With League City's population at 98,000 and poised to surpass 100,000 this year, commercial growth i...

1. Businesses popping up along League City Parkway
With League City's population at 98,000 and poised to surpass 100,000 this year, commercial growth
is beginning to catch up to the residential boom, and many of the new businesses are along League
City Parkway.
Growth is occurring along the road, also known as Texas 96, on both the east and south sides of
Interstate 45, which roughly bisects the city.
In the last two years, a Walgreens has opened, a Kroger expansion is underway across the street
from the new H-E-B, and there's a new carwash and fast-food eateries that include a Taco Bell.
Before, much of the area was prairie.
The growth on the parkway area is "simply a reflection of the larger growth in the city," said Paul
Menzies, the city's director of planning. "It's proportionate to what's going on in League City as a
whole."
League City is the fastest-growing city in Galveston County and the eighth fastest-growing city in
Texas, Menzies said.
"The commercial marketplace is catching up to the high-end residential growth," Menzies said. "The
commercial side has lagged over the last 15 years, and it's just now catching up."

2. High-end residential developments on the east side of town include Tuscan Lakes, MarBella and
Hidden Lakes, which are still under development, and Lakes of South Shore Harbour, a 2,200-acre
master-planned community along the southern shores of Clear Lake.
League City's west side is home to communities that include Westover Parks and Sedona, and there
are larger vacant tracts under development as part of the Bay Colony community, Menzies said.
In the coming years, construction of the Grand Parkway will be completed in League City, in the
area where FM 646 intersects I-45, which will bring even more people to the city.
"Our average household income is $103,000, and we've certainly been underserved commercially
based on that," Menzies said.
League City Parkway area is home to a Kroger store at 2750 E. League City Parkway, a CVS
Pharmacy at 1295 E. League City Parkway, and an H-E-B Store at 2755 E. League City Parkway at
South Shore Boulevard.
"The city's grown residentially about 11 percent a year, and we've had a lot of grocery stores coming
in," said Steve Paterson, interim president and CEO of the League City Regional Chamber of
Commerce.
Walmart is planning a 40,000-square-foot Neighborhood Market in the Brittany Lakes area, he said.
"We've also got a new Walgreens and a Raising Cane's restaurant."
The Starbucks on the parkway has applied for a permit to become a wine bar that could serve
alcohol in the evenings.
The parkway corridor is ripe for even more growth, with more than 500 commercial lots available for
development, according to Menzies.
"One of our priorities is to do what we can to lessen the tax burden on residential homeowners, and
one of the ways to do that is through expanding your commercial tax base," he said.
http://www.chron.com/neighborhood/article/Businesses-popping-up-along-League-City-Parkway-6410
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