Pearland development could mean $1 billion in revenue

06:34 PM CDT on Monday, July 26, 2004

By Jason Whitely / 11 News

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PEARLAND -- It is the type of rapid growth most communities can only dream about. The type of growth that can change an area forever.

Pearland is about to receive an economic shot in the arm to the tune of $1 billion in extra revenue.

The Shadow Creek Ranch housing development, under construction, sits just off Hwy. 288 and is bordered by FM 2234, Smith Miller Road and Almeda School Road.

If location is everything when you're looking for a home, Shadow Creek Ranch is a goldmine. It's a 3,500 acre master-planned community, and is Pearland’s best kept secret.

"What makes this community unique is its location,” said Sherry Stockwell with Shadow Creek Ranch.

“You can get to downtown Houston, the Galleria, Medical Center or Reliant Stadium in under 15 minutes," she said.

Commuters are getting the message. In the 18-months since builders broke ground, the development is second only behind The Woodlands in total home sales.

Real estate agents hope to close on 1,200 this year and 1,900 more next year.

"Shadow Creek gets people from the Medical Center every weekend and all week long wanting to have a home close to their work site,” said Century 21 agent Henry Fuertes.

The City of Pearland says this is a big boost to the development off the Hwy. 288 corridor. When it's complete, Shadow Creek Ranch will add more than $1 billion to the city's tax rolls and more than 35,000 people to Pearland's population.

A new elementary school is almost finished, two new hospitals are planned, and the University of Texas just recently acquired land for a campus.

Pearland's mayor says this sleepy city is finally taking off.

"We're out in the boondocks -- everybody was thinking west out towards Katy, north towards Montgomery County,” said Mayor Tom Reid. “All of a sudden they looked south and said ‘you know there's good land down there,'" Reid said.

There is.

Developers realized it and so have homebuyers. The city tells 11 News it may take eight to 10 years for the residential and retail to fully develop, but Pearland is already feeling its effects.