Next month, reports Real Estate Bisnow’s Catie Dixon, construction’s supposed to start on 3 more segments of the Grand Parkway: That’s why F1, F2, and G on the map here are colored in that cautionary yellow. And where G ends? Not coincidentally, adds Dixon, at that future intersection with U.S. 59, planned to be completed by 2015, the 1400-acre master-planned Valley Ranch is getting ready to sprawl out.
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Valley Ranch’s north-of-Humble 1400 acres, positioned as well between the under-construction ExxonMobil campus, 11 miles to the northwest, and Kingwood, are planned to include up to 1,000 apartments and 2,000 homes. Those’ll be served, says Dixon, by 150 acres of trails and parks along White Oak Creek.
The drawing above is of the 350-acre Town Center, aimed for where the Grand Parkway will cross U.S. 59. Here, New Caney ISD is proposing building an 8,000-seat sports complex and football stadium, reports Dixon, to go along with the planned 1.4 million square feet of retail space.
The town center, adds Dixon, “will be anchored by a major grocer, soft goods, a 16-screen movie theater, and a variety of big box stores, and it’ll include multifamily.”
- The Grand Parkway Issue [Real Estate Bisnow]
- Valley Ranch [Signorelli Company]
- New Valley Ranch Community underway in Kingwood Market [Signorelli Company]
- Previously on Swamplot: Three More Links in the Grand Parkway Are Now Ready To Roll
Images: Grand Parkway Association (map); Signorelli Company (drawing); Real Estate Bisnow (site plan)
The Grand Parkway is really going to make all of Houston look pruny and flaccid.
The sprawl, it burns
With the Houston area expected to add something like 3 million people in the next 17 years people gotta live somewhere.
The southern part is going to be really south out of Houston. There is nothing out there and will be nothing out there for at least 10 more yrs
Also, is this by the same company that did Valley Ranch in Dallas? Is it a chain?
Is it really sprawl if it’s near Kingwood? I’d prefer this over the Exxon Slums. Easy commute without having to live door to the same schmuck you work with.
Developers should ditch the random bucolic-word generators for alpha-numeric names like the luxury car makers already have. Grandma drove her DeVille home to Valley Ranch. I want to drive my LX-450 home to FPF-120 (Former Pine Forest # 120).
Which valley is it in? Was there ever a ranch there?
So I kind of understand building the Grand parkway out west. The E-F2 makes sense in a way — well E not really. It’s a blatant state giveaway to developers b/c it ceases to be an alternative to 290 (this is how it was pitched at first due to the expanded I10 and terrible 290 gridlock) if 290 is getting expanded. However its already going forward and not even an ancient Indian burial site could stop it. Good luck to all of you driving on what is for sure to be a haunted road. Now with Exxon moving to town, sections F1-G are smart sections to build as it can link a relatively established AND growing NE and NW harris county with Exxon, an expanding 249 that will in all likelihood be extend to Aggieland, and Cypress & an expanding 290 (therefore trips to Austin). The only other remaining parts that should get built/completed are I2 and A. That’s it. No C, B, H, or I1. I2 is pretty much built already so we should complete it. A makes sense b/c of clear lake, NASA, petrochemical sites and the whole Kemah draw. What would H & I1 do? Relieve the Woodlands to Beaumont commute? What about C & B? There’s nothing out there. Wouldn’t it be better to piggy-back off of the already built highway 6? It’s practically a freeway in some parts already. But who am I to tell the ‘professionals’ at TXdot how to build roads?
So with all that sprawling BS out there on the drawing board is it still necessary to fuckup Montrose? Why bother with the densification?
Corporate welfare fathers at work.
Section G is the only seciton that is sorely needed. There are no connections between I-45 and 59 between FM 1960 and State 242. This will help mobility between Spring and Kingwood.
I think it will be a long time before sections a-b-c get built on the South side. Remember how long it took for them to build the South Belt? And the NE section of Beltway 8 was only completed in the last couple of years. The West Belt has been in place for over 20 years.
Brought to you by the same Republican schmucks who hate government, government spending, and welfare UNLESS the government spending is corporate (developer) welfare. Texas voters are truly stupid.
@ DNAGuy:
I agree with you completely about the eastern and southern segments of the Grand Parkway being mostly unnecessary…at least, for right now. I’d suggest that now is a good time to secure the right of way, though. Maybe we’ll need it in another ten or fifteen years.
It seems like adding grade separations to major intersections along Highway 6, FM 1960, and FM 2100 would accomplish more.
On Segment E, I actually do think that there’s a need. The western part of Beltway 8 does congest, and the Grand Parkway provides connection between the northwest and southwest suburbs. There’s a surprising amount of employment in each area in the general vicinity of that whole western Grand Parkway corridor, so it probably will get used quite a bit and will take some of the pressure off of other roads. And whether it got built or not, Segment E is in the immediate path of development.
What a waste of resources.
Post #11 for the win!
My understanding is that the plans for Grand Parkway have been on the books for many decades, that’s why the Kennedy family owned a ton of property along the proposed route since the 60’s.
@Niche
‘It seems like adding grade separations to major intersections along Highway 6, FM 1960, and FM 2100 would accomplish more.’
I second this. We’ve already got a 3rd loop in 1960 / highway 6. Before we go and just build a whole new one, lets get these roads up to a standard like Memorial Dr or Allen Parkway. Limited lights with grade seperation at ALL major intersections. Give it a new state monicker if you must. Suburban Bulivard or something. I really don’t know why TXDot focus more on this concept. It’s either highway/tollway or city street. That’s it. How is 1960 in the Champions area any different than an urban area?
The utter lack of planning in the region has reached a fever pitch. It’s not just a Houston-no-zoning issue. It’s systemic. I think transportation planning just typifies the problem. The real issue with the Houston metro area is the complete lack of efficient governance on a whole range of issues. Whether it be having a toll authority, city, county, state, the HGAC, a Harris county sports authority. All these taxing / tolling entities that COMPETE against each other in many areas.
Wait, what are we talking about?
Citizens:
Complain, complain, complain about traffic.
Government (evil Republicans naturally):
Builds new roads
Citizens:
Complains, complains, complains about new roads
@Trey…Yeah right, I barely call building new BILLION dollar highways literally in the middle of nowhere helpful to the majority of Houstonians complaining about the traffic. These useless highways only serve to line the pockets of the those “evil” Repugs that ignorant Texans just love to keep voting into office and the real estate developers looking for cheap land and easy access for new developments. This is the absolute mess that is sprawl and what has led to Houston flooding time and time again.