Ground Breaking Ceremony

Sugar Land Breaks Ground on Live Entertainment Venue Sugar Land Breaks Ground on Live Entertainment Venue Sugar Land, TX - Construction of Sugar Land’s live entertainment venue began today with a formal groundbreaking southeast of U.S. Highway 59 and University Boulevard. Completion is expected in the fall of 2016. Joining Sugar Land City Council at the event were ACE Theatrical Group, the City’s partner in the development; Martinez+Johnson Architecture; Linbeck Group, LLC, the construction manager; and many other project partners. The live entertainment venue is located on a portion of 38.5 acres of City property that will provide unique destination activities and anchor a mixed-used development envisioned to include retail, office, residential, commercial and entertainment surrounding a vibrant public plaza – an environment that will be attractive to major corporations, residents and visitors. “This project will not only change the landscape of Sugar Land, but the entire metropolitan region,” said Mayor James Thompson. “We are building a facility unlike any other – one that will bring jobs, entertainment and, most importantly, tourism dollars that will support the economic strength of our region, making Sugar Land a destination for culture and entertainment in accordance with a long-held vision of our citizens and City Council.” As one of the most flexible and advanced indoor performance venues in the nation, it’s expected to set a new standard in the touring industry and change the entertainment landscape in the “Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land” metro region. Through the use of innovative moveable walls, Sugar Land’s facility will literally expand and contract to create intimate settings of approximately 3,300 to larger shows of over 6,400 – capable of hosting a wide range of performances, including national music and comedy artists, children’s and family entertainment, theatrically staged productions and cultural and performing arts attractions. Sugar Land partnered with ACE SL, LLC (ACE) to design and construct the state-of-the-art facility. ACE, whose parent company is ACE Theatrical Group, brings an experienced team of locally-based entertainment industry professionals to the project, led by Allen J. Becker, TONY Award-winning founding chairman of PACE Entertainment Corporation. The ACE executive team also includes Brian E. Becker, Gary D. Becker, David M. Anderson, Gary A. Markowitz and Kirk B. Feldmann. Together, they offer more than 175 years of experience and success in local, national and international entertainment ventures, including pioneering the development of new music and theatrical venues, as well as the entertainment to fill them. “This new performance venue will allow residents of Sugar Land and the surrounding area to experience a level of live entertainment that until now has not been available,” said ACE Theatrical Group Chairman Allen Becker. “Bringing a first class cultural entertainment venue to the City of Sugar Land is an exciting opportunity, and ACE is grateful to be a part of the project from the start.” Based on voters’ approval of the financing tools in 2008 and the City’s goal to create a financially feasible, operationally self-sustaining facility, the indoor performance venue will be funded through a unique package of special funding sources. The City’s partner, ACE, made a $10-million equity contribution to the project. A portion of sales tax revenues that may only be used for economic development purposes and a portion of hotel occupancy tax funds that are restricted to tourism initiatives will be dedicated to the project. In addition, substantial rent revenues generated by the facility and paid by ACE will also fund the performance venue. The project has a total construction budget of approximately $84 million, including the Construction Manager at Risk contract recently awarded to Linbeck Group, LLC. No general fund tax dollars will be spent on the project that is expected to create an iconic venue for the region and projected to provide an annual benefit to the community of $26.1 million over 30 years. Photo Caption: Pictured (L-R)at the groundbreaking event are Tommy Cole and Michael Johnson, both of Linbeck Group, LLC; Mike Goodrum and Jim Callaway, both of the City of Sugar Land; David Stueckler and Craig Fredrickson, both of Linbeck Group, LLC; Jennifer May and Christopher Steubing, both of the City of Sugar Land; Joe Zimmerman, Steve Porter, Himesh Gandhi, Bridget Yeung, Harish Jajoo, Amy Mitchell and James Thompson, members of Sugar Land City Council; Allen Becker, David Anderson and Gary Becker, all of ACE Theatrical Group; Allen Bogard, of the City of Sugar Land; Sunni Markowitz, Gary Markowitz and Kirk Feldmann, all of ACE Theatrical Group; Gary Martinez, of Martinez+Johnson Architecture; and Adam Ball and Louis Gurwitch, both of ACE Theatrical Group.