abouTbryan

NEW HOTEL COMING TO BRYAN
By JENNIFER MADDOX

You've likely noticed of the dirt being moved at Briarcrest Drive and Highway 6. But what you may not realize is just how much is planned for that piece of land. It’s not your average big box retail center.

Deputy City Manager Joey Dunn is especially excited about this development, which is being developed by Lauth Development Group. Dunn explains that Bryan city officials and members of the Bryan Business Council (BBC) have been looking to develop something like this for about twenty years.

The land is a tract owned by the Lester family that covers 254 acres reaching from Briarcrest Drive to University Drive. About five years ago, the City of Bryan began preparing the spot for a big box retail development. First, the Bryan Business Council hired Buxton Group, a leading retail consulting firm, to research the retail potential of that location. Buxton discovered that most of the population of Bryan/College Station was within a ten minute drive of the Lester tract. Vernon G. Henry & Associates Inc., a land planning firm out of Houston, was brought in to plan the development of the tract. The city also established tax increment financing for that area, meaning that property taxes on future development can be used to finance the debt needed to provide infrastructure to the area.

Lauth was initially drawn to Bryan about two years ago because of the area’s need for retail, explains Bob Oliva, Lauth’s vice president for retail. Once here, the company found the city officials and the BBC to be accommodating and receptive to development, which is often not the case. That was among the reasons that Lauth decided to invest $60 million into the first phase of Bryan Towne Center.

Oliva estimates that it will take 2 to 3 years to build phase one of this multi-phase project. Phase one is built on approximately 60 acres that includes a 400,000 square foot retail center anchored by a 126,000 square foot Target, five junior anchors, and several small shops. The other retailers have not been announced yet. Plans also include an extension of Wildflower Drive that will cut through the development and intersect Towne Center Way, a new road that will access the Highway 6 feeder road.

While phase one is predominantly a retail development, Dunn said that they hope to introduce a variety of elements in future phases. With the extension of Wildflower Drive eventually leading all the way to University Drive, plans could possibly include multifamily, office, and hotel developments along the way. The Vernon G. Henry & Associates plan includes a nature trail system that would connect the Brazos Center to Veterans Park.

The Target will be the first to be completed in the summer of 2008. The rest of phase one should be done in 2010, said Oliva. Lauth hopes to start on phase two about a year after the first phase is completed.