Limited residential options in downtown Georgetown are creating new opportunities for area developers.

Georgetown Senior Planner Matt Synatschk said more people want the convenience of urban living, which has been a contributing factor to new proposed developments in downtown.

“People want to live close to the Square; they want to live in a nice space,” he said. “The combination of proximity to the Square and the quality of projects that are being discussed will be very beneficial.”

Developers Francisco Choi and Sam Pfiester both presented projects during a Main Street Program panel discussion Sept. 16 to downtown business owners and residents. Together the two projects could bring more than 40 new residential units to the downtown area, Synatschk said.

The city’s Downtown Master Plan, updated in 2014, calls for more mixed-use developments, which incorporate office, retail and residential uses throughout downtown, he said.

Downtown proposals

Choi’s project—Tamiro Plaza Phase 2—is a proposed four-story mixed-use development at 501 S. Austin Ave. just south of Tamiro Plaza Phase 1.

Tamiro Plaza Phase 2 would add retail as well as up to 14 townhomes and is an example of the type of denser, mixed-use development called for in the city’s Downtown Master Plan, Synatschk said.

“That style of project is pretty much ideal for what is called out in the Downtown Master Plan and the types of development we would like to see and encourage in downtown,” he said. “You want residents living downtown because they are spending money in the restaurants; they are getting coffee in the morning before they go to work.”

On Sept. 24 the city’s Historic and Architectural Review Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness for Tamiro Plaza Phase 2. The approval will allow the project to move forward through the site-planning and development process, Synatschk said.

“It’s a very flexible [use]. It will be mixed-use with heavy residential use,” Choi’s son, Bobby, said. “Downtown Georgetown is where we office and, hopefully, where we will call home now.”

According to the project’s site plan, the first floor could include more than 16,000 square feet of retail space as well as a two-level parking structure that will be hidden from the street view by the building.

“The proposed building should be an extraordinary contribution to the aesthetic and economic goals of the Downtown Master Plan,” said Phil Dupree, who is serving as the project’s governmental adviser, quoting the city’s master plan. “Tamiro Plaza is just what the [city’s code] orders.”

One resident spoke against the project during the Sept. 24 HARC meeting citing concerns about the building’s height and design, which includes using a mix of brick, stone and stucco for its exterior walls.

Synatschk said the project would help continue development along Austin Avenue by replacing the parking lot and creating a more walkable environment for pedestrians.

“Having that parking lot where it is right now kind of kills that end of the Square,” he said. “It’s kind of like a mental block. … There is just something about it that deters people from crossing that distance.”

The city is also planning to install a traffic signal at Fifth Street and Austin Avenue that will add pedestrian access, Synatschk said. Funding for the traffic signal was included in the fiscal year 2015-16 city budget.

“A traffic light would certainly help retail on the Square and on Fifth Street,” Pfiester said.

Pfiester is planning a project at Third and Rock streets that could bring 30 residential units into downtown.

“We think downtown Georgetown is in its stage of evolution that it would support [our project],” Pfiester said. “We’re building for the long term. … We believe it’s an investment and an enhancement.”

Pfiester said the project is still in the early stages of development, and many of the project’s details are being refined.

“We are moving forward with the intention that we’re going to build downtown apartments,” he said. “We just finished the concept plans, and the next steps are schematic designs.”

Once the schematic design is completed, Pfiester said he would be able to get cost estimates from contractors.

Although the project’s scope has not been finalized, Pfiester said the project could include micro-units that would be 600 square feet or less.

“We’re moving forward as fast as we can move with the challenge of what is it going to cost,” he said.

Pfiester said the cost of developing will help determine what rents will be for the units; however, the smaller
-square-footage units could help make them more affordable.

Depending on how the development is received, Pfiester said he is planning to build up to an additional 90 units nearby.

“That is subject to the first phase working,” he said. “We have enough land to build [120 units.]”

Pfiester said he expects to have schematic plans completed in about two months and is working with architect Stefanos Polyzoides.

Downtown living

Shelly Hargrove, Georgetown Main Street Program manager, said more residents in downtown would create a more vibrant space for the city and business owners.

“We want it to be a 24/7 downtown. … With residential you have more eyes and ears always on downtown,” Hargrove said. “People living downtown care more because it’s their front yard and backyard.”

According to the master plan, the trend of mixed-use projects that incorporate commercial, professional and residential uses are part of successful downtowns.

The master plan also calls for an increase in residential density within the downtown core, which could translate to more residences above retail businesses.

Hargrove said the city has about seven downtown residences atop retail on the Square; however the number fluctuates as building owners transition between office and residential space.

“It’s really not enough,” Hargrove said. “There are a lot of vacant second floors that are being under-utilized. They’re either being used for storage, or they are vacant. They could be put to a better or higher use. … The healthiest thing for a downtown is to have buildings 100 percent occupied.”

Synatschk said the city is also continuing to address pedestrian access and parking throughout downtown, including the possible addition of a pedestrian bridge over the South San Gabriel River, which would better connect Two Rivers Apartments to downtown.

“We’re making a lot of big steps,” he said. “The connections aren’t very good for pedestrians right now, and that’s something we are going to address.”

Pfiester said better pedestrian access and signage would help bring more people into downtown.

“The city has been very supportive of downtown infrastructure,” he said. “We’ve done a lot of things that a lot of communities wouldn’t or couldn’t afford to do. We’re on that evolutionary path, but I think it takes also some people like the Chois and my wife and I who are willing to put in a little more equity with a little longer view of how we are going to make some money out of it.”