Tomball Economic Development Corp. shifts focus with pending church sale
BY ANNA LOTZ
and it became clearer and clearer that that really is our next opportunity site,” TEDC Executive Director Kelly Violette said. The sale of the church property is expected to close April 12, Mayor Lori Klein Quinn said during a March 3 State of the City address. First Baptist Church Tomball, located at Houston and Oxford streets, has been on the market on and off over the last two decades as the church grappled with the right timing and buyer, Lead Pastor James Clark said. The church bought 32 acres
in 2003 for its new home near Quinn Road and Hwy. 249. “It’s been a 20-year project for the church with the intent to relocate,” Clark said. “Probably about five years ago … we got a lot more intentional about having it on the market.” At the same time, the TEDC has shifted its focus from the Tomball Business and Technology Park that is approaching build-out to redevel- opment in Old Town Tomball—the downtown area. In addition to the church property, the TEDC is redevel- oping the South Live Oak Industrial
Park, 6.2 acres purchased in 2020. “We’ve really been evaluating the best uses … so that it does really become, again, kind of a catalyst proj- ect on the east side of downtown,” Violette said. Building the business park Violette said the TEDC is set to sell the final 18-acres in the Tomball Busi- ness and Technology Park in April. The TEDC has been developing its 99.5-acre business park since its May 2014 groundbreaking, Community Impact previously reported. Since that time, the park has brought 568 jobs to Tomball, Violette said. “I think that business park and the concept behind it has been a great plus for the city of Tomball—not only the jobs it’s brought to Tomball,” City Council Member Mark Stoll said. “It’s definitely putting Tomball on the map from a business perspective.” While the park is approaching build-out, Violette said the TEDC has no plans to expand its footprint there. “There was discussion about ‘Do we want to do another business park? Where do we want to focus our efforts?’ The board determined we had great interest in Old Town Tom- ball,” said Chad Degges, a TEDC board member and former City Council member. “The redevelopment of Old Town has been years in the making with the EDC.” The TEDC identified the redevel- opment of Old Town as a goal within its 2020-23 strategic plan, which was created in 2020 through input from stakeholders and the city to help ful- fill the city’s goals, he said. The TEDC is able to fund projects through the one-half cent of sales tax revenue it receives from each dollar spent in the city. Budget data shows TEDC sales tax revenue is projected to surpass $5 mil- lion in FY 2022-23, growing 22.35% since FY 2018-19. In that time, reserve funds have grown from $24 million to $28.71 million as well, allowing funds for property acquisition. “Personally, I’ve been a proponent of partnering with the city to rede- velop Old Town, because it takes a lot of money and time,” Degges said. “The EDC sits in a unique position to really speed that process up.” Redevelopment projects In its FY 2022-23 budget, the TEDC allocated $5 million for redevelopment
The Tomball Economic Develop- ment Corp. is expected to close in April on purchasing the 4.63-acre campus of First Baptist Church Tom- ball, a project TEDC officials hope will spur other redevelopment in the city’s heart. “Part of our strategic plan goal is the redevelopment and revitalization of downtown and to try to facilitate catalytic projects that are going to be able to really kick off some meaning- ful redevelopment, and so that site really just started coming to mind, BUSINESS PARK B U I L D - OU T
The Tomball Economic Development Corp. is focusing on redevelopment in Old Town Tomball as its Business and Technology Park is slated to reach build-out when the last occupant is signed in April. In addition to the First Baptist Church Tomball campus, the TEDC plans to redevelop the South Live Oak Industrial Park.
TOMBALL BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY PARK
SOUTH LIVE OAK INDUSTRIAL PARK
Sale pending
N
N
99.5 acres total
568 jobs created by companies in the park
6.2 acres total
$5M allocated for redevelopment in FY 2022-23 that could include restaurant and retail space
Land purchased in 2020
Sale pending on fi nal 18-acre tract
Broke ground in May 2014
SOURCE: TOMBALL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP./COMMUNITY IMPACT
Actual sales tax revenue Budgeted sales tax revenue
A preliminary financial report for FY 2022 shows sales tax totaling $5.39M , which was a 22% increase over the previous year.
$6M
$5.39M
SALES TAX GROWTH The TEDC is mainly funded by sales tax and receives a half-cent of sales tax revenue for every $1 spent in the city. Its capacity to fund projects has grown as sales tax has increased and its reserve funds— or savings—have accumulated. SOURCE: TOMBALL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP./COMMUNITY IMPACT
$5.1M
$5M
$4.41M
$4.13M $4.17M $4.06M
$4M
$3M
$2M
$1M
0
Fiscal year:
2017-18
2018-19
2019-20 2020-21
2021-22 2022-23
30
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