ExxonMobil employees have already purchased homes within the residential communities, Smith and Simon said. The first phase of residential construction will feature four different types of properties among three developments that will total nearly 500 units and could house up to 1,200 people by the end of 2015 or early 2016, Simon said.

The first three residential developments include 342 units in Belvedere apartments, 51 larger, single-family homes in Audubon Grove and 90 units in Harper Woods, which features smaller, single-family homes and town homes, Simon said. Leasing begins for the Belvedere apartments in February, while sales could begin in Audubon Grove once models are completed in January and 20 contracts have already been signed in Harper Woods.

"There's no models," Simon said. "There's nothing to look at but paper plans and to get 20 out of 90 pre-sold is really pretty phenomenal."

Lenz said demand continues to rise for homes in the region, and Springwoods Village will only exacerbate the need for more residential development.

"The developers are selling new homes and residences before they put the infrastructure in the ground for housing," Lenz said.

Governance and other services

A community planned to grow to 15,000 people, Springwoods Village will have different levels of governance with various entities providing services.

Keith Simon, executive vice president for Coventry Development Corporation, said the developer and Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Jack Cagle have been partners in designing the infrastructure for the 1,800-acre development, as well as discussing uses for the neighboring Spring Creek Greenway. Although the roads are constructed by the developer, Cagle said they must meet county specifications for the day they are turned over to Harris County for maintenance.

"[Springwoods Village] is a master- planned community with a developer at the top of their game, because they really want to serve the people in the region," Cagle said. "It makes our job with the county a lot easier."

Although the county will eventually maintain much of the infrastructure and provide other services, much of the needs of Springwoods Village will be met by the Harris County Improvement District No. 18 or the management district, Simon said. Formed by legislation in 2009, the management district is composed of appointed officials and receives property tax revenue and a 1 percent sales tax.

The district not only provides water and wastewater services, but it also constructs and maintains parks, marketing, and provides economic development services and will operate the Town Center plaza, Simon said.

"There's a pretty heavy operational aspect to the district beyond just constructing all the infrastructure," he said.

Each neighborhood also has its own homeowners association to deal with neighborhood concerns, Simon said, while a design review committee enforces covenants on development within Springwoods Village.

"There are design standards they have to comply with so that we make sure that every single project is of very high quality and is meeting high standards in terms of sustainability," Simon said.

A fire and EMT station will break ground in 2014 with five bays planned for the Spring Fire Department and two bays for the Cypress Creek EMS, Simon said. The emergency service districts that provide the services collect a 0.5 percent sales tax within the community.