CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Whitecap Preserve project is underway, and when driving down Aquarius Street on Padre Island, you can’t really miss it.
Although it serves many purposes, one of the major improvements will be tying all of the canals on the island together.
"They’ve got most of the canals already dug," said District 4 councilman Greg Smith. "They are working on bulkheading right now. So, in the next 4-to-6 months, all the canals and bulkheads will be in.”
Smith said the $8-million master plan will include more than 600 residential lots, and an additional 50 acres for commercial and natural uses.
"People will be able to kayak, paddleboard, make it a more fun environment," he said. "It’s going to really help the water quality in the existing canals. We are going to have a lot more water coming from the Gulf of Mexico. It’s a real win-win project."
Houston-based Ashlar Development is heading up the project, and said the canal development and landscape is nearing 75 percent completion. Now the company is working on the improvement side of things.
Four home types are in the pipeline, said Arnold Seitel, the founder of Strategyst LLC. The company is helping sell and market the development.
"We know we will eventually have a hotel, and retail center and more of a town center”, he said.
Four more still are in the design process.
"There’s nothing that will be done at the blink of the eye," he said. "We have to review it go over it. From the owners from diamond beach holdings permission and stuff like that."
They predict the project will take 6-10 years to complete.