Plano South | February 2022

DEVELOPMENT Plano to help pay for art park at newapartment development

BY ERICK PIRAYESH

City Council sold the land to the Plano Housing Authority in December. The housing authority is a nonprot that looks to fund aord- able housing projects, according to its website. City Council agreed to the funding agreement at the Jan. 24 meeting. The money will be taken from the city’s tax increment reinvestment zones, which are also known as TIRZs. The zones collect growth in property tax values of certain areas to fund improvements in those areas. Council voted 6-2 in favor of the project with Council Members Shelby Williams and Anthony Ricciardelli voting against it, citing the high cost of the development agreement. Peter Braster, Plano’s director of special projects, said construction on the park is not expected to start for a few more years. “It will be some kind of interactive

A public art park funded by the city of Plano will be built on the corner of K Avenue and East Park Boulevard. The city agreed to use $1.6 million of public infrastructure improvement funds on a development agreement to help construct the K Avenue Lofts project, an aordable apartment complex being built just south of the Dallas Area Rapid Transit station on Parker Road. The total estimated cost for the K Avenue Lofts project is $29 million, according to a ling with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. As part of the city’s development agreement, $100,000 will be used to construct the art park adjacent to the project. The rest of the funds from the agreement will be used to fund demolition, paving, utilities, building construction and re safety costs.

PARK BLVD.

This rendering shows the planned K Avenue Lofts development that will be adjacent to the new public art park. (Rendering courtesy city of Plano)

green space,” Braster said during the Jan. 24 meeting. Council Member Maria Tu said she was in favor of funding the project because it will be somewhere residents can visit. Ricciardelli said he supports the aordable housing project but felt like the $1.6 million total cost of the development agreement was larger than it needed to be. “I would encourage us to take a look at a more moderately priced development agreement,” he said. “I support aordable housing ...

but that’s not the discussion we are having here tonight.” The K Avenue Lofts project, which has been going through the planning process for over a year, will be a ve-story apartment complex with 226 units, Braster said. The project is expected to be completed in summer 2023, according to city planning documents. Most of the units in the complex will have income-controlled rent prices and will only be available to those who make under $60,000 per year, according to a city presentation.

PLANO SOUTH EDITION • FEBRUARY 2022