When it comes to a 3.68 acre tract of land in downtown Round Rock, city leaders have an idea—put people there.

No official deals or plans are in place, but city leaders have expressed interest in attracting residential units such as condos or apartments to the former Builders Gypsum Supply location in downtown Round Rock on East Bagdad Avenue.

Brad Wiseman, planning and development services director, said more residents downtown would drive commercial uses the city wants to attract.

“If you look at any downtown— small, big, medium—if it’s thriving, there’s a decent amount of density,” he said. “We need more folks living [downtown] who desire more of a traditional, urban quality of life.”

Wiseman said there is currently no dense urban housing in the city.

“If you want a big house and a big yard, you’ll live in a traditional subdivision,” he said. “But if you want to walk out your door and go to a coffee shop, that doesn’t exist in Round Rock right now. [...] For a city our size—a little over 100,000 [people]—I think it’s a gap missing in our list of [residential] options.”

Wiseman said the city studied other successful development and redevelopment projects such as downtown Plano and South Lamar Boulevard and The Domain in Austin.

“What we’re looking at is what do the businesses downtown need to make their businesses more successful, which is more patrons.”

– Alan McGraw, mayor

“There’s a lot of residential growth in those areas, and those areas are thriving,” he said.

Wiseman said residents would help drive growth by patronizing businesses outside of typical business hours.

“We get a lot of good activity Monday through Friday downtown as well as the bars at night,” he said. “But [outside those hours] there’s not a tremendous amount of activity there.”

Mayor Alan McGraw said the city is looking for a development that complements existing businesses.

“What we’re looking at is what do the businesses downtown need to make their businesses more successful, which is more patrons,” McGraw said.

Jon Creasey, owner of Fire in the Hole Pizza in downtown Round Rock, said he is personally and professionally interested in the site because he owns a business in downtown and lives nearby.
Creasey said he would like to see an increase in the pedestrian customer base to his restaurant.

“It creates those regulars who say, ‘I could drive somewhere, cook myself or walk around the corner [and eat],’” he said. “If there are 400 residents who live there and they come by once a week, there’s potential [for more business].”