Discount giant heads for Pearland

The commercial corridor along Texas 288 is heating up again.

One of the latest deals was an 18-acre land sale to Sam's Club at the Shadow Creek Ranch residential development.

The discount retailer purchased the Pearland site for a 136,000-square foot store.

The sale closed in December and construction is expected to start this spring with an opening planned for October, according to TGB Crosswell, which sold the land to Sam's.

After a couple of slow years, land sales and developments are picking up, said TGB Crosswell's Allen Crosswell, who brokered the transaction. Brendan Lynch of CBRE was also involved.

"It's starting to move at a much better pace," Crosswell said. "Retail is starting to come back. The restaurant business is healthy."

Crosswell points to several new deals taking shape adding construction activity and new jobs.

Kelsey-Seybold recently identified a site for an administrative office building in Pearland.

The 170,000-square-foot building will be developed on an 18-acre site on the northeast corner of Kirby Drive and Shadow Creek Parkway.

Also in the area, a medical manufacturing facilities for Cardiovascular Systems Inc. began operating in 2010, and Merit Medical Systems Inc. recently announced its selection of Pearland for its newest R&D and manufacturing facility.

~ Nancy Sarnoff, Houston Chronicle