San Marcos City Council Postpones CUP Decision For Downtown Project

Staff Reports

On Tuesday, the San Marcos City Council voted 6-1 to postpone its decision of a conditional use permit for purpose-built student housing in downtown with council member Saul Gonzales voting no.

Council held a public hearing to receive comment for or against a CUP to allow a Purpose-Built Student Housing on the 100 Block of South Guadalupe Street between West San Antonio and West MLK Drive.

Council members heard from members of the community who were for and against the project.

Several people who spoke for the project said the project is located on the neglected part of downtown San Marcos and would revitalize the area to increase foot traffic and customers for the businesses throughout downtown.  

75 Sylvan Street LLC is proposing a 545-bedroom, 171-unit student housing development along the 200 block of South Guadalupe Street.

On May 28, San Marcos Planning and Zoning Commissioners voted 7-1 to recommend denial of the CUP request by 75 Sylvan Street LLC.

According to the agenda, the properties included in the request are currently owned by multiple individuals and consist of retail, restaurant, office, and commercial uses. Currently, the applicant has the properties under contract.

Mayor Pro Tem Lisa Prewitt made a motion to postpone consideration of the project until the second meeting in August or the first meeting in September.

Prewitt said she couldn’t see the project going through Tuesday night, but she thought the project developer, Gilbane Development  “could bring some really good information to the table.”

“I’m not willing to let this one go this evening,” Prewitt said. “I personally won’t approve a student housing only facility, but I definitely would like to talk to the developers to see what we can do to accommodate this development.”

Council member Jocabed Marquez expressed her disapproval of more student housing complexes.

Marquez said she didn’t believe rent-by-the-bedroom student complexes aligned with San Marcos’s affordable housing needs, and the developers told a one-sided story by citing only the university’s enrollment numbers.

According to Marquez, the data shows that while the enrollment numbers are high, the university’s retention of students is low. Students are not staying at Texas State University.

“They’re going back home because they cannot afford to stay here,” Marquez said. “They cannot afford to live here. They do not have enough financial aid. A lot of them, 52 percent of them, are first-generation students meaning that they are the first in their family to attend college.”

Council member Melissa Derrick, Marquez, and Mayor Jane Hughson volunteered to serve on a council sub-committee to discuss potential options with the developers on the project.

An amendment to the original motion to include the creation of a council sub-committee passed 7-0.

The project is expected to return before the city council at the end of the summer. The San Marcos City Council will resume their regular meetings in August after their July break.