New residential community coming to Magnolia with grocery store, restaurants

A new community is planned for Magnolia, featuring a retail center with restaurants, a grocery store and walking trails. 

Magnolia Crossing, a 94.9 acre mixed development, will sit near the Mill Creek subdivision, according to documents provided by the city. The subdivision will include 550 residential units with more than 200 single-family homes and up to 300 luxury apartments.

On YourCourierNews.com: The history of The Woodlands Waterway, from a ‘napkin sketch’ and drainage ditch to public ownership

The subdivision also will include a retail center, anchored by a mid-sized grocery store or fitness center. The retail center is expected to also include restaurants, medical and childcare services. 

City officials entered into a development agreement with Magnolia Paragon, LLC during a council meeting Tuesday.

“The benefit I see with this agreement is all the property will be annexed into the city,” Magnolia city administrator Don Doering told council members during the meeting.

To provide more property and sales tax revenue for the city, the developers were asked by officials to allow the community to be annexed into the city, said Kevin Mokos, Texas development director for Charlotte-based real estate company Red Hill Ventures. 

It is still unclear when new residents can expect to move in, Mokos said.

Since December 2022, city officials have stopped issuing building permits for new residential and commercial development projects to address a water shortage. Concerns rose over the city’s water supply not being able to keep pace with the growth in the area, officials said.

On YourCourierNews.com: Texas Renaissance Festival offers opening weekend tickets for under $20, here’s how to purchase

Developers with Red Hill Ventures met with city officials in April 2022 to create a development agreement before the moratorium was enacted, Mokos told planning and zoning commissioners during a July meeting.

In the agreement, the developers are not promised any water connections until sometime in 2024, or until the moratorium is lifted, city documents state. 

“We’re still subject to the moratorium of (Magnolia Crossing) being granted water connections,” Mokos said, noting that the opening of the community is a moving target. 

During the meeting Tuesday, officials approved to extend the moratorium for an additional 120 days. This is the third time officials have extended the moratorium. 

City officials set plans to build additional water wells in this year. While an additional well was expected to be finished in May, more work is needed for the well to be fully operational, Doering said.  

“We don’t want to ramp up (development projects) and then stop,” Doering said. “But I am hoping to see the end of the moratorium.” 

Currently, there are five water wells operating in the city with plans for additional commercial development in the near future, Doering told council members Tuesday.

Once given approval for water connections, developers of the Magnolia Crossing community can start construction immediately, Mokos said.