HOUSTON-Caldwell Watson Real Estate Group in Houston has begun construction on its master-planned Towne Lake. The $1.6-billion project in the northwest area carries an estimated 10-to-15 year build-out, and will include an approximately $50-million commercial and high-density component. The commercial project is estimated to take up approximately 5% of the total project and could support up to one million sf in retail and office space.
Caldwell Watson began its land acquisition along Texas 290 in the Cypress-Fairbanks area approximately 18 months ago, with a purchase of 400 acres meant for single-family developments. However, when an opportunity presented itself to add an additional 2,000 acres earlier this year, "that's when we decided to buy it and turn it into a master-planned community," says Peter Barnhart, Caldwell Watson's vice president of land development.
Barnhart notes that the northwest market's growth is one reason for its appeal to developers. "The Cy-Fair region is roughly 700,000 people, which is roughly the size of Austin. But it really doesn't have a defined city center or community center or quasi-commercial center to tie the community together," Barnhart tells GlobeSt.com.
Though the initial development phase will focus on single-family homes scheduled for an early 2007 completion, Barnhart suggests there is a push to incorporate high-density residential in the form of townhomes during the early build-out period. At this time, Caldwell Watson is interviewing multifamily developers to assist in that area of development.
Overall, "we're looking to develop most of the project ourselves, but if an opportunity to partner with a best in class developer comes along, we'll examine it," Barnhart says.
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