When the developer of the commercial project Arbor Park in Cedar Park purchased land on the corner of Parmer Lane/Ronald Reagan Boulevard and RM 1431 about eight years ago, the project’s developer, Matt Kenyon, estimated about 5,000 cars traveled through the intersection daily. He said that number has grown to more than 25,000 cars per day and the multiplying number of subdivisions being built along the roadway has contributed to the increase in cars on the road. Kenyon, the president of St. Croix Capital, said his company could see at least a half dozen large subdivision developments were in the planning stage along the roadway, and the developers expected the Ronald Reagan corridor to become a busy commercial area. He said they picked the site for Arbor Park strictly based off its location. “The intersection was wonderful—two major roadways—and now that Ronald Reagan has been expanded out to I-35, it’s just become even busier,” he said. Kenyon is one of several developers who expected a large residential presence along the Parmer/Ronald Reagan corridor, along with commercial developments to serve the residents. Several of those developments have been underway or are in the planning stages in both Cedar Park and Leander.

Envisioning a growing corridor

City leaders in both Cedar Park and Leander updated the cities’ comprehensive plans in the past few years. Both documents include future land-use plans, which act as a roadmap for future zoning decisions by recommending how properties in the cities should be used. Phil Brewer, the economic development director for Cedar Park, said the city expects a large amount of commercial development along the corridor. "I view this as a major employment corridor with supporting businesses such as shops and restaurants," he said. According to the city’s future land-use map, the roadway is largely planned for local and regional commercial and office use and medium- and high-density residential developments. The corridor also holds four "planning areas." Amy Link, assistant director of development services, said Cedar Park’s comprehensive plan identified the planning areas as the largest remaining undeveloped tracts of land in the city with the potential to become developments that Cedar Park currently lacks—items such as entertainment districts, an educational campus, walkable mixed-use areas and business parks, for example. So far one project is being constructed in one of these planning areas—the first phase of Presidio at Parmer and Ranch Trails Court opened last year, and the entire 100-acre mixed-use community is planned to include office, retail, urban-style apartments, offices and a potential four-story hotel in the future, Link said. Mary Alice Kaspar, a spokesperson with developer Riverside Resources, said great visibility, connectivity, a growing population, a rich amenity base and a streamlined development process with the city of Cedar Park made Parmer Lane an ideal location for Presidio. "The Presidio site has been identified by Cedar Park as a corporate headquarters location," she said. "The project has extensive frontage on Parmer Lane, which has emerged as a prominent office corridor." Ronald Reagan is planned to be a mixed-use corridor in Leander, and major intersections are planned to hold local and regional commercial and office use. Further back from the roadway, the surrounding areas are largely planned for residential neighborhoods, according to the city's future land-use map. Leander Economic Development Manager Eric Zeno said the city expects commercial buildings to spring up along Ronald Reagan to serve the amount of residential being built and planned to move into the city. “With the quantity of housing on Reagan, it demands commercial, office and professional developments in that area,” he said. One of those housing developments is Leander Junction, which is proposed to have 288 multifamily and single-family rural units. David Blackburn, a representative of the development with The Blackburn Group LLC, said the developer has completed several residential projects in the area due to the schools, shopping, parks and employment options in the area as well as connectivity with Ronald Reagan, RM 1431 and Toll 183A. “The Ronald Reagan corridor is already attracting a lot of development, and I believe you will see even more over the next 10 years, especially retail with the number of families moving into this area,” Blackburn said.

Spanning the roadway

Various residential and commercial developments span along Parmer/Ronald Reagan from the southern end of Cedar Park’s borders to the northern end of Leander’s city limits. In 2017, Cedar Park City Council approved a mixed-use development on the northwest corner of Brushy Creek Road and Parmer with about 35 acres for residential development and a roughly 7-acre business park. MileStone Community Builders is developing the project, known as Three Points. According to its website, more than 100 residential lots will be available, and commercial on the corner of Parmer and Brushy Creek will be constructed in the future. At the northern end of Leander’s city limits, construction on the first phase of Bar W Ranch is expected to begin this summer. Geoff Guerrero, the director of planning at Carlson, Brigance & Doering Inc., said his company represents the first phase of the development. He said the entire project will largely hold single-family residential with about 34 acres of multifamily residential and 120 acres of commercial. Guerrero said the land has been owned by a local family for about 50 or 60 years. When Bar W Ranch is complete, it is expected to have about 182 acres of greenbelt and parkland. “They knew the development was coming; they wanted to do something that would respect the area,” Guerrero said. “It will kind of provide a lasting memory of what that property meant to [the landowner] and his family.”

Pursuing area developments

Several developers said their companies decided to pursue projects along the roadway because of other planned projects moving in. Kenyon said the developers of Arbor Park also chose to purchase their site because Walmart had plans to move in along the northwest side of RM 1431, and H-E-B already sat adjacent on the opposite corner. “For the 20,000-plus homes in that area, that is an intersection that they visit at least once and many of them twice a week to get groceries and take care of neighborhood needs,” he said. Arbor Park is planned to have mostly convenience retail, such as nail salons, and possibly some medical office use, Kenyon said. In March, Leander City Council approved a zoning change for an 8.5-acre parcel to local commercial at the corner of Ronald Reagan and what is planned to be the future extension of San Gabriel Parkway. The project is named the Commons at Kittie Hill, and the property owner, Michael McClendon, said he purchased the property because of the new Austin Community College campus and future St. David’s hospital moving into the area, along with the amount of growing residential development. He said he plans to develop the corner as office space. “The city has indicated that they have a lot of requests for nice office space, and they just don’t have it,” he said. Leander Economic Development Director Mark Willis is also hoping to bring office space to the area. The city is considering investing in a second tax increment reinvestment zone, or TIRZ, on a 280-acre space along Ronald Regan and Hero Way. Willis said the project could have entertainment options along the roadway and a professional business park. Cold Springs Marketplace opened in 2016 and was one of the first commercial developments on Ronald Reagan in Leander. The business park now holds Marco's Pizza, a Chinese restaurant and an upcoming sports bar, and Willis said he believes it will act as a harbinger for similar developments along the corridor. “The [residential] density is starting to get there, and people are starting to notice,” he said. “Cold Springs is just the first of many to come on that roadway.” Additional reporting by Abby Bora.