Manvel Town Center upon completion will rank as the largest new development in the 30-year history of Weitzman. With a design to incorporate nearly 1 million square feet of space upon completion, it goes without saying that progress on Manvel Town Center means a lot of moving parts!
A lot of the planning took place before a single shovelful of dirt was moved, covering important items like zoning and negotiations, engineering and architectural and infrastructure design.
Now, we’re excited to report, Manvel Town Center is under way with a round of physical work that will lead it closer to becoming reality.
Most importantly, H-E-B is fully committed to Manvel Town Center and is prepared to move forward following the installation of infrastructure. We are so excited to work with H-E-B on a beautiful, modern store that will serve the residents of Manvel and surrounding communities and that will help put Manvel Town Center first and foremost in shoppers’ minds.
Most visibly, the TXDOT feeder road at the center is under construction, at a cost of $3 million, and should be complete this fall.
Further progress we’d like to share is that we are working with Frost Bank, who is a fantastic lender, on this project. We have some heavy lifting involved to construct infrastructure that will not only serve our development, but also give the city facilities on the west side of SH-288. Upon completion, our water and sewer plants are turned over to the city. Due to this expense, we are wrapping up some additional leasing to provide income to cover the debt service for the project.
I look forward to sharing the names of these great restaurants and retailers once they’re inked! These leases being signed will release the next phase of our loan and, at that point, you’ll see a lot of activity!
Our planned start date was June of this year. We had taken the project out to public bid and were finalizing leases until…COVID. Once the implications of the pandemic set in, retailers hit the “pause” button on new deals and had to change their focus to ensure viability of their existing stores.
We are fortunate that recently we were able to pick back up where we left off. We are full steam ahead with negotiations and finalization of a number of leases, which will enable the infrastructure work to proceed.
The infrastructure projects, once commenced, will include:
• Phase 1 Clearing and Grubbing
• Highway 6 Driveways and Decel Lanes
• Kirby ROW Improvements / Signalization – Hwy 6
• Wastewater Plant
• Water Plant
• Public sewer, water and storm drainage
• Detention Ponds
Like I said, a lot of moving parts! But the most exciting part is, they ARE moving, and Manvel Town Center is moving from vision to reality. Stay tuned as more updates on our progress are made available.
Written By:
JoBeth Prochaska
Senior Vice President of Development & Asset Management
Weitzman
