3 min read February 2024 — Invest: spoke with Josh Hawes, executive director of the Spring Branch Management District, to discuss how the area has evolved into one of Houston’s most unique neighborhoods, blending resilience with innovation to bring in new business. “This will continue to be a hotspot for investment,” he said.
What have been your key takeaways from the past year?
Our focus has been on new businesses and new development in the area. When the pandemic happened, a lot of businesses had closed throughout the city. But in Spring Branch, we were seeing the opposite, with many businesses and restaurants opening up. A lot of our businesses aren’t franchised, so a lot of these mom-and-pop shops have just exploded in this area. Christine Ha, who is a winner of the MasterChef television show, moved to Spring Branch and has since opened two restaurants because of how much she loves it here. We’re seeing a lot of stories like that.
There are a lot of small, independent restaurants and wine bars that are popping up because it’s such a vibrant part of the city. Many businesses are moving from overbuilt neighborhoods to set up shop here, and it’s been a benefit across the board. It’s a hot area for residential development as well and we’re seeing more gated communities being built here.
How has Spring Branch evolved over the years?
When the district started off almost 20 years ago, Spring Branch had major issues, including prostitution and drug trafficking. The fundamental strategy was to clean the area up and now it’s one of the safest areas in Houston. We’ve added plantings and branded street signs to convince more residents to move into the area, because that’s the only way to bring in more businesses. Now we’re in the phase of bringing in a diversity of businesses like coffee shops and wine bars.
We’ve also completed phase one of our hike and bike trail, which will connect White Oak Bayou to Addicks Reservoir. Phase two kicks off in 2024 and phase three is currently in design. We’re also working on renovations and redesigns of Haden Park while partnering with our sister city Ulsan, South Korea, which is donating a pagoda to install in the park. We see this as the type of quality of life we want to grow in Spring Branch to continue attracting more business and people to the area.
How is Spring Branch improving access to the neighborhood?
Our tagline is that we’re the heart of Houston because we’re so centrally located. Our western boundary is the beltway, the southern boundary is I-10, and the eastern boundary is Hempstead, which will be home to a new high-speed rail. That makes it easy for people to get to us and we’re looking for all types of ways to improve mobility any way we can. We’re not just looking at vehicular traffic, but strategizing how we can continue to improve walkability and bike lanes.
What industries have been booming in Spring Branch?
We’re seeing the most growth with our restaurants. Any time there is a new restaurant, we immediately promote them through social media and host special events to guide their opening. We have a strip center that has been redeveloped. It previously had only two restaurants, but now it’s home to a number of diverse eateries, from sushi to barbecue to Mexican. We’re also seeing other types of business open up, such as car washes and small boutique grocery stores, which add to the variety and value of the area. We truly welcome new ideas for any business and we have a team on staff to engage those ideas. Ten years ago, we had nothing like that, but today there are innovative new things opening up all the time.
What are some of the issues that Spring Branch is responding to?
The district was created for the purpose of economic development and stabilizing public safety. We have a partnership with the Harris County District Attorney’s office for nuisance abatement, which is why we have zero game rooms in this district. Issues like labor constraints and especially homelessness have touched many parts of the city, and we are proactive in coming up with solutions to mitigate these issues. It’s an example of how we coordinate with the city and county to improve the area. We’re here to solve problems because that is how we can encourage more positive growth for everyone in the district and city.
What is your outlook over the next three years?
Over the next three years, this part of the city will expand quickly. This is an all-new type of neighborhood and people are flocking here because of the businesses moving in and the redevelopment happening. This will continue to be a hotspot for investment. We will continue to prioritize public safety, which is all about vigilance. This will augment the growth of our park connections and economic development, because it ties into everything else. People will not only want to shop and eat here, but they’ll want to live here. We want everyone south of I-10 to move north, right into Spring Branch, where people can shop, dine, and live. We embrace our diversity and it will drive our growth moving forward, because it’s just who we are. I’m excited for what the future will bring for Spring Branch and Greater Houston.
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