Midway Companies presented a progress report on the Kings Harbor development to the Kingwood Chamber of Commerce at the Y-Not Luncheon at the Lake Houston Family YMCA.

Midway Companies presented a progress report on the Kings Harbor development to the Kingwood Chamber of Commerce at the Y-Not Luncheon at the Lake Houston Family YMCA.
Kings Harbor is a mixed-use development fronting Lake Houston on West Lake Houston Parkway. Plans show a residential section that includes lofts and brownstone town homes. The commercial development will include a theater, office space and numerous restaurants.
The future restaurant developments on the site were at the top of the agenda at the YMCA.

Representatives from Midway announced the completion of a lease contract with Tony Raffa, the owner of Amedeo's Italian Restaurant and Bar, who will open a new 6,000-square-foot restaurant on the waterfront at Kings Harbor to be called Raffa's.

Sparky Nolan, president of the Kingwood Chamber of Commerce, said in introducing the Kings Harbor presentation, "If you live in Kingwood, Texas, it's hard not to know that our ship has come in and it's in Kings Harbor."

Jonathan Brinsden, executive vice president of Midway Companies, said major construction is set to begin during the second quarter of this year. The south face of the commercial development will begin first.

Midway Companies began working on the project in 2002. Brinsden said that the project stalled for several months due to discussions with the city of Houston after he last updated the chamber in April 2005.

"We cleared the site, had a big groundbreaking, we're ready to go forward and then I decided I needed to fight with the city for seven months," Brinsden said. "There was an issue to do with some of the site work, which you guys saw. It was just something I wasn't prepared to settle on.

It would have given up 3 acres of the project and I wasn't ready to go there."

Brinsden introduced Raffa, who announced the completion of the lease on the new restaurant.

"We would like to announce that we're going to be opening up a restaurant right on the river called Raffa's," Raffa said. "It's going to be Mediterranean-style cuisine with some influence from some other cuisines as well. Our executive chef David Welch is going to come along in that project, and he's going to be just busting out of the seams with some new ideas and new things."
Johnny Rocket's has also signed a letter of intent to open a facility at Kings Harbor.

John Sebastinas, an associate with Midway Companies who is working on the marketing of the Kings Harbor lofts, also addressed the audience.

"We're off to a great start," Sebastinas said. "We have nine reservations. They're selling themselves. It's a way of life."

"The three key features are one, the views of Lake Houston; two, the amenities that are provided adjacent in Kings Harbor; and three, the lifestyle," Sebastinas said. "It's lock and leave."

"It's not worrying about the roof when it's raining; it's not worrying about the pool overflowing; it's not worrying about the landscaping guy didn't show up or that 'I have to do the landscaping,'" Sebastinas said.

"The lofts won't start construction until we have 50 percent pre-commitments (to purchase units)," Brinsden said later.

"We just want to get to that magical 20 and then a lot more action is going to happen," Sebastinas said. "Once they get us some buildings, I think that will help."

The lofts will be a six-story building with 41 units. Midway has similar developments in The Woodlands, and, according to Sebastinas, the prices are "about the same."

Prices for lofts at Kings Harbor range from $375,000 to $976,000.

After his presentation, Brinsden discussed the clearing of the trees on the site, landscaping plans and flood mitigation.

Brinsden said all of the trees had to be removed in order to fill the site.

"There will be a trememdous amount of landscaping within the project," Brinsden said. "At the same time, it's a very dense, urban environment, so there's not specifically a lot of green space, but we are building a large public plaza and a walkway. That won't be limited to anybody. It's really there as a community asset."

Brinsden said the flood plain mitigation permitting process took a great deal of time.

"The city of Houston has authority on Lake Houston, and then if a lake or waterway is navigable you also have to get the [Army] Corps of Engineers' approval, so it was both," said Brinsden.

"Essentially, where the bulkhead is today is well inside our property line, so we essentially ended up giving land to the lake for the ability to fill other portions of the site."

Kings Harbor also has 22,000-square-feet of planned office space, 14,000 of which has already been leased.

Brinsden estimated a completion date, not including the lofts, toward the end of 2007.
"This is the most exciting thing that's hit Kingwood since the formation of the first trees here," said Nolan. "It's obvious that the dream of having a destination location for Kingwood is going to come to pass. We always were called a bedroom community. Well it's obvious to see now Kingwood also has a living room, too."

In other announcements, Rick Alspaugh thanked those who assisted with Kleenwood. He noted that the repeated efforts of Kleenwood program volunteers had paid off and that less trash was being collected each time.

For more information on the lofts at Kings Harbor, call John Sebastinas at 281-360-0630.