Economic-development update: downtown strategy, Lakeview projects and staffing needs discussed
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Summary
At a March 2 Rowlett City work session, economic-development presenter Mylan Wen outlined downtown placemaking, the Lakeview/Jackson Shaw project, vacancy and ROI analysis and urged bolstering staff. Council discussed adding two positions and acquiring parcel-analysis software, but took no formal action.
Mylan Wen, introduced as the evening's presenter, told the Rowlett City Council on March 2 that the city’s economic-development office is focused on business retention, recruitment and facilitating development across departments to support job growth and a resilient local economy.
"We have 79 new business," Wen said, adding that the city’s fiscal-year highlights included "jobs grama total 826," figures she cited as measures of recent job creation. She highlighted a downtown strategic plan prepared in 2024 by Olson Consultant Group and described placemaking projects (including VistroLite) intended to improve nighttime safety and pedestrian connections.
Wen updated council on the Lakeview Business District/Jackson Shaw development, reporting active operations in Buildings 1 and 6 (Building 1 described as a high-tech/data employer with about 150 employees), a planned Lincoln Tech workforce center in Building 3 expected to open in early 2027, and negotiations underway for Buildings 2, 4 and 5 with a phase 2 construction start targeted for 2026.
During council questioning, the presiding official said they had heard representations that "Building 1 is completely occupied, Building 6 is completely occupied, Building 3 is completely occupied," while staff offered to provide precise lease and square-footage data. Wen also presented a SWOT analysis and an internal ROI framework—fiscal ROI, cost-of-service ROI and community-value ROI—that staff plan to use when evaluating future projects.
Council members recommended additional training for Planning & Zoning commissioners and discussed a full reset of the comprehensive land-use plan (recode work), noting the last significant update was around 2012 with a smaller update in 2018–19. Several members recommended another joint work session with P&Z to align expectations and improve communications.
On staffing, members debated increasing the economic-development team from one filled position to three (adding an analyst and a director-level role). The presiding official said salary savings in the current budget could fund new hires but cautioned that adding recurring FTE appropriations would be a multiyear budget decision; no formal budget action was taken.
Wen and councilors discussed new data tools: Wen said the department is acquiring software (JAKT X) for parcel-level 3D visualization and cost-of-service estimates, and councilors suggested staff also invite vendors such as Urban 3 for demonstrations to provide more visual context to residents.
The work session record shows the council received the presentation and engaged in substantive Q&A but took no formal action on staffing or projects. The council closed the work session and moved to other agenda items.