Cedar Park evaluates future development corridors

The city hired real estate advising company RCLCO to study the market and real estate conditions in the region and determine if the future land-use plan is supportive of market opportunities.

RCLCO Managing Director Todd LaRue told council that most of Cedar Park’s development has been residential, and the majority of its employment sector serves local residents. Forty percent of the positions in Cedar Park are in retail and hospitality, according to the company’s research.

“It’s our view that as rooftops continue developing up the 183 corridor into Leander and Liberty Hill, there will be demand for more office-using type employment to migrate beyond Research Boulevard and up into the Cedar Park community,” he said.

Other corridors studied, such as businesses along Research Boulevard, have a mix of finance, real estate and science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, professions. LaRue said those jobs could change the employment industry mix in Cedar Park.

“Those are the types of jobs that occupy office space, and those are ones we feel are migrating up this direction and will [continue] in the coming decades,” LaRue said.

RCLCO also studied six areas of commercially-zoned property and identified which would be best to preserve as future commercial corridors through the planning and zoning process. LaRue said parcels of land with frontage along regional roadways would be the most suitable for commercial uses.

Of the six areas, RCLCO identified three along the Whitestone and Parmer/Ronald Reagan corridors and one by the H-E-B Center with good opportunities for commercial demand and mixed-use developments. LaRue said employers are demanding mixed-use areas that are entertainment-and lifestyle-oriented to attract and retain employees.

RCLCO also determined the fiscal impact of developing 100 acres into residential in 2018 or developing the land into commercial in 2040. The net cash flow for the commercial development would be $82 million, while it would be $6 million for the residential development.

“This demonstrates what city managers have been telling us for almost three decades, which is residential growth doesn’t pay for itself,” City Council Member Cobby Caputo said.

LaRue said commercial land use produces a stronger long-term fiscal impact because it does not require the same amount of public services as residential. He said commercial growth will set the city up for a strong fiscal future, but he also said RCLCO does not recommend only preserving parcels for commercial uses.

“We need a balance of residential and commercial. It’s the combination of the two that really drive a strong community value,” he said.

Powell said City Council will refer to the analysis often, and that it will help inform future land-use planning.