A developer has proposed a luxury apartment complex for residents age 55 and older called Solea Cedar Park on 7.5 acres northeast of the Cypress Creek Road and Juliette Way intersection. On June 11 real estate agent Kristiana Alfsen of landowner Pohl Partners Real Estate Group told Cedar Park City Council that no other site in Cedar Park has the necessary size and zoning for the project. Alfsen said Solea is a unique concept that caters to retired residents who want to live in a busier community. “The Cedar Park project [is] one of just a handful in the entire state,” Alfsen said. Pohl’s company petitioned City Council to amend the land-use map to show multifamily rather than commercial zoning for the 7.5-acre site. On June 11, City Council approved the petition, which is the first step of a new petition process City Council established in March. Solea is the first company to undergo the new land-use map petition process. Chris Copple, Cedar Park Director of Development Services, said the next step after City Council’s petition approval entails further discussions with Pohl’s staffers about how the proposed map amendment would fit with the city’s objectives. As required by the amendment process, the developer has already sent the city letters that outline how the proposed development could support the city’s objectives, despite the city’s land-use map’s current recommendation of future businesses or office on the property. The land-use map is part of the city’s comprehensive plan and is intended to guide zoning decisions by Cedar Park Planning and Zoning Commission and City Council. The comprehensive plan also highlights the objective of many city leaders to add businesses rather than more residences on undeveloped sites in the city. City leaders have said that prioritizing new businesses will bring more revenue to the city, allowing the city to keep property taxes low. But Solea developer Bill Pohl said the Solea project, and perhaps another multifamily project on his property in that same area, are part of his larger plan that would add a total of 32 acres of apartments and businesses to the area. Pohl said Solea residents would bring more business to existing retail in the area, such as the Randalls grocery store on Cypress Creek. “But I can’t build [businesses] until I have that [residential] density behind that retail,” Pohl said. Alfsen said the Solea development is unlike a traditional apartment complex and would support city objectives by bringing in new residents who do not need many city resources, such as enrollment in public schools. Luke Bourlon, an associate with project partner Stream Realty Partners, said Solea would not offer staff-prepared meals or in-home medical care. “This [project] dovetails well with the city’s vision of providing a diversity of housing,” Bourlon said. “Traffic impact is certainly less on this site than [on] conventional multifamily [developments].”

Council approves two more land-use map petitions

On June 25, Cedar Park City Council approved two additional petitions to amend the city’s land-use map in favor of different zoning uses for two proposed projects. One approved petition is to amend the land-use map for about 16 acres northwest of the Bagdad Road and West Whitestone Boulevard intersection. The site is zoned for multifamily residential and retail uses, which the land-use plan also reflects. But agent Jason Hart, representing landowner Jonathan Saad, said the site’s commercial section is too large for what commercial builders would want. The applicant would prefer only medium-density residential, Hart told the council. Another approved petition was to amend the map from low-density residential use to commercial use for about 1 acre northwest of the Brushy Creek Road and Adventure Lane intersection. Agent Keith Stewart, representing landowner LoneStar Appraisals & Realty, said the owner wants to build a day care center. The site is not yet zoned and is located in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, or land the city has reserved the right to annex at a later date.