In unincorporated Harris County, development frequently arrives in flurries, said Bobby Lieb, president and CEO of the Houston Northwest Chamber of Commerce.
“Those vacant parcels become more attractive because you already have an established population around them,” Lieb said. “So the desire for amenities by the existing population attracts that commercial growth.”
Dhanani Private Equity Group—a real estate development firm based in Houston—was drawn to the intersection of FM 2920 and Falvel Road for its new 276-unit apartment complex, said Ahsan Daredia, the group’s principal of investor relations and marketing. Planned for completion in the second quarter of 2024, Territory at Falvel’s location was chosen due to the area’s activity.
“The traffic count on FM 2920 and overall growth in Spring has been strong and brought our interest here,” Daredia said in a March 9 email.
Planned projects for the area include another apartment complex, a 28-unit single-family neighborhood, a multitenant shopping plaza and multiple businesses.
The intersection of FM 2920 and Falvel Road saw an average daily traffic count of about 33,090 in 2021, according to the Texas Department of Transportation. The traffic sparked a $3.6 million project from TxDOT, which is slated to finish in mid-2023. The project will add improvements including raised medians along FM 2920 from North Willow Street in Tomball to I-45 in Spring.
“The project will improve safety, reduce congestion by reducing crashes [and] improve connectivity, mobility and reliability,” said Bambi Hall, a public information officer for TxDOT.
The changes underway along FM 2920 are not seen as improvements universally, however. Resident Kirsti Sherlock, who has lived in the Meadow Hill Run neighborhood located off Falvel Road between FM 2920 and Spring Stuebner Road since 2007, said she is thinking of moving away due to the area’s growth and development.
“It is nice to have businesses close to home, but I also feel like we ... moved to this area because it wasn’t so overpopulated, and now it’s kind of turning that way,” Sherlock said.
Development underway
Similar to the corridor’s increase in development, a population growth of roughly 21% was observed for ZIP code 77388—which includes FM 2920 from I-45 to Kuykendahl Road—from 2016-21, according to American Community Survey five-year estimates. From 2020 to 2030, 680 new housing occupancies are expected for a parcel of land running along Falvel Road from FM 2920 to Spring Stuebner Road, according to Klein ISD’s 2020-21 Population and Survey Analysts report.
Construction began in October on another multifamily project near FM 2920 and Falvel Road, Virtuo Spring. Houston real estate developer Medistar Corp. expects the about 300-unit apartment complex to open in the third quarter of 2024, according to Avi Elfezouaty, Medistar’s senior vice president of development and acquisitions.
Next door, construction on Territory at Falvel began in August, Daredia said.
Another housing project planned for this area, Carol Estates, will include about 28 single-family homes from Iberica Style Builders, according to the developer’s website. An opening date had not been announced as of press time.
As for commercial development, an 11,960-square-foot multitenant plaza dubbed Lighthouse Shopping Center was completed in October by construction and design company VM Partners.
Other new businesses in the area include Sun Auto, which will open in mid-May near Gosling Road and Certified Bar & Grill, a restaurant and bar that opened Feb. 14 near FM 2920 and Meadowhill Drive.
Across the street, Banh Mi Eatery—a Vietnamese restaurant and drink shop—held its grand opening in mid-January. In a March 15 email, co-owner Thang Nguyen said they were drawn to the area due to its growing population.
Evolving community
With ongoing community growth, certain pockets of land can boom after seeing little development previously, Lieb said.
“[Land] owners get to a point where ... the value of the land is attractive enough for them to be willing to sell the land to a developer,” Lieb said.
As additional commuters and residents flocked to FM 2920, the roadway’s intersection with Falvel saw an 18% increase in its average daily traffic count from 2002-21, according to TxDOT. Traffic counts peaked at 40,864 annually in 2015.
To address traffic and safety concerns on the increasingly busy roadway, TxDOT began replacing FM 2920’s continuous center-turn lane with raised medians in February 2022, Hall said. Dedicated right-turn lanes and flashing yellow left turn arrows are also being added along the corridor.
While some residents may not appreciate the ongoing development along FM 2920, Mike Perkins said he feels some demonize any growth that happens after they move into the community. Since the early 2000s, Perkins has lived in the Thicket neighborhood, located near the intersection of Ella Boulevard and Louetta Road.
“If this were still a rural community, we wouldn’t have restaurants, we wouldn’t have high-speed fiber internet,” Perkins said. “[Residents] tend to ignore the fact that there are some benefits to this.”
