Updates on Waco’s Downtown Redevelopment Project presented to city council

WACO, Texas (KWTX) - Tonight the Waco City Council got an update on the progress of the highly anticipated downtown redevelopment project and a peek at some new designs.

This is a massive 12 to 20 year project that’s split into four phases. Its goal is to revitalize Waco’s downtown area and turn it into a vibrant, mixed-use area.

Back in June of this year the strategic plan for this redevelopment project was adopted by city council, beginning design services for Phase 1A back in July.

Tonight they say the design phase has passed schematic design and is on track according to their schedule.

According to their plans, Phase 1A is expected to take two years and will focus on enabling infrastructure within Jefferson and Washington St, and 4th St to the Brazos.

This includes fixing the floodplain, upgrades to water and sewer, street upgrades, and creating more public spaces.

The 33 acres within this phase also corresponds with Barron’s Branch District, sharing some of the designs they’ve come up with for that area tonight.

They are still in the design phase, preparing for permit applications in January of 2025 and bidding in mid-2025 for street and utility construction later that year.

Tom Balk, the Director of Strategic Initiatives, says “there’s a theme to all of this, our attempt at outreach and engagement is… this project is feedback driven and so we’re at a very helpful milestone right now, and so trying to get that feedback not just from y’all but through the community as well”.

Throughout this process they will continue their public outreach and continue to give updates like tonight at future city council meetings.

The city also has an entire website dedicated to this project, to help walk people through the plans and keep them up to date.