Sugar Refinery Turns to Gold with Upscale Project

Construction will start in September 2016 with a projected grand opening in late 2017.

SUGAR LAND, TX—The 26-acre Imperial Sugar Refinery will soon become an upscale 855,000-square-foot, mixed-use retail, office, hotel and residential project. Imperial Market Development LLC has purchased the site located on US 90 between Highway 6 and US 59. The Imperial Market site is located within the 720-acre master-planned community of Imperial, a project being developed by The Johnson Development Corp . The $200-million-project is being developed by a partnership led by principals Geoffrey Jones and James Murnane . Construction will start in September 2016 with a projected grand opening in late 2017. Imperial Market will also include approximately 90,000 square feet of class-A office space that will be located above the project’s retail shops and restaurants. The retail, dining and entertainment components of the project will total 290,000 square feet of space, including a 55,000-square-foot nine-screen Alamo Drafthouse Cinema . Other notable tenants include Schilleci’s New Orleans Kitchen , a French Quarter-style restaurant serving creole and Cajun-influenced fare that will be opening its second location to complement its current operation at Market Street in The Woodlands. The project will also feature The Guild Bar , a high-end lounge. Italian restaurant Mia Bella will also be joining Imperial Market with its fourth location in the Houston metropolitan area. The Company Town (an upscale coffee shop and casual eatery) and Frost Gelato have signed leases to join the roster of tenants as well. Vino & Vinyl , a popular local wine bar, also will be part of the project. Many fashion and soft goods tenants are expected to be announced shortly. Jones tells GlobeSt.com: “My partner and I were looking for a site that was special. This site is iconic. It’s steeped in history. You simply can’t fake authenticity.” Office leasing will be handled by Eric Anderson and Greg Tilton of Transwestern . Retail leasing for the project is headed up by Nick Hernandez, Crystal Allen and Chace Henke , also of Transwestern. “We are honored to be selected to work on such a dynamic project. Having the chance to be a part of preserving the history of the Imperial Sugar refinery and provide a world-class retail, restaurant and entertainment destination is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that our team could not be more excited about. Initial feedback from retailers is outstanding and we are looking forward to announcing many more best-in-class tenants in the coming months,” says Hernandez. Imperial Market will be home to a 185-room luxury boutique hotel located in the historic Char House building, which will be carefully restored to its original historic grandeur. An agreement has been signed with a well-respected operator and the identity of the hotel flag is to be released shortly. The hotel will include approximately 10,000 square feet of conference and meeting space. The site will also include a 274-unit multifamily complex developed by Sueba USA . Imperial Market will also be the permanent home of the Sugar Land Heritage Museum & Visitors Center and the recently opened Fort Bend Children’s Discovery Center , which is affiliated with the Children’s Museum of Houston . The project site will also continue to feature the popular Farmer’s Market at Imperial. Given the historic nature of the project and the developer’s commitment to preserving the rich traditions and authenticity of the site, Imperial Market has also benefited from its relationships with federal and state historic agencies that have jurisdiction over the project. The city of Sugar Land and the Imperial Redevelopment District also have been ardent supporters of the Imperial redevelopment. “We are extremely excited about the high quality of the Imperial Market project since it will bring life to the community’s long-held vision for the redevelopment of one of City’s most important historic sites– the Imperial Sugar refinery,” says Sugar Land mayor Joe Zimmerman . The project has been designed by architectural firm HOK . Harvey Builders has been selected to serve as the general contractor for Imperial Market. LJA has been engaged to handle project engineering. The Hunton Group will provide HVAC and all building systems to the project. Bancorp South provided financing for the land purchase.