Dan Moody III: Grandfather bought the land, which ran from Beltway 8 to Memorial Drive [the west Houston submarket], and built a series of single story stores. He sold the property in 1984, and between 1984 and 1994, retail changed dramatically. Big boxes and different formats came in, and the mall that was there was functionally obsolete.

Dad and I demolished 45 acres and redeveloped it into Town & Country Village, a retail project, but in 2000, we realized land prices were rising, so we transitioned into more mixed use. We started that in 2000 by building retail with offices on the second floor.

GS: What about now?

DMIII: Now we're looking for ways to enhance our area by adding density and creating a town center type of atmosphere. The first phase of that is the 10-story office building, Town Centre I. This is becoming a more dense, urban area; we can get more density on our sites than previously. This area started to gain popularity as an entertainment area – we've seen more restaurants here, more restaurants and more apartments. You're seeing more nighttime population here than you had before. We figure, if you add office, you can increase the daytime population as well.

Also, Beltway 8 and Interestate 10 is now the demographic center of Houston – that changed as well over the years, as the wealth and population moved west. The areas in and around Town & Country had a rebirth, all of which we believe enhances an office environment as well as the existing retail environment.

GS: Town Centre I is a speculative project?

DMIII: It is. The truth is, the majority of office buildings in west Houston over the past couple of years have been speculative developments, and they're enjoying rapid lease-up after they break ground.

GS: The construction also includes building a 22,000-square-foot theater. Why did you decide to build a theater?

DMIII: Country Playhouse [a local community theater]has been part of the west Houston community for 40-plus years. They were on this site but really had no desire to be relocated. We thought a good amenity to the overall project would be to have this community theater in west Houston. We also believed that having an auditorium venue for tenants in west Houston would provide an enhanced amenity for tenants. Country Playhouse has had tremendous input on the project; they've been working on the design of this theater since day one and are still involved with it going forward.

GS: I understand there's a second phase of Town Centre?

DMIII: We're under design on that building now, and should have the design complete by Q1 2014 and will be ready to start construction. We'll gauge the timing of that depending on demand and lease-up of Town Centre I, or if a tenant wants to lease or own the entire Town Centre II. We're responding to the market.

GS: Can you build more, or is the acreage built out?

DMIII: Today we're built out, but this is 45 acres, and we're constantly looking for ways to build density and to add value. Over time, we'd like to see other opportunities here.