BAKER KATZ SHOPPING CENTER, MARKET SQUARE, MORE DISCUSSED IN ECONOMIC UPDATE
Development Director Susan Cates presents an
update on economic projects to county
commissioners on Tuesday.
Updates on existing economic projects, as well as a glimpse into new ones, were presented on Tuesday in a report to Washington County Commissioners.
Brenham | Washington County Economic Development Director Susan Cates discussed how various projects around the county are shaping up.
Cates said the Baker Katz shopping center has Ulta, Burlington, James Avery and GreatClips signed and in progress. There are also some potential unnamed tenants on the way, ranging from a “major retailer” to “two national restaurants,” a “free-standing quick-serve restaurant” and a “full-service restaurant.”
The Market Square development, which is set to have a Chick-fil-A, Academy and dual-branded hotel from Wyndham Group, has another hospitality project in the works that is expected to close next week. Negotiation is ongoing for two multi-tenant medical office buildings, and there are plans for a “smaller footprint box store” adjacent to the Academy. That is in addition to the Brenham Trails age-restricted apartments and 170 units of multi-family residential, although Cates noted that the developer for the latter is dealing with higher construction costs and interest rates.
On the industrial side, Cates provided some details on Project Stone’s Throw and Project Color Guard. Stone’s Throw, which she described as a “greenhouse project,” is expected to be located in Brenham’s Southwest Industrial Park, with the closing on the property likely being next month.
As for Color Guard, a “data center project”, Cates said a predevelopment meeting revealed that the amount of water needed for the project would be “extraordinary.”
Cates said other options are being considered because the company involved really wants to be in Washington County. Some of those options include implementing alternate cooling system technology that consumes less water or moving out to a site in the county that could use well water.
Cates wrapped up her presentation with a discussion on workforce attraction and how economic leaders are helping businesses bring in new employees. She said a human resources roundtable has been established to share resources and develop a workforce pipeline among numerous local organizations. The roundtable is also taking an active role in job fairs.
What exactly is Color Guard? Do a Google search for …. “Color Guard” “data center.” There are NO results having anything to do with a data center. What company is proposing this? Will they get a discount from the city for the water they use? Can the water they use be captured and reused?
So what makes you think people living outside the city want Color Guard to come here? We already have enough subdivisions and city people moving to the country wasting our water. Most of us that have lived in the country most or all of our lives, realize there is only so much water in the ground and it’s not just ours, it’s all of our neighbors too. We conserve our water. City people move in and do stupid things like putting a water hose in their pond and running it no stop, or they water their lawn like it’s a golf course. Brenham can keep Color Guard. I for one don’t want them.
You are exactly right in your assessment of these move-in companies that target Brenham because the city and county don’t put many restrictions on their businesses and all but erase their taxes for a number of years. The very idea that the company might go outside of the city limits where they could use well water is a scary thought. I have lived in the same house for almost 57 years and in that time have had a subdivision pop up on an adjacent property. I have walked in my pasture and seen lawn sprinklers going at mid-afternoon in August and they were run pretty much every day. Each of those houses has its own well and of course, probably are pulling from the same water table that I am. I use less than 25 gallons of water per day and it angers me to think that the neighbors are using so much and in all likelihood they will not remain there for 30 or 40 or 50 years. The more environmentally conscious scenario would be for them to locate where they could get city water, as Lake Somerville will no doubt provide a more reliable source than would a well, especially in this case. If the cost of that is prohibitive for the company, then let them seek another location. This is yet another situation where the water treatment plant is nearing its capacity and yet there have only been limited talks about how to solve that problem. With more and more growth, that might turn into a real headache for everyone.
If Ms. Cates is head of the Brenham | Washington County Economic Development Foundation located on South Austin Street, I would say that her office needs to take care of its own business prior to welcoming others to town; according to the state comptroller’s unclaimed property website, there is $5,784.97 of theirs that has been sitting unclaimed in a checking account since 2019. Kind of makes you wonder how much they care about managing their own money and business, much less the long-time residents’.
Way to Grow Brenham… This is a great start I hope that the “Chain” Restaurant is something like a Salt Grass or Outback, I think those would do great here. I also hope that another Grocery store like an Aldi’s or Kroger will coming in sooner or later we truly need more choices of Grocery stores. But this is a great start happy to see Brenham Growing
WHY. Why would you move to this beautiful area with its gorgeous scenery, low crime, and small town charm if you wanted what you can already find in just about any direction you travel!! Go to Fairfield/Cypress, College Station etc. and you will have all of that to your hearts content. I’m SO fed up with this. The crime is already on the rise, there’s buildings sitting vacant as new strip centers are being built, stress on our water tables and infrastructure, bringing people to the area that do not appreciate nor take care of our natural assets. When is enough enough. How about we cultivate and care for what we already have. “Let’s create jobs, let’s create jobs!!” you say, while local companies can’t find help as it is, and these new corporations are bringing people from out of town and pricing out our local businesses that have taken care of everyone for years and years. I just don’t understand. In a few years y’all will all be griping about the issues of the areas you left to come here.
Very interesting and really cool! Some of the keywords in this little write up have my interest piqued. I could be way off base here but I have seen a similar building project like this. I use to live in Reno, NV and worked out at the Tesla Gigafactory. Panasonic produced cells that we tested in my area and Panasonic required water to do their thing. The water was recycled though so that is throwing me for a loop. Panasonic was/is housed in the Gigafactory so that they could deliver cells, used in Model 3 battery packs as well as various level home wall charging units, directly to me via autonomous AGV’s for me to test with our crew. I saw the housing projects and how things were designed over time in the area. Keep in mind that the Gigafactory is way out in the desert but this sort of planning feels familiar so if I were a betting man…I am going to speculate that a battery manufacturing facility is going to be built. If not battery manufacturing then I’m going to guess that it is going to be something similar within that industry. Who knows but it’s really nice to see Brenham progressing and all that jazz.