With a 6–1 vote, the Round Rock City Council approved a 720-unit residential development on University Boulevard nearly two months after initially rejecting the idea.

The council approved three measures effectively green-lighting the project: annexing the approximately 41-acre tract, approving zoning for the Planned Unit Development and approving a development agreement with Bartz Properties Limited Partnership for the construction of utilities and road improvements.

Mayor Pro Tem Carlos Salinas was the lone dissenting vote, citing the density of the project coupled with a nearby existing apartment complex and multifamily zoned area.

"I do get concerned about the density and just how many units will be in that area, and it's a lot, it's a lot," Salinas said. "I think my instinct tells me that it's a big complex, it's a big complex if it were a stand-alone complex, I'd feel completely different."

The PUD zoning allows the complex a total of 720 dwelling units, only 600 of which can be apartments. The rest can be townhomes or senior living as long as they meet density standards of 12 units per acre or fewer.

Initial rejection

The project was initially sent back to the Planning and Zoning board in December when council members expressed concerns about the number of apartments included in the plan. Initially, the developers proposed a 720-unit complex that was entirely apartments.

At issue is the city's General Plan, which calls for an 80/20 split between single-family and mutlifamily housing, respectively. Round Rock currently has about 26 percent multifamily housing, and this new complex would increase that to 27 percent.

"I think we're getting at the limits of that range that we're setting," said Mayor Alan McGraw, who added that he was comfortable with his vote for this particular complex. "I think we're at the upper end of the range of where we need to be for a while."

While the new zoning agreement caps the number of apartments at 600 and divides the property into two sections—a 36-acre portion for multifamily housing and a 5-acre portion for senior and townhome housing—some council members still expressed reservations

McGraw also asked that any further inquiries into multifamily housing construction in Round Rock consider that the city was on the high end of its "range."

"As far as I'm concerned, this is probably it for a while," McGraw said.

The project

The property, which is located at 601 University Blvd., will be developed in two phases, said Steve Metcalf of Metcalf, Wolff, Stewart & Williams, who represents the developers. The first phase will have about 300 apartments. The second phase would depend on market conditions.

Metcalf said the developer had not yet designed the complex, but that "We would like to get the first phase out of the ground within the next year." He said the best-case scenario for the second phase was likely three years out.