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Calendar of Events
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The Greater Waco Chamber is committed to our center city and riverfront and will be an advocate for quality urban design and encourage mixed-use development downtown. An example of our belief in downtown's future is our new building on Third Street at Heritage Square.
Jim Vaughan |
Scott Connell
Senior Vice President
Strategic Development
(254) 752-6611 x206 |
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Scott Connell, Chris McGowan and other members of the Chamber's economic development team will assist investors, businesses and others interested in downtown find buildings or sites for development. |
| The Chamber’s Challenge Greater Waco Strategic Economic Development Plan includes “Revitalizing Strategic Community Areas” as one of five goals.
The Plan states that developing downtown and our riverfront will continue to be a Chamber priority.
Our benchmarks for accomplishments by 2010 include:
- Increasing the amount of occupied housing, retail, restaurant and office development downtown by 50 percent, each;
- Breaking ground on at least two new large-scale developments downtown; and
- Increasing homeownership in the city by 25 percent.
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 We also will give priority to high density development.
Investment in the urban core, or the heart of the city, creates great walkable places for ecnomic development, community interaction, tourism and other public benefits.
Downtown Waco is the heart of the city where the Brazos River provides a beautiful landscape and businesses are bringing in people for work, play and even to live.
Development in this vital area has included renovating treasured buildings and new construction. From restaurants and retail to office space and residential, Downtown Waco is coming alive.
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Billion Dollar Decade of Development
Downtown Construction
| Chamber Headquarters |
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The two-story, 13,916-square-foot Greater Waco Chamber Headquarters is under construction adjacent to Heritage Square and will be the marketing center for Greater Waco and the cornerstone of Waco Town Square. The building has been designed to accommodate the oganization's committees and staff who are advancing an expanded economic and communtiy development agenda. The Third Street facade will have large, retail-style windows, contributing to an interesting uban feel of the development and is Waco's first LEED (Leadership in Engineering and Environment Design)-certified building. |
| Roosevelt Hotel |
Austin Avenue Flats |
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A $15-million renovation of the historic Roosevelt Hotel will provide additional
high-quality Class A office space. |
The Austin Avenue Flats will include 70 single-story, loft-style residence ranging from 540 to 1,504 square feet. |
| Hilton Waco |
Waco Convention Center |
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Hilton Waco is getting a new "skin" as
part of its $16-million floor-by-floor makeover. A ballroom, renovated
swimming pool and VIP floor are among
the new amenities. |
Interior and exterior renovations are in the works at the Waco Convention Center. The 2007 city bond issue designated $17.5 million for the project, which includes a grand entry, new service corridors and a large kitchen. |
| Waco Town Square |
Student Housing |
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A $60-million, 17-acre, mixed-use development is under construction between S. Third and S. Fourth
Streets. Offices will sit above retail
spaces and restaurants offering an
ideal environment where tenants are
within walking distance to area shops. |
A 368-unit student housing structure is expected to open in the fall. The facility will include special amenities targeting Baylor University students. |
Planned Projects
| Mixed-Use Residential |
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The vacant building at 705-707 Austin Ave. will be remodeled into first-floor retail space and second-floor loft apartments by owners and brothers Shane and Cody Turner. Almost 100 years old, the building will receive a new roof and floors.
Austin's on the Avenue is under construction at 719 Austin Ave. Owners Leslie Long and Austin Brok expect to cmplete teh project in early 2008. A wine bar will occupy the first floor, and a realty office will occupy the upper level.
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The Landmark Group is slated to do a $12-million renovation of the Old Waco High School structure on Columbus Avenue to convert it into affordable housing units.
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| Special Projects |
A day spa is planned for Third and Mary where sisters Erin Owen and Traci
Gerner have bought land. |
Developer Rick Sheldon has revealed his vision for a Lake Brazos project that would include a domed stadium, bridge, hotel, restaurants and marina. |
| Hotels |
Temple-based Aston Development plans
to build an upscale 120-room Hotel Indigo, part of the InterContinental Hotels Group, between Second and Third Streets and Webster and Clay Avenues. |
Nalin Patel is planning to build a 90-unit, limited-service Staybridge Suites hotel on a 2.2-acre site between S. Fifth and Sixth STreets near Interstate 35 and Baylor. |
Current locations
| Offices |
The former Raleigh Hotel (pictured) is now home to the State of Texas offices.
In addition, the Federal Building was expanded and renovated in 2001, and the Waco Tribune-Herald renovated their downtown building instead of relocating to another area of the city.
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The Veterans Administration relocated its regional office to a new building downtown.
The Mary Avenue corridor, parallel between Franklin Avenue and Interstate 35, has seen River Square Center and Insurors of Texas benefit from the city's Tax Increment Financing program, which provided parking, streetscape, street trees and other infrastructure.
River Square Center, formerly the Holiday Hammond warehouses, was dramatically transformed into a mixed-use development with prime office space, restaurants and Spice, a trendy shopping experience with a collection of vendors.
Insurors of Texas now offices in the former Southwest Drug Company building. McDowell Research Corp., a research firm and government contractor, is located in the corridor.
The Stratton Building at Eighth and Austin is slated to be renovated this year and next by a group of nonprofits and professionals headed by the Business Resource Center and the McLennan County Youth Collaboration.
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| Residential |
The Pallidium serves as a single-family residence and venue for parties and receptions downtown.
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The Praetorian, the Behren's Building and the Lofts at River Square Center are among the residential options downtown. More is on the horizon as the new Heritage Square development takes shape.
In addition, the Palladium, an adaptive reuse of a department store for housing and events, serves as a single-family residence on the second floor while the ground floor is leased for parties and receptions.
The City of Waco has developed a tax abatement program to encourage middle-income families to build homesteads on the abundance of "infill" lots in the downtown area.
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The Greater Waco Chamber
recognizes that a well-coordinated effort on behalf of all downtown stakeholders is essential to our success and the continued renaissance of the downtown Waco area.
To ensure effective coordination of this effort the Chamber has joined forces with other downtown stakeholders to form the Partnership for Downtown Waco to ensure a coordinated path forward as we continue to enhance development of the commercial, residential and art districts in this vital area.
In addition to the Chamber, the partnership includes representatives from the Public Improvement District, City Leadership, Downtown Merchants, the Private Development Community, the Metropolitan Planning Organization and Baylor University, and Waco Town Square among others.
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The partnership was officially launched this fall at Waco’s first annual Downtown Summit.
By bringing together key investors, and working under a common vision, the Chamber predicts a billion-dollar decade of development in downtown and along the Brazos River Corridor.
This level of investment is key to the Chamber’s goal of Revitalizing Strategic Community Areas identified in the Economic Development Plan.
In order to realize this Billion-Dollar Decade, the Partnership will focus on strategies to stimulate development including:
• developing a downtown master plan;
• creating great public spaces by
expanding sidewalk improvements
and establishing parks and squares to
encourage pedestrian activity;
• supporting downtown merchants;
• improving transportation access in
the urban areas;
• advocating and marketing new
investment downtown; and
• building support for sustainable growth
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