Hundreds of thousands of square feet worth of retail space lay vacant. Acres of land with nary an underground pipe installed remain barren. Construction equipment sits idle, as if waiting for a deal to be struck so they can crank up their engines again.

Has the economic crisis finally crushed retail development in Tomball?

Some Tomball economic leaders say not quite, pointing to recently opened businesses, and a slight increase in sales tax revenue.

But with “For Lease” signs dotting Tomball’s economic landscape, the city may be starting to feel the pinch.

Deals years in the making to bring big name, big box stores to Tomball are falling through. Other deals are still in the works, but stores are putting the brakes on waiting to see how the economic climate will play out in the coming months and years.

Tomball Marketplace, located at the intersection of SH 249 and FM 2920, finally saw the opening of just its second tenant, a Sears Appliance Store, last month. More than 300,000 square feet of retail space still remains vacant.

Brody Farris, a leasing executive for Weingarten Realty, which is currently leasing the retail spaces at Tomball Marketplace, admits interest from retailers has slowed. But he also said many contracts are still in the works and some may be finalized within the coming months.

“Market conditions have changed a little bit in the previous 18 months,” Farris said. “Things are moving a bit slower than what we would have liked.”

The Academy store opened a little over two years ago, but it’s taken much longer to secure agreements with other tenants. Restaurants such as Logan’s Roadhouse, Buffalo Wild Wings, Olive Garden, La Madeleine, Raisin’ Canes and James Coney Island had expressed interest at some point at opening stores in Tomball Marketplace. So have clothing stores such as TJ Maxx, Ross, JC Penney and Kohl’s.

Of those, Farris only confirmed that Ross would be opening a store in a newly constructed building west of Academy. He also said Weingarten is still in negotiations with stores such as Best Buy, Marshall’s and several restaurants.

“We’re still moving forward,” he said. “They haven’t told us no.”

Farris explained that Tomball is still showing a positive economic climate, a view shared by Tomball Economic Development Corporation Executive Director Betty Reinbeck and Greater Tomball Area Chamber of Commerce President Bruce Hillegeist.

“We haven’t seen a slow down as far as the EDC is concerned,” Reinbeck said. “In visiting with the business that have relocated, their businesses are doing very well. But retail is another matter. New retail is slow.”

Reinbeck said that the EDC is still working with retailers planning to open stores in Tomball, but those may come later rather than sooner.

“They are still making plans to open new locations, but will wait until 2010,” she said.

Hillegeist is worried that the local economy could get worse before it gets better.

“I don’t feel that we have seen the worst yet,” he said. “Retail and specialty businesses have slowed down.”

However, Hillegeist also points to full restaurants, long lines at places like Starbucks, and good sales at this year’s Tomball FFA show, which he calls a “good indicator” of the local economy, as signs that times in Tomball may not be all that bad.

“We hear very negative news all the time. We hear we’re in a global recession,” he said. “But in Texas, things can still get worse.”

Hillegeist called Texas the “number one business friendly state” and pointed to a statistic that shows 27 percent of all new jobs in 2008 were in Texas.

“People are just trying to figure this whole thing out,” he said. “We may not hit rock bottom like other parts are experiencing, but we’re getting a pretty good jolt.”

Perhaps the most ominous sign of the current economic climate in Tomball is the barren 50-plus acres of land north of the newly opened Brown Road. 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.

“That development is not going to take place under current ownership,” Reinbeck said, “and it’s for sale.”

She said it was “probably the economy” that killed the plans for The Shoppes.

CCG’s Jeff Presnal did not return phone calls to the Tribune for comment on this story, and on the development, at press time last week.

Meanwhile, Farris said Tomball is still an attractive place for potential retailers.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed