Project puts tiny Texas town on the map

Cleveland Mayor Otis Cohn (right) talks with Zhao Yuhai (center), chairman of Dalian Yihai Group Company and McKinley Development Company, at Grand Oak Reserve’s kick-off ceremony on Wednesday at Cleveland City Hall. MAY ZHOU / CHINA DAILY

One thing Texas has got is room to grow.

A ceremony on Wednesday celebrating the launch of a new real estate development was aptly called "Building the Future" and for good reason - the Grand Oak Reserve, encompassing 615 acres in the town of Cleveland, Texas, is the first of its kind in the history of this small city 45 miles northeast of Houston.

The town of 8,000 is looking forward to a brighter future with this project leading the way.

Developed by McKinley Development Company, Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dalian Yihai Group Company of China, it's part of an investment by McKinley consisting of several major projects both residential and commercial to the north of Houston.

Grand Oak Reserve represents Cleveland's first master-planned neighborhood. With 30-plus acres of retail, professional and service establishments, the community will offer 976 single-family homes plus condo and apartment complexes.

Spread around the community are nine neighborhood parks with playgrounds, a dog park, a nine-hole golf course and a 39-acre man-made lake surrounded by walking trails that lead to a waterfall, gazebo and tennis and basketball courts.

A 32,000-square-foot community center will house a golf pro shop, restaurant, outdoor gathering places, meeting rooms, pool house, fitness center, and a resort-style aquatics center.

Cleveland Mayor Otis Cohn compared the Grand Oak Reserve to the first strike of a foreseeable gold rush for the city. As Houston is continuing to grow and expand, the trend is going north.

"I appreciate the McKinley group's faith in us and taking a gamble with us, but someone has to throw the first dice. I don't think it's too much of a gamble though - the growth is heading this way," said Cohn.

Cohn said that lack of good housing has kept investors away in the past and this project would change that. "The median income in Cleveland is not high and the project's impact on Cleveland will be huge. It will raise the median income. We will have nice housing which will draw a lot more people," Cohn said.

Jack Gong, executive vice-president at McKinley and the driving force behind the development, said that newly established interstate highway 69 (which passes through Cleveland), the predicted population growth, lack of modern housing in the area and the local government's incentive policy are the key elements that attracted the company to the investment.

The City of Cleveland and Liberty County have worked together to create a tax increment reinvestment zone (TIRZ) for the project to allow McKinley to recover costs associated with infrastructure construction - roads, water and electricity - over a 25 year period.

"TIRZ is a win-win," said Mayor Cohn. "The land of Grand Oak Reserves was agricultural. With the dairy exemption, the annual tax was only some $700. After the development is finished, can you imagine how much tax it will be?"

Zhao Yuhai, chairman of Dalian Yihai and McKinley, said he picked Cleveland after careful consideration. "It's also part of our strategic deployment. This is Yihai's first overseas project. We hope to have a good beginning. Houston is still developing and this area with a sparse population has great growth potential. I am confident we are going to do well."

Zhao founded Yihai in 2000. The company's core business in China includes construction, glass manufacturing and real estate. He established McKinley in 2015 in Houston.

Consul General of China Li Qiangmin said this project is a good model of China-US cooperation. "When this project is successful, it will help to attract more projects from China," Li said.

mayzhou@chinadailyusa.com