Developer Sam Ware is working to revamp Plano’s ailing Collin Creek Mall property and also to flesh out the J.C. Penney office campus using mixed-use concepts that will likely include multifamily residential construction, he said in an interview with Community Impact Newspaper.
To build these projects, Ware’s Dreien Opportunity Partners must first convince the City Council to sign off on the plans’ multifamily components—a sticking point at times for a council that has voted down apartment-heavy proposals in the past, and a key issue in a 2017 election campaign that saw two additional apartment skeptics win seats on the council.
“We have met with most of the City Council [members],” Ware said. “We understand some of their concerns. We do the best we can to address them. On the same token, it’s back to, ours is an educational process, to sit back and go, ‘Half the people walking by here would live [near their offices] if [housing] was available—half the people at Toyota [Motor North America].’”
Detailed plans for the Collin Creek Mall were not yet public as of this paper’s March 16 print deadline but were expected to include a slimmed-down mall structure integrated into a mixed-use, indoor-outdoor retail and restaurant district with residential housing and a River Walk-like water feature, Ware said earlier this month.
Ware said he planned to bring the Collin Creek Mall plans forward to the city as soon as his company closed on the final mall properties.
Early versions of a plan to redevelop the J.C. Penney campus called for 3,000 multifamily units that would serve the demand from the population of the $3 billion Legacy West development, whose offices, retail stores and restaurants surround the property. The number of units is subject to change as the developer continues to fine-tune the proposal before the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission is expected to consider it April 16.
An early test
The two multifamily-heavy proposals Ware plans to bring forward will likely be the first major test for a council that in June seated two new members who are openly skeptical of apartment development.
Since the newest council members Anthony Ricciardelli and Rick Smith—who campaigned against apartment-heavy developments—were seated, the council has yet to consider a zoning request that would allow new multifamily development in Plano. Instead, the council has approved four zoning requests that would allow developers to construct a combined 247 new townhouses and other single-family options in the city.
One of the mixed-use rezoning proposals approved in February—Mustang Square, southwest of Rasor Boulevard and SH 121—underwent significant revisions over the course of a year to strip out the apartments that appeared in the original proposal and replace them with more office space and town houses.
Other council members have a history of voting against some apartment-heavy developments, including Tom Harrison and Ron Kelley, who cast the only two votes last year against a rezoning request that was approved to redevelop the former Texas Instruments campus southwest of Legacy Drive and US 75.
In Plano, four of the eight council members could vote to block any request for a zoning change, which requires at least a majority of the council’s support to pass.
Kelley voted in March against the Texas Instruments project partly because, among other reasons, he said it was part of a “disturbing trend” in which multifamily units drive some of the city’s major redevelopment efforts.
But Kelley, who says he looks at zoning issues on a case-by-case basis, said he intends to hear out the Collin Creek Mall developer because of the unique opportunity it presents for the city.
“I’m excited about Collin Creek Mall,” Kelley said. “Anyone who knows anything about Plano, I would hope that they would agree that the redevelopment of Collin Creek Mall is significant, and it needs to happen.”
At the same time, Kelley said, “I’m not naive. There’s going to be some multifamily there. But in my mind, it can’t be too much. I would love, as I said, different housing choices there, different residential options there.”
Developer outreach
Ware said knowing some council members might be reluctant to support multifamily development informs his company’s approach to persuading them.
“Absolutely,” Ware said. “That’s why we met with them.”
Kelley said he met with representatives from Ware’s company but chose to mostly listen to their broad plan for the properties instead of offering feedback or direction. Kelley said he did not want to weigh in too heavily until he sees hard plans.
Ware’s outreach efforts have also included Plano Future, an anti-apartment advocacy group that endorsed Ricciardelli and Smith last year. The group’s spokesperson, Allan Samara, said he has been contacted by Ware’s company but does not plan to meet with them.
“I think they want to assess how much opposition they’re going to have,” Samara said of the developer’s intent to meet. “Mr. Ware has tried to reach out. He’s not modifying his plans [for multifamily]; he’s reaching out to assess what people think. Nobody’s going to be very positive about more four- or five-story apartments over there without green space.”
The developer’s commitment to multifamily housing—particularly at the J.C. Penney campus, Ware said—is based on rapid growth in area employment centers like Legacy West, and the demand this growth has placed on the housing market.
“I will tell you this: Legacy West desperately needs housing, because the demand is there,” Ware said. “We are hoping that the city staff, [Planning and Zoning Commission] and the City Council look at what’s best for the workforce here and what’s best for the school district and what’s best for being able to support these restaurants.”
Before the proposals reach the Planning and Zoning Commission or the council, city staff members work with developers to ensure the plans align with city ordinances—and to advise them on what can ultimately pass.
Eric Hill, development review manager for the city, said the staff tries to anticipate concerns the council and commissioners might have with a rezoning proposal as they advise developers, who ultimately have the final say over what the proposal will look like.
After the city planning department has met with a developer, the staff will issue a formal recommendation to planning and zoning commissioners and council members. The recommendation is based on whether the proposal meets city ordinances and is in line with the city’s comprehensive plan, which outlines broad classes of appropriate uses for the city’s developed and undeveloped land.
Although the council members and commissioners can weigh in during public meetings and ask staff to address any issues with the developer’s approach, Hill said the staff tries to avoid this process when possible.
“We ... try to do that work up front so that when it gets to the commission and council, you don’t have to rehash those issues,” Hill said.
