From the cover
BY KAMERYN GRIESSER & ZACHARIA WASHINGTON
Development drives growth on two key corridors
The overview
Current zoning categories
Single-family residential Regional o ce (Cedar Park only) Regional employment centers Development reserve Flexible future zoning or planned unit developments Regional commercial Big-box stores, hotels or hospitals Local commercial Small grocers, medical clinics and restaurants Light industrial/heavy commercial Warehouses, light manufacturing, research and storage
Along both New Hope Drive and Ronald Reagan Boulevard, more than 4.7 million square feet of commercial and industrial space is planned, according to estimates from developers. Local real estate brokers and city leaders said parcels along the two roads are attractive because there’s undeveloped land, and both are seeing more through tra c as drivers look for alternatives to busier routes. “We have a lot of residential [areas] already developed, so we are trying to take a more balanced and diversi ed approach for the future,” Penniman-Morin said. To accomplish this, both cities adopted future land use plans in 2014, which envision both the corridors as multiuse, or areas that blend residential zoning with dining, retail and o ces. Penniman-Morin said this marks a distinct turn away from the zoning traditions that kept commercial property away from housing.
183
183A TOLL
Multi-family
Mapped using the future land use plan
N
SOURCES: CITY OF CEDAR PARK, CITY OF LEANDER COMMUNITY IMPACT
Some context
Learn more
“Obviously, our main focus has been to preserve every bit that we possibly think could remotely even have a chance to be developed commercially in our city,” Leander City Council member Chris Czernek said during a November meeting. With both of these instances, city leaders prioritized drawing in businesses to generate new revenue for the city. “We need to diversify our tax base because we can never sustain ourselves on property taxes alone,” Leander Mayor Christine DeLisle said.
In October, Cedar Park City Council rejected a proposal by Milestone Community Builders, which sought to rezone the northwestern corner of New Hope Drive and Ronald Reagan Boulevard from commercial to residential. Likewise, developers with LJA Engineering were looking to build a neighborhood on a 289-acre tract of land just o Ronald Reagan Boulevard in Leander. However, the majority of council agreed to keep existing commercial zoning along the frontage of the roadway.
The last decade of planning has resulted in many commercial projects turning dirt and raising frames in early 2024, with Community Impact con rming at least 16 developments in the works along the two roads. The next two pages include details of the projects underway and further insights about how each corridor is taking shape. • New Hope Drive, Page 32 • Ronald Reagan Boulevard, Page 33
Authentic People Trusted Advice
AMY GANDY Broker/Owner MCNE, CLHMS
111 Grange Street, Liberty Hill ∙ www.agandyandco.com ∙ 512-589-9005
31
LEANDER LIBERTY HILL EDITION
Powered by FlippingBook