Energy Corridor Developer David Wolff Advances Plans for Highway 290
Preliminary plan for Beacon Hill.
HOUSTON – Wolff Companies has purchased 521 acres along U.S. 290 in Waller, northwest of Houston, to create a mixed-use development that will include light industrial and distribution buildings, as well as office and retail space.
Located just west of FM 362 and sitting at an elevation of about 300 feet, the site will be named Beacon Hill, recognized as one of the higher elevation points in the Houston metropolitan area.
David S. Wolff, president of Wolff Companies and a principal behind the development of Houston’s Energy Corridor, said he sees a similar opportunity for the U.S. 290 corridor to grow into a major business district.
“We see much the same opportunity along 290 that we saw years ago along I-10 in The Energy Corridor,” said Wolff. “With the connectivity provided by the Grand Parkway, continued growth in Northwest Houston, and expanding activity in Bryan–College Station and Austin, U.S. 290’s strategic importance is rising for corporations and for Houston. The corridor has already attracted significant investment from companies such as Daikin, Johnson Development and Buc-ee’s. In January, we sold our 70-acre Liendo Park site on 290 at Liendo Parkway; it will soon become the Prairie View Cricket Complex. Development momentum will accelerate when the 290 reconstruction is finished next year and as we bring Beacon Hill’s sites to market.”
Beacon Hill will feature nearly 4,200 feet of frontage on U.S. 290. Wolff Companies plans to develop the 251 acres adjacent to the freeway as a business park with uses ranging from light industrial and distribution to office and retail. The northernmost 270 acres of the larger tract have been sold to Long Lake Ltd., which intends to build a master-planned residential community of approximately 1,000 homes.
This project continues Wolff Companies’ long-standing approach of creating master-planned, mixed-use developments along emerging freeway corridors. For over 50 years the company and David S. Wolff have led similar initiatives, beginning in 1966 with Brookhollow, a 160-acre development at the then-unfinished West Loop and U.S. 290. Subsequent projects included Park 10, Ten Oaks and Central Park on Interstate 10, and Beltway and Westway Park on the Sam Houston Tollway. Wolff Companies views the completion of the Texas Department of Transportation’s multi-year, $1.8 billion reconstruction of U.S. 290 as the catalyst for a new phase of growth along the corridor.
TxDOT reports that major work—including widened lanes and new bridges along U.S. 290’s main lanes—was expected to be substantially complete by early 2019. Once finished, U.S. 290 will offer up to 11 lanes, including a reversible HOV lane, from Loop 610 to Texas State Highway 6/FM 1960, and nine lanes beyond to Waller County. TxDOT has also announced feasibility and preliminary design work for the next expansion phase: a roughly 10-mile widening from FM 362 toward the State Highway 6 turnoff near Hempstead.
Wolff Companies and Long Lake have coordinated closely with the City of Waller to extend utilities and municipal services to the site, which will be annexed into the city. “We believe that Wolff Companies and Long Lake will be great long-term partners for our community,” said Waller Mayor Danny Marburger.
The land was sold by the Schild family of Waller, long-time owners of the property. The sellers were 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.
