The Grand Parkway is one of the most important aspects of launching Springwoods Village, CDC Houston SVP Keith Simon tells us. (Above, we snapped him with Walter P Moores Charlie Penland and Genslers Rives Taylor.) CDC bought its 1,800 acres at the Grand Parkway and I-45 in 1961 and has been talking with the Grand Parkway team since its conception. (Talk about patience!) Similar to Valley Ranch, Springwoods Village will include 8.5M SF of office space, 1.2M SF of retail, hotels, single-family homes, a mixed-use town center, a Spring ISD elementary school, a regional medical center, and a 150-acre nature preserve.

Keith says the Grand Parkway was critical to Exxons decision to relocate into Springwoods Village (we starred its campus in the site, you can't imagine how much paint it took), and hes confident other employers will feel the same. CDC donated 130 acres to the Grand Parkway to make it cheaper and as it builds detention ponds, its donating the dirt to TxDOT, saving both groups millions of dollars. Keith says Springwoods is nearly done the first phase of infrastructure construction, and he hopes to have residents living there by the end of the year. Exxon starts moving in Q2 14, and he predicts Springwoods will boast 12,000 employees and 1,500 residents by mid-2015. Keep your eyes peeled for some big announcements soon, including hotel, medical, and office projects.