Editor's note: this story has been revised to clarify that city staff began moving into the new city hall in early March. City spokesperson Eliska Padilla told Community Impact Newspaper on March 15 that the new city hall is expected to officially open April 1.

City of Hutto staff began moving into the new Hutto City Hall in early March, staffing the first of 20 planned buildings in the Co-Op District, the city’s first mixed-use development.

“It’s kind of a natural growth. We [were] running out of space,” Hutto Mayor Doug Gaul said. “The customer experience and the resident experience is going to really improve.”

The old Hutto City Hall building on Front Street will be renovated to become a public safety and communications facility and training center for the Hutto Police Department. Voters approved a $5 million bond proposal to pay for those improvements in the November 2018 election.

With Hutto City Hall's opening on the horizon, many Co-Op District projects are primed to get off the ground.

Site work has begun on Southside Market & Barbeque, which was the first announced tenant for the mixed-use development, according to Co-Op District developers MA Partners.

Construction has also started on the Flix Brewhouse site. Development officials expect the movie theater to open in the second quarter of 2020.

In February, Top Notch Burgers was announced as the development’s third official tenant. The iconic Austin restaurant, which originally opened in 1971, is expanding for the first time in its history.

Work is already underway on Top Notch Burgers’ Hutto location. Kelly Chappell, owner of Top Notch Burgers, told Community Impact Newspaper he expects the restaurant to open in early 2020 at the latest.