Northgate businesses grapple with construction concerns as College Station develops ‘small area plan’

COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) – The sale of the Northgate parking lot and a potential high-rise is all part of a bigger plan for the City of College Station. The city said it intends to spend early 2025 developing the Northgate small area plan, in part to settle concerns from local businesses.

In just a couple of months, the city plans to sell the parking lot to a developer with plans for high-rise student housing. Several business owners in Northgate worry this will affect their future.

If you’ve been to Northgate recently, you’ve likely seen construction in the area, and if all goes as planned, you’ll start to see a lot more next year.

A small area plan for Northgate will be a process lasting up to six months, according to the city. Officials said the goal of these developments is to bring the land back onto the tax rolls, but business owners in Northgate, like John Raney, have concerns about how the city is going about it.

“I don’t think there’s much we can do about it because the city is going to do what the city wants to do… They’ll say, ‘well yeah, we talked to everybody at Northgate,’ and they have, but they’re still going to do what they want to do,” Raney, Tex-Ag store owner, expressed.

While the city assured that no plans are set in stone, the worry remains prominent for business owners like Raney.

“Frankly, if it weren’t for internet sales, I couldn’t be here anymore,” admitted Raney.

Raney has owned Tex-Ag Bookstore for more than 50 years. Change is something he’s familiar with, but it doesn’t always benefit him.

“I have less traffic here today than I had 30 years ago,” he explained. “I guess my concern for my business is parking, and it’s been that way for quite some time.”

Raney and many other business owners in Northgate worry about redevelopment hurting the way they do business.

Voodoo Brewing Company along Church Avenue has only been open for three months, and its owner told KBTX Northgate was the selling point for coming to College Station.

“So close to the stadium and so close to the school; we are so thrilled to be right here. That being said, people are having trouble finding us,” shared Voodoo’s owner Rona Bomkamp.

Before opening, Bomkamp said she had no idea of any development plans in the area.

“The day we got our keys to start construction on our location, there was a bulldozer being delivered across the street, and we said, ‘well, what’s that going to be?‘ And we found out that day; 20 stories directly across the street,” Bomkamp relayed.

The city said it hopes to hear and address those concerns through what is being called a “small area plan designed” to set a common vision for Northgate.

“Northgate District is a very special place for many, especially College Station as well as many current and past residents, and we want to make sure that you know we provide a development project that meets those goals and objectives,” added Michael Ostrowski, College Station’s chief development officer.

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