The plan comes after months of planning and surveying the Pearland community to eventually bring the plan to City Council for approval.
The big picture
For years, Pearland Mayor Kevin Cole said residents have wanted to see change and upgrades in Pearland Old Town, which is where the city was originally incorporated.
Pearland’s ongoing Old Town Revitalization Plan could do that through planning, ongoing residential feedback and an economic assessment, according to the revitalization plan’s website.
City officials held a final open house March 11 and closed the plan’s survey in early April. The next step is to finalize the plan and prepare it to go in front of City Council.
The project plan launched in June 2024 and is a collaboration between the Pearland Economic Development Corporation, the city of Pearland and Kansas City-based Olsson Studio, a national planning and urban design firm, according to the city’s website.
The plan includes the following Old Town Pearland additions:
- Single-unit, multi-unit and flex residential businesses
- Business, neighborhood and civic centers
- Mixed-use and transitional developments
Initially platted in 1894, the Old Town district was Pearland’s first settled area. It included a hardware store, a general store, a lumber yard and a hotel, attracting migrants from Midwestern states to settle in Pearland, according to the city’s website.
However, the 1900 Galveston hurricane and another storm in 1915 caused the area’s infrastructure, farming and population to falter. It wasn’t until the 1940s the area grew back into what it was prior to the storms, city documents show.
By 1959, the city was incorporated and began a steady growth outward for land and population, and in the mid-1960s had nearly 1,500 inhabitants and 41 businesses, according to the city’s website.
Today, Old Town is filled with residential areas, businesses, and Pearland ISD offices and schools.
Despite the area’s history, lifelong Pearland resident Jerry Johnston said he believes Old Town Pearland doesn’t provide an “old town” feel.
“My family has been here seven generations,” he said. “Personally I don’t see a quaint ‘Old Town’ anymore. [FM] 518 and [Hwy.] 35 are wall-to wall businesses. We have been through a few of these ‘project’ ideas over the years, and they never happen. So I, for one, am not too excited.”
Unrelated to the revitalization plan, Cole said a 5.9-acre residential project has been in development since spring 2023 in Old Town south of Broadway Street and east of Main Street.
The city also agreed upon a $4.5 million development in late 2022 with Sullivan Brothers to improve public roads, water, storm and sanitary lines, and streetscapes within the site before the homes would be built, per the PEDC’s website.
Brennan Kane, the project planner for Olsson, said the revitalization plan for Old Town will be much like the ongoing development.
Key 2024-25 dates
- Aug. 7-Oct. 4, 2024: Online public survey launched and available
- Oct. 1-3: Planning and design workshop
- Oct. 2: Public open house
- March 10: Joint leadership work session
- March 11: Public open house
A survey for Pearland’s Old Town Revitalization Plan launched in August and received over 7,500 responses, Kane said. Respondents were able to choose multiple answers.
Cole said the revitalization will be funded through the PEDC, the city, the Texas Department of Transportation and private entities.
The plan, officials said, was created to help:
- Develop an area that offers a lively, walkable atmosphere
- Create more entertainment venues and spaces
- Attract unique small businesses
- Bring development into the area
The plan’s feedback process ended at the beginning of April. After city and Olsson officials review feedback for a final time, the plan will be pitched to City Council for consideration.
“With this area being originally where Pearland began as a city, ... I think there’s optimism and opportunity to bring some of that history back to this area,” Kane said.
Cole said he believes the plan could go to City Council for a vote between the summer and the end of the year.
City officials have noted it is currently too early to decide which entity pays for what within the plan, and there is no timeline yet as to when development would begin. However, if City Council approves the plan, Cole noted the city will then create a team to organize how the plan would be carried out.
“This isn’t a brand new green field that we’re going to go and build,” Cole said. “When you’re talking about redevelopment [or] repurposing, ... this isn’t an overnight thing. More than likely, this is a 20-year plan.”
