BY JAMES T. NORMAN
Also of note
The bottom line
Popstroke toward the end of 2024 and restaurant Vida Mariscos, which was scheduled to open in July. Two other lots are listed as under contract, according to the Flyway website. “I think we’ll see money spent around the region … dining out at a restaurant outside of [Great Wolf Lodge], visiting other tourist spots such as Lonestar Flight Museum Space Center Houston, NASA, Kemah, the Battleground and San Jacinto Monu- ment, Armand Bayou, renting a canoe to paddle around our waterways or just having a nice day at one of our parks,” Cutsinger said.
Great Wolf Lodge isn’t the lone attraction in the area. On top of the various tourist attractions the Bay Area has to offer, including Kemah Boardwalk, NASA’s Johnson Space Center and beaches in Galveston, the immediate area around the resort— called Flyway—is seeing new businesses added to the area. Located along I-45, the space has 26 separate parcels across 80 acres, according to a map on the area’s website. In the past year, three businesses have opened or are set to open soon, including Chicken N Pickle, which opened in February,
Keith Furnas, general manager for Webster’s Great Wolf Lodge, said in July he expects the resort to be running at full capacity by September. The resort will start out at around half capacity in August. Looking ahead for Webster, the city will begin to recuperate money from its 2021 incentive agreement it gave to Great Wolf Lodge in exchange for coming to the city. The deal, as previously reported by Community Impact , included giving the resort: • $5 million in a grant package over two years from the city’s hotel occupancy tax fund • 90% of the city’s portion of hotel tax revenue collected from the resort for 20 years • 33% of the sales tax generated for 20 years after Webster retains the first $200,000 each year Neither Great Wolf Lodge nor Webster officials were able to provide estimates on how much in tax revenue the resort will make in that 20-year period. The city also did not say how long it would take to recuperate the $5 million in grants. In 2020, the property Great Wolf Lodge is located on netted only around $200 total in property taxes, Vela said. If the site obtains a $200 million valuation, it would net the city $667,000 before incentives, Vela said. However, Vela declined to give an estimate on how that number would look after incentives.
26 separate parcels
Flyway Development*
Lots available Lots taken or under contract
80 acres
FAIRWAY DR.
Great Wolf Lodge
R.
45
Chicken N Pickle
Popstroke
Vida Mariscos
Public parking
Plaza
N
* AS OF JUNE 19 SOURCES: FLYWAY TEXAS, CITY OF WEBSTER/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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