Chevron sold this tract in the City of Bellaire. The new owner has a grand plan.
BELLAIRE, Texas – (By Michelle Leigh Smith for Realty News Report) – The developer of the former Chevron property in Bellaire has presented his ambitious plan to Bellaire’s Planning & Zoning Commission.
As previously reported in an exclusive story by Realty News Report, the plan calls for a 300-unit mid-rise residential tower atop a new parking garage, a movie theater, a 145,000-SF mixed-use building with office space and several restaurant-suited pad sitesnear South Rice Avenue. The plan was first obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests.
The 30-acre tract has frontage on Loop 610, South Rice Avenue and Fournace. It’s just over a mile from the Galleria. If the plan were in Houston, the site’s potential would be limitless. But it’s in the municipality of Bellaire, a zoned city that once had the slogan: “Bellaire – A City of Homes.”
Developer Danny Sheena of SLS Properties, which purchased the property from Chevron last year, has named the project Bellaire Place. The proposal is controversial in Bellaire where many residents are sensitive to growth and density issues. Sheena was questioned about the proposal in a Bellaire public hearing last week.
The former Chevron property has both a 10-story and 6-story, circa 1977 office buildings totaling more than 500,000 SF plus a fitness center, cafeteria and auditorium. Sheena’s group is seeking to lease space in the buildings.
The big tract means a lot to the city’s coffers. In both 2017 and 2018, Chevron paid $339,695 in city taxes and the property was valued at $81 million.
Sheena’s plan will have to filter its way through the Bellaire City Hall for months before an approved plan emerges.
