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Midway plans 'transformative' project east of downtown

One of the city's most prominent developers on Wednesday will give investors a look at early plans for the former KBR site, a 147-acre tract with water and skyscraper views that could be transformative for the traditionally working-class East End.

"This is generational real estate," Jonathan Brinsden, CEO of Midway, the company behind CityCentre and other high-profile projects, told the Chronicle in an exclusive preview of the project. "It will shift the center of gravity of Houston's urban core toward the east."

The abandoned office and industrial complex offers an opportunity most developers only dream of — a huge plot of mostly vacant land, a blank canvas on which to design and build a community for thousands. Specific details are still being determined, but it ultimately could be as large as 8 million square feet of shops, offices and entertainment venues. Over time, the investment could reach the billions.

Midway, which is developing the site in a joint venture, will discuss the project during its annual investor conference in the high-end hotel on the grounds of the company's CityCentre development in west Houston. For comparison sake, the new project could be as large as four CityCentres combined.

Keeping in mind the amount of planning and marketing yet to be done, and acknowledging the current challenge developers have financing large-scale projects during the energy downturn, Brindsen said he is taking a long-term view. Midway hopes to start on the project within a couple of years, building it in phases over perhaps a decade and a half.

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