Dhanani Private Equity Group has acquired 50 acres off US 59 and University Boulevard in Sugar Land for a proposed mixed-use development adjacent to the Smart Financial Center concert venue.
The Sugar Land-based company intends to develop the land with residential, retail and office lots and has begun working with the city to obtain permits.
As part of the Telfair Masterplan community, the land was previously planned as the site for the new campus of Irving-based engineering and construction company Fluor, which never materialized. The location is south of the Texas Instruments campus across from the University of Houston in Sugar Land.
“We hope to get restaurants to support the Smart Financial Center and the crowds here,” said Nikhil Dhanani, the company’s president.
The development would offer food and drink options before or after performances and is within walking distance of the venue. It is located in one of Sugar Land’s regional centers of activity, designated in the city’s zoning plan as places that attract people to work, shop, dine and attend events. The Smart Financial Center was opened there in 2017.
To create mixed-use projects in regional centers of activity, developers must come up with plans to create a proposed district through a zoning process that could take six to 12 months, said Ruth Lohmer, associate director of planning and development services for Sugar Land. The city has yet to receive a development application from Dhanani.