Updated Aug. 23, 6:45 p.m.

The San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously recommended approval of Endeavor Real Estate Group's request to rezone a 6.57-acre property at Springtown Mall, 200 Springtown Way, San Marcos, from General Commercial to Vertical Mixed-Use.

The zoning change would allow the developer to build a mixed-use project featuring a mix of retail and student housing.

P&Z also recommended approval of the developer's request for a conditional use permit allowing "purpose-built student housing," a new designation created by City Council intended to identify housing specifically intended for college students. A third item allowing Endeavor to build higher than the four-stories currently allowable in the Vertical Mixed-Use zoning designation was also recommended for approval.

Commissioners expressed support for the proposal, which initially calls for 30,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor of the development and 459 bedrooms in 184 housing units.

Commissioners also asked whether the developer might consider building higher than four or five stories. The Springtown property is located in what the city's comprehensive plan labeled the "Midtown" district, which is slated for dense development.

Endeavor Principal Buck Cody said the project will most likely include only four to five stories.

The proposal will go before City Council for final approval on Sept. 6.

Posted Aug. 23, 11:30 a.m.

Endeavor Real Estate Group, the Austin-based firm redeveloping Springtown Mall in San Marcos, will propose a mixed-use project featuring 30,000 square feet of retail on the ground floor and 459 bedrooms of student housing on at least three upper floors at tonight’s Planning and Zoning Commission meeting.

The portion of the Springtown property to be redeveloped as mixed-use includes the 6.57-acre area formerly occupied by Best Buy, Cici’s, GNC and other retailers.

Buck Cody, principal with Endeavor Real Estate Group, said there have been “substantial changes” to the Springtown redevelopment project since work first began on it in early 2015.

“Due to our other leasing and other tenants we have put together an environment for a mixed-use project that would make Springtown a very desirable place to live,” Cody said. “Part of it is the leasing that has occurred to date, and another part of it is the continued growth at the university. A third part is due to that growth there has been changes to the rental rates there, which help underwrite a mixed-use project.”

According to data from Austin Investor Interests, a real estate analytics firm, the average rental rate in San Marcos increased about 7 percent between the first quarter of 2014 and the first quarter of 2016.

The site is currently zoned “General Commercial,” which would not allow purpose-built student housing. Endeavor must apply for a rezoning to “Vertical Mixed-Use,” which is allowable in that part of town based on the city’s 2013 comprehensive plan.

“[A residential component] was not anticipated when the project first began,” Cody said. “It was something that we seriously looked at and underwrote. … The market conditions have changed a little bit and the environment at Springtown has changed a little bit, so therein lies the difference.”

The plan, which was created using citizen input, identified Springtown Mall, in an area known as “Midtown,” as a part of the city where density was desirable.

“Because of its central location and accessibility, Midtown will be a high-density mixed use area, possibly the densest area in San Marcos, with housing for many household types.”

Council Member Melissa Derrick, who contributed to development of the comprehensive plan, called the proposal a “huge win” for the city.

“I thought the first instance of the agreement and everything we did with [Endeavor Real Estate Group], I thought it was a big loss that the council at the time didn’t get any housing there,” Derrick said. “That was always the plan. I am so much more excited about it now than I was before. It’s going to be a huge benefit to our community.”

Council Member Scott Gregson said he believes the development’s proximity to H-E-B and other retailers makes the area along Thorpe Lane, near the proposed site of the new mixed-use building, a perfect location for dense residential development.

"There would be logic, I think, in putting that kind of development there," Gregson said.

Endeavor is also requesting the ability to exceed the maximum four-story building height allowable under Vertical Mixed-Use, although the company’s initial plans for the site only call for four stories.

The project is the first request for “purpose-built student housing,” a designation created by City Council at a meeting Aug. 2 meant to identify housing primarily intended to serve college students.

The city’s land development code defines purpose-built student housing as “one or more buildings, each containing two or more living units that are designed, marketed, or used for the primary purpose of housing college students.”

Staff has recommended approval of the rezoning request proposal.

P&Z will meet at 6 p.m. at City Hall, 630 E. Hopkins, San Marcos.