What you need to know
Tannos Development Group and real estate investment firm Wolfgramm Capital announced the creation of the new Friendswood City Center at a launch party in December.
After multiple delays in the groundbreaking, from January, to February, the Friendswood City Center is now being built at the corner of FM 528 and Bay Area Boulevard.
The Friendswood City Center will feature a range of components, including:
- A luxury hotel
- A 500-unit multifamily complex
- A new fire station
- Retail spaces with 150,000 square feet
- Medical and office buildings with 200,000 square feet
- Mixed-use structures with condominiums with 225,000 square feet
- Entertainment areas
- Smaller pad sites
Tannos and City Manager Morad Kabiri said the city has lacked substantial recreational areas and amenities, resulting in residents seeking such facilities outside of Friendswood, as previously reported by Community Impact in December.
Previous attempts to develop the site encountered hurdles, such as zoning restrictions, flood concerns and issues in optimizing the property’s potential, Tannos said.
Friendswood City Manager Morad Kabiri said these obstacles made it one of the most challenging properties in the city to develop.
The details
Tannos and the city of Friendswood reached a series of agreements in December and January, some of which laid out plans for the city to tackle the infrastructure needs of the area to help facilitate the development.
Tannos Development Group President Louis Tannos said he finalized the purchase of the land in February 2023, as previously reported by Community Impact.
City officials said they expect the infrastructure to cost about $53 million—a total that doesn’t include $16 million expected for interest and financing. That cost will be paid using funds gained from a tax increment reinvestment zone established at the site in December. The TIRZ will freeze property tax revenue for the city, and any revenue gained from increased value in the coming years will help pay for the infrastructure.
The project will infuse about $750 million worth of new property value into the city, estimations from Tannos and the city show.
Quote of note
Friendswood Mayor Mike Foreman discussed all the new facilities and components that will be added to the Friendswood City Center at the groundbreaking ceremony, as well as a centralization of regional mobility and flood mitigation work that will now be able to occur at the center.
While he expressed his gratitude toward the city of Friendswood and Tannos, he also discussed the evolution of the project.
“It is just a monumental day,” Foreman said. “I am so glad that we made it this far. It took a lot of work, and there were mayors before me that worked on this, and it was not until really the finances worked out with people like Louis Tannos sharpening his pencil and figuring this out, made this happen.”
