Three years after Satya Inc. announced development plans for a luxury condominium project in Galveston, it finally has a groundbreaking date.
Construction for Tiara on the Beach, at 10525 San Luis Pass Road, is set to start on Dec. 6, a spokesperson for the company confirmed.
The Galveston County Daily News first reported on the groundbreaking plans, adding that the long wait stems from the difficulty obtaining a building permit from the city.
In May, Satya Inc. CEO Sunny Bathija had told the Houston Business Journal that he was hoping to start construction in June. Before that, the hope was to start late last year after initially aiming for late 2022. Satya acquired the 2.86-acre property in 2020.
However, the city of Galveston did not approve the final permits until last week.
Aside from the city’s permits, the project also required permits from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Aviation Administration because the 10-story condo tower is near Scholes international Airport, Bathija previously said.
The final city permits came after the Galveston City Council last month approved changes to beachfront construction rules to allow use of reinforced concrete within 200 feet of the vegetation line.
Part of the amendment to the Galveston Beach Access and Dune Protection Plan includes a variance for Tiara’s pool deck area, which accounts for 30% of the overall development, according to city documents.
Bathija declined to comment before the groundbreaking. When he was anticipating construction would start in June, he expected to complete the condos by the end of next year.
Earlier this year, Satya received a $100 million loan from Laredo-based International Bank of Commerce for the $130 million development.
The building will have 63 one- to three-bedroom units ranging from 1,661 to 4,306 square feet, each with 10- to 11-foot ceilings. Six of the floors will have nine units each, and there will be seven penthouses on the 10th floor as well as two “penterras” on the third.
Units will feature wood-inspired and porcelain tile flooring, quartz countertops, gourmet kitchens with Thermador and Gagganeau appliances, and Italian soft-closure cabinetry.
Amenities will include a resort-style, negative-edge pool; outdoor grilling; fitness center with a yoga studio; pickleball; and private walkways to 300 linear feet of beachfront. There will be a game room, a media room, wine-tasting room and climate-controlled storage units for every resident.
The condos range in price from $1.2 million to about $3.5 million. Nan and Company Properties markets the property. The Houston-based Christie’s International Real Estate-affiliated agency opened its Galveston office in 2021 at Diamond Beach, a condominium complex next to the Tiara site. Sales for Tiara started in October 2022.
Tiara will be the first condo development in Galveston in more than 15 years, Bathija has said. The architect is Round Rock-based Place Designers Inc., which also designed the Diamond Beach and Emerald by the Sea condominiums.
Satya is one of the primary investors in several local condo developments, including The Sophie on Bayou Bend, The Giorgetti, The Revere and The Westmore, all inside the 610 Loop.
Next up, Satya plans to break ground on the St. Regis Residences Houston — a 37-story condo tower less than half a mile from The Sophie — in late 2025.
Since Tiara on the Beach was announced in 2021, several developers have started working on residential and mixed-use projects on Galveston’s west end.
An entity called Clearlake Asset Management LLC was seeking city approval to build an 80-unit, 11-story condominium tower right next to Tiara on the Beach, the Daily News reported earlier this year.
In the same area, Friendswood-based Mohamed Eldawy is planning a $250 million beachside mixed-use development, which would include restaurants and other food-and-beverage concepts around a courtyard, midrise condos with Gulf views, two apartment complexes and a midsize hotel. An adjacent property Eldawy owns in partnership with an overseas company may become the site of a future resort hotel.
And about 4 miles west along FM 3005 from Tiara, Houston businessman Manny Mehos has started construction on Roseate Beach, a 160-home beachfront community.