The council voted unanimously April 14 to replace the existing Riverbend planned unit development with a new one along North Wesley Drive just east of I-45.
According to plans, about 600 to 700 families will live in apartments and townhouses in the development, dubbed Riverbend at Clear Creek PUD, but it will include public amenities to attract others.
The development will feature 37 acres of parks and open space, two marinas with 77 boat slips, a kayak launch, a boat ramp, 8,000 feet of walking trails and an amphitheater. An Aloft Hotel will also be constructed, Director of Planning and Development David Hoover said.
“It will be very cool as far as the overall development is concerned,” he said.
Additionally, a 12-by-12-foot sign no higher than 40 feet tall will be constructed along the front road to I-45. Some council members expressed concerns about the sign.
Others brought up traffic along Main Street, which intersects with Wesley Drive south of the development. Council Member Andy Mann asked if the city would improve the road before development began to make sure traffic is not adversely affected, noting while most traffic will come from I-45, Main Street is already heavily affected by traffic.
“Main is already murder,” he said.
Hoover said there will be improvements to Wesley and Main, and the Texas Department of Transportation is doing improvements up and down Main, including widening the road and adding continuous turn lanes.
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“It won’t necessarily happen all at once, but it will happen,” Hoover said.
Work is already underway at the site. About 200 of the originally proposed 350 residences have been constructed. With the new PUD, a total of over 600 will be built, according to city documents.
In 1999, the property was zoned as a planned unit development and general commercial land. In 2005, the property was rezoned to commercial mixed-use land, and in 2006, City Council created the Riverbend planned unit development overlay district at the property, according to city documents.
Over a decade later, the developer submitted a request to rezone the land with a new PUD overlay. That effort went through various steps and finally passed in City Council on April 14, the documents read.
According to a memo to the council, the developer wanted to replace the old PUD overlay with a new one to update the development based on changes to the property and surrounding area, respond to today’s market and include new ideas and concept not in the previous PUD. Since 2006, there have been changes to flood plain maps, I-45 has been expanded, and development requirements have increased, requiring a new PUD, according to the memo.
