Sugar Land: Dhanani Private Equity Group Buys 50-Acres for Mixed-Use Project
Feature Photo: 50-acre tract in Sugar Land courtesy of Houston Business Journal. Image: Dhanani Private Equity Group
Posted: 1-9-2022
by: Rebecca Lynn
Sugar Land (Fort Bend County ): Dhanani Private Equity Group has thrown it’s hat into the mixed-use development ring with purchase of a 50-acre tract next to the concert and live performance venue “Smart Financial Centre.”
Houston-based Dhanani Private Equity Group has purchased the property in a $28 million deal closed on Nov. 17, according to Dhanani CEO Nick Dhanani.
The Houston Business Journal reported on the pending sale and the final sale, stating the company is working to update its plans after the City of Sugar Land requested more specifics.
The preliminary goal of the project is to have 50% commercial development — including office, retail and restaurants — and 50% townhomes, Dhanani said. Water detention will take up about 6 acres.
Dhanani design and planning will be creating plans to present to the City of Sugar Land.
After presenting to the city and notifying surrounding neighbors, Dhanani bring the zoning request for the site. Design phase is tentatively slated for the fourth quarter of 2023 and construction to start by the first quarter of 2024, with a total timeline of 12 to 18 months.
Townhomes, commercial development partners and partial land sales are all on the table for this development.
The future mixed-use development is bordered by the Smart Financial Centre, the Texas Instruments campus, the University of Houston at Sugar Land and the Avalon at Telfair residential neighborhood Highway 59 and University Boulveard.
UH’s College of Technology and the Houston Methodist Sugar Land Hospital expansion drew the company into the area to attract additional traffic for the development, with a variety of restaurants and shops.
The tract is within Telfair, an award winning master-planned community developed by California-based Newland Communities. A master plan for this area created by the city and Newland Communities in 2018 “aims to establish a cohesive layout of office and entertainment land uses, across the parcels, that will create the mixed-use destination activity center long envisioned for the property,” according to the city.
Dhanani, based out of Sugar Land, has developed over $1 billion worth of projects with a portfolio consisting of 40+ convenience stores, 40+ retail shopping centers and numerous multi-family projects.
The developer will have to apply for a planned development and submit plans for a “mixed-use project within a regional activity center.” The zoning process could take six months to a year. The firm hopes to break ground in the next two years.
Dhanani plans to retain a portion of the land for a retail development and sell the remaining parcels to other developers. Once completed, the full development will likely cost a total of $200 million to build.
VBX Project ID: 2022-847E
rebecca@virtualbx.com
