Realty1 moves forward with 200k sf retail center near Katy

Retail developer also plans offices, apartments

Realty1 New Retail Development Near Katy
Realty1 president Alexis Hamilton with a site plan of the Elyson Town Center (Realty1, JLL)

A growing suburban area of Houston is getting a major retail, apartment and office development. 

Realty1 Partners, a Fulshear-based retail developer, filed plans to build Elyson Town Center in Elyson, a master-planned community between Cypress and Katy. The project will consist of ground-floor shops, with apartments and workplaces occupying the second floor. In all, it is expected to span roughly 240,000 square feet, according to the filings

The five buildings have an estimated cost of $37.1 million, though the filings are preliminary. 

The plans call for five buildings to rise at 7070 Elyson Exchange Way. It is an undeveloped plot at the intersection of Texas State Highway 99 and FM 529. There are several other development sites nearby, and just across the highway, there are some other retail shops, including a Target.

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Elyson, developed by ​​Brookfield Properties Development, has 2,500 homes already built and plans for another 6,000 on the way, according to marketing materials for the project. The undated materials advertise retail rents between $42 and $45 per square foot and office rates of $32 per square foot. They also mention a tenant allowance of $45 per square foot. 

In addition to the five buildings listed in the filings, promotional renderings show another six smaller buildings on the edge of the property. These would range between 4,000 and 9,200 square feet.

Retail development is growing in Cypress, which sits on the northwest edge of Houston. This project lies just outside TX-99, which loops around Houston from Sugar Land to Baytown, passing just south of The Woodlands. Earlier this week, Howard Hughes broke ground on Village Green at Bridgeland Central. The retail center will have 28,000 square feet of shops and a 100,000-square-foot H-E-B. The grocery chain has been opening new locations in Texas’ fastest-growing towns for years, and often shows where sprawling cities like Houston will stretch to next. 

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