Richardson Edition | January 2022

CITY&COUNTY

Updates on important issues facing local entities

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City expects The IQ’s new headquarters will open inQ2

Richardson to increase branding eorts in The Core District City Council received details of an upcoming branding refresh for The Core District during its meeting Jan. 10. The Core District, which includes the Chinatown, Downtown, Heights, Interurban and Lockwood neighborhoods, was introduced in 2018 as an entertainment area that oers unique restaurants, independent retailers and special events. The city plans to raise awareness of both The Core District and its ve neighborhoods through pole banners posted in each area. Redevelopment process to begin at Arapaho Center Station Deputy City Manager Don Magner said the city will put out a request for proposals for a planned redevelopment of the area around the Arapaho Center Station in May. Richardson City Council voted last June to start drafting a master plan to eventually renovate the area around the Arapaho Center bus and Dallas Area Rapid Transit rail line station. Magner said sta hope to pick two proposals to present to council for consideration in November. “Our goal is to present to the council the two seminalists, so they can begin the selection process of the master development and developer before the end of the year,” he said. Richardson City Council recently received a presentation on branding eorts in The Core District. SCREENSHOT COURTESY CITY OF RICHARDSON

BRECKENRIDGE PARK

BY WILLIAM C. WADSACK

RICHARDSON The city-owned facility at 1302 Collins Blvd. that Richardson plans to share with The University of Texas at Dallas is slated to begin operations by May. Deputy City Manager Don Magner said work at the building, which will serve as the city’s headquarters for The Richardson Innovation Quarter, was delayed by supply chain issues in 2021. “It’s probably not that signicant of a delay compared to [what others] are experiencing,” Magner said. “My gut tells me it’s going to be a May opening of the building, [though] we may do a partial opening.” Richardson Innovation Quarter, or The IQ, is a 1,200-acre industrial area east of Central Expressway that has been the subject of an in-depth, city-led revitalization eort. The plan for the area is that it will become the “premier tech hub in Texas,” according to a 2018 vision statement. Richardson plans to house two sta members at the Collins Boulevard facility. UT Dallas will house ve new research centers at the facility as well as an extension of its Venture Development Center.

The rst phase of the Breckinridge Park playground relocation is slated to get underway this year. (William C. Wadsack/Community Impact Newspaper)

Bond projects to begin in 2022

BY WILLIAM C. WADSACK

[Street] to be under construction starting around April,” Magner said. For 2022, Richardson plans to issue $29.72 million in debt from the bond, according to a Dec. 6 presen- tation to City Council. Nearly $15 million of that will be used for work on city streets, while around $6.5 million will be used for drainage projects. The remaining funds will be used for projects related to sidewalks, parks and public buildings. Work on the planned renovation projects for City Hall and the Rich- ardson Public Library will not start this year, Magner said. “Most of 2022 will be dedicated to really trying to nalize a project approach [for those projects],” he said. “Ideally, when 2023 rolls around, we’ll be ready to go out to bid on the projects and then maybe start construction [later that year].”

RICHARDSON City ocials said work on several projects included in last year’s $190 million bond package will begin later this year. All ve propositions in the bond package—which was largely aimed at infrastructure improvements— were approved by 69% or more of voters in November. “We have a number of important projects that will be kicking o in actual construction [as well as] planning or design,” Deputy City Manager Don Magner said. “One of the most noteworthy, I believe, will be a continuation of our progress in The Core District.” Magner said the McKinney Street Project will see that roadway rebuilt similarly to what was done with the Main Street Project that began in mid-2019. “We’re expecting McKinney

RICHARDSON EDITION • JANUARY 2022