Richard Anderson, vice president of development for Houston-based Falcon Group, tells GlobeSt.com that the project should be able to break ground in late October, as planned. The developer needed to sell 50% of the 250-unit Palisades Palms at 601 Galveston Beach Dr. before construction could begin. The two-tower condo project will be the first waterfront development to rise in nearly two decades on the East Beach, according to Anderson, who says the search for construction financing is underway.

"We realized there was a lot of potential, pent-up demand for a second home down in Galveston," says Richard Anderson, Falcon's vice president of development. The project took root about three years ago when Falcon president Arnold Tauch ran into a waiting list after trying to rent a condo for a weekend at the beach. By December 2000, he was holding the deed to 16 acres and working on a development plan.

The site, about 55 minutes from Houston, is a beach area that's accreting. "Erosion won't be an issue," Anderson tells GlobeSt.com because it's grown by more than acre since it was bought. "It took me almost three years to get the entitlements done," he adds. "As a firm, we have the patience to go through this process and get it entitled correctly."

The resort-style Palisades Palms' first phase will have 22-story and 27-story towers. If all goes as planned, condo keys will be ready to hand out in late 2006. The project, which includes a parking garage, will take up half of Falcon's acreage. It's too premature, Anderson says, to predict when work will begin on a second phase.

Palisades Palms' units will range from slightly less than 1,000 sf to about 3,000 sf, with tags of $225,000 to $1 million. Kirkor Architects & Planners of Toronto, Canada, designed Palisades Palms. Brasfield & Gorrie, headquartered in Birmingham, AL, will be the general contractor.

Early focus groups discovered the target market is potential buyers looking for a family-oriented project. Research also showed there are 177,000 high-income families in a five-county area that could readily afford the product. Anderson expects buyers will be mostly from Houston and predominately second-home investors. He estimates only 10% will be year-round residents. "There's no doubt that Galveston's economy is largely generated by tourism," Anderson says.

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$120M Beachfront Condo Project Sails Toward Groundbreaking

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