$700M mixed-use development planned for Friendswood; H-E-B island rumors resurface

The Daily News
By LAURA ELDER, The Daily News
December 15, 2023

Center of attention: Is Friendswood about to get friendlier? Developers planning a 106-acre project that will feature a branded luxury hotel, sizable multifamily complex, multiple office buildings, retail and a public park say it is.

Crews next month will begin work on City Center along FM 528. It’s an investment of more than $700 million that includes construction of the much-anticipated road and bridge connecting Blackhawk and Bay Area boulevards, along with numerous traffic controls, drainage improvements and the addition of a new fire station on the site.

City Center will feature a 500-unit multi-family complex, four-story medical and office buildings and four-story mixed-use buildings with condominiums, retail and entertainment. It also will include a 52-acre public park with walking and biking trails, a fishing lake with a pier and public restrooms, developers said. Developers are donating the park to the city.

Tannos Development Group and Wolfgramm Capital are partnering on the project.

“The City Center will reduce the need for residents within Friendswood to travel outside of our beautiful city due to the lack of an event venue, family entertainment and social gathering locations, or limited natural settings for staying active,” Louis Tannos, president and CEO of Tannos Development, said.

City Center will include 150,000 square feet of retail space, 200,000 square feet dedicated to medical and office use, 225,000 square feet of mixed-use space for hospitality and multi-family housing.

Tannos Development Group is bullish on Friendswood, investing many millions of dollars on several high-profile commercial and mixed-use developments that have yielded office buildings, retail and Class A apartments.

Wolfgramm Capital, formed in 2021 by Phil Wolfgramm, Koloa Wolfgramm and Russell Handy, is a private equity real estate firm whose partners have experience in operating hotels, luxury resort asset management and managing funds in the private equity sector.

Egging on: Readers have noticed a marked slowdown in construction of EggHaus Gourmet, which has been underway for more than a year at 1061 FM 646 in League City.

Owner Chung Hui on Friday blamed the slowdown on equipment delays but plans to open the breakfast concept in the first quarter of 2024. With the end of the year so near, there wasn’t much sense in rushing it and he wanted to open with the proper fanfare, he said.

The EggHaus Gourmet concept comes from Phillip Sitter and his father, Hans, creators of Houston-based King’s BierHaus, which operates at 828 W. FM 646 in League City. Hui is the franchisee of both EggHaus and BierHaus in League City.

When it opens, EggHaus will serve Bavarian-inspired breakfast foods, along with egg sandwiches, breakfast tacos, kolaches, coffees, matcha and other teas. Stay tuned.

Grocery gossip: It has been a few years since readers rang up rumors about a return of supermarket chain H-E-B to Galveston.

But speculation has reemerged with the latest being H-E-B has reached an agreement to move into a building presently occupied by another grocer, which this column won’t name unless it turns out to be true.

Representatives for the San Antonio-based grocery chain say there’s no truth to the rumor.

“There are no plans to open an H-E-B in Galveston at this time,” a representative for H-E-B said this week. H-E-B departed the island in 2008 after Hurricane Ike badly flooded its 6013 Stewart Road store.

Aisle cleanup: Still, consumers in the county are in store for some big grocery news early next year.

Kroger Co. and Albertsons Cos. are bracing for a U.S. Federal Trade Commission lawsuit over their proposed $24.6 billion merger as soon as January as opposition builds against the deal, Bloomberg reported this week.

Kroger and Albertsons agreed to merge in October last year. Kroger, based in Cincinnati, Ohio, bid $20 billion for Albertsons. Kroger would also assume $4.7 billion of Albertsons’ debt, according to reports.

The merger of the two largest supermarket chains has inspired criticism it would reduce consumer choices and undermine bargaining power of workers.

Kroger argues it will mean “lower prices and more choices for fresh food for customers and more investments in our communities,” a spokeswoman said in a statement to Bloomberg.

What a merger would mean for consumers in Galveston County isn’t clear.

Randalls operates as a banner of Albertsons Cos. Both Kroger and Randalls have stores throughout the county. Look soon for more news.

Minding your biscuits: Fried-chicken purveyor Popeyes still is sorting out the logistics of replacing its 3027 Broadway building in Galveston with a more modern model.

Holding up the chain known for Louisiana-style chicken and biscuits are city rules about drive-throughs, curb cuts and Broadway access.

Popeyes ceased operation on Broadway in September 2021. It had been operating under rules and building design standards that pre-dated a 2015 update.

Popeyes was what’s called a legally nonconforming business, more commonly referred to as grandfathered under older rules.

But now that Popeyes wants to demolish the building and construct a new one, it’s asking to deviate from the 2015 city rules that would prevent it from having curb cuts and driveways along Broadway. Popeyes wants patrons to have access from Broadway.

Although there are existing curb cuts along Broadway and 31st Street, those would have to be eliminated under existing rules, the city said.

“The site has access from 31st Street to the west and a north/south alley to the west, according to city planning commission documents.

“Therefore, access is prohibited from Broadway.”

Although the planning department staff doesn’t object to the request, the Galveston Police Department opposes drive-through traffic entering from and exiting onto Broadway, according to city documents.

“This would negatively impact traffic on one of the city’s busiest thoroughfares,” the police department said.

The planning commission last week deferred action on Popeyes’ request. Stay tuned.