Telfair was the last remaining large land tract for commercial and residential development in the City of Sugar Land. It was vital to work with the City of Sugar Land Mayor, Council, and staff to produce a final product that the City and the public could be proud of. The goal of this project was to create a community with a unique character that connected people and provided both living and entertainment options for residents. The plan and design was multi-layered in that there was a combination of residential housing with specific architectural
requirements, a specific landscape theme with guidelines and style unique to this project, and commercial guidelines established to provide uniformity of the landscape and architecture while allowing commercial facilities to preserve some of their individual character.

The $250 million budget was broken into multiple phases/smaller projects, and budgets were tracked individually. Each year, our team coordinated across multiple project disciplines to set a budget. The budget was updated quarterly, paying close attention to opportunities to apply creative solutions that best fit the goals for the project. We clearly communicated the budget updates to maintain expectations for the stakeholders. We integrated all the phases and systems together in an excel budget tracking spreadsheet. This allowed us to track an enormous amount of information in an easy-to-use format. Our team managed multiple constructions contracts simultaneously, requiring diligent coordination. Due to the project location and the anticipated residential sales projections for the community, the initial phase of construction was quite large and unique.

The initial phase for the project entailed design and construction approximately $72 million of infrastructure, architectural features and landscaping, including a levee and pump station surrounding the tract with a landscaped lake/drainage system including a trail system, two $3 million architecturally enhanced bridges, three miles of collector roads with landscaping, internal parks, and a $1.2 million sales and information center In any given phase of the project, our team included multiple outside consultants.
We communicated and met regularly to establish continuity of leadership and seamless coordination. Each area of activity provided regular status reports and meetings were held at all levels. Project leaders kept in constant communication to ensure that all parties were updated throughout the project.
Being a long-term project (8-10 years) the budget posed a challenge, but through proper planning and accounting for inflation on construction costs and managing sales revenues, we were able to manage the budget and respond to market changes. Plans for delivering and selling products long-term change often, and with that come a multitude of challenges that can affect the timing of the overall project. When faced with a challenge, our team evaluated all possible solutions from the standpoint of cost, long-term effectiveness, and benefits as related to the overall project goal.