Rollingwood City Council received on Feb. 21 a sneak peak of the site plan for Rollingwood Center Phase 3, the final phase for the 18-acre planned-use development by Endeavor Real Estate Group. The project was approved by city leaders in 2001.

Endeavor is due to approach council March 21 to ask for approval of the site plan and a zoning change. The plan focuses on the east side of the property and includes a five-story office building, a bridge over Eanes Creek and a four-story parking garage with close to 500 parking spots.

The zoning change would allow construction of the garage along the property line shared by the site and neighboring Park Hills Baptist Church, said Brendan Callahan, principal at Endeavor.

“The [garage configuration] creates open space, lessens impervious cover on both properties and is a better overall design for the community,” he said.  “We came to an agreement with the church in 2014 to facilitate the shared parking arrangement.”

Council members did not take issue with the placement of the garage but were concerned about traffic from Rollingwood Center cutting through the church parking lot to exit onto the MoPac service road.

The current church exit is located at the intersection of MoPac and Bee Caves Road. Increased traffic at the exit could back up cars onto the MoPac exit ramp and the highway, creating a safety concern, Alderwoman Wendi Hundley said.

While designs have not been finalized, Callahan said a gate would be used to prevent office building employees from exiting the campus through the church’s parking lot. The gate would be raised on weekends and during church events to allow churchgoers to park in the garage.

Hundley said she was also concerned that increased traffic could be dangerous at one of the site’s current exits onto Bee Caves Road, which does not have a traffic signal. The most recent traffic study of the area, which was conducted in the early 2000s, suggested prohibiting right turns onto Bee Caves Road from the exit, she said.

Hundley requested assurances that the traffic impact would be studied and coordinated with the Texas Department of Transportation, which controls the two roads. She also wanted input from the area fire marshal to assure the safety of the garage as part of the final PUD agreement.

“The reason traffic studies are required is so the tax burden doesn’t fall on our citizens if something happens later on,” she said. “I’d love to see that area developed and I love that [Endeavor is] developing it, so I don’t want to impede development at all, but those are questions I would like to see answered.”

The office buildings in Rollingwood Center phases 1 and 2, which were completed in 2015, were sold by Endeavor to Lionstone Investments in January.