Coca-Cola North America recently announced plans to move its Houston-area Minute Maid Business Unit headquarters to Sugar Land Town Square, a project that will bring more than 250 jobs and several million dollars in new capital investment to the City.
The Minute Maid unit will occupy 115,000 square feet of the new 200,000 square-foot, Class A office building currently under construction at 2150 Town Square Place in Sugar Land Town Square directly across from Sugar Land City Hall. To attract the company, Sugar Land offered an incentive package which included a direct cash incentive from the Sugar Land Development Corporation of $240,000 per year for 10 years.
"We are extremely excited by this announcement and look forward to a long and mutually-beneficial relationship with Minute Maid and Coca-Cola North America," said Sugar Land Mayor David G. Wallace. "Coca-Cola and its Houston-based brands like MinuteMaid are internationally recognized names and organizations of exceptional quality with similar core values to our City. They are a great fit and a welcome addition to our community. I thank both Coca-Cola and Planned Community Developers for their consideration and commitment. This project is another great example of how Sugar Land is able to aggressively utilize its economic development resources to create a win-win public private partnership."
"This great new location in Sugar Land will provide our employees with great amenities and a great office environment," said Michael Saint John, Senior Vice President of Coca-Cola North America and General Manager of the Minute Maid Business Unit. "We are looking forward to being a part of the Sugar Land business community. The economic incentives provided by the City of Sugar Land were a key factor in our decision to select this site."
Planned Community Developers is the developer and owner of Town Square and the office building where Minute Maid will relocate.
"Sugar Land Town Square is an excellent corporate home for Coca-Cola North America and other businesses looking for easy transportation access, a strong labor pool and an environment uniquely focused on convenience for its employees," said Les Newton, president of Planned Community Developers. "Town Square is pedestrian centered,with tremendous dining and shopping options."
Minute Maid will occupy 56 percent of the new office building.
About Coca-Cola North America
Coca-Cola North America is a unit of The Coca-Cola Company, the world's largest beverage company. Along with Coca-Cola, recognized as the world's most valuable brand, the Company markets four of the world's top five nonalcoholic sparkling beverage brands, including Diet Coke, Fanta and Sprite, and a wide range of other beverages, including diet and light beverages, waters, juices and juice drinks, teas, coffees, energy and sports drinks. Through the world's largest beverage distribution system, consumers in more than 200 countries enjoy the Company's beverages at a rate exceeding 1.4 billion servings each day. For more information about TheCoca-Cola Company, please visit our website atwww.thecoca-colacompany.com.
About Planned Community Developers, Ltd.
Planned Community Developers, Ltd. (PCD) is the developer of the 9,700-acre First Colony master-planned community in Sugar Land, Texas, located southwest of Houston. PCD is also currently developing two other major projects: River's Edge, a new 370-acre community in Richmond, Texas and Lake Pointe Town Center, a 190-acre, mixed-use development at the intersection of U.S. 59 and Highway 6. PCD continues to oversee the phased development of the 32-acre Sugar Land Town Square, located at the intersection of U.S. 59 and Highway 6. Phase One of Town Square is complete and includes a 300-room full-service Marriott hotel and conference center, a new 82,000 square-foot City Hall for Sugar Land, 167 mid-rise residential condos, 200,000 square feet of office space, 200,000 square feet of upscale Main Street retail and restaurants and a 1.4-acre pedestrian plaza. The next phases of development will include an additional 188,000 square feet of Class A office space and 50,000 square feet of retail space and is projected to be complete within 18 months.
About Sugar Land
Located in the southwest portion of the Houston MSA, Sugar Land's economic development initiatives have made it one of the fastest growing cities in Texas and consistently selected as one of the nation's top communities to live and work. Sugar Land's favorable business climate touts a highly-educated workforce, a corporate-focused airport and over three million square feet of Class A office space in its central business district. The City has invested over $90 million in economic development funds on projects and business incentives since 1993. Sugar Land's economic development initiatives and programs over the past eight years have created more than 2,800 new and 500 retained jobs and more than $600 million in new capital investment. This successful program earned Sugar Land the ranking of second in the nation for future job growth for the next five years (2006 to 2010) by
