Photo Courtesy City of Cedar ParkA pedestrian-friendly urban development with apartments, homes and shops could open on Parmer Lane in 2017.
On Jan. 8 Cedar Park City Council considered first reading the developer's request to rezone the project’s tract—a measure that would allow the development to go forward.
Mayor Matt Powell said the proposal follows months of discussions between city staff and the project’s developers. He said developers have been receptive to staffers’ suggestions for an urban project that includes loft apartments and walkable public spaces.
“It’s certainly different [from] any previous request that’s ever come in front of us,” Powell said.
The 25-acre property is located at the southeast corner of Parmer Lane and Ranch Trails Court near The Ranch at Brushy Creek neighborhood.
Amy Link, the city’s assistant director of development services, said the site developer has proposed a variety of interconnected uses including single-level businesses and multistory apartments—all accessible by pedestrians.
City staffers said the project conforms to Cedar Park's Comprehensive Plan that was updated in 2014. The plan outlines the city’s vision for future development and zoning.
City Council will decide Jan. 22 whether or not to approve rezoning the property from mixed use and local retail use to planned development use, a zoning type similar to the city’s existing mixed-use zoning standard.
“The key concepts of planned development are to have that location where you can live, work and play,” Link said.
A hotel, offices, restaurants and shops are planned for 13 acres on the western side of the site and about 500 urban-style loft apartments are proposed for another 10 acres on the property's eastern side, Link said. The remaining 2 acres would include a pedestrian common area that integrates all the land uses and connects the project to nearby neighborhoods including The Ranch at Brushy Creek, she said.
Place 1 Councilman Stephen Thomas said the project would be unique for Cedar Park.
“[It] kind of moves the city out of that sleepy residential mode,” he said. “It’s very attractive.”
Thomas compared site concept renderings to the look of The Domain in Austin and asked if the project could include buildings with businesses on the ground level and apartments above.
Link said the Parmer project’s developers have only proposed separate buildings for residences and office or retail spaces, but mixed uses within the individual buildings are not prohibited.
Michele Haussmann, owner of real estate consulting firm Land Use Solutions, said that if City Council approves the project's zoning on Jan. 22, construction could start in late 2015 with an opening 18 to 22 months later. She attended the presentation to City Council on behalf of the developers.
Haussmann said the project’s developers and city planners agreed the development would be urban-style with an emphasis on pedestrian access as opposed to vehicle access. The project would also connect to the city’s existing trail system and offer outdoor gathering spaces but would not be gated, she said.
An onsite hotel would be at least four stories tall and an apartment complex would be at least two stories tall, Haussmann said.
She said an eight-foot-tall landscaped berm along Ranch Trails Court could keep the new buildings hidden from existing homes to the north. Powell said the proposed berm was proposed in response to concerns about the sightline shared by the Ranch at Brushy Creek Home Owners Association.
Haussmann said developers have reached out to the Ranch at Brushy Creek HOA, Breakaway Park Neighborhood Group, and Leander ISD, which owns land east of the proposed site.
In a Dec. 10 letter to city officials, Ståle H. Bjørdal, Ranch at Brushy Creek HOA president, said the association supports the project.
