For some in Sugar Land, apartments leave a sour taste

Resident Ron Meisinger speaks to the Sugar Land City Council during a public hearing in protest of the city's Planning and Zoning commission modified version of the developer's proposal on the old Imperial Sugar factory property on Monday April 2, 2012 in Sugar Land, TX. More than 2,000 residents have signed a petition against it. ( J. Patric Schneider / For the Chronicle ) less Resident Ron Meisinger speaks to the Sugar Land City Council during a public hearing in protest of the city's Planning and Zoning commission modified version of the developer's proposal on the old Imperial ... more Photo: J. Patric Schneider Photo: J. Patric Schneider Image 1 of / 14 Caption Close For some in Sugar Land, apartments leave a sour taste 1 / 14 Back to Gallery

SUGAR LAND — Once a sleepy sugar plantation turned tranquil suburb, Sugar Land has exploded into a vibrant city, complete with a minor-league baseball stadium, museums, a university campus, the Southwest's top corporate airport and a walkable city center.

The city's transformation over the past decade persuaded Matt Phillips, a 36-year-old real estate broker, to move his family from Houston back to his hometown.

"When I lived here, I had to go to Houston for everything," Phillips said. "Now I only go to Houston for work."

The planned development of the city's last piece of open land would turn the abandoned Imperial Sugar site - the very genesis of the city - into an $800 million urban space with museums, parks, luxury apartments, restaurants and a theater.

"It represents our evolution," said Doug Adolph, a city spokesman, "where we've been and where we're going."

Yet the project has stirred vocal and passionate opposition. More than 2,000 residents signed a petition against part of the plan and homeowners formed a committee - complete with study groups, a website and an email distribution list - to track the project's progress since 2007, fighting various components. Tuesday, before the City Council tentatively approved the project, many among the crowd of about 150 residents voiced emotional appeals against it.

The crux of their opposition: No more apartments.

"The success we've had in Sugar Land is because people own their own homes," said Bud Friedman, 68, a real estate business owner and co-chair of the Imperial Redevelopment Committee. "They are trying to change Sugar Land into something that it has not been and something that we do not want it to become."

Fear of decline

Added Scott Cole, 47, a marketing executive and co-chair of the committee: "People are very happy with the fact that we're a suburban community, one that is not synonymous with an urban lifestyle."

Mikie Groscurth, a 61-year-old retired teacher with the Alief Independent School District, said she watched that suburb decline due to "overbuilding of apartments."

"They add a transient nature," she said. "It's not politically correct to say what I'm saying, but it's fact."

Such ideas are largely incorrect, said Peter Brown, a former Houston City Council member, architect and urban planner. Though some areas of Houston, such as Gulfton, have an "almost bizarre concentration of apartments," a town devoid of apartments "simply doesn't make any sense," Brown said.

'No to growth'

Renters are emerging as a growing share of the housing market, experts say, and Sugar Land will need apartments to continue attracting businesses.

"Saying no to apartments means saying no to growth," said David Crossley, president of Houston Tomorrow, a nonprofit focused on urban issues. "It means you don't want your children when they get out of college to live in your community."

Passionate mobilization against apartments is common across the nation, said Mike Saint, head of the Tennessee-based Saint Consulting Group, which advises developers on responding to neighborhood opposition.

Polls by Saint's company show that people associate apartments with crime, traffic and lower property values.

But he found that 79 percent of Americans want nothing new in their community at all - even if, in principle, they support the idea of growth.

"They say, 'I like it but here's not a good place for it,' " Saint said.

At Imperial, the plan calls for the construction of 325 high-end apartments in the historic center, which would be built only after another section of 300 apartments in the ball park area had reached 75 percent occupancy.

Town Square model

The development is modeled on what's viewed as the largely successful Sugar Land Town Square, where condos are nestled between shops and restaurants, "except more high end," said Shay Shafie, general manager for Johnson Development, which is heading the new project.

Adolph, the city spokesman, pointed out that Sugar Land, population about 80,000, has a very low density of apartments. About 2,000 multi-family units, including condos, make up about 9 percent of the city's total household units, he said.

"When you look at what the market can bear for apartments, it's about 20-30 percent," he said. "We're never going to get to that point."

As Phillips, the real estate broker, walked through Town Square, he pointed at children playing in the fountains and couples dining at nearby restaurants.

"I don't see anyone complaining about the urban lifestyle here," he said. "This place is packed on weekends."

lomi.kriel@chron.com