Staff proposes Crown Center PD amendments to boost southern subarea housing and reduce some commercial minimums
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Summary
Lewisville planning staff outlined amendments to the Crown Center planned‑development to respond to post‑COVID market shifts: immediate allowance of 720 multifamily units in a southern subarea, lowering some multifamily minimum heights to four stories, and reducing the minimum commercial threshold to 750,000 sq ft with a 2,000‑unit cap retained.
Director Richard Lukey presented proposed text and exhibit amendments to the Crown Center planned development on March 2, saying the changes aim to adapt to sharp office‑market shifts since COVID and to activate the underutilized southern area.
Lukey described the subdistrict as roughly 140 acres west of the Sam Rayburn Tollway and said amendments would add concept‑plan amendment language, remove extended‑stay hotels as a permitted use without an SUP, and lower thresholds on where multifamily may be allowed. "The primary purpose of these amendments is to address the really sharp changes in the office market since COVID‑19, and to aid in the activation of the southern area," Lukey said.
Among the numerical adjustments: staff proposed allowing 720 multifamily units in subarea 3 for immediate construction, unlocking additional groups of 300 units after each 75,000 square feet of new nonresidential development, and retaining an overall cap of 2,000 multifamily units. Lukey said the minimum nonresidential (commercial) threshold was revised down to 750,000 square feet from a previously higher threshold.
Council members asked clarifying questions about how the unit unlocks work, the change from allowing additional multifamily above the 10th floor to above the fifth floor with SUP review, and the relationship between new residential and required commercial development. Planner Randy Rivera, speaking for the developer team, said the amendments aim to replicate successful elements from other mixed‑use projects and to sequence development from back to front so the southern office buildings gain nearby retail and housing demand.
Lukey said the amendments will go to the Planning & Zoning Commission (P&Z) public hearing on March 3 and to a city council public hearing on April 6, where council will consider formal adoption. "We currently have 900 units completed under the current rules, and then this amendment unlocks the initial 720," Lukey said when describing the math behind the changes.
Next steps: the item was informational at this meeting; staff and the developer will appear at the P&Z public hearing and return to council for final consideration in April.