In a broad sense, the new Imperial master-planned development in Sugar Land mimics the subdivisions around it. Luxury homes under construction line clean, wide streets. Fountains shoot water from otherwise placid ponds. The city's ubiquitous crown logo, a symbol of locally based Imperial Sugar, is a familiar sight around the development, too. This is, after all, the former home of the company's refinery, the one-time lifeblood of the community that put this town on the map.

But among the suburban sameness, a new commercial development there is poised to embrace the city's past and offer a uniqueness that developers say will set it apart from the "town centers" and "mixed-use developments" in other Houston suburbs.

"Anyone can build a shopping center on a number of sites in Houston," said Geoffrey Jones, one of the developers of the project, Imperial Market. "This is not just a shopping center site."

The historic structures of the now-shuttered refinery will be restored and reused as signature features of the development, which will include upscale shopping and dining, along with a hotel, high-end office space and apartments. The Fort Bend Discovery Center and Sugar Land Heritage Foundation Museum will also be part of the project.

The long-awaited redevelopment of the property will be the commercial hub of the 720-acre Imperial community.

Construction is in full swing in Imperial, where luxury homes and upscale apartments are rising on land that is now owned by a partnership between the state's General Land Office and Cherokee Investment Partners. Its residential neighborhoods will eventually include nearly 2,000 new homes.

"It's been very well received by the community," said Doug Goff, chief operating officer of Houston-based Johnson Development, Imperial's development manager. "The homes are selling at record pace and at great pricing."

Spring 2017 opening

Construction on Imperial Market could begin by year-end. The opening is slated for spring 2017.

Imperial Market, along the banks of Oyster Creek, will have 269,600 square feet of retail and restaurant space, some of which will be located in Imperial Sugar's old three-bay warehouse.

The eight-story char house, built in 1925, will become a 120-room Aloft Hotel, part of a Starwood-owned chain of boutique hotels. An adjacent building with 10,000 square feet of conference space with a fitness center will also be developed.

Imperial's iconic twin smokestacks will be restored and relocated to a central green space, serving as the project's focal point. The recently restored water tower, the tallest west of the Mississippi River when it was built in 1924, will be another landmark - as will Imperial's old sugar storage silos, which will be preserved and repurposed, possibly for restaurant space at the ground level. New structures will house 86,400 square feet of office space above first-floor retail, and 275 luxury apartments to be developed by Houston-based Sueba USA.

Imperial Market will operate a trolley service that stops in Imperial's residential neighborhoods, at Constellation Field, the home of the Sugar Land Skeeters baseball club, and at the adjacent headquarters of major employer Nalco Champion.

Borrow from the best

The developers say they borrowed the best elements from other local lifestyle and mixed-use centers, including LaCenterra in Katy, CityCentre in west Houston, Market Street in The Woodlands and Pearland Town Center.

The historic nature of the site off U.S. 90 near Texas 6 will distinguish the project from others, co-developer James Murnane said.

"If you're at CityCentre or Market Street in The Woodlands, they are great, but to a degree you could almost be anywhere," he said. "When you're at Imperial Market, that's the only place you could be that looks like this."

Mayor's support

The plans for Imperial Market are subject to approval by Sugar Land's Planning & Zoning Department, but Mayor James Thompson said he "enthusiastically supports the project."

"It's a real game changer for the city and Fort Bend County," Thompson said in a statement.

Imperial Market has been designed by the HOK architectural firm and will be constructed by Harvey Builders.

The project budget is around $160 million, according to the developers, who plan to finance it through a combination of historic tax credits, a contribution from the area's tax increment reinvestment zone, developer equity and traditional bank financing.

Jones and Murnane negotiated an agreement to buy the land for Imperial Market, about 26 acres, in November. The closing is scheduled for the end of the year. The developers will sell the char house for the hotel project as well as the multifamily parcel, but they will own and develop the retail portion themselves.

"Johnson set the table with the 720-acre master-planned community and waited for a developer who shared their vision for the site. Our visions matched," said Jones, who co-developed downtown's Houston Pavilions, which was later sold and renamed GreenStreet.

Murnane's background is in banking. He ran the former North Houston Bank, which financed the redevelopment of historic buildings downtown, as well as construction of Houston Pavilions.

Jones said he has been familiar with the old Imperial refinery for many years. He used to visit friends who lived nearby when it was still operating.

"It struck me of being this magnificent thing," he said. "You could see it from miles around."