The Commons at Rivery begins Phase 1 of development in Georgetown

Headwater began below-ground civil infrastructure work on the project in September 2023, and about a year later, the company started constructing a roughly 15,000 square-foot building on-site, Dooley said.

Half of the building is already pre-leased, and two additional retail buildings within The Commons at Rivery are expected to be about 9,600 square feet, Dooley said.

Diving in deeper

The site is being developed by Partners Development Co., the development branch of Partners Real Estate, said Carter Perrin, partner and managing director of development at Partners Development Co.

Partners looks to create a community gathering space within the development, Perrin said.

“We're building out a series of retail buildings around a central plaza that's meant to be a community amenity,” Perrin said.

The project will be delivered in a series of phases, and for the retail side, Perrin said leases either signed or in the works include:

• Golden Nails
• My Dental
• A coffee and breakfast concept

How we got here

In 2021, Partners bought the $4.5 million site, which was once home to Raye McCoy Elementary School, according to previous Community Impact reporting. In 2022, the city of Georgetown approved the mixed-use project development.

“Take the worst piece of real estate and turn it into the best piece of real estate—that’s kind of the hidden secret sauce, and we really appreciate the city working with us,” Perrin said at the kickoff.

Perrin said Partners is trying to build a project in conformance with Georgetown’s Williams Drive Gateway Plan, which states the redevelopment of the Williams Drive corridor has been “of interest” to the city of Georgetown since 2003.

Upon the project’s completion, a 1.28-acre site next to the project is reserved for future development, according to an email sent to Community Impact.