CITY OF BRENHAM AGREES WITH DEVELOPER TO PLAN NEW SHOPPING CENTER
Update @ 7 p.m.: Following executive session Thursday, the Brenham City Council signed off on an agreement with a developer planning a new shopping center in town.
Mayor Milton Tate was authorized by the council to approve the economic development agreement with Baker Katz. The company is a developer based out of Houston, with upwards of 70 projects through the southeastern part of Texas.
The 35-acre shopping center is being planned for south of US Highway 290 East, at Chappell Hill Street. A site plan provided by the company includes numerous spaces for retail development.
Other Baker Katz projects have stores that feature both retail businesses and restaurants, such as Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby.
City Manager James Fisher said that this agreement will allow or encourage the development of 100,000 to 200,000 square feet of retail space. Per this development, based on how well it performs, the city will rebate a percentage of the sales tax that is generated, solely off of the developer’s project.
The resolutions passed at the council’s meeting state that, when the project is completed, its targeted value will be over $20 million benefitting taxing entities in Washington County. It will also look to produce around $400,000 in annual sales tax revenue for the city.
According to the resolutions, development is expected to include “a nationally known sports merchandising anchor” opening in early 2021, with “additional shopping and dining” by the end of 2021. This development will consist of “regionally or nationally recognized retailers and restaurants”.
This agreement is set to expire in 2033, or once the city has paid cumulative grant payments to Baker Katz totaling $6 million. These grant payments will be annual, and will start at $330,000, dropping below $300,000 on the sixth year of payments.
Baker Katz will also be responsible for completing a widening project for Chappell Hill Road by the beginning of 2022. In addition, it is stated the city, TxDOT and Baker Katz will work together to improve traffic flow at the site, by installing traffic signals and additional lanes underneath US Highway 290.
The city will also be working on utility extensions, including water and gas improvements, with costs estimated to exceed $1.48 million.
You can view the passed resolutions here.
Original Story: Following executive session Thursday, the Brenham City Council signed off on an agreement with a developer planning a new shopping center in town.
Mayor Milton Tate was authorized by the council to approve the economic development agreement with Baker Katz. The company is a developer based out of Houston, with upwards of 70 projects through the southeastern part of Texas.
The 35-acre shopping center is being planned for south of US Highway 290 East, at Chappell Hill Street. A site plan provided by the company includes numerous spaces for retail development.
Other Baker Katz projects have stores that feature both retail businesses and restaurants, such as Chick-fil-A and Hobby Lobby.
My hometown in East Texas just got a hobby lobby. The population is 18,000 and the area has a large poverty rate. Everybody was shocked when they came to town. Given that Brenham pulls so much business from all the surrounding communities, would not surprise me one bit to see a Hobby Lobby come to town.
I do not expect a Target, a Pappas restaurant of any stripe, a Hobby Lobby or a Carrabba’s to come to Brenham at this time. I doubt you will get a Kroger. I think there is a shot at a Cracker Barrell as they love locations in small/medium towns on heavy traffic highways near major metro areas. They also prefer a location with many senior citizens. Any major chain of sit down restaurants will come only if they get a good location on 290.They need out of town traffic & easy off & on access. Brenham will not get a Trader Joe’s but maybe an Aldi’s. I think a smaller Academy would make it in Brenham but Academy may not think so.
I’m all for comments but the negative know it all is your opinion to whom may or may not come unless you own the property then your doing nothing to help this community thrive into a much better small town on the map that will also help the small Mom and Pop retailers downtown. Let’s invite everyone to move into Brenham for jobs and mainly to keep out tax dollars here along with the nearby friends and family to come enjoy the shops, food, groceries etc. I wish you well in the future but to shoot down the great opportunities that are at point is reckless! Make Brenham Great Again!
I’m not shooting down anyone or anything. I have decades of experience dealing with retailers of many stripes. I have a good idea of what they look for when locating. I am not telling them to stay away. Many of those retailers/restaurants likely will be in Brenham in the future but I do not think so as of this point in time. I did say that Cracker Barrell & Academy might locate here. I think Brenham is perfect for both. I also expect an Aldi’s in Brenham.
As far as folks moving here keeping the taxes down, how are all the infrastructures going to be funded (schools, roadways/roadway improvements. etc.)? It is not rare at all for many homeowners to pay school taxes alone of $!0,000 & up in Houston’s fast growing neighboring districts. The same goes for Austin. Face it Brenham has lost several retailers recently. I was surprised to read that CVS sold their customer Rx list to Walgreens rather than build another store (I think eventually they will. And, sooner rather than later.)
It’s not opinion. It’s fact. Certain businesses don’t move to small towns because the numbers don’t add up. A lot of wishful thinking on this thread. If a business looks for towns with 15,000 population, they may come here. If they require 100,000, it ain’t happening. Papadeaux’s ain’t coming to Brenham.
Common sense. Can you run for City Council or even Mayor? You have what the city needs. You will surely be elected.
I think that this is awesome news and a much needed asset to Brenham and the surrounding counties. Hopefully once this center is completed ( Hopefully all spaces filled) maybe other stores will feel confident in coming to Brenham. Brenham is in need of Growth to survive. The Small town charm is a great “selling point” for enticing people to come visit, But in reality Brenham has not been “small town” in quite a while. I welcome the Shopping center and wish all involved great success . This center will add tax revenue and Jobs to our local economy. Looking forward to Shopping Local.
As a BIB (born at St. Jude Hospital for those of you who remember the hospital) and a life long resident of Washington County, I too am very happy and excited to hear that new shopping is coming to Brenham, but first I have to see it! I have heard this all before and nothing has happened unless you count the Dollar Stores, Resale Shops, the shops downtown that move in and out because of their prices and the high rent they pay, and just like others who have written in with their comments, I too shop out of town and online and also go out to eat in other towns as well because of the limited selection we have, I enjoy Mexican Food and Fried Chicken but not each time I want to eat out! I sometimes think Brenham is going backwards instead of moving forward with what out community needs. Not only do the stores and business serve Brenham and Washington County residents, people from the surrounding towns come to here to shop and do business as well, a little information that needs to be passed on to the developers of the new shopping center. I just hope this all works out for our community and we are not disappointed yet once again !! So until I see the new shopping center, its Buy College Station, Buy Austin, Buy Houston, Buy Online and Bye Brenham !!!!!
Thank you City Council for having a vision for the City. We live in a College town so this not only good for the local people but also for the Blinn students. Hopefully we can get a Sporting Good store, more clothing stores, a Krogers and we need a decent Buffet restaurant like a Sirlon Stockade. Get ready Washington County because not only will Brenham be growing but also Chappell Hill.
I agree with you, our thanks should go to the current mayor and city council for having the right pro-growth approach with a positive attitude!
ALDI please
I am 100% for this project but I thought this property was a to be a park and the property was donated to the city by the Krause Family
The land was given to the city with the understanding that a portion of the land would be used for parks. The development agreement provides for this.
I would love to see a Chick Fil A in Brenham. That, Academy and Hobby Lobby are some of the places I currently drive to College Station for. I don’t guess we’d have the traffic for a Sams or Bucees. Another movie theatre would be nice too, or some type of family game room.
What is the expected start date. ???Can’t wait
Amazing news well done Brenham.
Hallelujah. A Michael’s store for art supplies, please! A PetSmart, target, academy, and how about Trader Joe’s??? Love Trader Joes. Great prices great food oh, and there’s not one in Cypress oh, so I go all the way to Houston to go to Trader Joes at least once a month.
We need an Academy!!!!!!
Refunding 90% of sales tax revenues from the project will very likely have a substantial negative impact on the city because much of that sales tax will be cannibalized from the other 2 shopping centers which the city now keeps 100% of. What is the city’s projection of lost sales tax revenue from 4 Corners and Bluebonnet?
I like the prohibition of illegal alien hiring and does that also apply to construction contractors and subs?
We have to drive to Houston and College Station to shop because our town cannot support larger retailers and restaurants like Target, Academy, Chick-fil-A, or Papas. Those corporations have population, socioeconomic, and per capita income thresholds that must be satisfied before they consider building in a new location. And unfortunately, I don’t see our community meeting the requirements of a lot of those large-scale businesses that we’d like to see here. What does it say about the financial status of a community when the JC Penny closes and the thrift shop moves in? And then there’s the Amazon problem: online shopping has become so easy that even well-established businesses in much larger cities are closing because people don’t go out and shop anymore. Don’t get your hopes up too high.
Your comment forgets another statistic which this developer also has, and that is the traffic counts, which illustrates that there is an enormous amount of traffic each day passing through Brenham, which is also factored into the formula for their project viability. So combining the stable workforce numbers of Brenham area, with the intersection of a US and state highway system deems it as worthy. So everyone can go ahead and get their hopes up high and thank the local city leaders for their vision. One last statistic to remember are the number of smaller cities surrounding Brenham which also factor into the project viability.
Nicely said.
How about redeveloping the old Walmart shopping center where Sutherland’s, Penney’s and what used to be a grocery store vacated?
With the new huge neighborhood development going in that will create more traffic, say goodbye to small town.
I’m still scratching my head at the building of overpasses to avoid stop lights on Hwy 36 and keep traffic moving, to adding 2 stoplights up the road at Bluebell Rd and further at the rerouted business 36.
BRENHAM NEEDS A HOOTERS !!!!
Can we please get a Planet Fitness or True Fit, Brenham Fitness is expensive and the only option. They have monopolized the gym/fitness market in Brenham for 20+ years.
Very refreshing news, it shows that someone is progressive minded in Brenham to the needs of our town. We definitely need major retail business in Brenham!!!
6 million dollars worth of grants on a 20 million dollar project seems like a lot. Can a smaller business get 30 percent worth of grants on their ventures?
We could use a Kroger target and a nice restraint to go and really enjoy food with your loved one
Yes Golden Coral, Target, CiCi’s.
Brenham already had a CiCis pizza. It closed down. It had a JC PENNY it closed. We also had an Arbys. Burger King is on its second go round also. The list gos on and on. Maybe the new shopping center will have a Massege Envy and they can help me get rid the migrane I get from reading the list of stores everyone wants. How many people and how often are you going to go into a HOBBY LOBBY?? These stores need lots of foot traffic. Not traffic on 290 doing 70 and people looking and going wow look a Hobby Lobby!! And a Pappadeux’s??! The BCS area cant even get one of the those. Lets not put the wagon in front of the horse!!!!!
Bingo! These businesses do a huge amount of market research before deciding to move into a new market. The city can’t do anything to get them here if the market doesn’t work.
All ran with poor management
Just say goodbye small town. The BOB’s outnumber the BIB’s. This is what we get. It was bound to happen sooner or later. Especially with the city political makeup and out of town management we have. It is counterproductive too. City planner wants small on the square business per recent town hall meeting and then welcomes big corporate business. What next will this hypocritical management bring to Brenham. Higher property taxes for road maintenance?
I think this development is great news and appreciate the current city leaders for their hard work and vision to grow our city the right way. For those who grew up in Brenham years ago and want Brenham to go back in time, it just cannot happen because of the demographics and population change. So the fact is that growth is coming and we must manage it carefully, which is with the current city leadership is doing.
I think the shopping center would be great for Brenham, but be wary how you praise our city leaders, these are the same folks who granted Stylecraft set back variances so they could build their cookie cutter neighborhoods with lot to lot houses
Yeah, this is what you get — you folks should have built a wall around Brenham years ago.
I agree, we need more retail, restaurants tired of going to Bryan College Station to shop & eat!
Wonderful News!!!????
Why not a Cracker Barrel, ladies dress shop or full scale Penny’s?
Would love to see Carrabba’s or some pappadeaux or Papa’s family Restaurant. Sure it will never happen.
There are too many fast food and BQ. Would like to see a nice Cinemark. Chick-fil-A would be great.
I know it would never happen but I think it would be cool to restore the Drive In Movie Theater. Just wishful thinking. Lol!!!
But happy to know some new development is coming.????????
Brenham needs more common retail space like a Target, Academy, Carter’s, and other clothing outside of Palais Royal because HEB will only knock that down once their lease is up. Could use another restaurant that isn’t overpriced like the ones downtown. They should focus on redoing the Sutherland’s center on South Market as well if anyone is willing to develop it. To Patricia, sometimes its easier to build according to your design plan than try to renovate existing structures without knowing what could go wrong during renovation and potentially be costly fixes. Those buildings would also have to meet the building code and might be more bothersome to take on than building new. Also, do you think the taxpayers are footing their entire development bill? We may not be Houston, but if you don’t think the growth train is about to hit us, then I’d advise to stay off the tracks.
Well said…
Please include a Golden Coral
Wow! Thank you Brenham! This is some awesome news! Now we do t have to shop in College Station! Very exciting news!
It’s about time, hopefully we will have other stores to shop besides Palais Royal, it’s a shame our dollars are going to Houston and College Station.
How dumb and a waste of tax payers money. They can’t fill the other shopping centers spaces why build a new one. We are not Houston. SMH
What “taxpayer money?” This is a private development, being built on private property, by a private company, to be leased to other private companies. The only “taxpayer money” that will be involved is the sales taxes that will be COLLECTED to benefit Brenham and Washington County— money that is now being spent and taxes collected elsewhere. This is good news, and is certainly not “dumb” or wasteful of any taxpayer money.
I agree its about time we are glad to read this news we need more stores.
This agreement is set to expire in 2033, or once the city has paid cumulative grant payments to Baker Katz totaling $6 million. These grant payments will be annual, and will start at $330,000, dropping below $300,000 on the sixth year of payments.
From this article:
“Baker Katz will also be responsible for completing a widening project for Chappell Hill Road by the beginning of 2022. In addition, it is stated the city, TxDOT and Baker Katz will work together to improve traffic flow at the site, by installing traffic signals and additional lanes underneath US Highway 290.
The city will also be working on utility extensions, including water and gas improvements, with costs estimated to exceed $1.48 million.”
I agree
Thank you City Council for having a vision for the city. We are a college town a d so this is not only good for the local people but it is also good for the Blinn students. Hopefully we can get a Sports store more clothing stores a Kroger and we need a decent Buffet restaurant like a Sirlon Stockade. Get ready not only will Brenham but so will Chappell Hill