As 2009 faded in Katy’s rearview mirror, it was clear the area had more positives to show for that troubled year than many other parts of the state and nation.

Whether in old town Katy or the suburban region as a whole, city and community officials were upbeat about the area’s continued development in the year ahead.

In the city of Katy, the budget was tight, but a new municipal court building was almost completed in 2009 and was scheduled for an early 2010 opening. Work to expand and renovate the fire department also is well under way, thanks to bonds approved by Katy voters in 2007.

The city also took bids and was able to begin preliminary work on an overhaul of Avenue D, one of the town’s major north-south thoroughfares

Thanks to a host of local donors and community volunteers, Katy PlayStation Park — the city’s barrier-free playground — opened at 5611 Gardenia in 2009. The four-acre, $820,000 playground is designed to be completely accessible for all children — regardless of physical or cognitive abilities — and was hailed as the largest such playground in the state.

Development continues

Economic development slowed, but continued in 2009, as Katy further diversified its small-town economy. New hotels opened or were under construction near Katy Mills mall in 2009, and infrastructure like water and sewer lines are in the ground for an 87-acre mixed use Katy Main Street project that promises shops, restaurants and a grocery store next year.

Work on the 470-acre West Ten Business Park — for which the city annexed 159 acres in 2009 — continues slowly on Katy’s western edge, said Mayor Don Elder.

“I think the economy slowed a lot of things in 2009,” the mayor observed, pointing to sagging sales-tax revenue. “But we are so much better off than a lot of cities.”

Elsewhere in the greater Katy area, construction on new hospitals along Interstate 10 picked up speed in 2009, along with other projects — like the 225,000-square-foot PathFinder Technology Center under construction near the Grand Parkway and I-10 — that will bring jobs to the area in 2010. PathFinder specializes in logging-while-drilling products and services.

“I think we did better than expected for a recession year,” said Lance LaCour, president and CEO of the Katy Area Economic Development Council. “We have a lot of construction going on with the two hospitals. We’ve located some new restaurants. We’ve got the PathFinder project going on.

“We’re the No. 2 boom town in America, (according to Business Week.) We’re probably No. 1 now that the community that was No. 1 is outside of Las Vegas and they’re not doing so hot now.”

Another 2009 development that LaCour was “very excited” about was the June opening of the $7 million Kraton Polymers New Innovation Center, which moved to Park Row Boulevard. The company renovated a vacant building for its 85,000-square-feet research and development facility, which brought jobs to the area.

LaCour also gives Katy leaders kudos for bringing a Workforce Solutions office back to Katy last year. The new office, which replaces an office closed and consolidated elsewhere, opened in September in Katy Mills mall and provides job search assistance to area residents.

More needed

“I think we’ve seen a small part of the recession, definitely not as pronounced as other parts of the country,” LaCour said. “We’re in pretty good shape, but we need to keep pushing to bring more business to Katy.”

Real estate experts see new economic development fueling what they describe as 2009’s “better than expected” real estate market in the Katy area.
Veronica Mullenix, who represents far west Houston as regional vice president at the Texas Association of Realtors, said 2009 ended with a three- to 3½-month inventory of homes for sale south of I-10 in the Katy area. North of the freeway, homes were sitting on the market an average of about four months, she said.

That’s up from a 2008’s average of five to six months.

“And that’s an incredibly healthy market compared to the rest of the United States, where it might sit on the market for double digits,” said Mullenix.

It all goes back to strong schools and jobs in an area that is weathering the recession and still growing, she said. “If you drive down I-10 and look left and right, you’re going to see it from every overpass. There’s nothing but girders.”