GALVESTON, TX—Planned development Tiki Island Residences and Boathouse Resort is slated for construction in the fall. Austin-based developers Legend Communities and Tiki Time LLC will develop the residential community, yacht club and boathouse resort on six acres on Tiki Island near Galveston.

"This is a highly desirable location because The Village of Tiki Island does not allow any vacation rentals on the island, preserving the integrity of the property and making it the premier place to live and call home," said Ron Cooper, owner of Tiki Time LLC. "Tiki Island Residences and Boathouse Resort will be an exclusive golf cart-friendly community, free from the traffic and crowding of Galveston Island, with high-end design features, walkability, easy water access and enchanting ocean and bay views."

The developers recently closed on the Tiki Island property and are currently finalizing the site plan and conceptual design for the development. The current cost estimate for the total project including the dry stack, restaurant, condominium and marina is at almost $55 million, GlobeSt.com learns exclusively.

Current plans for the resort community include 75 condominium residences ranging from 1,500 to 1,700 square feet on five levels above an elevated podium deck and five penthouses ranging up to 3,600 square feet each on the top two floors. Additional space is to include a 5,500- to 7,000-square-foot waterfront restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating, a waterfront ship's store with retail space, marina rental slips and guest slip area for the restaurant and ship's store, a boardwalk and pedestrian site for neighborhood connectivity, a boathouse structure that will house up to 220 boats on four levels, and parking for cars and golf carts.

Steven Biegel, architecture department director of Place Designers, will oversee the project's site planning, architecture and redesign including landscape design.

"This is the last remaining piece of waterfront real estate on Tiki and will be a flagship development," said Biegel. "Our team is honored to be part of such a monumental project on Tiki Island."

The price for condominiums in the Tiki Island Residences and Boathouse Resort will start in the $600,000s. Developers estimate phase I of the project, which includes the boathouse and waterfront restaurant, will break ground by fall 2020. Phase II will encompass the project's residences and is estimated to break ground in summer 2021.

Tiki is a lacework island between Galveston and the south Texas coast. The Village of Tiki Island, a town of only 1.5 square miles, is largely a man-made island located on a tiny peninsula in Jones Bay, 5 miles north of Galveston and only 45 miles south of downtown Houston via Interstate 45.

Originally a small fishing camp, Tiki Island evolved into a place for weekend homes, then into a village that was incorporated in 1982, GlobeSt.com learns. It is comprised of primarily waterfront homes. In 2018, Tiki Island had a population of 1,068 and 482 households, many of whom are retirees and second homeowners.

Legend's Tiki Island location offers close proximity to Houston, a convenient location for boaters and offshore fishing enthusiasts, and direct access to the Intracoastal Waterway. Just a 15-minute drive from Galveston, residents will have access to retail and medical care at the University of Texas/Galveston Medical Branch.

"This is a class-A location, a place where year-round residents will feel like they're always on vacation and they can be confident their investment will be protected due to the restrictions against rentals," said Cooper. "It will not merely be a resort, but a lock-and-leave lifestyle; a place where family and friends can come together and enjoy life to its very fullest."

The Tiki Island Residences and Boathouse Resort will be Legend's second project in the Galveston area. Legend has developed a number of residential properties in Texas including Rough Hollow Lakeway, Tuscan Village Lakeway and Tuscan Village at Horseshoe Bay.

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Resort Community Near Galveston Slates Fall Construction

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