Parkside Capital, a Houston-based developer, has purchased a 124-acre piece of property at the intersection of I-10 and the Grand Parkway. The site, formerly owned by Simon Property Group, will be a mixed-use development known as Verde Parc. Specific plans for Verde Parc are still in the making, though Parkside has already begun preparing the site for construction.
Dan Moody, vice president of Parkside Capital, said they are in the process of consulting with a wide range of companies to determine how to best use the space.
"We've teamed up with some groups in Houston that are helping us create a vision for the site," Moody said.
Parkside has begun clearing the site in anticipation of construction. Preparations include building roads throughout the site and connecting utilities. Moody anticipates completing this phase of construction by early 2015.
There are many possibilities for use of the development, including office space, retail shops, restaurants, hotels, medical facilities and single and multifamily housing. The company hopes to begin selling space in Verde Parc by this time next year.
The location, at the intersection of two major highways, is easily accessible to residents of Katy, Cypress, Sugar Land, The Woodlands and Houston. This makes Verde Parc attractive to corporations in search of new office space, Moody said.
"This is a very strategically located site," Moody said. "We think there's a good chance if there are any corporate users out there that are looking to relocate or develop a campus, that we'll be pretty well located to pick anybody up."
Some area businesses hope that Verde Parc will fill the void that was left when Simon abandoned its plans to build a 1.1 million-square-foot open-air shopping center, which was set to open in 2008. Simon's proposed development, The Grand, intended to "bring upscale shopping to a wide variety of affluent customers," according to plans on the website of the scrapped development.
This made property around the site appealing to businesses, said Robert Reynolds, owner of the Red Robin's Katy franchise.
"Previously we thought that Simon was going to build a mall, and that's one of the reasons we located there," he said. "We are happy to see more business [coming to] the area."
Cara Macies, manager of the La Madeleine, off Grand Parkway, also welcomes the new development.
"It will only bring more to the area," Macies said.
Both Macies and Reynolds do not anticipate Verde Parc construction disrupting business. Both La Madeline and Red Robin felt the impact of construction on the toll road and Grand Parkway, Macies said her business fell 6 percent during toll road construction, but neither anticipates problems from work on Verde Parc.
"We look forward to it being built out and complete so we can build our lunch business to those folks that are working in that area," Reynolds said.
