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Council gives conditional approval to two Old Town façade grants for restaurants and meeting space
Summary
Council granted conditional approval to two Old Town façade improvement grant applications: a roughly $227,398 renovation for a Market Street building from Teresa Latsis (eligible for up to $50,000) and a $53,000 improvement for the Tomball Social House (eligible for up to $40,000). Both were approved on first reading, subject to final approval at subsequent readings.
The Tomball City Council gave conditional approval on Feb. 2 to two Old Town façade improvement grants aimed at revitalizing downtown storefronts.
The first request came from Teresa Latsis (identified as the applicant for a family business separate from the Hudson Group) for improvements to a roughly 1,900‑square‑foot building at 209 Market Street. The project includes a 765‑square‑foot rear addition to house a commercial kitchen and interior/exterior upgrades. Staff reported total eligible interior costs of about $129,000 and eligible exterior costs near $98,000, for a total owner project investment of $227,398; projects scoring between 46 and 60 in the program are eligible for up to $50,000 under the façade program. The business retention and expansion committee had conditionally approved the project earlier and recommended final approval by council via two readings.
The second applicant, Tomball Social House (owner Peter Warner), sought assistance to convert an existing accessory building into a private event and meeting space and to improve the main building at 209 Fannin Street. Total improvement cost is $53,000, with $27,000 interior and $25,000 eligible exterior costs; the committee conditionally approved the project (score 45) and it was deemed eligible for up to $40,000.
Both items had motions, discussion, brief applicant remarks (Teresa Latsis described the planned restaurant and use of public parking across the street), and were approved by council on first reading with motions recorded "Motion carries 5 0." Staff reminded applicants that conditional approval enables them to move forward at their own risk and does not guarantee final funding until council's final action.
