Council approves specific-use permit for dual-brand hotel near Ashford Park

The Buda City Council on Feb. 18 approved a specific-use permit allowing a four-story, 146-room dual-brand hotel (SpringHill Suites and TownePlace Suites) in the city’s Interstate B-3 gateway corridor near the intersection of Rylander Street and West Go Forth.

City staff told the council the Unified Development Code requires a specific-use permit for limited-service hotels in B-3 and said the applicant received a 10% height exception from the Zoning Board of Adjustments to allow a 48.5-foot building height (not including parapets). The applicant proposed amenities the city characterized as “enhanced services,” including an outdoor pool, meeting space, business center, guest laundry, 24-hour market, in-room streaming and an EV charger.

Keyshawn Desai, part of the development group, said his family-owned company began searching for a site in 2019 and selected the location for its proximity to Interstate 35 and nearby retail. “We started off on Main Street … we felt that this space would be a great spot for a hotel with access right off of I-35,” Desai told the council, adding that standard check-in times spread arrival times and would limit concentrated peak traffic.

The Unified Development Code requires a 1-to-4 slope setback from adjacent residential property when buildings exceed certain heights; staff said that requirement produces a minimum separation of about 196 feet from the nearest residential property line in Ashford Park. Staff also compared similar buildings in the city and said a nearby three-story apartment building sits roughly 140–150 feet from its adjacent homes.

Council members pressed staff and the applicant on traffic, driveway placement and emergency access. Staff said the project will dedicate an additional 5 feet of right-of-way along Rhinelander Street to meet current standards, construct a shared-use path along Rhinelander and provide a driveway on West Go Forth; the applicant requested a fee-in-lieu for part of the West Go Forth sidewalk because of an upcoming city project in that corridor. Staff said a driveway on West Go Forth would reuse an existing driveway culvert and would be brought up to current standards.

Council member Horn Williams expressed concern about locating a hotel adjacent to established homes, saying, “we don’t want prostitution, drugs, or anything else coming out of these hotels that close to people’s homes where they’re raising their children.”

Planning and Zoning recommended approval with conditions that the proposed enhanced services be included, that four bicycle parking spaces be provided and that a fully engineered site plan comply with the UDC. After public hearing and discussion, the council approved first-and-final reading of the ordinance and adopted the SUP with the P&Z recommendations.

The SUP approval is limited to the site shown on the submitted SUP plan; the applicant must plat the property to create the separate lot for the hotel before development proceeds. The applicant stated it notified roughly 40–45 property owners within 400 feet as required for the neighborhood meeting.

Council members and staff noted additional steps remain — final site plan submittal, platting, engineering and compliance with fire department access requirements — before the hotel can be built.