Photo Courtesy city of Round Rock

In the first year after Round Rock rezoned its downtown district the city is pointing to several projects and businesses as early successes in what officials hope will become an entertainment and economic hub.

Brad Wiseman, director of Round Rocks Planning and Development Services Department, said a new three-story office building on Mays Street and a new wedding shopping and event venue are examples of projects that will finish in 2015.

"Both of those projects are great examples for us because they fit in the character of the existing neighborhood as well as the desired design the city is going for," Wiseman said. "Another rewarding part of both of those projects is they worked closely with the folks that lived down there."

The citys Planning and Development Services Department won an award from the American Planning Association at the regional and state levels for the downtown redevelopment efforts. Wiseman said the department was humbled and appreciative of the award. He said oftentimes redevelopments are contracted out to a consultant, but the Planning Department wanted to do it in-house to keep more in line with what the city council and citizens said they wanted downtown to look like.

Downtown has also seen the addition of new restaurants and bars since the redevelopment started, such as Fire in the Hole, a pizza restaurant, and The Scarlet Rabbit. However, there were setbacks as well—restaurants Krave Wine Bar & Bistro and Curlys Carolina, TX Barbecue both shut their doors in 2014.

Wiseman said it was not unexpected that a couple of restaurants would shut down in downtown redevelopments.

"It's unfortunate those two didn't make it," he said. "It's not unusual that you'll have some businesses that make it and others that don't, for whatever reason."

The location of Krave has a new tenant. A new bar set up operations there in December. As of press time the bar is unnamed.

Kitty Camareno, who will co-own the bar with her husband, said they jumped at the opportunity when the location became available.

"We love downtown Round Rock," she said. "We love the vibe [of downtown Round Rock...]. We fell in love with the community."