By Rory Dulock | Staff Writer
The initial phase of the Brazos Riverfront Developmental Project is scheduled to open later this winter after dealing with development delays due to the pandemic. The new development will include apartments, the Foster Pavilion, parking garages, restaurants, retail units and more.
The City of Waco partnered with Catalyst Urban Development over four years ago to design and construct a riverfront that would be a part of downtown. Catalyst Urban Development is a development company based in Dallas.
Paris Rutherford, principal of Catalyst Urban Development, said the project will include a variety of new additions to downtown Waco.
“There is, of course, Baylor University’s new Foster basketball pavilion and the supporting infrastructure that goes with that, which includes a parking garage,” Rutherford said. “As well as some residential and restaurant/retail space … there is a park in the middle, which is traditionally where the farmers market has operated, and then we will have two riverfront restaurants that overhang the river, and then we have a hotel that is just west of the park space.”
Rutherford said the pandemic slowed down the development process of creating the Brazos Riverfront.
“So [the City of Waco] selected us, and then we entered into a design period that included the design of the public infrastructure, and we had public meetings throughout that process,” Rutherford said. “We wound up closing and starting construction right at the beginning of the pandemic. We were anticipating that [the project] would be a two- to three-year period.”
Rutherford said the design of this project is unique, and the architectural design was done in collaboration with the city to discuss the options.
“We customize everything that we work on,” Rutherford said. “Our belief is that every environment, every community is unique, so we don’t believe in a cookie-cutter approach. So we took architectural cues from Waco, and we initially started a process that had some historical roots to what was in the area, we looked at the Silos … and with the Foster Pavilion coming over and seeing what that design was, we evolved the architecture to take on some of the cues from that development.”
Other design elements that were considered dealt with visual appeal, Rutherford said.
“When everything is built, there will be some visual diversity from the buildings, so it doesn’t look like that it all happened at one time and is interesting and feels authentic as an urban place,” Rutherford said. “Because, you know, the overall goal was to expand downtown to the river, and, obviously, downtown is made up of lots of different architectural styles, so we’re embracing that concept as we move forward.”
Ashburn, Va., freshman Eva Parker said this project will allow students to have new options and places to hang out.
“It’s a good idea to extend the campus a little bit and to just get more involved with outside of campus,” Parker said. “Also, just having more areas off-campus to live would be really good.”
Rutherford also said this project will benefit the City of Waco and Baylor by creating stronger integration between the two.
“First, it is providing a strong integration between the university area and the downtown area,” Rutherford said. “So with the basketball pavilion moving to the west side of [Interstate-35], and then our private development basically wrapping around that development and creating a grid of streets, it helps make a better transition, I think, between the campus and the downtown, so it creates more authentic urbanism.”
Another way this project benefits the community is by providing a destination that everyone in the city can enjoy, Rutherford said.
“We will have multiple fine restaurants that will be a first in the city for the restaurant tours that will be coming in,” Rutherford said. “This will be a true waterfront destination that is sports and entertainment-based that’s mixed-used, it will have activity in the daytime that will run through the nighttime, and it will be a walkable environment that folks will be proud as citizens of a community to come and hang out and have a good time.”
Parker also said she is mainly excited about all the new restaurants and other activities that will become available.
“I’m mostly looking forward to more things to do, honestly,” Parker said. “I plan on going to the Brazos Riverfront area at least once a week and seeing the new basketball center.”
An interesting aspect of this project is all of the collaboration that was done between the City of Waco, Baylor and different companies, Rutherford said.
“What is happening in Waco is truly nationally unique,” Rutherford said. “There are not many instances where you have public, private and institutional bodies coming together to create a memorable place, especially when that place is anchored by restaurants and sports venues … it’s very rare when it all happens within the context of being a neighborhood that’s focused on all types of people coming in and just enjoying their time there along the Brazos. It’s a pretty unique and interesting project, and the fact that it’s happening now is remarkable.”
