CONTINUED FROM 1 League City,
COMMERCIAL/AMENITIES Restaurants/retail/offices 6
RESIDENTIAL
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developer sign agreement to buildRiverview AMENITIES 3 N 518 CLEAR CREEK WESLEY DR. LEAGUE CITY
Aloft Hotel Rooms: 150 Multifamily housing One-bedroom units: 181 Two-bedroom units: 101 Townhomes Units: 53 Senior living apartments One-bedroom units: 89 Two-bedroom units: 41 Marina Bend at Clear Creek Apartments (pre-exisiting) One-bedroom units: 123 Two-bedroom units: 80
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7 Garden office buildings
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8 Marina 9 Amphitheater 10 Boat ramp 11 Pickleball courts 12 Life-size chess board 13 Outdoor gym
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By the time it is built out in September 2029, the 68.5-acre Riverview development will include various amenities for residents and visitors. G A L O R E
BY JAKE MAGEE
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LeagueCityCityCouncil last summer voted down a contract to create River- bend, a 68.5-acre mixed-use devel- opment. At the time, certain city staff members said they felt disheveled. Officials were hoping to turn Wes- ley Drive near I-45 into a destination for both residents and visitors alike, but City Council voted down the Riv- erbend plan in a 4-4 vote with oppo- nents proclaiming the city should not incentivize developers to build multi- family housing, restaurants and retail. However, this vote was not the end for the project. The developer, WB Property Group, revised the plans and put them before City Council again in January under the name Riverview. This time, the contract for the project passed 5-3 with Council Member JustinHicks changing his vote to allow it to move forward. “I just held out for a better deal,” Hicks said. “That was it.” By fall, WB Property Group will have broken ground on the $125 mil- lion project. When it is built by late 2029, Riverview will include apart- ments, senior housing, townhomes, restaurants, retail shops, office build- ings and a slew of amenities, city lead- ers and the developer said. “We’re creating the gateway to League City where families can come and spend their weekends,” WB Property Group Manager Rob- ert Weinstein said. “We picked this site because of proximity to [Clear Creek] and also because we saw an opportunity to really create a gem of a gateway to League City where peo- ple could spend more time in League City rather than going to Webster and the surrounding areas.” New chance In late 2018, League City staff shared their excitement for a project dubbed Epicenter League City, which would have included a convention center, a sports arena, hotels and other attrac- tions at the site of the Chester L. Davis
14 Yoga lawn 15 Boardwalk
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6E
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6C
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6B
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68.5 acres
$125M development
$18M expected revenue during the
years the city is paying incentives
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Incentives to the developer paid by League City
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6F
$8M for amenities
$6M for infrastructure
$14M
MAP NOT TO SCALE N
SOURCES: CITY OF LEAGUE CITY, WB PROPERTY GROUP/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
Sportsplex along I-45. Officials said the project would have made League City a destination and attracted visitors. Promoting tourism is a focus among League City leaders, they have said. However, by 2020, the project was essentially dead with the developer not putting up the money required to initiate construction. Riverview— which is under contract, making work possible—is another chance for League City to establish a destination hot spot, officials said. “That’s really what the drive was for me from the get go was to create
a destination spot because we hav- en’t really had one,” said Sarah Greer Osborne, director of communica- tions and media relations for the city. “There’s just kind of a lack of that kind of that family stuff.” David Hoover, director of planning and development for League City, said he has been working to get Riv- erview started for two years. With the city and WB Property Group hav- ing signed the agreement in January, work will begin this year, and Hoover said it feels good to reach this point. “It really is nicewhen you see things happen. It’s what I work for,” he said.
“The really cool part is when you see it on the ground.” In a late 2021 survey of League City residents, 55% of respondents ranked League City as an excellent or good place to visit. That is below the 62% average of cities across the coun- try and 59% average of Texas cities, according to survey data. Riverview is an attempt to make League City seen as more of a destina- tion spot. Motorists traveling between Houston and Galveston will see this development right off I-45, and some will stop by, city leaders said. “I’m just excited because people
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COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER • COMMUNITYIMPACT.COM
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