The details
As previously reported by Community Impact, the revitalized retail centers were part of $16.5 million project in partnership with Montgomery County to redesign and rebuild the Grogan's Mill Village Center at 7 Switchbud Place following Howard Hughes Corporation's acquisition of the center in 2023.
Jim Carman, Howard Hughes' president of the Houston area, said the project came out of a desire to bring the Grogan's Mill Village Center up to current design and development standards. The process involved foundation repairs, structural improvements and new patio space construction, which was done while keeping open businesses that leased in the retail space.
"The Grogan's Mill Village Center was the original village center, and people who grew up here have so many ... generational memories of this place," Carman said. "These updates demonstrate our ongoing dedication to master planning, not just initially, but throughout the life cycle."
The new businesses coming to the center include SUNA fitness center, Plush Nail Bar, Half Baked Goodness and donut and ice cream shop Yonutz, Carman announced at the ribbon-cutting.
"We felt it critically important to get involved and make sure that we could turn [the center] around. So this 50-year-old development, we came in, we purchased it, our team got to work, and transformed it into what you see today," Carman said.
In their words
- "We live in a community that was built on innovation, on moving things forward, on constant evolution, to do the absolute best; and this is one more example of that," said Aaron Cox, The Woodlands Area Chamber president. "We look around today and we have form, function and style that's going to take us forward as a new center for this village that's going to revitalize, reshape and continue to move us forward."
- "You look at the before and after pictures, it's truly remarkable, but hopefully this is the catalyst that really gets all of our other village centers upgraded and remodeled and redefined to attract new restaurants and retail outlets," Brad Bailey, The Woodlands Township Board chair, said.
- "It's really exciting because we're seeing the revitalization of really the epicenter of The Woodlands," Ritch Wheeler, Montgomery County Precinct 3 commissioner, said. "We have great community partners like Howard Hughes Corporation that's willing to reinvest into those parts of The Woodlands and then we're kind of laying out the blueprint for some of these other village centers, because this isn't going to be the last time that we're going to go in and revitalize a village center."
- "My wife and I moved here 10 years ago, and we were originally drawn to The [Woodlands] Farmers Market, but it was obvious from the get-go that we needed some new life in the village center," Aaron Hoffstadter, Grogan's Mill Village Association president, said. "So we've been really excited to kind of see it play out. Howard Hughes and Jim Carman have done a really great job of just kind of bringing that vision to life and we're excited about the future for Grogan's Mill and The Woodlands."
