Marble Falls shopping center delayed, but not dead
The Flatrock Crossing retail development planned for south Marble Falls has seen significant delays, but the project is still moving forward according to developers. Staff photo by Dakota Morrissiey
The Flatrock Crossing outdoor shopping center planned for south Marble Falls won’t be finished by its previously predicted completion date of spring/summer 2026. Several hiccups have delayed the project, but developers are confident things will get back on track.
News of the 350,000-square-foot plaza first came to light in April 2024, including plans for dozens of businesses and large-scale residential developments on the same 350-acre tract.
“Things are happening outside of our control, but things are still looking good,” Russel Roper, one of the project’s primary partners, recently told DailyTrib.com. “We’re still going to make it happen.”
Roper and his family, under the Ellison Roper Land Corp., are major players in Flatrock Crossing and residential projects on their land, which lies near the intersection of U.S. 281 and FM 2147 south of Marble Falls, near the 7-Eleven gas station and Flatrock Creek.
According to Roper, the delay is due to several things.
- A planned bridge had to be redesigned and a new location found due to flooding concerns.
- Large swathes of the construction site had to be lifted out of the floodplain to meet Federal Emergency Management Agency standards.
- A study had to be conducted on potential habitat damage for the endangered golden-cheeked warbler.
- A planned road crossing over Flatrock Creek had to be redesigned.
- The site of a water tower to service the development had to be moved.
One of the biggest roadblocks is securing financing, which can’t happen until the development has an approved public improvement district (PID) agreement with the city of Marble Falls. Plans for a PID have been in place since 2022, but because of project delays, those plans are scheduled to be altered in the near future.
The Marble Falls City Council will potentially see the dissolution of the originally proposed Roper Ranch PID during its Oct. 7 meeting and then hear a proposal for a new PID with updated details to reflect the development’s current state.
A PID is a financing mechanism used to pay back developers for the investments they make into public infrastructure. The developers install the needed improvements and utilities to get the project online. They are then paid back by a lender, who, in turn, is reimbursed by residents and other users of the utilities through payments that will be collected by the city over time.
Roper said that once the PID is secured, financing can be secured, allowing the project to move forward. Once construction begins, he estimates it would take about 14-16 months to complete the first phase of the development, which would include about 80 percent of the shopping center.
“We’re signing leases for (tenants of the shopping center),” he said. “We feel this is going to happen.”
Planned tenants for Flatrock Crossing include the sporting goods store Academy as well as Hobby Lobby, Ulta Beauty, T.J. Maxx, Boot Barn, Famous Footwear, Chipotle and several other restaurants, and yet-to-be-named businesses.
Marble Falls Economic Development Corp. Executive Director Chirstian Fletcher gave some insight on the momentum behind the project.
“(Flatrock Crossing) will happen,” he said. “There is too much interest from the retailers themselves.”
Fletcher explained that retailers have been eyeing Marble Falls for years, far before Flatrock Crossing plans came to be, but no major moves were made because there was not a suitable location to set up shop.
“Until we have a project like Flatrock Crossing, we have nowhere for these retailers to go,” he said. “It will have a huge economic impact on the city.”