la Frontera In the News

Austin American Statesman

December 10, 1998

Round Rock may get retail complex
Arboretum-like development slated for I-35 and FM 1325

by Christian Davenport, Austin-Statesman Staff

ROUND ROCK -- Ed Bass, whose developments helped transform downtown Fort Worth, is planning a $500 million Arboretum-like development on 328 acres that would make southern Round Rock a commercial and retail hub.

Plans submitted to the City of Round Rock on Wednesday call for an extensive business campus, residential development and a retail center that would feature many of the national chain stores that have been lacking in Williamson County. The development, to be located at the northwest corner of Interstate 35 and FM 1325, also calls for a 16- screen movie theater, about seven restaurants, as many as five hotels and a new road network near what is now one of the busiest intersections in Central Texas.

Round Rock plans to annex most of the tract, which is just outside city limits.

Called La Frontera, the project would be Bass' first in the Austin area and is another sign of how Austin's northward growth is attracting high-profile interest from across the state. La Frontera would be about a quarter-mile from where Michael Dell, chief executive of Dell Computer Corp., is expanding his company's massive headquarters. And it is just a few miles from where Nolan Ryan is planning to build his minor-league baseball stadium.

"It's going to be a well thought-out, carefully designed project at what has become one of the most significant corners in Central Texas," said Don Martin, an Austin developer who is a partner in the deal. "It will be very similar in size and scope and design to the Arboretum-Gateway area.

And it would have some of the same stores as those Northwest Austin developments, said Dave Berndt, the local partner of Developers Diversified, a real estate investment trust that is purchasing the retail property. Although he declined to confirm which stores might rent space, industry officials said developers are considering Barnes and Noble, Circuit City, Bed, Bath & Beyond, Old Navy, Kohl's department store, TJ Maxx, Lowe's Home Improvement Warehouse and others.

Berndt said he is expecting 11 major retailers and numerous -- possibly dozens of -- smaller shops that would be spread out over more than 100 acres.

About 25 acres would hold four mid-rise office buildings -- five to seven stories tall with up to 848,000 square feet -- that would overlook a pedestrian mall. Nearby, an office complex is planned with several shorter, one- to four-story buildings that could house computer and research companies.

On the property's south side, developers plan multifamily apartments, possibly as dense as 35 units per acre, Martin said. That would require a variance from the city's ordinance, which sets the limit at 20 units per acre.

"It's a big, big development," said Charles Heimsath , president of Capitol Market Research and a project consultant who estimated it will to be at least a $500 million development when completed.

Bass, one of the billionaire Bass brothers whose developments are lauded nationwide, was attracted to the area for its growth, said Bill Boecker, who represents Bass in the deal. The family developed Sundance West in Fort Worth, a $40 million complex of retail stores, apartments and movie theater that helped resurrect the city's downtown. Ed Bass was the driving force behind the $67 million Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth. Last summer, the Bass brothers even expressed interest in buying part of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Boecker said they were looking for a movie theater site when they came across the Round Rock parcel, known as the Kouri-Neuman tract, which is now undeveloped ranch land where cars on FM 1325 whiz past grazing cows.

The site was way too big for just a cinema, Boecker said, so they expanded their plans.

"This particular site was one of the best we've seen anywhere because of the dynamic growth in North Austin," he said.

That growth has made the intersection one of the busiest in Central Texas. And the traffic count will climb when proposed toll roads Texas 45 and the extension of MoPac Boulevard (Loop 1) are built . They would intersect next to the property, and Texas 45 will run through La Frontera, as would an extension of Hester's Crossing Road.

In 1997, there were approximately 191,000 people within a seven-mile radius of the project, according to projections compiled by project developers. That figure is expected to jump to 243,000 by 2001.

"The growth is just absolutely mind-boggling," Berndt said. "They are putting buildings up as fast as they can build them."