A 43-acre shopping center planned north of Cedar Park Town Center could bring national retailers, such as Dick’s Sporting Goods, Field & Stream, Michaels Craft Stores, Old Navy and Petco to Cedar Park.

The Parke will be located southwest of the intersection of New Hope Drive and Toll 183A.

Retailers’ names and concept images of building appearances were listed in a city document (PDF) as examples of new standards proposed for the project.

On Jan. 28, Cedar Park City Council heard first reading of an ordinance to amend the planned development's requirements for building facades. On Feb. 2 the council approved the ordinance.

Phil Brewer, Cedar Park economic development director, said the amendment will help fulfill potential retailers’ expectations for the new development.

“Several of the key anchor tenants in this project have clauses in their lease agreements that allow them to terminate their leases if they don’t receive the [building facades] they’ve requested,” Brewer said Jan. 28.

Some council members said they are open to the development and support the amendment.

Place 4 Council Member Lowell Moore called The Parke a "welcome addition" to Cedar Park.

“This is the first thing we’ve seen like this in our city,” Moore said Jan. 28.

Austin-based developer Endeavor Real Estate Group requested the changes. Endeavor was the developer behind the 1890 Ranch shopping center in Cedar Park.

Endeavor Managing Principal Charlie Northington said the company has made adjustments in how it approaches new projects since the development of 1890 Ranch. Retailers nationwide are now asking developers to help them build custom building facades that better reflect their specific business identities, he said.

“The tenants that [will be] here are tenants that have been in the best retail sites in Austin, in The Arboretum and The Domain," Northington said. “They’re now [coming to] Cedar Park, which is a great thing.”

A planned development, or PD, includes specific zoning standards established by the city—such as a requirement that buildings follow a similar appearance—that are unique and applicable only to that PD.

For example, under the current PD applicable for The Parke, the city requires the exteriors for all buildings within the PD to have 100 percent masonry construction.

The PD amendment reduces the requirement to a minimum of 65 percent masonry in the front of the buildings within The Parke. The 100 percent requirement would still apply to side and rear building exteriors in the PD.

The new PD requirements would also allow developers to add features such as awnings, columns or trellises.

Standards for the PD still disallow certain kinds of businesses at The Parke—including bed and breakfast inns, boarding kennels, day care centers and funeral homes as well as automobile parts stores, dry cleaning businesses and equipment rental shops.

On Nov. 6 a new concept store by Whole Food Markets, called 365 by Whole Foods Market, was confirmed as an anchor tenant for The Parke.

On Nov. 12, Cedar Park City Council approved two city incentives for the new shopping center, including a $2 million performance-based incentive calculated from the increase in sales and property taxes resulting from the project as well as a $1.5 million incentive for construction costs such as utilities, roads and sidewalks.

This story was updated Feb. 8.