It has been a long time coming, but the final rendering of designs and concept plans for the Imperial Project were made public in May. “It is has really been a fun project and everyone is very excited about this neat historic area,” says Jim Cheney, Vice President of Southern Land Company.

In May 2008, the development team presented a very specific design and concept plan to the public and the City of Sugar Land. This presentation identified specific thoughts for the layout of the entire neighborhood. The development team’s philosophy takes a distinct departure from current development strategies, relying on traditional neighborhood designs found in more established neighborhoods around the Houston area. Cheney said the team spent a great deal of time touring the older neighborhoods in Houston, such as River Oaks as well as the actual old neighborhoods adjacent to the Sugar Factory.

“It is a painstaking process but we wanted to make sure we stuck to the older, historic design. We studied architecture and other things associated with the older, more established neighborhoods and are planning on such things as front porches rather than just simply looking at square footage,” Cheney noted.

The May presentation addressed a number of issues including zoning systems, setbacks building types, circulation, opens spaces, business districts, Oyster Creek buffering, and a city park site.

The history of the project goes back to September of 2007, when the development team of Cherokee Investment Partners and Southern Land Company, Inc. held a week long design workshop (known in development circles as a charrette) in Sugar Land. The purpose of the charrette was to determine the future of more than 600 acres of property in the heart of Sugar Land - a portion of which formerly belonged to the Imperial Sugar Company.

Over the course of the week, town planners, architects, development professionals and city officials worked through the logistics of creating a new community that would “embrace the traditions of this historic region, while propelling Sugar Land into its next evolution as an economic and cultural leader in Texas.” Cheney said.

At the forefront of the design strategy were issues of sustainability and preservation. Both the structures on the Imperial Sugar site and the natural amenities such as Oyster Creek were considered paramount in the overall community design. The conceptual components of the project include single-family homes, commercial and retail properties. At the core of the community, the development team planned an entertainment district that would play a vital role in the energy and long-term viability of the community.

Public input has played a very vital role in determining how to create this challenging new community with the ambiance and simplicity of the old mixed in.

On three different occasions during the charrette, the public was invited in to offer their thoughts and opinions about the project. “Sugar Land and Fort Bend residents are fiercely proud of their heritage, so it was no surprise that the dialogue was energetic and full of creative ideas and suggestions. The residents also assisted the development team by identifying existing challenges with infrastructure. Overall, the charrette was a tremendous success, and boosted the development team’s vision to an entire new level of innovation,” Cheney explained.

In January 2008, the development team returned to Sugar Land to present the master plan to the public and the City of Sugar Land. The master plan that was drafted at the charrette and the master plan that was unveiled at the January meeting were virtually identical; confirming the success of the original design that was influenced so heavily by the residents of the area. The January meeting also provided an overview of the environmental remediation work that began in March 2008

Finally, in April 2008, the development team hosted a third charrette in Sugar Land. The purpose of this session was to program the commercial and entertainment districts, and to focus on the feasibility of preserving as many Imperial Sugar structures as possible. The duration of this charrette was shorter than the first, but what it lacked in time, it made up for with intensity, Cheney said.

Public discussions in April included the identification of open space uses within the project; the retail and commercial needs for that particular part of Sugar Land; and traffic circulation outside and within the new community. The target for the commercial and entertainment district was to build an active, diverse destination that would support not only the new residential neighborhoods, but also the existing, historic neighborhoods that grew in the wake of Imperial’s international growth throughout the 20th century.