b'Coastal Bend CommunityNorth Beach resident Lyn Frazier is, without a doubt, the peninsulas most vocal and active private investor. A pioneer inventor in the oil field tool industry, Frazier has put his money where his mouth is in ways unlike any investor on the beach, spending millions on land, the construction of Fajitaville restaurant, and the purchase and remodeling of the colorful Hotel de Ville. He is currently in partner-ship with Blackard to build La Vista Pointe, a 150-unit, high-end apartment complex located on the northern tip of North Beach on Nueces Bay. With excavation work complete, construction on the $23 million project is set to begin, the centerpiece of which will be a 160-foot lighthouse that will serve to welcome folks to Corpus Christi from the north, as they approach the new, $1 billion Harbor Bridge.With some $50 billion in combined industrial investment in the North Bay Area will come new families from around the world, most of whom with income in excess of $100,000 per year. These folks will be seeking the most liveable communities in the Coastal Bend, and they are coming from more developed, more sophisticated cities that offer amenities and attractions like those proposed on North Beach. To those who question the viability of redeveloping the peninsula, one needs to look no further than giant-sized projects like the Exxon/Saudi plastics plant in Portland, Cheniere and Oxy LNG plants, the Tianjin (TPCO) pipe plant in Gregory, and the his-toric strides the Port of Corpus Christi is making as the top petrochemical exporter AboveDigital rendering of the 160-foot lighthouse to be built at La Vista Pointe on thein the United States [see The New Texas Oil Boom, Spring 2019].northern tip of North Beach; MiddleAn eco-tour boat navigating through protectedIn the mind of anyone development-oriented, first glance at North Beach, how-breakwater islands in proposed plan; LowerBeach and canal entrance in the plan. ever, defaults to tourism and its growth potential as a visitor destinationafter all, the beach has a long heritage as a center of waterfront recreationand herein lay the most daunting challenges. If they build it, there is no guarantee they will come. Over the past 30 years, Corpus Christi has lagged more than 100% behind San An-tonio and Austin in tourism growth, and it is not for lack of geographic advantages. The problem is marketing, and specifically, funding of the Convention and Visitors Bureau (CVB), the purpose of which is the advertising and promotion of the area to overnight visitors along with the marketing and support of conventions. The Hotel Occupancy Tax (HOT) is legally designated by Texas law to be used for visitor mar-keting, and where destinations like South Padre Island use 80% of their HOT to fund their CVB, we use ours to fund losses at the convention center, bond shortfalls, and private charities under the guise of visitor attractionswith less than half going to S how us the money! According to the North Beach task force, specifically fund tourism marketing. This is one of the many problems that will need to be ad-dressed if North Beach or any number of tourism-related projects is to work here.developer Jeff Blackard, the cost of the North Beach canal infrastructure as proposed is about $44 million. The cost of the breakwater islands has not yet been revealed. Nonetheless, the task force has set up two war rooms in downtown Corpus Christi, one each to manage the canals and the breakwater islands. In addition to managing the physical develop-ment of the project, the current effort at hand is largely centered on funding and securing support from major players including the City of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, the Port of Corpus Christi, and state and federal agencies.On April 9, City Council unanimously voted to support a Tax Increment Rein-vestment Zone (TIRZ) that will function to create a maintenance fund for North Beach as property values increasein July, the Nueces County Commissioners Court also voted unanimously to support the TIRZ, setting the stage for public funding of the canal component. With new Corpus Christi City Manager Peter Zanoni in place, who came from San Antonioa place where tourism infrastructure development has led to the creation of the top visitor destination in Texas, which also happens to be the top feeder market for the Coastal BendCity support and cooperation for the North Beach Redevelopment Plan appears stronger than ever.As with all major projects proposed in the Coastal Bend, however, the climb will be steepbut so far, the odds for North Beach seem as good as theyve ever been.56 THE COASTAL BEND MAGAZINEFall 2019 TheCoastalBend.com'