GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: $75M-Plus Retail Project Will Rise on 48-Acre Buy

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SUGAR LAND, TX-Eastbourne Investments and Wellington Development Co. have taken control of 48 acres to develop a 384,000-sf power center with an estimated build-out value of $75 million to $80 million. If all goes as planned, ground could break in first quarter 2007.

The just-bought land takes up the southwest corner of US Highway 59 and Grand Parkway, a key crossroads in Fort Bend County. “It represents the last major development opportunity at that intersection,” Frank Egan, president of the Williamsville, NY-based Eastbourne, tells GlobeSt.com. “It’s a fantastic intersection.” As with the duo’s other projects, Eastbourne is the equity backing and Wellington, the developer.

The Texas Department of Transportation is expected to begin reconfiguring the intersection in March. The joint venture acquired its acreage from Grand Ransom LLP of Houston, whose principals were represented by Robert Reynolds with Westside Properties, also from Houston. Retail dirt prices in the area, on average, range from $4 per sf to $5 per sf.

Chris Hotze, a Wellington principal, says the intersection is primed for national retail. The other corners hold a grocery-anchored center with local shops, vehicle dealership and service station. The joint venture’s power center–River Point Marketplace–will back up to a combo Memorial Hermann Hospital and professional office building, which is still on the drawing board.

“The national demand is there at this intersection,” Hotze says. “We anticipate this entire center will be taken by national credit tenants.” Wellington’s in-house team will prelease the project, which is being designed by Fernando Brave of Brave Architecture in Houston.