Addison council approves 120-day exclusive MOU with QIP for Addison Circle TOD; residents press for housing and grocery

Addison City Council approved a 120-day exclusive memorandum of understanding with developer QIP on April 22, 2025, giving the company the exclusive right to refine a concept for the Addison Circle transit-oriented development and return to council with financials, market studies and letters of intent.

The MOU covers a near-term development package centered on an office building, parking garage and a boutique hotel with linked convention/meeting space, plus plans for a separate entertainment/food node and smaller retail pad. Deputy City Manager Ashley Shroyer told council the iteration responds to a previously discovered plat restriction on a portion of the site and to market changes since the project began in 2019. The MOU does not commit the town to a final deal, Shroyer said; if negotiations fail the town will pursue an RFP.

Why it matters: Residents who testified at the meeting said housing is the top way to attract a grocery store and support neighborhood businesses; some homeowners urged limiting new apartments. Council and staff framed the MOU as a step to create a catalytic mixed-use district that could spur additional redevelopment — including housing — in the broader Addison Circle area beyond the immediate MOU footprint.

In presentations, QIP displayed concept massing that preserves mature grove trees around Festival Way, places a 5–6-story office building with outdoor tenant amenities near the park, locates a 400-space garage and a roughly 50–60-key boutique hotel with a 30,000-square-foot meeting space above a shared garage. QIP said the concept also includes a smaller “dark-site” F&B/retail building, an active-event/entertainment parcel and landscaped pocket parks, and showed precedent projects (River Edge, 1333) intended to match the proposed office and hospitality character.

Public comment was the most contested portion of the meeting. Several Addison Circle residents and business owners urged the council to preserve housing in the TOD plan to attract a grocery store and to generate full-week customer traffic. Tyler Wright, who identified himself as a Planning and Zoning Commission member speaking for himself, urged council to “table this vote” and retain the housing component that community engagement had previously produced. Curtis Green and other longtime Circle business owners and residents said deed restrictions limit where housing can be built and asked the town to preserve housing on nonrestricted parcels. Resident Zach Smutzer told council that the “silent majority” of Circle tenants wants a grocery store and argued that only more residents living in the Circle full-time would support one. Other speakers raised concerns about communications and asked for more time for public engagement.

Council members and staff described the project history in detail: staff hired Cushman & Wakefield to prepare an RFP; Amlee/Stream previously held an earlier MOU and later teamed with QIP; a title/plat restriction identified in 2024 altered the program options on certain parcels; staff then recommended pursuing a development concept that complies with the existing plat language while preserving the larger Addison Circle vision. Shroyer reviewed the town’s Addison Circle special area study and a series of memoranda of understanding dating back to 2022, and said the project team concluded the restricted parcels would either require a lengthy replat (all seven private owners’ consents) or an alternative program that fits the existing restriction.

QIP founder Chad Cook told council the firm had experience in consolidating parcels and delivering mixed-use office, retail and hospitality. He said the company will deliver a set of studies and pro formas over 120 days: final site plans, market and feasibility studies (hotel and office), a financial gap analysis, a development budget and proposed capital structure, letters of intent from operators/tenants where feasible, and a proposed master incentive package. The firm also proposed shared parking and a revenue-sharing arrangement for an entertainment site to support operations.

Council discussion emphasized the MOU’s exclusivity window and the fallback: if negotiations do not result in a satisfactory definitive agreement, staff will return to the council and the town will reissue an RFP. Council members praised the preservation of existing mature trees in QIP’s concept and described the MOU as a possible catalyst that could lead to additional housing and redevelopment just outside the immediate parcel cluster.

Votes at a glance (from this meeting): Consent items 4A–4H — approved (voice vote; motion by Marlon, seconded by Nancy). Ordinance adopting 2025 Standards of Care for youth recreation programs (item 5A) — approved (after public hearing). Resolution approving the MOU with QIP for the Addison Circle TOD and authorizing the city manager to execute the MOU (item 6A) — approved (motion by Marlon, seconded by Dan; council approved on voice vote). Resolutions approving three donated public-art benches (6B) and a mosaic butterfly (6C) — both approved. Agreement with McMahon Contracting LP for Jimmy Doolittle reconstruction at Addison Airport (6D) — approved. Midyear budget amendment to reallocate personnel and provide funding for sales tax recovery, event enhancements, Athletic Club fence, APAC maintenance, Reading Trail extension and prior encumbrances (6E) — approved.

What remains: Under the MOU QIP will have 120 days to complete deliverables and return to council with definitive agreements and financing structure; staff said any proposed town incentives would be spelled out in a master incentive agreement and returned to council for approval. If the negotiations fail, the town will move to an RFP process.

Ending: The MOU vote advances a redesigned, nonbinding path for Addison Circle that town staff and the developer say respects a previously undisclosed plat restriction; residents and business owners left the meeting urging either more housing or additional outreach to secure a grocery store and clarify where redevelopment will occur.