Plans in works for $10M convention complex in Katy

KATY, TX (KTRK) -- A $10 million convention center and hotel complex is in the works for the city of Katy.

Byron Hebert, the city administrator, tells Eyewitness News the plan is to build the complex adjacent to an 80 acre retention pond the city already owns.

"We did a study couple of years ago," says Hebert, "which told us the community could benefit from a 55,000 square-foot convention center. We would use it to attract mid-level conferences involving the medical and energy communities."

The city is negotiating to purchase 10 acres for the complex which are currently owned by a private developer. The 10 acres would include the convention center, a hotel and the boardwalk surrounding the lake, and adjacent waterways.

"This won't be like Kemah," says Katy's tourism director Kayce Reina. "There won't be rides. It won't be an amusement park. We want to keep it natural, and for the development to fit in with the Katy Prairie that currently exists."

The city plans to use hotel taxes and the money it receives from the Katy Mills Mall for the construction costs. There won't be a bond and there won't be new taxes to facilitate the convention center and hotel.

Watch ABC-13 Eyewitness News at 5pm for more details on the planned complex.