Controversial plan shifts to single family
Following the Lakeway Zoning and Planning Commission’s 4-2 vote this month against rezoning 1801 and 1931 Lohmans Crossing Road to allow for a controversial city center plan to move forward, the developer said the planned unit development has been transformed into a single-family subdivision with a commercial piece.
“We are going to shift to a typical single-family development with a strip of commercial fronting Lohmans Crossing,” said Bill Hayes, chief operating officer for Legends Communities.
Legend, with its high bid of $13.1 million in January 2016, went under contract to purchase an 82-acre parcel being sold as surplus property by the Lakeway Municipal Utility District. Since then, the developer has sought to buy adjacent properties from the Lake Travis Church of Christ and Lake Travis school district.
The tracts were to be combined to create a multi-use development including residential, commercial, retail and greenspace, as well as to extend Main Street from the Oaks at Lakeway shopping center through the project and another parcel owned by Stratus Properties to the Village of the Hills entrance on Lohmans Crossing Road, thereby alleviating traffic from RM 620.
“We felt like we did it the right way – communicated to people at multiple town halls, were accommodating to feedback, and tried to modify and adjust and shift the project as best we could – and, it wasn’t good enough,” Hayes said. “It’s time to go to something that, unfortunately, has nothing to offer for Lakeway as a whole. It will be a really neat, interesting subdivision but all of the amenities, greenspace, whatever we put in there, will be limited to those residents (of the project).”
He said he does not know who the ultimate buyer of the commercial piece of the project will be or whether Legend will build it out. Hayes said Legend will not be pursuing the school district or church land and will only include the Lakeway MUD property in the project.
“The church, in particular, I feel the worst for,” he said. “They were going to use that to build a church because they operate out of the Lakeway Activity Center. Now, they’re going to have to go to Plan B because we don’t need their piece nor do we need the parcel from the school to make the project work.”
Hayes said the project would not be gated, and its amenities and number of homes are “to be determined.” Legend went back to its land planner at the end of last week and told them to come up with a plan that contemplates “typical single family,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate that we can’t pursue what we thought was what everybody, the city in particular, wanted to see,” Hayes said. “Unfortunately, there were enough organized opposition people out there who were able to shut it down.”