Houston leaders: New mixed-use development to help reshape southeast side

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- A southeast Houston flea market will soon be replaced by a 200-plus apartment building and mixed-use development, and the city of Houston is footing part of the bill.

City officials say it's a good investment in and up and coming area.

The $41 million project is at the corner of Griggs and Martin Luther King Blvd, not far from the University of Houston. The city of Houston pitched in more than $15 million from the Hurricane Ike Recovery Program.

"They've been needing to do this around here," says Kevin Green. "It's going to do real good around here. It's going to bring the property value up and bring the crime rate down. It's good for the community."

"We don't let everybody come into this community. We want those who will be here for the long-haul. We want those who will actually bring retail back into this area," says Old Spanish Trail Community Partnership President Dr. Teddy McDavid.

The new community will be called the Village at Palm Center.

"It's just going to be a beautiful beautiful neighborhood within the next year or so, as opposed to what we have that's an eyesore to our community," says City Councilman Dwight Boykins.

It's being developed by the ITEX Group. Executive Vice President Clark Colvin says they hope to return this area to its glory days.

"This is an area that already has started to redevelop, and we're really excited to come in certainly not on the ground floor, but as I said everybody has been working for so long to get it and make the progress that's already come," Colvin says.

"This is really going to change the makeup of District D," Councilman Boykins adds.

That change is just beginning. Light rail will come right in front of the new neighborhood. City of Houston Director of Housing and Community Development Neal Rackleff says that opens the area up to people who may not have thought of it before.

"One of the reasons we picked it is because it would be transit-oriented development," Rackleff says. "There's great access for residents. There's been a tremendous amount of public investment in this community, and we want to continue to add to that."

As development continues, people connected to the project say their goal is to use this kind of development to make sure people who live in the community can afford to stay there.

Councilman Boykins adds there's 30-percent minority participation in the demolition and construction phases of the project. He's also requested special consideration for the developer to use people within a three to four mile radius to work on the project as a job creation measure.