Developer Kevin Nguyen has begun site work on a 100,000-square-foot mixed-use development planned for the intersection of Bluebonnet Boulevard and Highland Road.
The retail and office complex—which Nguyen likens to Towne Center on Corporate Boulevard—will be called City Square. It will be located on 13 acres of undeveloped property Nguyen owns on the south side of Highland where it intersects with Bluebonnet.
The development is the second major project planned for the busy intersection. Last month, General Informatics CEO Mo Vij broke ground on @Highland, a mixed-use office park on a nine-acre tract on the northwest corner of Bluebonnet and Highland.
Nguyen’s development will be located on the southwest corner of the intersection, and will feature a 15,000-square-foot, high-end retail strip center with space for boutiques and, perhaps, a restaurant. Eventually, it is hoped the development will spread to the southeast corner as well.
Plans call for a total of 75,000 square feet of retail space and 25,000 square feet of office space.
“It’s prime real estate,” says Nguyen, who predicts it will take five years to build out the entire development. “It’s a great location.”
Nguyen has been sitting on the property for several years. He acquired nine of the 13 acres in 2007, and the remaining four acres in 2015. So far, he has spent close to $5 million on the property, a fraction of the estimated $25 million to $30 million the development is expected to cost.
Nguyen had the property rezoned several years ago to light commercial, and originally planned to move forward with City Square in 2008.
“But the real estate market slowed down right at the time, so I just waited,” he says. “Now is the right time to move forward.”
Charlie Colvin of Beau Box Commercial Real Estate is handling leasing for City Square. Already, Nguyen says they are getting inquiries from national and local retailers. Local architect Jairo Leon designed the Mediterranean-style stucco building. Arkel Constructors is the general contractor.
Nguyen anticipates breaking ground on the project in the first quarter of 2017. Last week, Nguyen paid $5.5 million for a 7.1-acre site at 8601 Siegen Lane that is home to a shopping center anchored by a Winn-Dixie supermarket.
—Stephanie Riegel
