Mall gets facelift ahead of other retail projects

Mall gets facelift ahead of other retail projects

Written by Rachel Youens Saturday, 07 July 2007

In the coming months, Lakeline Mall will see a series of improvements to give the 12-year-old mall a facelift. A young competitor is nipping at its heels for Cedar Park shoppers.

When the 1890 Ranch development opens in October, it will not only be new, it will also be adding to the Cedar Park tax base; Lakeline does not.

“It certainly behooves us to make a strong case that when 1890 Ranch opens up, the city and the chamber of commerce hammer home the point to Cedar Park shoppers that dollars spent locally make quality of life higher,” said Cedar Park Economic Development Director Phil Brewer.

Although Lakeline has a Cedar Park mailing address, the $16 million it generates annually in sales tax goes to the City of Austin.

Commercial property is particularly important to Cedar Park because it is landlocked. All of its ETJ has been used, so the city must find ways to gain sales tax revenue.

Who gets the land

In 1986, when Melvin Simon of Simon Property Group bought the 80-acre property between Cedar Park and Austin that would become Lakeline, US 183 was a two-lane road and the tollways were barely a twinkle in the legislature’s eye.

In the 70s, Austin and Cedar Park battled over the vacant land at US 183 and FM 620 and, looking to avoid litigation, Cedar Park compromised and took the Shenandoah subdivision just west of the intersection, giving Austin the land where Lakeline lies today.

Rep. Mike Krusee tried to help Cedar Park gain back some of the land in Austin’s ETJ in the 1995 legislative session by filing and helping author three bills that would return some of the commercial land annexed by Austin, including Lakeline, to Cedar Park.

In interviews at the time, he called Austin’s annexations “aggressive” and said they stunted Williamson County’s growth.

One of the bills passed, and Austin was forced to return 6,846 acres of its ETJ to Cedar Park.

However, the City of Austin ultimately filed a lawsuit over the law, claiming it was unconstitutional and unfairly targeted at these two cities.

Austin won the lawsuit, and the land was returned.

Lakeline facelift

Many of Simon’s renovations are aimed at giving Lakeline a more high-end appeal. On the retail side, Lakeline has recently added new specialty shops such as the clothing store Hollister and Co., cosmetics store Perfumania and an IBC bank.

Aesthetically, the mall overhaul includes the redesign of the center court, located on the first floor below the food court, and three of the entrances, installing new flooring throughout.

A “signature” 2,300 sq. ft. family restroom with nursing lounges and infant changing rooms will be added.

“The main reason for the renovation was that the mall was built in 1995 and the trade area here experienced tremendous growth,” Mark O’Malley, Simon’s area director of strategic mall marketing, said. “Our customer base has also grown more affluent and has higher expectations.”

Changes over time

In 1995, Simon’s studies showed the area’s average household income to be $51,000. Nine years later, the average household income in Cedar Park jumped to $78,314, according to city records.

The population of the area has increased from 5,161 in 1990 to 48,139 in 2005, according to census numbers, not to mention the growth of nearby cities such as Austin and Round Rock.

The improved transportation options with the opening of Toll 45 and 183A Toll have also driven more traffic to the mall, O’Malley said.

While Brewer doesn’t expect 1890 Ranch to compete with Lakeline’s high-end shopping and department stores, the two shopping centers will have some similar offerings, such as PetSmart, OfficeMax and a movie theater.

The 1890 Ranch will be comparable in size to Lakeline, offering about 900,000 sq. ft. to Lakeline’s 1.1 million.

“Even though we don’t gain the tax dollars from Lakeline, it certainly provides a shopping venue of which the citizens take advantage. When 1890 opens, more of the sales tax dollars that have been going into Austin will end up staying in Cedar Park,” Brewer said. “We’ll be able to recapture sales tax dollars that have been going out of our community for the past 12 years.”

Cedar Park’s tax base continues to increase as the community grows. Retail tax dollars are up 20 percent from last year, according to finance director Joyce Herring.

These funds allow the city to keep property taxes low because it has tax revenue from other sources to pay for public projects.

New business near future rail station

With the Capital Metro MetroRail starting operation in 2008, developers are beginning to build on the land along RM 620 between US 183 and Parmer Lane. Lakeline Station will occupy a 335-acre area south of Avery Ranch to south of Lakeline Boulevard. This mixed-use development will have housing projects and retail in a type of development geared toward making it pedestrian friendly and transit oriented. Also in the works:

• The Shops at Walden Park, a retail project to reuse the old North Fork center east of the rail station.
• The Crossing at Lakeline, an apartment complex north of RM 620 due to open this time next year.
• Northwood at Lakeline, a community of houses and condominiums adjacent to the rail station produced by the same company as the Lakeline Station Pacific Summit Partners.

1995 — Median household income: $51,000; Cedar Park population: 5,161

2007 — Median household income: $78,314; Cedar Park population: 48,139

Source: Community Impact Newspaper archives