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Developers Have Ideas For Imperial Sugar Factory

UrbaNerd

By UrbaNerd,
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Pleak

Pleak

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Now that the minor-league stadium is up and running - things seem to finally be moving again on this project. All the ancillary buildings are gone - but they did leave quite a few of the older sugar factory buildings and cleaned them up. Which is really nice to see. The developer is talking of a boutique hotel, brew pub, trying to get a branch of the Children's Museum. We'll see what actually happens.

Couple of cool pics here at CultureMap:

http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/06-09-12-sugar-land-big-transformation-is-only-beginning-imperial-sugar-land-developers-reveal-more/

Right now the biggest news is still the hissy fit being thrown about the apartments that have been approved. Which is pretty freakin' hilarious considering that this is all right next to the Quarters. Which is where my wife's parents would drive her through back in the 70's when she was complaining about not getting something that all the other kids had. You know the drive to see how good you really have it.

And these goobers that bought new houses around there are complaining about how a few apartments will ruin their property values.

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Pleak

Pleak

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Not really. Sugar Land propper is only so large and all but a few infill tracts have already been developed or are being developed. Once this and Telfair are built out, there's just not all that much room for Sugar Land to grow, except up...but for the most part, I'd think that Richmond/Rosenberg/Pleak will just become the next in line.

Might be a few years late replying to this one, but since things are waking back up from the dead - maybe not.

Guy I used to work for about 15-20 years ago was a Sugar Land council member. Back then the projection was that Sugar Land was going to top out around 200-250,000. It was already hemmed in by Richmond, Rosenberg, Houston and Missouri City. And since it's a low-density city - they had a pretty good estimate even back then how many people they could squeeze in and what land they could use (i.e. - prison lands being sold off, etc).

He always said the big one was going to be Rosenberg. It went ape$4!t with it's ETJ annexation. It's annexed completely around Beasely down 59 and Pleak down 36. It will reach to Needville and Kendleton eventually. Down Highway 90 - there is nothing till you hit East Bernard. I think Richmond will run into Katy on the north end - and Fulshear out west - so it won't get as big. Pleak will be just a pimple on Rosenberg's butt - like a Southside Place or West U to Houston. And pretty much it's all developable land - just a bunch of cotton/corn fields - no wetlands, etc. Nothing to stop it.

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ChannelTwoNews

ChannelTwoNews

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Looks like the Fort Bend Children's Discovery Center - the Children's Museum's satellite location - will be located here. For some reason, I thought it was going to be near the HMNS branch museum in Telfair.

 

Article on fundraising: http://www.fbherald.com/arts_and_entertainment/article_8d43516c-41a0-11e3-9390-001a4bcf887a.html

 

Discovery Center website: http://www.fortbendchildrensdc.org/

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Urbannizer

Urbannizer

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Imperial Development to Sugar Site to HIghlight Sugar Land's History

 

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/Imperial-development-to-highlight-Sugar-Land-s-6376339.php

 

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In a broad sense, the new Imperial master-planned development in Sugar Land mimics the subdivisions around it. Luxury homes under construction line clean, wide streets. Fountains shoot water from otherwise placid ponds. The city's ubiquitous crown logo, a symbol of locally based Imperial Sugar, is a familiar sight around the development, too. This is, after all, the former home of the company's refinery, the one-time lifeblood of the community that put this town on the map.

 

But among the suburban sameness, a new commercial development there is poised to embrace the city's past and offer a uniqueness developers say will set it apart from the "town centers" and "mixed-use developments" in other Houston suburbs.

 

"Anyone can build a shopping center on a number of sites in Houston," said Geoffrey Jones, one of the developers of the project, Imperial Market. "This is not just a shopping center site."

 

The historic structures of the now-shuttered refinery will be restored and reused as signature features of the development, which will include upscale shopping and dining, along with a hotel, high-end office space and apartments. The Fort Bend Discovery Center and Sugar Land Heritage Foundation Museum will also be part of the project.

 

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Mab

Mab

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The eight-story char house, built in 1925, will become a 120-room Aloft Hotel, part of a Starwood-owned chain of boutique hotels. An adjacent building with 10,000 square feet of conference space with a fitness center will also be developed

I really like that the new aloft hotels in the Houston area are incorporated in historical buildings!!

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Luminare

Luminare

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Will be a really one of a kind development. I'd drive down there just to see it.

 

Agreed. In this town thats saying something. I really really do not like that "museum" sign x.x yuck. That thing sticks out like a sore thumb. Other than that...I love the rest. Could use a little more residential, but this could actually a great place for Sugarland to centralize a little more.

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Luminare

Luminare

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Luminare...had the same reaction. Was scrolling through...saw that...scrolled back up and thought "eew". Then I thought "children's museum", then though "eew", again. I'm sure, or at least hoping, that it just represents the museum component.

 

Thats where I recognized it! They obviously ripped it from there and made some quick modifications in sketchup/photoshop. Its amazing how important context is. That same marquee works at Robert Venturi's Childrens Museum, but in this context its just completely out of place especially when everything else is so industrial.

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Mab

Mab

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920x920.jpg

 

 

Sugar Land's Imperial Market, the mixed-use development designed to incorporate the historic structures once used to refine sugar at the former Imperial Sugar plant, has snagged Alamo Drafthouse Cinema as its first major tenant.

Geoffrey Jones, one of the project's developers, said the retail portion of the project is nearly one-third preleased and falling oil prices have not hampered his efforts. Construction will start in March and be completed in the summer of 2017.

 

"Our project has been unscathed by what has been occurring in the energy industry," Jones said.

While other sectors of the commercial real estate market are slipping, Jones said Houston-area retail builders are in good shape because there's not a glut of available properties.

Alamo Drafthouse will be part of a newly constructed, two-story retail building. The Austin-based entertainment concept, which combines movies and dining, will have nine screens at its Imperial location. Triple Tap Ventures, which will run the theater, owns and operates two other Houston-area Alamo theaters. It's planning another in the Regent Square development slated for a site near Allen Parkway and Dunlavy.

Off U.S. 90 between Texas 6 and U.S. 59, Imperial Market is expected to have 275,000 square feet of retail space, 106,000-square feet of office space and a 185-room boutique hotel. Apartments are also part of the plan.

The size has been expanded slightly since the developers announced it in July. Otherwise, the character of the project has not changed, said Jones, referring to the property's historic structures set to be restored and reused, including storage silos, smokestacks and the eight-story char house. Jones is developing Imperial Market with James Murnane.

On Tuesday, Sugar Land City Council approved plans for the 26-acre development.

The project is the commercial hub of the 720-acre Imperial planned community, which is under construction and will have nearly 2,000 new homes when completed.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/sarnoff/article/Alamo-Drafthouse-expanding-to-Sugar-Land-6673931.php?t=6cee9504f4&cmpid=twitter-premium#photo-9056362

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cspwal

cspwal

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Regent Square

Edit; I'm dumb. Is RS considered part of Midtown?

 

I wouldn't think so, since it's west of Montrose BLVD.  I also completely forgot about that development and the promised for Movie Tavern.  Would this area be Montrose, or something different?

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curbur

curbur

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What is that area designated then? WeDo?

 

I'm not saying this is correct, but Google Maps has the area extend all the way west up to River Oaks with Shepherd as the boundary line.

 

Edit: Then again.. those boundaries have Montrose taking up a significant portion of Fourth Ward and a little bit of Downtown even, so that has to be wrong.

Edited by curbur
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cspwal

cspwal

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I'm not saying this is correct, but Google Maps has the area extend all the way west up to River Oaks with Shepherd as the boundary line.

 

Edit: Then again.. those boundaries have Montrose taking up a significant portion of Fourth Ward and a little bit of Downtown even, so that has to be wrong.

 

I didn't know Montrose had an Amtrak station AND an aquarium!

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stan the man

stan the man

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Alamo Drafthouse to Imperial Market...wow! Would have thought an arthouse-focused, non-brewery-cinema would have gone into that space, especially considering Flix Brewhouse further down 90 at the Telfair development.

 

It will be very interesting to see how two brewery-cinema combinations will pan out in Sugar Land, and whether or not these cinemas will feature the arthouse films that are of interest to folks in and around SL, especially those who can't see themselves seeing a movie at the AMC near First Colony Mall.

 

But what's also interesting is the large amount of space devoted to restaurants including in the silos and near the "Pink Lady" that's fixing to become aloft (assuming Marriott does not dissolve the brand in its purchase of Starwood). Imperial Market's developers are surely taking cues from Hughes Landing in The Woodlands which has its own iteration of a "Restaurant Row", except in the case of Imperial Market the experience is likely going to be more authentic and probably scenic in comparison.

 

Don't expect a Christian's Tailgate, though...that apparently has already been earmarked for Telfair.

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jrc

jrc

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If the Alamo Drafthouse plans had been released first, I doubt Flix would have seriously considered a site just a mile away. One has to wonder if they might rethink their plans. Of course, World of Beer moved into Sugar Land Town Square after the Flying Saucer, and they draw completely different clientele, so who knows?

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Naviguessor

Naviguessor

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I'm sorry that the Independent Boutique Hotel concept has been eliminated.  Alofts are fun and decent hotels, but not really all that special after the first couple of times you've stayed at them.  They are just a formulaic chain. 

I wonder if the rooftop lounge will still be incorporated. 

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Houston19514

Houston19514

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The boutique hotel, housed within the 90-year old iconic Char House building at Imperial Market, will be named Char House Hotel. According to the website:

 

Per the Chronicle this summer:

 

This would make three Aloft hotels in the Houston area. Does anyone think a W hotel will follow soon? I don't understand as the fourth largest city in the country and largest in the south, that the area doesn't have one.

 

It seems the only mention of it being an Aloft are in the Chronicle's very brief article from last summer.  Given that the development's own website does not mention "Aloft" at all, it seems there's a very good chance, that, if it was ever planned to be an Aloft, perhaps those plans have changed. (and there's at least as good of a chance that Aloft was never in the plans at all and the Chron just got it wrong.)  Interesting to note, also, that the developer's website says it will be a 185-room boutique hotel, while the Chron says the Aloft was going to be 120 rooms.

 

FWIW, if this actually going to be an Aloft, it would make five Aloft hotels in the Houston area:

 

1. the existing Aloft by the Galleria

2. Aloft downtown scheduled to open in June 2016

3.  Aloft Houston West (Katy) scheduled to open in 2 years

4. Aloft Shenandoah (Woodlands) scheduled to open in 2 years.

 

Edited by Houston19514
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Urbannizer

Urbannizer

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Imperial-Lofts-Sueba-10-5-15.jpg

 

District Lofts - 20% funded.

 

Imperial Refinery District Lofts will be a premier Class "A" development, pioneered by Houston EB5 and the award-winning Houston based real estate developer Sueba USA Corporation. The meticulously designed project will encompass 273 units and will include a comprehensive amenity package. As part of the Imperial Sugar Land master-planned community, residents will have access to all of the city's hospitality and entertainment venues plus convenient access to Downtown Houston.

 

http://houstoneb5.com/project_DistrictLofts.cfm

 

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cspwal

cspwal

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5 minutes ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

The Fort Bend Children’s Discovery Center, located within Imperial Market at 198 Kempner St, will hold its ribbon cutting grand opening May 28, 2016. The Discovery Center will occupy a 10,000 square foot restored building and house six exhibits with an additional outdoor space. This is Imperial Market’s first retailer to open in its much-awaited commercial property development on U.S. Route 90 in Sugar Land.  (From Katy News)

rYHrzBS.jpg

What is going on with that facade?

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ChannelTwoNews

ChannelTwoNews

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As of a January Planning & Zoning Commission meeting, there may be plans for a hotel and restaurants to be located on the west side of the development, just northwest of the ballpark. 

https://communityimpact.com/houston/sugar-land-missouri-city/city-county/2017/01/30/sugar-land-commissioners-hear-plans-site-near-constellation-field/

 

This week, the terms of an agreement for the Heritage Museum were finalized. The City's Visitor Center and Heritage Museum will be located on the 2nd floor of a warehouse under renovation at this time. The Children's Discovery Center will be on the first floor. The agreement also says for the Heritage Museum to be open by June 1st.

 

https://communityimpact.com/houston/sugar-land-missouri-city/city-county/2017/02/23/things-know-tuesdays-sugar-land-city-council-meeting/

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CaptainJilliams

CaptainJilliams

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Another update via The Chronicle:

 

https://www.chron.com/business/real-estate/article/Imperial-Market-property-sold-in-foreclosure-sale-13372976.php#photo-10766466

 

From the article:

 

"Geoffrey Jones, one of the developers, said the property will be conveyed back to Imperial Market Development once a construction loan is secured. A substitute trustee's deed filed with the county cites a default, however, Jones said his group has been meeting its obligations.

He said the project is around 60 percent preleased, with Alamo Drafthouse Cinema as its lead tenant. Construction, which has been delayed, is expected to start at the beginning of next year."

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CaptainJilliams

CaptainJilliams

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15 minutes ago, CrockpotandGravel said:

Alamo Drafthouse is still going to open at Imperial Market, the mixed use development in Sugar Land.

A web page for the Sugar Land location ( 198 Kempner St ) was created last fall or early 2019:

https://drafthouse.com/houston/theater/sugar-land



Also from Community Impact in January:

 

Additional plans for the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema location coming to Imperial Market in Sugar Land were revealed during Tuesday night’s Sugar Land City Council meeting.
 

Originally announced as a major Imperial Market tenant in December 2015, the cinema’s groundbreaking was delayed as was construction on the overall mixed-use site.
 

Officials with Alamo Drafthouse shared updated plans for the theater during the meeting, including screen and seat count. The cinema will hold 10 screens and roughly 1,100 luxury seats—a decrease from the original estimate of 1,500 standard seats.
 

Although the seat count has decreased, the anticipated square footage of the overall project increased, City Planner Douglas Schomburg said. The footprint of the project will not change. However, 100 percent of the building’s top level will be used, instead of 70 percent as originally proposed.
 

Alamo Drafthouse officials anticipate the cinema will open by September 2019.

https://communityimpact.com/houston/sugar-land-missouri-city/development-construction/2018/01/03/plans-move-forward-alamo-drafthouse-cinema-imperial-market-sugar-land/

 

Great to hear this is still happening! I was worried because I hadn't heard much from this project the past couple months.

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  • The title was changed to Imperial Sugar Factory Updates
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DotCom

DotCom

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Posted (edited)

https://www.bizjournals.com/houston/news/2022/12/11/imperial-sugar-land-mixed-use-development.html

Developer plans to repurpose Sugar Land's Imperial Sugar property into walkable, mixed-use district

Now Houston-based boutique real estate firm Puma Development is proposing to repurpose the Imperial Sugar property, near the intersection of U.S. Highway 90 and State Highway 6, into a walkable mixed-use district.

The preliminary plan is to include experiential retail, entertainment, restaurants, multi- and single-family homes, offices and park space while conserving the historic sugar company buildings.

Edited by editor
Edited due to copyright. Remember to summarize and link. Don't copy and paste.
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editor

editor

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6 hours ago, BEES?! said:

I’m hoping that they actually go through with this. They’ve been talking about what to do with the site since I was a kid basically. It’s a neat piece of SL history

Surely they'll try to lure a Sugar Factor to this location.

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ChannelTwoNews

ChannelTwoNews

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https://fbindependent.com/new-imperial-historic-redevelopment-plan-calls-for-apartments-financi-p15720-1.htm

"The Planning and Zoning Commission will hold a public hearing and make a recommendation on the Land Use Plan amendment and General Development Plan (GDP) to the City Council on February 14th. Following the Commission’s recommendation, City Council will hold a public hearing and 1st reading of the Land Use Plan amendment and rezoning ordinance; this is anticipated to take place on February 21st, followed by a second reading of the ordinance on March 7th"

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ChannelTwoNews

ChannelTwoNews

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https://www.fortbendstar.com/sugar-land-planning-and-zoning-commission-rejects-imperial-redevelopment-proposal/article_eaba140e-b142-11ed-b4cf-27e92af10997.html

"Sugar Land City Council on Tuesday (after the Fort Bend Star's press time) will consider a plan to amend the city's land use plan to allow for the proposed redevelopment of the Imperial Char House and the surrounding area after the Planning & Zoning Commission reached a tie vote on its approval during its February 14 meeting.

Because the 4-4 vote at the end a long and sometimes contentious meeting means that the proposed amendment failed, according to the rules of the commission, it will take a super-majority of City Council to overturn the decision. Since one council member, Nausahad Kermally, has recused himself on the matter, all but one of the remaining council members would have to vote in favor of the amendment to reach that threshold, according to city spokesman Doug Adolph."

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ChannelTwoNews

ChannelTwoNews

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https://communityimpact.com/houston/sugar-land-missouri-city/city-county/2023/03/01/sugar-land-approves-rezoning-at-packed-public-hearing-moves-char-house-project-forward/

"Dozens of residents packed into the Sugar Land City Hall Feb. 21 for more than four hours to voice their opinions on the Imperial Sugar Char House project, with many trying to halt the Char House's development.

The City Council agenda item in question was a rezoning request for the Imperial Historic District, which the City Council approved after the lengthy meeting. The request allows Houston-based PUMA Development to move forward with its plans for the district"

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hindesky

hindesky

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"Houston-based real estate firm, Puma Development, is partnering with the city of Sugar Land to repurpose the char house and the surrounding complex of former sugar silos and old warehouses. Puma not only wants to restore the historic structures, but to bring them into the future with a proposed 40-acre mixed-use development that could eventually encompass some $1 billion in investments over the next 7 to 10 years. The development may include 660 apartments and homes, 150,000 square feet of retail and 300,000 square feet of office at full build out."

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/real-estate/article/imperial-sugar-char-house-sugar-land-puma-develop-17852302.php


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ChannelTwoNews

ChannelTwoNews

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https://communityimpact.com/houston/sugar-land-missouri-city/development/2023/03/31/sugar-land-4b-corp-agrees-to-purchase-land-near-constellation-field-for-36m/

"The Sugar Land 4B Corp., a nonprofit holding corporation established by the city of Sugar Land to promote and assist in economic development, agreed unanimously to purchase 6.88 acres of land near Constellation Field for $3.6 million March 29.

“This purchase would enable the city to control the land around our asset, [Constellation Field],” said Devon Rodriguez, Sugar Land's director of economic development. “We felt it is very important that we control this property.”

The parcel of land in question is directly adjacent to Constellation Field and is used as a supplementary parking lot around the Space Cowboys home field. The city also enjoys a lease agreement with the Space Cowboys, which pay a base rent as well as a “participation rent” to the city once a certain number of eventgoers use the field."

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