Land development in China Spring has reached a turning point. The number of residences has reached a level that now has commercial developers interested in building properties to supply goods and services needed by people living in the area.

Mike McNamara, owner of Shamrock Realty Ltd., is developing land with a new Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center clinic and a two-tenant building that will hold two fast-food restaurants.

The clinic is a replacement for a temporary office that opened in 2006, Hillcrest spokesman Adam Price said. It started with one doctor, but a second physician joined earlier this year because of growth in demand, he said.

Gina Bolden runs China Spring Flowers & Gifts, one of a number of businesses trying to fill a gap for goods and services for residents in the area along Waco’s northwest corner.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

In about a year, McNamara also plans to build 150 homes to the north of China Spring Road, just across from the Riviera Apartments.

China Spring is a community that largely consists of recently developed properties around the intersection of Wortham Bend and China Spring roads and an older developed area to the west.

It is not an incorporated city, but a portion of the area is in the Waco city limits.

The rest of China Spring lies close enough to Waco that the city is allowed by state law to regulate development.

The population of the area in the region dominated by the China Spring and Bosqueville Independent School Districts is hard to nail down, as is the total number of homes.

Resident range

The website www.city-data.com puts the figure at nearly 4,400 residents. McNamara said that with recent growth, there could be as many as 8,000 residents.

More than 1,100 homes were built in the China Spring school district from 2001-07, at a rate that peaked at 229 in 2004 and eased to 48 in 2008.

Adam Martel, who lives on China Creek Drive, said he and his wife chose the location because they heard good things about the school district.

Resident Jame Petrich said he and his wife wanted to live in a growing area near — but not in — Waco.

Ryan Wirth said he moved to China Spring because of the school system, too. He said he is glad to see the new businesses opening.

“I’m excited to see all of the stuff go in,” he said.

When an open land area develops, residential construction leads the way, commercial real estate broker Randy Reid said.

“It’s almost always the rooftops; most of the retailers rely heavily on rooftops,” he said.

Once several thousand homes appear, commercial developers take note and start planning to sell land and build spaces for businesses to serve the community, McNamara said.

Those businesses make the area more attractive for added home construction, sustaining growth, he said.

China Spring has a Sonic Drive-In, a McDonald’s and strip centers with dry cleaners, gift shops and other restaurants. Despite the national economic recession, at least two businesses — Pak Mail and home decor store Copper Creek — have opened along China Spring near Wortham Bend Road this year.

Another business, China Spring Flowers and Gifts, opened in late 2008.

Residents said they have services they need, but some said a grocery store would be helpful. George Marin and his wife, Susie Crelia, moved to China Spring about a year ago.

“A grocery store is the main thing,” Marin said.

Grocery chains

The couple travels to shop at the H-E-B Food Store on 19th Street or the Walmart on Hewitt Drive.

McNamara and other real estate professionals said grocery chains don’t want to make a move on China Spring for now.

H-E-B purchased land near 19th Street and Lake Shore Drive, but has not announced plans to build a store there.

McNamara said that eventually enough people will live in China Spring that a grocer will go in, but the area for now is best suited for the cleaners and other small businesses.

For the near term, it is likely that a major drug store chain such as CVS or a Walgreens will come in, he said.

And developer Gordon Swanson said a two-acre piece of land is under contract for purchase by a major, non-grocery retailer.

“China Spring has been growing little by little,” said Gina Bolden, who owns China Spring Flowers and Gifts, 10412 China Spring Road, Suite D.

Bolden, who lives in the area, and other business owners who have recently opened shops in the area said they saw an underserved market close to home.

Don Hall, a retired air traffic controller and now the operator of Pak Mail, returned to China Spring after a 10-year stint in Austin.

Business at Pak Mail, 10324 China Spring Road, has been slow but is picking up, he said.

Marin said he welcomes other newcomers to the area — as long as the city of Waco takes care of the resulting traffic congestion in the mornings and afternoons on China Spring Road.

Easing traffic

Waco transportation planner Chris Evilia acknowledges the road is overcrowded.

There are plans to widen China Spring Road between Steinbeck Bend and Wortham Bend roads, but state transportation budgets are tight and construction plans have been delayed until 2015.

A key question about the project is whether money will hold up to get it done, Evilia said.

“The challenge is that the state is quickly running out of money for projects of this type,” he said.

bteeter@wacotrib.com

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