Landowner Pitches 30-Story Towers for Beach

Galveston County Daily News, January 23, 2008
by Leigh Jones

GALVESTON — Beachfront landowner Cory Miner has big dreams for Stewart Beach.

This week, Miner unveiled plans for four 30-story buildings at the end of a boardwalk the Galveston Park Board of Trustees wants to build at the city-owned park.

Miner claims the towers are necessary to entice developers to fund the boardwalk, a public-private partnership the park board covets.

But with mounting opposition to buildings even half that height, Miner’s dream will likely be a tough sell.

Miner, who owns a tract at the end of Avenue L south of Seawall Boulevard, began working on plans for what he calls the Stewart Beach Redevelopment District 18 months ago.

The district stretches from Fourth to 10th streets south of the seawall and includes the city’s Stewart Beach Park and private property owned by Miner and two others — about 60 acres.

The park board revealed its plans to redevelop the Stewart Beach area in October. With city council’s blessing, the group hopes to build a new visitor’s center at the park’s entrance by 2010.

Miner told a meeting of the University Area Association on Monday he could have the entire project, which includes a new park pavilion, retail and restaurant buildings and the hotel and condominium towers built within seven years.

There’s just one catch.

“This has to be a collaborative effort between the city, its citizens and the private sector,” he said. “If not, this project will fail.”

Park board members listened politely to Miner’s presentation on Tuesday, but they didn’t ask him any questions.

Area residents were more inquisitive — and not necessarily in an encouraging way.

Ralph McMorris, who has opposed several recent high-rise projects on the island, asked Miner if he would be willing to sell the property so someone could turn it into a park. Other residents asked why he couldn’t build on the other side of Stewart Beach. They also wanted to know where the people who would work in the proposed hotel would live.

Miner said his plans are not set in stone and he wants people to give him feedback, realizing it could change the project. But he’s adamant he won’t compromise on the height.

“Without the high-rises, this project will never get off the ground,” he said.

Miner commissioned an economic feasibility study to compare his project with the recently approved Marquette Land Investments West End residential development.

While The Preserve at West Beach will create one job per acre during the next 15 years, Miner said his project would create nine jobs. He also said his proposed hotels could bring the city as much as $5.3 million in room tax during the next 15 years.

Miner’s study shows the Stewart Beach district would boost the city’s economy by $388 million during the same period.

And he said he doesn’t need any incentives from local government to make it happen. He even plans to pay for extra police protection with an additional layer of property tax on the new buildings.

Miner said he has no intention of taking his plan through the city’s development process until after the city council has adopted new regulations governing height and density in April.

The property’s current zoning limits him to a three-story building.

But Miner, who purchased his property in 1992, said he’s confident his plan would be best for the whole East End, which he describes as a serious financial disaster.

“Maybe shorter is better, but the reality is that it’s not economically viable,” he said.