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Cedar Park seeks $5 million for design of planned Arts Collective on Buttercup property
Summary
City staff asked the Type B board to allocate up to $5 million to complete design and preconstruction work for a new Arts Collective; estimated construction cost is $30–35 million, and staff said construction would likely be debt-funded while design could be cash-funded from Type B sales-tax proceeds.
City staff asked the City of Cedar Park Community Development Type B Corporation on June 10 to fund the design phase of a planned Arts Collective at the 201 Buttercup Creek property, requesting up to $5 million for architectural design, site work, public outreach and preconstruction services.
Assistant City Manager Bo Valgu told the board the Arts Collective is “envisioned as a vibrant community center program for performance, fine art, learning and gallery exhibits” and said the project aims to connect to Bell Park and the Bell District. Valgu framed the design request as the next step after feasibility and master-planning work and said council prefers to partner with the Type B fund on early design work.
Chris Ricken, project manager, summarized the design budget and scope: “The proposed request for this project as you said it is $5,000,000. Those costs included are not only architectural and civil design but also soft costs and include additional amenities such as pedestrian bridge, government agency fees, reports, public outreach and opening.” Ricken said design fees for an elaborate civic project of this scale commonly run about 15% of construction costs; staff estimate construction at $30 million to $35 million and design at $4.5 million to $5 million.
Staff outlined a tentative schedule: roughly 18 months for the design phase and about 24 months for construction, producing an overall timeframe of roughly three to three-and-a-half years from design start through completion if funding and approvals line up. The city intends to look to Type B sales-tax proceeds to cash-fund design and to debt instruments (sales-tax-backed debt or a possible future general obligation bond) for construction; council has indicated a preference for sales-tax financing, with GO bonds a lower priority.
Staff emphasized extensive public outreach and work on operations and programming during the feasibility phase; they also said grant funding would be pursued where appropriate but should not be assumed as the primary driver for a go/no-go decision. The board did not vote on the design allocation on June 10; the Arts Collective design request is scheduled to return for formal consideration at the July meeting.
