DEVELOPMENT T I M E L I N E
miss out on up to $8 million in incen- tives, Hoover said. On top of the $8 million League City will give to the developer for building everything it has promised on schedule, the city will pay an additional $6 million in incentives for WB Property Group to construct the infrastructure necessary to build out the buildings and other parts of the project, Hoover said. Despite the $14 million in incentives lined up for the developer, at least the $8 million in incentives will not come from existing taxpayers. Sales and property tax revenue generated by Riv- erview—not the rest of the city—will fund the incentives, Hoover said. “The money doesn’t come from anywhere else. There’s no subsidizing from anywhere in the city,” he said. The agreement is a win for the city because League City will retain mil- lions in dollars of revenue generated by the project despite the incentives, he said. Additionally, the incentives will be awarded only if WB Property Groups completes benchmarks of the project on time. The first phase is set for completion by January 2024, and the project is scheduled to be com- plete by September 2029, according to the agreement. “[Without the agreement,] it would take them about 15 years,” Hoover said. “There’s no way, in my opinion, at all that it would have been com- pletely built out in 7 1/2 years without some kind of assistance.” Weinstein said WB Property Group is committed to delivering each phase of the project on time to ensure it earns the incentives and pleases res- idents and the city. “We’re ona short timeline, and that’s why we have our foot on the pedal,” he said. “We don’t have time to delay the project, so we’re trying everything to build as quickly as possible.” While the project is set to be com- pleted before the end of the decade, the payment schedule stretches beyond that. Under the agreement, the city will pay the developer in increasing amounts annually starting this year and ending in 2037. This is to ensure the city earns enough money from the development by which to pay WB Property Group, Hoover said. Sweetening the deal Without Hicks changing his vote, Riverview would not be moving for- ward. Hicks said he originally voted
against the project because there was not enough in the agreement to bene- fit residents. “The first time around, I thought it was a bit too expensive, and there were no guarantees he was going to do anything of significance for League City residents,” Hicks said. “The fun stuff—he was too short and vague about it.” Hicks kept in contact withWeinstein and asked him to consider moving amenities, particularly the amphithe- ater, up in the schedule. Weinstein agreed, and now the 750-seat amphi- theater and another half-dozen ameni- ties—including a boardwalk, an asphalt trail and a dog park—are scheduled to be complete by January 2024. “I’m fine with these 380 agree- ments; I really am—as long as it’s the right agreement,” Hicks said. However, not everyone is a fan of the development, Hicks said. Hoover acknowledged some residents have expressed concerns about flooding and traffic. Congestion is already a top concern in League City, and some think adding a destination will only exasperate the problem. Hoover said they are right. “Will it increase traffic? If it doesn’t, you’re going to have a lot of disappointed people in City Hall,” Hoover said. “Of course it’s going to increase traffic.” League City resident Joshua Fine expressed excitement for the project despite the concerns. “The proposed project has poten- tial of bringing more modern appeal to League City and jobs for the community,” he wrote in an email. “Traffic and additional crowding is a given with any community willing to keep up with the changing envi- ronments. Instead of allowing the city to become stagnant, the project will allow for an appealing place for younger families to settle.” City leaders said League City’s effort to attract visitors will not stop with Riverview. The next project will have to be even better for the devel- oper to have any chance at earning city incentives, Hoover said. “This… is, tome, a stepping stone to us because it’s the first. It sets the bar,” he said. “[Riverview] is absolutely not going to be the ending for us.”
As part of the agreement signed between League City and developer WB Property Group in January, the developer has to have completely built certain buildings and amenities after two, four, six and 7 1/2 years to receive incentives totaling up to $8 million from the city. If the developer misses a benchmark, it misses out on the associated incentives.
KEY
PROJECT BENCHMARKS
CITY PAYMENT DEADLINE
2024
January 2024: Phase 1
Boardwalk 15
Apartments 5 Initiation of marina 8 Amphitheater 9
2025
Other amenities: kayak storage racks, asphalt trail, dog park, wood switchback ramp, restroom building
2026
January 2026: Phase 2
2027
Aloft Hotel with restaurant 1
Completion of marina 8
Multifamily housing 2
Boat ramp 10
2028
January 2026: League City owes the developer $485,000 if the developer has completed all of Phase 1 on time.
2029
January 2028: Phase 3
2030
Other amenities: tot lot, curved seat wall at playground, art graffiti walls, concrete fire pit with seat walls, open recreation area, concrete cornhole, porch swing-style trellises, charcoal grills and barbecue stations, picnic tables, concrete benches
Townhomes 3
Senior housing 4 Pickleball courts 11
2031
Life-size chess board 12
2032
Outdoor gym 13
Yoga lawn 14
2033
January 2029: League City owes the developer an additional $1.19M if the developer has completed all of Phase 2 on time.
2034
September 2029: Phase 4
2035
Restaurants/retail/offices 6 7
January 2032: League City owes the developer an additional $1.42M if the developer has completed all of Phase 3 on time.
2036
January 2037: League City owes the developer $4.91M if the developer has completed all of Phase 4 on time.
2037
SOURCE: CITY OF LEAGUE CITY/COMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
developer agreed to prioritize ameni- ties more, Hicks said. “I think we made a lot of conces- sions on our end, but one thing we always found … was everyone always wants what’s best for the citizens of League City, including ourselves,” Weinstein said. One of those concessions was alter- ing the schedule of when certain ame- nities will be built. Under the signed agreement, WB Property Group has to build several amenities—such as a marina, an amphitheater and an outdoor gym—by certain years in the project. If it does not, the group will
drive by us and don’t even know they’re driving through League City,” Osborne said. “This is going to be the first entrance into our community.” Project details Partly due to League City City Council’s tendency to avoid Chapter 380 agreements, which allow cities to incentivize developers to stimulate commercial activity, the city has seen a slowdown in commercial devel- opments with one new commercial development in 2021 compared to 18 in 2017. However, the council made an exception for Riverview after the
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BAY AREA EDITION • APRIL 2022
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