BY JACQUELYN BURRER & JENNA STEPHENSON
Plano moves forward with new $155M police HQ
SP RI N G C R E E K P K W Y .
PLANNED DEVELOPMENT
Following voter approval in May, Plano of icials are moving ahead with plans for a new public safety campus that will include a police headquarters and a new ire station. At their Dec. 16 meeting, Plano City Council members approved a $14.49 million contract with DLR Group Inc. of Texas for architectural and design services for the project. Zooming in Work will include designing the new police headquarters, 911 communication center, central utility plant, parking garage and Fire Station 14, according to city documents. The 9-acre facility will be located at the corner of Park Boulevard and Alma Drive. Voters approved a $155 million proposition for the police headquarters, including the 911 dispatch center, along with a separate $37.49 million proposition to fund improve- ments at several existing ire stations and the Assembly Park adds two o ce tenants Assembly Park added two o ce tenants in December, according to a news release from Triten Real Estate Partners. The leases come as the corporate o ce market in Plano is starting to “ramp up” after a slow period during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Esmeralda de la Cruz, Plano’s acting director of Economic Development. The details High Point, a travel agency, and Porch Warranty, a home warranty and protection provider, have both signed leases for o ce space in Assembly Park, according to the release. The companies will join two existing tenants, leaving roughly 135,000 square feet of Assembly Park’s 180,000 square feet of total o ce space still available. The development’s west dining and retail space is now fully occupied by Assembly Icehouse, Tacoro Tacos & Tequila and Cli Co ee.
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More retail coming to west Plano center A 12.3-acre shopping center and grocery store may be coming to the southeast corner of Spring Creek Parkway and Preston Road. The Plano Planning and Zoning Commission unanimously approved an updated concept plan for the development at a Dec. 15 meeting. The details In addition to a grocery store, the devel- opment plans to add ve new buildings for retail and restaurants.
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construction of Fire Station 14. The new ire station will be located next to the new police headquarters, between Fire Stations 1 and 2, previously described by Fire Chief Chris Biggerstaff as the city’s two busiest stations. Plano Special Projects Director Peter Braster said design is expected to take 12 months. The new headquarters will replace the city’s current police building, which was constructed in 1973 and last expanded in 2003. Since then, the Plano Police Department’s staf ing has increased by 30%, Police Chief Ed Drain said.
Luxury bus service adds route from Plano to Austin
A luxury bus service is now o ering direct trips between Plano and Austin. Service is provided by Vonlane, a regional transportation company that caters to business and leisure travelers. The route begins at the Renaissance Dallas hotel in Legacy West and terminates at the DoubleTree by Hilton near Austin’s Arboretum shopping center, according to Vonlane CEO Alex Danza. About the company Vonlane partners with hotels to operate termi- nals on hotel property, Danza said. Riders have access to hotel amenities such as restaurants and on-site parking garages, and the hotels make money from riders who choose to book overnight stays. Danza likened his buses to “a private jet on wheels.” Each bus features reclining seats, free Wi-Fi and refreshments provided by on-board
Vonlane CEO Alex Danza said his coaches are geared toward the discerning traveler.
COURTESY VONLANE
attendants. The details
center in conjunction with a hotel, according to city documents. If there isn’t a hotel on the prop- erty, then the special permit no longer applies. “I have used [Vonlane] to travel down to Austin on numerous occasions, and I had a great experi- ence,” council member Steve Lavine said.
The Plano City Council approved a special use permit allowing Vonlane to operate out of the Renaissance Dallas at a Dec. 8 meeting. The permit only allows the operation of a transit
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PLANO NORTH EDITION
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