The City of Tomball is looking to the SH 249-Brown Road area as the next possible sector for commercial growth.

At a March 7 city council meeting, the city council approved a $500,000 expenditure by the city’s Economic Development Corporation (TEDC) to extend utilities and acquire easements and right-of-way west of SH 249 and south of Brown Road to the easterly edge of Spring Creek Estates.

Former TEDC Executive Director Betty Reinbeck, whose retirement became effective last week after the meeting, told the council that the area would be the most logical location for future commercial development.

“This utility project will open up close to 100 acres for commercial development, five different tracks of land,” she told council. “I indicated to George (Shackelford, city manager) that this is probably what the City of Tomball needs to be looking at as far as future projects. This would be an excellent economic development project.”

The discussion behind the proposal began when Reinbeck and the TEDC were in talks with Paloma Energy Consultants for the company’s potential relocation to Tomball and, more specifically, the SH 249-Brown Road area.

Reinbeck then spoke with Shackelford and suggested the city request that the TEDC allocate the funds for the utility extension. According to documents related to the proposal, utility extensions will include a 12-inch water main and 10-inch sewer main extending approximately 1,300 feet west of the SH 249-Brown Road intersection. A 4-inch gas main will extend 1,800 feet west of the intersection.

The city has contracted with CLR, Inc., for engineering and surveying services for the project. CLR quoted the city $65,160 for their services.

Shackelford explained that the remaining funds will go towards right-of-way acquisition and construction costs. He did not give a time frame on the completion of the engineering and survey work, but expected it to be completed soon and that the project would then be put out for bid.

While the city turns its attention to opening up more tracts of land east of SH 249, more than 50 acres of land northwest of the intersection still lays vacant. CCG Venture Partners, along with Continental Properties, Inc., had long been working to build The Shoppes at Spring Creek, which was to include more than 250,000 square feet of upscale retail space.

Thousands of trees were cleared to make way for the retailers that were lining up to call Tomball home. But those plans have come to a complete stop.

The city is also moving forward with plans to extend Brown Road farther west. In 2008, the city completed an extension of Brown Road west from SH 249 to Hufsmith Road. Less than a year later, the city spent $200,000 on design and survey work, also with CLR.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed