BY MICHAEL MILLIORN
About the program
Zooming in
Business owners who are selected to occupy a space at The Depot on Main will follow strict program timelines to prepare them for the eventual transition to a full-market-rate retail space in Buda. “The hardest part is going to be that [leases] will have to last a short amount of time,” Storm said. “The goal is to really help businesses get their footing.” The city of Buda entered a nancial partner- ship with the BEDC for the project, Buda City Manager Micah Grau said. The city will assist with the site’s maintenance once complete. “We have a wonderful, vibrant downtown now, but we need more retail and shopping opportunities to continue to drive people to our downtown,” Grau said. “We think this is going to be a driver for [the] downtown economy.”
Retail incubator space in the train depot will be prioritized for businesses that have completed or are enrolled in the Buda HIVE Cohort, a training program that provides support to local businesses. “We want to make sure they have business plans, nancial documents and everything they need to succeed, and [The Depot on Main] just gives them a physical place to sell their wares,” Storm said. The depot project o ers a “crawl, walk, run” pathway of growth for business owners: • Crawl: Producers sell their products in The Collective Marketplace without a full-time commitment. • Walk: Business owners rent a dedicated incubator space in the train depot for one to two years. • Run: After establishing a consumer base in Buda, owners move to a full-market-retail space. “We have a lot of great entrepreneurs with great
ideas coming through the HIVE,” said Brian Dyer, The Depot on Main development work lead. “I think it’s brilliant to give a pathway for these folks to true-up their product.”
Something to note Prospective Buda HIVE Cohort program participants must meet these requirements. Buda resident or committed to Buda for retail location
Use space for customer-facing products
May not actively operate a brick-and- mortar store May not be affiliated with a franchise or multilevel marketing business
SOURCE: BUDA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP./COMMUNITY IMPACT
Going forward
The Depot on Main renovations Interior
Exterior 4 Add a 4,500-square-foot event lawn 5 Build a performance stage/covered seating area 6 Add green space 7 Build a deck surrounding the depot
As a result of City Council approval in March, the train depot will be launched in phases, according to the BEDC. Construction on the building’s interior will start by the end of May, followed by exterior site work, according to Dyer. The project is expected to be substantially completed by the end of October and fully operational in the first quarter of 2027.
1 Salvage the existing, nondamaged floor and walls 2 Americans with Disabilities Act-compliant bathrooms 3 Widen the doorways
1
4 5
7
6
2 3
SOURCE: BUDA ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORP./COMMUNITY IMPACT
®️
+ +
$0 tuition at Austin Community College (ACC). High school graduates from the class of 2024, 2025, 2026, 2027 & 2028 in ACC’s service area may qualify.
+
No income restrictions. No GPA requirements.
LEARN MORE & APPLY FOR FREE AT austincc.edu/freetuition
Santana G., Apollo F. & Lilia J.
13
SAN MARCOS - BUDA - KYLE EDITION
Powered by FlippingBook