400,000 Square Feet Of Office Space Slated For Cedar Park Town Center

Press release from the City of Cedar Park:

September 25, 2020

The Cedar Park City Council voted unanimously at its September 24, 2020 Regular Scheduled Meeting to authorize the City Manager to execute an Agreement between the Cedar Park Economic Development (Type A) Corporation and Rose City Partners, LLC for the purchase and development of the 13.411 acre tract known as the Cedar Park Town Center site. This is the same piece of land the City sold in May, to the Cedar Park Economic Development Corporation.

The designated purpose of the tract is economic development – specifically the expansion of employment opportunities, job creation and retention and related investment in Cedar Park. One of the City Council’s 2018-2020 Strategic Goals is to expand and diversify the City’s tax base by actively recruiting new employers and one way to recruit employers is by making land conducive for development available to those employers.

The tract, located at the cul-de-sac Central Park Drive and spanning behind the Rail Yard, sits about a block north of Cedar Park’s thriving economic corridor, Whitestone Boulevard (RM 1431), and just west of Discovery Boulevard. Zoning for the property allows for office and/or medical space.

In the Agreement, the City of Cedar Park agrees to sell the to-be-developed property to Dallas-based developer Rose City Partners for $100, abate the real estate taxes on the land and Building 1 until 80 percent leased or fully leased and reasonably but not aggressively pursue credible office tenants for leasing at the location. Once due diligence, design and community engagement are completed, construction could begin within the next year to year and a half.

The City and Rose City also aim to welcome a dialogue and create a development the surrounding community and all of Cedar Park will be proud of, by creating a town hall-style meeting that will allow the City and Rose City to hear residents’ voices, answer questions and understand needs. The Agreement specifies, “Prior to applying for any development-related permits from the City, RCM shall engage with the community surrounding the Development Site, including residents of the Cedar Park Town Center neighborhood, with the purpose of soliciting and considering feedback regarding the proposed development of the Development Site; provided, however, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, that if EDC or the City requires any changes to the Preliminary Site Plan or the Project based on such community feedback, the construction deadlines set forth in Section 3.1.1 will be extended by the amount of time stated in a notice from RCM to EDC regarding same.”

Rose City Partners has $16B of construction experience, with investments in more than 50 properties across the United States over the past 30 years. Under the Agreement, Rose City commits to building four 75,000 to 100,000 square feet office buildings in four phases. The purchaser is open to structuring the land purchase in a way that best protects the City of Cedar Park’s interest, including allowing the City to re-purchase undeveloped land if buildings are not completed in a timely fashion. Land will not be permitted for any other use than office or medical office use without authorization from the City and the developer agrees to act in good faith to build the remaining office buildings in a reasonable timeframe. Rose City also unveiled a potential site plan to include a two-story parking garage.

This press release was produced by the City of Cedar Park. The views expressed are the author's own.