Freeway Revamp to be a Game Changer
The 38-mile $1.8 billion reconstruction of US 290 will be a bellwether of a new phase of growth for the corridor and Wolff Companies recently acquired 521 acres on the freeway for that very purpose.
WALLER, TX—Wolff Companies views completion of the Texas Department of Transportation’s eight-year, 38-mile $1.8 billion reconstruction of US 290 as the bellwether of a new phase of growth for that corridor. In fact, the company recently acquired 521 acres on the Northwest Freeway for that very purpose.
Located in Waller just west of FM 362, the property will be known as Beacon Hill with elevation approaching 300 feet, one of the highest points in the Houston metro area. With almost 4,200 feet of frontage on 290, Wolff Companies will develop a business park on the 251 acres abutting the freeway with uses ranging from light industrial and distribution to office and retail. The northernmost 270 acres of the tract have been purchased by Long Lake Ltd. to develop a master-planned residential community featuring approximately 1,000 homes.
“We see much the same opportunity along 290 that we saw years ago along I-10 in The Energy Corridor,” said David S. Wolff, chairman and president of Wolff Companies. “With the connectivity created by Grand Parkway, the growth in Northwest Houston, as well as in Bryan-College Station and Austin, is raising the strategic profile of 290 for corporations and for Houston. We’ve already seen major investment in the region by Daikin, Johnson Development and Buc-ee’s. And in January, we sold our 70-acre Liendo Park property on 290 at Liendo Pkwy., which will soon become the Prairie View Cricket Complex. The pace of development will increase rapidly when 290 is completed early next year and as we bring sites in Beacon Hill to market.”
According to TxDOT officials, most major construction–including all widened lanes and new bridges–along the main lanes of US 290 will be completed by the first quarter of 2019. When complete, US 290 will have 11 lanes, including a reversible HOV lane, from Loop 610 to Texas State Highway 6/FM 1960, and nine lanes from there to Waller County. TxDOT has indicated that it will soon begin feasibility and design work on the next phase of US 290, a 10-mile widening project from FM 362 to the State Highway 6 turn-off in Hempstead.
“By reducing drive times, it will open the area up to further development,” Carolyn Wolff Dorros, executive vice president, Wolff Companies, tells GlobeSt.com. “We see this impact as being particularly significant in the areas of single-family housing, industrial and distribution. People will be able to purchase high-quality, low cost homes in Northwest Houston, and with the widened freeway, have easy access to jobs on the north and west sides of town. Industrial users will be able to take advantage of the large tracts of land available without greatly impacting their employees’ commute time. Distribution facilities will be able to leverage the location to service West Houston, North Houston and even Bryan-College Station and Austin.”
Long Lake chose Beacon Hill as the site for its newest development to capitalize on its success in the Villages of Cypress Lakes, a 2,500-home development on 750 acres located on US 290 inside Grand Parkway. Long Lake serves as both developer and builder in its communities, and builds under a variety of brand names. The company will begin design work immediately and aims to deliver its first lots by January 2020 with completed homes to follow shortly thereafter.
Wolff Companies and Long Lake have worked closely with Waller to bring utilities and city services to the property, which will soon be annexed into the city.
“The city of Waller is committed to bringing more high-quality housing and jobs to our community,” says Waller mayor Danny Marburger.
The seller of the 521 acres was long-term land owner, the Schild family, represented by Alex Makris and Jeff Pittman of CBRE and Candy Schild of Yellow Rose Realty. Long Lake Ltd. was represented by Kirk Laguarta and Duane Heckmann of Land Advisors Inc.
Beacon Hill continues a strategy that Wolff Companies has executed for more than 50 years of creating master-planned, mixed-used developments along emerging freeway corridors. Wolff Companies has consistently led such trends, beginning in 1966 with Brookhollow, a 160-acre project on the yet-to-be completed West Loop at US 290. The company followed that success with projects such as Park 10, Ten Oaks and Central Park on Interstate 10, and Beltway and Westway Park, on the Sam Houston Tollway. Wolff Companies’ other developments include Texas Medical Center–West Campus, Westway Park and First Crossing. Its projects have been recognized for enhancing and preserving the natural beauty of the land.