Real Estate Photographer in Cedar Park, TX

About a decade ago, Cedar Park City Council adopted a comprehensive plan—which, among other priorities, targeted underdeveloped portions of New Hope Drive for office space to attract key business sectors as well as retail and dining options to accommodate them.

Penniman-Morin said as global technology and manufacturing companies come to Texas for tax incentives, Cedar Park offers a hub of young talent.

For these companies, the city has prioritized “light industrial” development—a term that often conjures visions of smoke stacks and chemical plants in the imaginations of residents, Penniman-Morin said. In reality, it’s a flexible zoning designation that allows builders to combine manufacturing facilities, office spaces and front-facing retail.

Nearly a dozen new developments—that together span the size of four Lakeline Malls—are planned between South Bagdad Road and Ronald Reagan Boulevard.

Quote of note

“If a community has nothing but residential properties, it ends up leading to higher taxes on homeowners. But if you have ... new businesses nearby, that’s going to provide sales tax revenue, while also generating more property value,” Cedar Park Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said.

By the numbers

Neerja Kwatra, real estate broker for the Shops at New Hope, said parcels along New Hope Drive are enticing because the road is seeing more traffic as drivers look for alternatives to Whitestone Boulevard.

Kwatra said the lower traffic counts along New Hope Drive compared to nearby roads make it ideal for smaller retailers and offices to move into the corridor before any national brands or big-box stores.

CoStar traffic data from 2023 shows that New Hope Drive had an average of 11,876 vehicles per day compared to 42,400 on nearby east-west corridor Whitestone Boulevard. However, as new development moves into the area, New Hope is expected to see increased traffic.

To accommodate this, construction began on an extension of New Hope Drive to connect it from Ronald Reagan Boulevard to Sam Bass Road. The project, which will include 1.8 miles of new roadway, began in fall 2023 and is anticipated to be complete this spring.

Editor's note: This story is part of a three-part series. To read more about how Cedar Park and Leander are approaching commercial development, click here. For more information about growth along Ronald Reagan Boulevard and the future of both corridors, click here.

Features Reporter

Kameryn joined Community Impact as a features reporter in August 2023 after graduating with a degree in journalism from The University of Texas. While in school, Kameryn was the video editor for the student newspaper, The Daily Texan. She previously covered politics for the Austin American-Statesman and interned for KXAN-TV, CNN Business and the Austin Film Festival. When she’s not writing, she enjoys filmmaking, reading philosophy and spending time with her cats.

By Zacharia Washington

Government Reporter

Zacharia joined Community Impact in January 2022 after a year spent working at the Texas Observer. She is a government reporter covering Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander and Liberty Hill. Prior to CI, Zacharia graduated from Huston-Tillotson University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in communication; shortly after, she graduated from The University of Texas with a master’s degree in journalism and media. Zacharia has a passion for journalism, service and the community, and she's honored to work at a place with the same values as her own.

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Would you like your drinks delivered to you on a mini-golf course that also features a restaurant, an ice cream parlor and a beer garden? That's what PopStroke, a company co-owned by Tiger Woods, is proposing for Cedar Park.

PopStroke would like to build two 18-hole, mini-golf courses on an 8-acre site at 817 C-Bar Ranch Road, said a representative for the business.

Brad Carabajal, an engineer with Quiddity Engineering, described the project to the Cedar Park City Council at its March 7 meeting. The company is working with PopStroke to get a special-use permit from the city for the business.

The proposed development would have two mini-golf courses totaling 65,000 square feet, a 14,000-square-foot restaurant and bar, a playground for children, a beer garden with games including ping pong, an ice cream parlor and big-screen TVs so customers could watch sporting events, Carabajal said.

More:$250 million mixed-use project breaks ground in Cedar Park

It also would feature an app that players could use to order cocktails and drinks and have them delivered to them on the golf course, he said.

"We are focused on bringing golf to all audiences," Carabajal said. "You don't need to be a top golfer. You don't even need to play mini-golf to have a good time."

He said the project would bring 80 to 100 jobs to Cedar Park, as well as attract tourists.

"There's not really another mini-golf course like this in the area," he said. "It would be the first of its kind in Central Texas."

More:Baseball scouting company's move to Cedar Park forecast to bring $20 million in revenue

The development would take eight to 10 months to build, he said.

PopStroke is headquartered in Jupiter, Fla., and already has 10 mini-golf courses open across the country, according to its website. It also has 10 more mini-golf courses planned or under construction in Texas, including Austin, Dallas and San Antonio, according to the website.

The location in Austin, planned for the fourth quarter of the year, is at the Pitch in Northeast Austin, according to PopStroke's website.

It said the company started in 2018 and partnered with Tiger Woods in 2019.

Cedar Park Mayor Jim Penniman-Morin said he had played at PopStroke's mini-golf course in Scottsdale, Ariz. "It was a lot of fun and very family-friendly," he said.

Council Member Bobbi Hutchinson said she was concerned that the big screen TVs would be facing a senior living apartment complex across the street.

Carabajal said the TVs would be placed in a different area and would not affect the apartment complex. The city's Planning and Zoning Commission already has unanimously approved the development.

A second reading of the request for a special permit will be at a future City Council meeting.

A wellness company is planning an Austin-area spa destination as it wraps up work on its flagship project near Dallas.

WorldSprings wants to develop an 8-acre project in Cedar Park that could have more than 40 pools, including hot springs, a Dead Sea floating pool and cold plunges. It would be in the New Hope project along U.S. Highway 183A, a stretch of highway that includes rocket maker Firefly Aerospace Inc. and the future Nebraska Furniture Mart development.

Project representatives presented initial plans for the project during a Feb. 20 meeting of the Cedar Park Planning and Zoning Commission as part of a request for a special use permit for the site.

Representatives said during the meeting that the WorldSprings concept began as a way to bring the natural hot springs of Colorado elsewhere. The company offers mineral hot springs and wellness services, as well as hot springs pools, cold plunges and saunas to promote relaxation and well-being. The company also offers food and alcoholic beverage offerings, programming, classes and trainings.

Representatives from the company declined to comment on the Cedar Park location, saying they're currently focused on opening their first location in The Colony near Dallas, which is slated for this spring. An estimated job total for the Cedar Park site was not available.

"The area along 183A between (Ranch to Market Road) 1431 and New Hope (Drive) has gathered a lot of momentum and now serves really as a regional destination for folks looking for services (and) entertainment uses. That's only going to continue to grow," said Kimley-Horn planner Ethan Harwell, who represented the WorldSprings project during the meeting.

The New Hope development that WorldSprings would be part of is a joint venture of three Austin-based real estate firms — Cordova Real Estate Ventures, Riverside Resources and Live Oak. The $250 million project is expected to total at least 430,000 square feet of industrial space, along with roughly 29,000 square feet of retail space.

Chris Whitworth, founding partner of Cordova, said during the meeting that the WorldSprings project would be in the portion of the site that is dedicated to entertainment, restaurants, hotels and more.

Commissioners expressed concern about the water usage of the project amid Cedar Park's drought restrictions. Developers said their water use is compared to that of a fast-food restaurant. Commissioners ultimately recommended approval of the permit, and it will head to City Council for final approval.

If the project comes to fruition, it would add another destination project to Cedar Park, which had a population of 77,642 in 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau estimates. Other examples include North Dakota-based sporting goods store Scheels bringing an indoor entertainment destination to the 118-acre Nebraska Furniture Mart project. Other large-scale lifestyle projects in Cedar Park include the new headquarters of baseball and softball scouting company Perfect Game Inc. and the redevelopment of Bell Boulevard, a 95-acre mixed-use site that could eventually have nearly 450,000 square feet of industrial and commercial space.

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Cedar Park could be home to the first Central Texas location of WorldSprings, a spa offering a globally inspired outdoor mineral pool experience that promotes wellness and relaxation.

A closer look

WorldSprings is planning to bring over 40 soaking pools and mineral springs that reflect and mimic various water bodies around the world to an 8-acre site located just off 183A Toll. The complex will feature a blend of hot and cold springs as well as larger fresh water pools.

Ethan Harwell, a representative of the company, said WorldSprings is not a water park but a health and wellness facility intended for passive recreation.

In addition to the pools, WorldSprings will offer spa services, health and wellness coaching, retail options, and on-site restaurants.

Harwell said the proposed 8-acre property will include:

Something to note

A few council members expressed concerns about water usage during the March 7 meeting. Harwell said WorldSprings is a low water user compared to other commercial businesses.

If approved, WorldSprings is estimated to use 54 living unit equivalents, or LUEs, per day. A living unit equivalent is defined as the typical water usage produced by a single-family household, according to meeting documents.

Out of the 54 LUEs, the mineral springs and pools will use about six per day, Harwell said. He said the water will mainly be recycled and refreshed as necessary.

Notable quote

“This is more of a destination than just a community pool,” council member Mel Kirkland said during the meeting. “It’s something completely different. [WorldSprings] is a good thing for Cedar Park.”

Stay tuned

Council will consider the proposed project for approval at its next meeting.

Government Reporter

Zacharia joined Community Impact in January 2022 after a year spent working at the Texas Observer. She is a government reporter covering Cedar Park, Georgetown, Leander and Liberty Hill. Prior to CI, Zacharia graduated from Huston-Tillotson University, where she received her bachelor’s degree in communication; shortly after, she graduated from The University of Texas with a master’s degree in journalism and media. Zacharia has a passion for journalism, service and the community, and she's honored to work at a place with the same values as her own.

Thanks for reading!

Daily news about your community is free, and your support is invaluable.

Give $10 now towards CI's journalistic mission across Texas.

Become a CI Patron

The single mother and her daughter said their car is broken down, and they are forced to pay for rideshares.

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AUSTIN, Texas — Cedar Park High School student Nalia Boudray lives just under two miles from campus – a distance she walks to and from home. But when she isn't walking, she uses the rideshare apps Uber and Lyft.

Boudray said these are her only options because no bus route comes to her complex, and her mother doesn't have the means to fix their broken car.

"Not having a car and then not having like any nearby bus transportation ... Just kind of makes it harder," Boudray said.

Boudray's mother, Naree Dilworth – who is deaf – explained through sign language that she doesn't want her daughter to walk the roughly 40-minute walk alone and she wishes there was an alternative option.

"It's risky, and she worries a lot," Boudray said.

KVUE decided to take the route Nalia takes to school and discovered that the 40-minute journey is down a busy Lakeline Boulevard that intersects with streets and entries to businesses where vehicles don't always stop. It's a major reason the mother and daughter have opted for Uber or Lyft more frequently.

But it puts a financial strain on the family.

"It's just like, that money that we could spend on trying to get a car back, we're spending on this instead," Dilworth said through translation. "So it's not really like helping the situation."

Erin Kelp was Boudray's fifth grade teacher. She said she's an advocate for the family and has stayed in touch over the years, going as far as helping the family move from South Austin to Cedar Park so Boudray can attend the high school.

Kelp said she has been trying to get in contact with Leander ISD to find out if there are any transportation services offered to families in certain circumstances.

"I reached out to the [administration], thinking it would be just kind of a quick fix of like, 'Hey, this family's gone through a lot. This girl has unbelievable potential. Is there any way we could just add her on to a bus route.' It was just kind of a quick shrug off like, 'Sorry, we don't do that,'" Kelp said.

Kelp added that there are likely many families in Boudray's and Dilworth's situation, and the district should offer some sort of assistance.

"There comes a point ... As a single mom for her who doesn't have a car, there's only so much that she can do and only so many ways she can help her daughter," Kelp said.

Boudray explained she learned to deal with the situation, but at times, it does affect her.

"It's kind of like still trying to catch up on everything, but then trying to figure out what my next class is. But then trying to figure out how am I getting home today," Boudray said. "I kind of taught myself how to work with what I have. But it does kind of get tiring."

Dilworth and Boudray explained taking rideshare everywhere is not ideal, but if there was some method of transportation to get to and from school, it would lift some of the weight off of their shoulders.

KVUE reached out to Leander ISD multiple times since Friday. On Thursday, the district provided this statement:

"The district provides a webpage resource on Hazardous Routes. The LISD Board annually approves hazardous routes and decides to discontinue bus service in non-hazardous areas. For one month, the district sought feedback from families about their routes to and from school. With the continued growth in the area, the district assesses hazardous routes on an annual basis. The feedback is collected at the same time each year. The district is currently looking at the recent feedback submissions and, subsequently, evaluating each route. Administration will make a recommendation to the Board in the Spring for the 2024-25 school year.

Specifically regarding Nalia Boudray, Nalia lives 1.6 miles from the apartment complex to the school which is in the Not Eligible for Transportation (NET) zone. There is an alternative route to using Lakeline to Cypress Creek, which takes students on a pedestrian path along Old Mill Rd to El Salido Pkwy. We have many students who live in that apartment complex and none of them receive or have received transportation to Cedar Park HS or any other of the neighboring schools that feed into the high school."

The district's hazardous routes webpage can be viewed here.

If you would like to help the family, a GoFundMe has been set up to assist with travel expenses and can be found here.