The College Station City Council cleared the way Thursday night for a large master-planned community on the city's south side, and handed out several big construction contracts while it was at it.
The council approved a rezoning request for the Savannah Oaks subdivision, covering roughly 1,266 acres near Pebble Creek, KBTX reported. The project plans to bring new homes, apartments, businesses and parks to the area.
The rezoning
According to the city's live blog of the meeting, the council unanimously approved rezoning about 1,267 vacant acres from Rural and Commercial Industrial to a Planned Development District covering 1,104 acres and a Planned Mixed-Use District covering 162.6 acres.
The property sits east of State Highway 6 and Nantucket Drive, between the Pebble Creek and Southern Pointe subdivisions. Plans call for single-family homes, townhouses, multifamily housing, commercial development, parks and trails, the city said.
The council also unanimously approved changes to the city's thoroughfare and active transportation plans for the subdivision. Those include realigning four thoroughfares, reclassifying two, removing a future bicycle-pedestrian grade-separated crossing, realigning the future Alum Creek shared-use path, and converting planned bike lanes and sidewalks into shared-use paths.
Reworked after parkway fight
The master plan had to be reworked after the council voted in April to remove the Pebble Creek Parkway extension from the comprehensive plan, KBTX reported. That vote followed pushback from Pebble Creek residents over traffic and safety, despite support from city planners and fire leaders, and it forced the developers to rethink roads and connectivity.
"It shares a significant border with Lick Creek Park and has nearly a mile of Highway 6 frontage. But at this scale, we can plan and design neighborhoods, infrastructure, parks, trails, amenities, and all the commercial areas as one coordinated system," developer Brantley P. Gwin told KBTX.
Contracts awarded
The council's unanimous consent agenda included several construction and engineering contracts, according to the city:
- A $13.6 million contract with Cash Construction for Phase 3 of the Northeast Sewer Trunk Line, plus a $1 million city contingency, for a total of $14.6 million.
- A $12.34 million contract with Brazos Paving for the Jones Butler Extension and Roundabout Project, plus a $1.25 million contingency, for a total of $13.59 million.
- An amendment adding $913,181 to Kimley-Horn and Associates' design contract for the Jones Butler project, including a specialized construction inspector.
- A contract of up to $1 million with McCord Engineering for electrical engineering and design of the new CSU Southeast Substation.
- A $145,000 contract with Zone Industries, plus contingency, to replace a variable frequency drive on a high-service pump at the Dowling Road Pump Station.
Data centers defined
The council also unanimously amended the Unified Development Ordinance to define a data center as a structure, or part of one, larger than 5,000 square feet used mainly for computer and network equipment. The amendment sets the zoning districts where data centers may be allowed. Through the Conditional Use Permit process, the council can add conditions such as buffering, screening, lighting and noise controls, the city said.
The council meets again Monday, Nov. 16.
Why it matters for contractors
Savannah Oaks is a long-term opportunity. A master-planned community on about 1,267 acres with single-family, multifamily and commercial land, plus new roads and trails, means years of work for site developers, utility contractors, homebuilders and commercial builders. The rezoning is a key step, but neither KBTX nor the city gave a construction timeline.
In the short term, the consent agenda is where the money is. The sewer trunk line and the Jones Butler extension together come to nearly $26 million in base contract value, with work for paving, utility and earthwork subcontractors and suppliers.
The new data center definition matters too. By spelling out where data centers can go and requiring a Conditional Use Permit, College Station has set clear rules for the use. Developers and contractors interested in that market now know the process.