Fidelis: Final mall demolition underway
June 18, 2022
The remnants of the old San Jacinto Mall are about to be demolished, the property’s owners said. Afterward, the construction of the long-awaited San Jacinto Marketplace will then begin to take place.
“Demolition is currently underway,” Stacey Matejka, spokeswoman for Fidelis Realty Partners, the owners of the property where the old mall sits. “We’re in the environmental and remediation phases.”
Matejka said Fidelis plans to meet with the city soon to discuss moving forward with bidding and commencing the demolition phase. Matejka added people will be able to see progress on the new mall.“Right now, it’s all happening behind the scenes, so to speak,” she said.
The city’s public affairs office has provided its own update on the Baytown website, www.baytown.org.
“This has been a process seven years in the making and all parties involved want to get the project right,” city officials stated. “The city’s goal is to be transparent while protecting the integrity of the possible agreement.”
The city says it is collaborating with Fidelis on a new economic development agreement.
“The agreement will emphasize the use of sales tax rebates to incentivize the highest quality of development possible,” city officials stated.
The agreement is slated to take the place of the current agreement, initially created and approved in 2015.
The city said changes in the agreement needed to happen because of market changes during the past seven years and project scope modifications.
The new agreement is being reviewed by the city’s legal team and is expected to be submitted to Fidelis for a final review.
City officials say this should happen by the end of this month.
Then, council will receive the agreement and take it under consideration within the next month, according to the city.
Additionally, the agreement will not stop Fidelis from demolishing the mall remnants, which now consist of the old JCPenney’s and Macy’s.