Infrastructure:

Simon: The initial road network is complete and Springwoods Village is now open to the public.

The Grand Parkway is under construction by the Texas Department of Transportation, with an expected completion of Segments F-1, F-2 and G by end of 2015.

Harris County is widening Spring Stuebner Road to four lanes. Holzwarth Road, which will be four lanes, also is under construction.

The Harris County Improvement District No. 18, which serves Springwoods Village, has completed approximately $75 million in infrastructure projects. Springwoods Village water plant and wastewater plant are complete and operational. An electric substation is under construction by CenterPoint Energy, and will be complete by mid-2014, with the power cables running underground.

Residential:

Phase I homebuilders are currently selling houses and leasing apartments. Audubon Grove (Taylor Morrison) opened its first model in January and Harper Woods (Sullivan Brothers Builders) expects its models to be open in late May. The first residents have just moved into The Belvedere Springwoods Village apartments (Fein).

Commercial/office:

ExxonMobil is continuing the construction of its campus. The first employees moved to Springwoods Village location this March. The campus will house 10,000 employees.

The first phase of Southwestern Energy's headquarters is under construction, with completion planned for end of 2014. It will house 1,500 employees.

GlobeSt.com: What has it been like to watch this master-planned development take shape?

Simon: It's always rewarding to watch a community take shape and this one is happening at a much faster pace than most others. We started infrastructure construction in 2011 and by the end of 2015 over 12,000 people will be working and more than 1,200 people will be living in Springwoods Village!

Because of the momentum and demand to be in Springwoods Village, we find that we are able to achieve higher levels of sustainability and quality in all aspects of the development of the community.

GlobeSt.com: By the time ExxonMobil is in place next year, what will Springwoods look like?

Simon: Employees are already working at the ExxonMobil campus and all 10,000 employees will be in place by mid-2015. By that time over $100 million of public infrastructure including utilities, water plant, wastewater plant, streets and parks will be completed and the first three residential neighborhoods will be nearly complete. Southwestern Energy will have moved into their new corporate headquarters. The CHI St. Luke's Health medical facility will be under construction with Phase 1 of their Health & Wellness Campus.

There will clearly be a strong critical mass of activity and it's always great to see the communities get activated with the people that are living and working there.

GlobeSt.com: Recently plans were announced for an extended-stay hotel and a medical campus - how do these fit into the overall master plan?

Simon: They are both important pieces in delivering a full live-work-play community from day one. Springwoods Village will include workplaces, residences, hotels, shops and restaurants, the medical campus and many different kinds of civic facilities (including schools, fire stations and other similar amenities) all in walking proximity of each other.

The extended-stay hotel is only the first hotel of four or five to be included within Springwoods Village. The hotels will cover the gamut of types from extended stay and select service to full service, boutique and conference hotels in order to meet the varying needs of guests and offer a good choice of price points.

And the CHI St. Luke's Health campus, while adding the obvious medical resources to the community, will also generate great additional jobs and activity, drawing even more people into the area.

Check back tomorrow for the second part of the interview with Simon.