San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
PLEASANTON
firm the city hired several years ago to come up with ideas to revitalize downtown and boost the local economy. It’s set to start becoming reality as the city’s population increases, and oil and gas activity in the nearby Eagle Ford Shale starts to pick up.
“We don’t want people to come down here and realize there’s no place to live,” Mayor Clint Powell said. “We’d like for you to live and work in Pleasanton.”
The city is making other plans for the future as well. Last month, it announced steps toward upgrading its water treatment plant “to prepare for future growth.” Officials also are considering expanding the municipal airport, Powell said.
Past and future
The area known today as Pleasanton was originally home to the Coahuiltecan tribe, and later the Apaches and Comanches. Later on, Mexican families operated ranches here.
Atascosa County was officially established in 1856, and Pleasanton — which is named for John Pleasants, an early settler — was founded in 1858.
Cowboys would pass through as they drove cattle to Kansas, and the Stock Raisers Association of Western Texas often held events in Pleasanton, leading to its self-proclaimed moniker the Birthplace of the Cowboy. An annual festival called Cowboy Homecoming started in 1966 as a way to commemorate the cattle industry.
The city’s population is growing. It had just more than 11,000 residents in 2022, up from about 8,900 two years earlier. The population is expected to grow at an annual rate of 1.5%, according to the city — a projection that’s prompting officials to look for ways to retain current residents while drawing newcomers and businesses.
In meetings, workshops and surveys, residents told Stantec they wanted more dining and entertainment options, space for small businesses, and housing for teachers, firefighters and other workers, Powell said.
After gathering input and assessing the city’s situation, the firm suggested turning the closed school into a mixed-use development with live, work and play components, a gathering place for residents and visitors to browse wares at shops, host picnics and parties, attend concerts and visit restaurants, said Stantec principal Eduardo García.
The proposed complex will have a mix of apartments rented at market rates and lower price points, as well as a business incubator.
“Anyone can go and drop a building down somewhere and call it a development, but, really, it’s not so much about that as much as it is about the quality of the public spaces,” García said. “We like to say they’re sticky — they encourage you to stick around.”
Master plan
The city adopted its downtown master plan in 2022.
Along with the school property, Stantec identified another site near the Plestex Theatre as suitable for a mixeduse development. The firm also recommended adding public art, trees, signage with information about the area, trail and bikeway routes, and public gathering spaces, making sidewalks more pedestrian-friendly and offering incentives for restoring notable buildings.
Pleasanton initially sought to work with San Antoniobased developer DreamOn Group on the school redevelopment, but the firm is no longer involved because city officials decided to handle the work in-house, said co-founder Julissa Carielo. Despite watching it happen from outside, she said she’s excited for what will be a “great project” for the city.
Powell said officials are still working to determine the total cost and identifying funding sources, which will include grants. The project will be built through a public-private partnership via the city’s public facility corporation, which provides a property tax exemption under state law. A request for proposals from builders is slated to be issued soon.
Construction is expected to begin this fall.
“There’s no central gathering area, there’s no area to encourage you to mill around,” García said of Pleasanton’s current downtown. That’s a shortcoming Stantec’s proposal is aiming to address. “I think that’s important, so it’s our hope that this project does that.”