Great things continue to abound in the City of Texas City! In this era of social media, it is sometimes necessary to listen through the noise to hear the news. The news is that the City of Texas City continues to create momentum and ride that momentum from one project to the next. Let me take a moment to highlight a few of Texas City’s most recent residential and business successes.
Developers continue to reach out to Texas City with new developments. When we say, “Texas City is growing” it’s news, not noise and not just a cliché. That’s a total of 1,985 lots in some active phase of the development process and another 4,110 lots in the master planning and pre-development stages!
Many of you may have heard some noise about Margaritaville being a potential development, bringing an exclusive, members-only senior community to Texas City. Like most other proposals, we looked at it with hopeful eyes. I, along with a delegation of four other City staff members, flew to South Carolina to observe their product and process. We had initial concerns, but because of their national brand, we moved forward with negotiations to see if we could make this work for Texas City. Without the branding, I doubt we would have had a second meeting.
As we got deeper into talks and development plans, it was clear that Minto (the developers of Margaritaville) was unwilling to adhere to the building standards and City ordinances that Texas City has approved and used for many years, the same standards and ordinances that apply to all of the other ongoing developments.
One or two exceptions is normal, but when it turns into 10 or 12… and then 25… then 30, there comes a time when you say enough is enough, consider the fairness to other developers and local builders, listen to the advice of the subject matter experts, and move on to the next project. In July of 2024, that’s what we did.
Margaritaville wasn’t trying to help us rebrand our City. They didn’t even want “Texas City” in the name of the subdivision. They didn’t want to abide by the traffic plan created years ago that required a major thoroughfare through the property that would help with future development and traffic flow.
A crucial discovery was that because the age-restricted community would not be adding students to the classrooms, it would be a permanent detriment to our already financially struggling school district. Nestled in the heart of TCISD, this community would eliminate $19 million each year in state funding for our school district that could be provided by that number of homes. That’s incredibly important as the City of Texas City and Texas City ISD always work hand-in-hand. Our successes breed successes for one another.
The right decision is not always the popular decision. While there are a few locals who would benefit greatly from selling their land to the developers, the City of Texas City doesn’t make decisions based on individual or special interests. We make decisions based on what is best for our citizens, our municipality, our school district, and our community as a whole. Once we considered all those things, the decision was easy.
Shoal Point is an industrial piece of property in the southernmost part of Texas City with much promise. For decades, this area has shown potential with development that, for one reason or another has fallen, through the cracks. We are happy to announce that our Economic Development team has made huge successes in that area. The City Commission recently authorized the City to enter into two lease agreements with Galveston Bunker Port and Galveston Industries respectively. These will bring two large-scale industrial projects on over 200 acres to be developed, creating over 500 full time job opportunities!
No city is without challenges, but we remain steadfast in our commitment to working to remedy them while celebrating our huge accomplishments.
For more information and a discussion about all things Texas City, join me at our next Community Conversations with Mayor Johnson on December 12 at 6 p.m. at Carver Center.
Our growth in Texas City is well balanced throughout the city with infill development of Steed Landing adding 38 lots, and Sunrise Cove, near Guajardo Elementary, completing infrastructure for 137 new lots. Sections 3 and 4 of Heron’s Landing are moving forward with another 36 and 44 lots, respectively.
Several subdivisions and portions of master planned communities are shovel ready, platted with approved plans and construction ready to begin. Lago Mar Pods 9 and 10, Lakeside Bayou (sections 1, 3, and 4), Vida Costera (section 2), Beacon Point (section 3) and Brookwater (section 1A and 1B) have a combined total of 555 lots.
