Hotel, food halls and a brewery at the old grain silos: Willock tract plan goes to EDC board Tuesday

The roughly 32 acres the Celina Economic Development Corporation bought east of downtown now have a picture attached.

A master plan for the Willock tract is set for a work session at the EDC board's regular meeting at noon Tuesday, Oct. 6, in the City Council chambers at 112 N. Colorado St. The presentation is addressed to both the EDC board and the City Council.

What the plan shows

Prepared by Norris Design, JHP Architecture/Urban Design and Catalyst Commercial, the plan organizes the site around Doe Branch creek, with trails on both banks, three pedestrian bridges and one side of the creek left close to natural to save the larger trees. Its centerpiece is a 1.5-acre central park with an amphitheater for concerts and events.

Around the park, the consultants sketch:

• A specialty hotel of about 100 rooms with a conference and event center, described as the first of its kind downtown
• A pair of food hall buildings totaling about 18,000 square feet at Oklahoma Drive and Ash Street
• A Texas-themed brewery or brew pub that would reuse some of the Martinek grain silos as a landmark
• Three creekside restaurants linked by a walkway, plus retail and office sites along Oklahoma Drive and an 8.3-acre commercial node to the south

A new street would enter mid-block from Oklahoma Drive and could someday reach Preston Road. A pedestrian underpass at the BNSF tracks and a possible parking garage are left for later phases, the garage only if demand warrants.

The money

The EDC paid about $13.5 million for the land, according to the plan. At full build-out, the consultants estimate 234,800 square feet of buildings, $98.56 million in taxable value and about $1.88 million a year in tax revenue, which would cover the purchase price in roughly 7.2 years.

The plan calls that a back-of-the-envelope figure that does not count infrastructure, incentive or financing costs, and it cautions against more borrowing by an EDC it describes as already stretched from buying the site.

Phase 1, covering years one and two, would adopt the plan, settle zoning and finish engineering. Recommended next steps include drafting zoning rules, studying a special district to pay for infrastructure and testing demand for the hotel before zoning.

The board is also scheduled to vote on an incentive agreement with CJS Family Properties to add a second story of office space above ground-floor retail at 139 N. Ohio St.

Sources

celinatx.portal.civicclerk.com

celinatx.api.civicclerk.com