Keller staff lays out priority development sites, Old Town parking plan

At a Keller board work session, economic development staff delivered a detailed presentation on priority commercial development sites and downtown infrastructure plans, highlighting new retail pad sites, conceptual projects and a purchase to add parking in Old Town.

"We love Keller. We wanna keep it beautiful," said Unidentified Speaker 2, the presenter, summarizing the city's goals to attract full-service restaurants, experiential retail and family-friendly entertainment that increase daytime population and sales-tax generation.

The presenter described a working concept called Samantha Springs Commerce Park on the north side of town (Joe McCombs property) as an early-stage plan for restaurants, retail and a community gathering place. Adjacent to that site, the Perrigo Tract (roughly 6–15 acres, commercially zoned) could support complementary entertainment and retail, the presenter said.

Several downtown and corridor sites were discussed in detail. Near Center Stage the city is marketing two pad sites (1.17 acres and 0.815 acres) that staff said would suit a coffee shop with a drive-through or quick-service restaurants to serve nearby multifamily developments and commuters. Speaker 2 noted that some planned restaurant moves hinge on a medical tenant filling a shared-parking building; the original medical tenant backed out and the developer is seeking a replacement.

The former Petco site in Kellertown Center presents a conversion challenge, staff said, because retrofitting a kitchen there would cost about $1,000,000. Other targets include the former Funky Baja space (described as second‑generation and suited for a destination restaurant), Manny G's building (for sale; described as a sale of the building rather than business assets), and a potential ~15-acre commercial parcel on South Main that participants said could host family entertainment and sports-related uses if traffic and neighborhood impacts are managed.

On Old Town, staff reported the city negotiated with a church to acquire a parking lot and plans to add roughly 145 parking stalls and install infrastructure including a phase-3 power transformer to support additional redevelopment. Staff estimated Old Town’s multi‑phase work would take multiple years (speakers mentioned two to three years as a planning horizon).

Staff also listed recent business changes and program metrics: a set of new business certificates of occupancy (126 COs issued in December, as stated in the meeting), recent and upcoming openings (examples named by staff), and performance for an 'OpenRewards' program — roughly 2,200 users, about 20,000 distributed rewards and 78% of respondents saying the app influenced purchases.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of minutes: The board approved the December meeting minutes by voice vote after a motion and second (recorded during the meeting). Details of individual votes were not provided on the record.
- Adjournment: A motion to adjourn was moved and seconded and the chair declared the meeting adjourned by voice vote.

The presentation closed after a short Q&A. Earlier in the meeting, the chair stated the board planned to adjourn into an executive session to discuss matters arising from the presentation; the public portion of the meeting concluded with the adjournment vote.