The Galveston County Daily News

Slowdown lowdown: After what developers described as a “minor slowdown,” the 574-home Grand Cay Harbour project in Texas City is back on track.

Persistent rain during the summer was part of the problem. But project manager Norman Reed didn’t elaborate about what other factors led to a long stretch of inactivity at the development. The project is on 250 acres beside Galveston Bay at the end of the Texas City levee system. The lull caused a buzz. Developers Resource Development Group and Arete Real Estate & Development met last week to “remobilize,” Reed said.

Grand Cay (pronounced “key”) Harbour, where David Weekley Homes is the exclusive builder, is behind a tide gate. That means homes will have slabs instead of stilts.

Home prices will average about $400,000.

Growing Enterprise: Notice a freshly installed culvert next to The Bebco Building, 5235 Delany Road, on the Hitchcock side? Contractor and fabricator HWPB Enterprise is planning a 53,000-square-foot building that would include a large shop, offices, a break room and storage.

The company’s name is taken from the first letters of the first names of its owners — Hector Gomez, Wayne Cheatham, Peggy Denney and Barbara Cheatham. The company, which offers welding, high-pressure vessels and skids for refineries, has 25 employees. Its finished products are used around the world, including in Brazil, Canada, Mexico and Venezuela. Look for construction of the new building to begin within the year, said office manager Monica Cantrell.

Dishing it: League City resident Joe Rabago reports that he’s closed his Cold Stone Creamery in Webster. But the ice cream purveyor wants everyone to know that his shop in League City’s Bay Colony Town Center (Interstate 45 and FM 646 anchored by H-E-B) still is serving up the cool creations and ice-cream cakes.

Shaping up: For everyone wondering about the status of Tuscany Beachfront Condominiums on the island, there’s news.

Developer Louis Conrad reports that the 56-unit development, 802 Seawall (on the site of the former Mayflower Inn Motel across from Stewart Beach), is still very much a go.

During the summer, some island residents had called the city to complain about high weeds and grass and concerns about an unsecured fence on the property. Rainy weather was the culprit, Conrad said. The group, city officials say, promptly addressed the issues.

But readers wanted to know why, after Conrad’s group worked for months with neighbors — whittling the height of the project from 15 stories to 5.5 stories — nothing was happening. Beachfront Condominiums was the first project approved under a new city ordinance restricting building heights.

Crews demolished the Mayflower in January.

“Just like the majority of successful condo developments on the island, it takes about a year (more for larger developments) to complete pre-sales necessary for ground breaking).

Also, crews are evaluating soil conditions before building a foundation, Conrad said. Unit prices range from $158,000 to $490,000, depending on the view.

Tuscany Beachfront Condominiums is working to convert 23 reservations to hard contracts. So far, 15 purchase agreements have been signed, Conrad said. The developers must sell 40 percent of the condominiums before triggering a construction loan. Stay tuned.

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