Baytown, Texas

was an on ramp will become an off ramp; what was an off ramp will become an on ramp,” Davis explains. “So, we’re just switching them on both sides of Garth Blvd. What this $5.5 million project, partially funded by the Depart- ment of Transportation, will do is orient I-10 traffic that wants to go to Baytown, to the new San Jacinto Blvd. So, they’ll get off right at San Jacinto Blvd.” According to Davis, the purpose behind the ramp switch is to direct traffic to the repur- posed San Jacinto Mall, which is currently being demolished. “They’re doing some interi- or demolition and some remediation of some materials inside the mall that you don’t want airborne,” Davis says. “That will take about eight weeks. Then the walls will come tum- bling down on the old mall. That demolition will last all the way until October and then, after October, they will begin construction of the first phase of new retail. At this point, we have a retail development of about 1.2 million square feet, with about 80,000 square feet of Class-A office, and a green space area the size of two football fields where festivals and concerts can be held. It will be the home of 20 new restaurants and an entertainment compo- nent of some type that is yet to be announced. It’s going to be developed in three phases and that’s expected to be completed in its entire- ty by Christmas of 2022. So, the mall is going forward, and we’re getting a clearer picture of the future of some of the retailers.” Davis adds that the total expense for the Mall project is expected to be $100,000,000, with a $70,000,000 commitment from the city, the Texas Department of Transportation, Harris County, the developer, other property owners, and the Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone Au- thority for contiguous transportation improve- ments, including the reorientation of traffic off of I-10. Another project is the construction of a $56 million hotel/conference center at the base of the Fred Hartman Bridge, which links Baytown to the City of La Porte, across the Houston Ship Channel. “Our hotel/conference center is moving along nicely in that the design is more than 50 percent complete,” Davis recounts. “The final financing plan will be executed in May, and we hope, by June or July, to be breaking ground for an 18-month construction. We have Marriott’s Sheraton brand as our flagship hotel – a 208-key hotel with 22,000 square BAYTOWN, TEXAS Rick Davis, City Manager