In a release, Thomas J. D'Alesandro IV, the Woodlands' president and CEO, says Wal-Mart "made many concessions" in negotiating the 25-acre acquisition, including a retreat from the standard blue-and-gray big box. The big box's delivery is penciled for spring 2005.

Dan Leverett, the Woodlands' vice president of the commercial division, tells GlobeSt.com that talks also are underway with developers for another shopping center on roughly 18 acres across the street. Plus, another 45 acres have been set aside for more retail and some multifamily development.

With Wal-Mart as the anchor, Terramont Shopping Center has been laid out with six pad sites, some as large as two acres. Leverett says he's already talking to several potential buyers for the tracts. The shopping center will have treed buffers along the Woodlands Parkway, FM 1978 and Branch Crossing Drive.

Terramont will be positioned on the western boundary of the 8,000-acre Sterling Ridge community. The new neighborhood, with one mile of frontage along Terramont Drive, will contain two churches, a 16-acre park and a 106,000-sf elementary school. Conroe Independent School District recently paid $438,886 for a 14-acre tract. Leverett says the extra community will leave the Woodlands with 9,000 acres still to be developed.

Brendan Lynch in CB Richard Ellis Inc.'s Houston office represented the Bentonville, AR-based Wal-Mart in the 25-acre acquisition. The Woodlands had in-house broker Greg Jordan doing its talking.

To make the deal fly, Wal-Mart made "a concerted effort to integrate their store into the new shopping center and the community," D'Alesandro says. The store will be made of tan brick with stone accents, brick columns every 15 feet and wood shutters plus landscaping with tree-filled planters in front of the building and throughout the parking lot. Wal-Mart also agreed to a covered sidewalk.

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210,000-SF Wal-Mart Leads Woodlands' New Development

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