In a marathon eight-hour session Monday, the Liberty County Development Authority considered — among other topics — how to cut back on the design of the Tradeport East park entrance.
Preliminary plans were for a $3.5 million project including signage and landscaping that was intended to make a statement about the quality of the park. Three 40-foot tall obelisks were sketched, the central one atop a brick sign with interior lighting.
The planned entrance treatment off Islands Highway requires more space than the authority owns, and the LCDA has been negotiating with the Foram Group that owns the adjoining land.
Six months have gone by, no agreement with Foram has been reached and the authority’s CEO, Ron Tolley, said, “We are already well behind in what our agreement with IDI calls for us to do.”
IDI is constructing warehouses at TPE and considers itself the park’s primary tenant.
IDI is already offering warehouses under construction to prospective buyers. It has provided design services for the park entrance because of its interest in partnering in a first-class facility.
Monday designers proposed a temporary landscaping plan using only the median of the four-lane road entering the park. The central obelisk and brick sign can be erected there without additional property.
More land will be available when the county completes purchase of a 30-foot wide strip of right-of-way for the widening of Islands Highway at the park entrance.
There is also an easement for a sewer main parallel to Islands Highway which might be used for planting or placement of hardscape.
But the expert group examining maps and drawings Monday found that the Foram Group apparently still owns and controls a five-foot wide strip between the right-of-way and the easement. That is still under study.
Preliminary plans were for a $3.5 million project including signage and landscaping that was intended to make a statement about the quality of the park. Three 40-foot tall obelisks were sketched, the central one atop a brick sign with interior lighting.
The planned entrance treatment off Islands Highway requires more space than the authority owns, and the LCDA has been negotiating with the Foram Group that owns the adjoining land.
Six months have gone by, no agreement with Foram has been reached and the authority’s CEO, Ron Tolley, said, “We are already well behind in what our agreement with IDI calls for us to do.”
IDI is constructing warehouses at TPE and considers itself the park’s primary tenant.
IDI is already offering warehouses under construction to prospective buyers. It has provided design services for the park entrance because of its interest in partnering in a first-class facility.
Monday designers proposed a temporary landscaping plan using only the median of the four-lane road entering the park. The central obelisk and brick sign can be erected there without additional property.
More land will be available when the county completes purchase of a 30-foot wide strip of right-of-way for the widening of Islands Highway at the park entrance.
There is also an easement for a sewer main parallel to Islands Highway which might be used for planting or placement of hardscape.
But the expert group examining maps and drawings Monday found that the Foram Group apparently still owns and controls a five-foot wide strip between the right-of-way and the easement. That is still under study.