abouTown Press- Bryan & College Station, Texas

abouTcollegestation

RAMADA INN
Becoming a Retail and Residential Development
By JENNIFER MADDOX

We aim to attract commercial tenants who would provide additional amenity and services which will combine well [with] the residential tenants.”
- Paul Thrower, Megaclose USA

Texas Avenue, College Station’s main artery, has been going through a lot of changes lately. Many of the city’s older structures along that road, such as Culpepper Plaza and Redmond Terrace, have undergone changes as well. But there are more on the horizon. The next structure to receive a major facelift will be Ramada Inn.

Ramada Inn is currently owned by Megaclose, an international student housing company, said Jennifer Prochazka, Senior Planner for the City of College Station Planning & Development Services Department. With the help of local engineering firm Mitchell & Morgan and architectural firm Reynolds, Smith and Hills, Inc., the company has decided to convert the old hotel into a mixed use development involving both residential space and commercial/retail space using both the existing facility and new construction.

Paul Thrower of Megaclose USA explained that the current hotel will be retained and completely remodeled. The existing lobby area and service area will be razed and replaced with new construction. The project will include approximately 150,000 square feet of residential space.

“The upper floors will contain a mixture of studio, one, two, and three bedroom fully-equipped apartments designed specifically for students,” said Thrower. “The residential element of the project will incorporate features such as high speed internet, extended channel cable/satellite TV, study areas, a game room, and a fitness facility.”

But the renovations don’t stop there. Plans also include landscaped areas, sports courts, barbeque areas, covered patios and a large swimming pool with deck. And residents can feel protected with the myriad of security features that will be incorporated, such as gated access, video entry system and intruder alarms to all apartments, on-site management offices, and 24 hour on-call engineers.

In addition to the residential space, the project will also include 37,000 square feet of commercial/retail space on the first floor complete with ground level parking. Megaclose is currently in contact with several national and regional retailers, who are showing a strong interest in the development, including a specialty grocery store, coffee house, cellular phone company, restaurant, and bank, said Thrower.
“We aim to attract commercial tenants who would provide additional amenity and services which will combine well [with] the residential tenants,” Thrower explained.

Thrower speculates that, with this type and size of mixed use project, new jobs are inevitable. “The residential element will yield a number of new full-time jobs including management, accounting, secretarial, clerical and maintenance positions, in addition to the likely increase in service contracts to local businesses,” said Thrower.

Although the new commercial/retail space will create a number of new jobs within the community, without knowing for sure who those retailers will be, it’s hard to determine just how many jobs will be created. However, the construction itself will also bring new job opportunities to College Station, Thrower points out.

But residents don’t need to worry about this project interfering with the current congestion on Texas Avenue. Construction is not set to begin until late spring 2008. Therefore, Thrower said, the road improvements in the vicinity of the project should be nearing completion and will have little or no effect on the project.

The design team is working on the schedule and hopes that the new development will be completed by fall 2009.

“We are quite excited about the opportunity to see a redevelopment project of this type come along,” said Bob Cowell, Director of the City of College Station Planning & Development Services Department. “The location of student housing this close to the University and the mix of uses that will be included in the project are ideal for that area.”

The George Bush Presidential Library and Museum is a part of the George Bush Presidential Library Center which includes the George Bush School of Government and the George Bush Presidential Library Foundation, which provided funding for the renovations.