Many of these commercial or residential projects were announced or were in progress last year. Here’s what is happening now.
The Oaks at Lakeway shopping center is set for more openings in 2017.[/caption]
1. Rollingwood Plaza was sold in September to Todd Routh, founding partner of Commercial Retail Group. Trevor Williams, who represents Routh, said his client is working on improving the synergy among the different storefronts in the 21,935-square-foot shopping center that includes Chinatown restaurant.
2. After breaking ground in 2014, tenants at the Oaks at Lakeway shopping center are doing well, said developer William H. “Bo” Armstrong III, Stratus Properties president and chairman of the board. Stratus’ Oct. 4 pending sale of the mixed-use planned development district fell through late last year.
“We are focusing our attention on finalizing the property rather than selling [the project],” Armstrong said.
Tenant Vivel Crepes will open in January, leasing agent Bryan Dabbs said. Hat Creek Burger Co., Orange Leaf Yogurt and Pro Nails are slated to open in February, he said. About 90 percent of the project’s constructed space is leased, he said.
The Gateway to Falconhead project is moving forward with commercial offices.[/caption]
3. Gateway to Falconhead, a 13.94-acre, mixed-use development under construction at the corner of RR 620 and Falconhead Boulevard in Bee Cave, will offer a range of neighborhood services—from restaurants to salons, said Kenneth R. Satterlee, president and CEO of St. Croix Capital Advisors and St. Croix Capital Advisory Group, the project’s developer.
“We are 99 percent finished with the site infrastructure and about to go vertical,” he said of the tract’s retail portion housing 46,000 square feet in seven buildings.
The site plan for the project’s rear section was approved by Bee Cave City Council on Jan. 10 and includes 80,000 square feet of medical and office space situated in six buildings.
Satterlee said the retail section in the front portion of the project is already about 60 percent leased, and the site’s tenants will feature three food operators, including Bon Sushi, as well as Pioneer Bank, full-service spa Serasana, Westbank Dry Cleaners and Epic Nails salon.
He said the development is in discussions with a veterinary clinic, title company, pharmacy, hair salon and a second eatery that “has a pedigree well-known throughout Central Texas.”
“We are looking to focus on [a third] food service operator that would be a breakfast service,” Satterlee said. “We want to be able to address the needs of the neighbors [of the development].”
A $16 million renovation at the Hill Country Galleria will be completed in January.[/caption]
4. Citing a need to improve the profitability and convenience of the Hill Country Galleria, its owner—a California teacher retirement fund—began a $16 million renovation project in 2016 that includes relocating stores and restaurants, closing the street in front of City Hall, relandscaping the pavilion area to be more accessible and flexible for patrons, adding metal overhangs on sidewalks to increase shade as well as extra outdoor dining space and adding a heritage tree.
Although the project will be complete by Jan. 20, the updating of mall signage will continue through March, General Manager Jim Hopping said.
5. Oasis Brewing Co., 6550 Comanche Trail, Austin, in the Oasis, Texas shopping complex, is undergoing an expansion to increase its square footage by almost one-third of its current size, allowing the brewery to add production capacity and expanded marketing, President and Managing Partner Max Schleder said.
Oasis Brewing Co.’s expansion is on track to be finished this spring.[/caption]
The site currently includes a brewery, taproom and restaurant. The expansion will take the brewery from a 5,000-barrel capacity in January 2015 to 30,000 barrels when the project is complete this spring.
“We are trying to grow our brand and get more beer out of the brewery and into the market,” he said.
6. The first views of a proposed Lakeway Justice Center were displayed Dec. 22 during a presentation to the city’s Police Facility Building Committee.
“I’m very excited about the progress we’ve made and the direction we’re going,” Lakeway Police Chief Todd Radford said. “It’s definitely something we need. For right now, we’re just staying on track and seeing what’s next.”
The Lakeway Justice Center, to be funded by a May bond, is proposed for a parcel at the corner of Lohmans Spur and Lohmans Crossing Road.[/caption]
The facility, projected to be located at the corner of Lohmans Crossing Road and Lohmans Spur, will consist of a two-story building with a police staff entrance on a middle level, said Harold Sargent, president of the structure’s architectural firm, Brinkley, Sargent, Wiginton. The middle level will feature a staircase to an upper level that will house the main lobby, a training room, a security station, interview rooms for victims and suspects, forensic rooms, offices, a canine area, a briefing room and the criminal investigation department. A lower level will include police lockers, showers, an exercise room and dressing area.
The project will also include a sally port—a driveway that allows police officers to securely transport prisoners in and out of the building.
The price tag, originally estimated at $12 million for construction, does not include the land purchase.
Mayor Joe Bain said the final design and price will be determined by mid-February in order to add the project to May’s bond election. The city has a verbal commitment from the proposed property seller to buy it as the new justice center site, he said.
“We’re on a very short time frame, and we’ve got to get good information so we can get the bond out and get the public informed and educated on the bond,” Bain said. “We have a verbal price [for the tract], but the property keeps changing size. We haven’t gotten to the final dimensions, so we haven’t written up an actual contract.”
7. Lost Creek’s Marshall tract—an undeveloped 36-acre parcel bordered by Lost Creek Boulevard, Quaker Ridge Drive and Capital of Texas Highway in the Westlake area—was sold by Dan Marshall to development company Riverside Resources in December.
Before the sale, Marshall personally created a proposal with architect L.M. Holder III to build two office buildings and a parking structure on the land, said Paul Schumann, Marshall’s representative and president of the Lost Creek Civic Organization. The office buildings would be three stories tall and total 350,000 square feet, he said.
Riverside Resources was not willing to commit to Marshall’s proposal or an future plans of action, Executive Assistant Taylor Christman said.
“[The sale] is a very recent development, and it’s too early to [share any plans] at this time,” she said.
Riverside Resources becomes the third developer to attempt a project on the tract. Schumann said Lost Creek residents are concerned because they said they lacked information from the new buyer as to what was going to be built on the property.
The Marshall tract is one of the last pieces of undeveloped land in what was originally known as the Eanes community, he said. Members of the founding Eanes family are buried at a cemetery on the tract, he said.
“The tract has a lot of historical roots, and we want to make sure that history is not forgotten,” Schumann said.
