Developer Acquires 24 Acres in Houston Suburb

In a city that has grown 44 percent since 2000, Houston-based Raymond R. Betz Interest Inc. acquired a 24-acre parcel along the busy State Highway 96 in the Houston suburb of League City, Texas, with plans for retail and office development. Financials in the deal were not disclosed. The land is situated across the street from an 84,000-square-foot Kroger Signature Store and is near the site approved for a 135-acre Education Park on South Shore Boulevard that will include an elementary, intermediate and a high school within the Clear Creek Independent School District. Located at the corner of State Highway 96 and South Shore Boulevard, Betz has plans to sell parcels of the property along with plans to develop on the remaining areas.  Encompassing 55 square miles, League City is a rapidly growing city experiencing a growth rate of almost 44 percent in population since the 2000 census with a present day population estimated at 65,374, according to the city’s website. Recently, a residential developer purchased 600 acres on South Shore Boulevard with plans to develop single-family homes. “The site is attractive because League City is part of a huge growth area just southeast of Houston,” Corey King of Raymond R. Betz Interest told CPN. “Located on South Shore with the harbor on our doorstep and along Highway 96, which is the main east-west thoroughfare with master planned communities happening all around it, we felt it was as ideal location for commercial development.” A bank is scheduled to break ground later this year and some initial development work to create additional pad sites is underway, King said. “We will continue to sell those pad sites along Highway 96 for retail and small office projects,” he added. “This site really is in the path of the growth.” League City is located near the Texas Gulf Coast, 20 miles southeast of Houston. The city is situated on the south shore of Clear Lake and directly on Interstate Highway 45. Simmi Jaggi and Elizabeth Clampitt with CB Richard Ellis Inc. represented the seller, Centerprise Group Retail Fund I in the transaction. King represented the buyer. Raymond R. Betz Interests is the prime acquisition vehicle for land investments of the BETZ Cos. The land division’s current holdings include over 70 partnerships with more than $100 million in asset value.