A Chinese businessman who is eyeing a parcel of land on the West Loop has filed a zoning change application that would allow him to build residential towers as tall as 15 stories high with up to 200 units per tower.
The potential building heights listed in paperwork submitted to the city Monday would rival some of the tallest buildings in downtown Tyler. However, in interviews on Tuesday, the developer and his representative indicated they planned to scale down from what the application says and focus on three- to four-story buildings.
Xing Tan, the China-based businessman, is seeking to develop a 178-acre piece of land near the intersection of west southwest Loop 323 and Earl Campbell Parkway, near Sam’s Club, that has been vacant for years.
Tan’s vision is to build an East-meets-West community and sell housing on the land in the Chinese and American markets, according to Karen Lee, his Dallas-based spokeswoman who translated for him during an interview Tuesday. A significant part of the project’s vision is to bring Chinese exchange students to Tyler, Lee said.
In order to build the residential towers, Tan’s company, America Hongyun City International Enterprise Group LLC, is seeking a zoning change from the city of Tyler that would allow what the company calls “low-rise” and “mid-rise” residential towers, among other things.
Low-rise towers would be between four and seven stories with a parking garage of up to three stories, according to the company’s zoning application. Mid-rise towers would be between eight and 15 stories with a parking garage of up to five stories, according to the application. By comparison, the Bank of America Building is 20 stories, the People’s Petroleum Building stands at 15 and the old Carlton Hotel is 14.
The entire ground floor of each tower may be used for commercial space, according to the application. The options include post offices, police departments, banks, restaurants and retail shops. Certain wholesale and manufacturing facilities would be prohibited.
The property currently is zoned as a planned commercial district, which means the land can be used only for commercial purposes. Tan’s company is seeking to have the property classified as a planned mixed-use district 2, which allows for high-density residential development.
Kyle Kingma, the city of Tyler’s planning manager, said Tuesday that applications for such high buildings are uncommon in Tyler.
“It’s not infrequent to have multifamily requests — but mixed-use high-rises, that’s pretty rare,” Kingma said.
Requests for zoning changes go to the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission, which meets monthly. Kingma said the commission typically considers applications at the regular meeting the month after the applications are submitted, but this project could take a few months.
“The next step is for the city to review their request and go back to them with some comments and questions on their proposal,” Kingma said. “We’re going to have multiple departments take a look at it.”
Bryan Rossman, a manager at Adams Engineering, has been representing Tan in the project and presenting Tan’s vision to community leaders. Adams Engineering has been doing due diligence work for Tan’s company and submitted the zoning application on the company’s behalf.
Rossman said in an interview Tuesday afternoon that the development proposal is not finalized, and that the towers are still just an option.
“We are just barely in the development process,” Rossman said. “I don’t know who’s wound around the axle about the (building height), but (the investors have) already demonstrated that they want to embrace the local culture.”
Lee, translating for Tan, said he is used to high-rise buildings where he is from in the Guizhou Province in China, but said Tan is committed to embracing a combination of Chinese culture and American culture. He is now seeking to focus on three- or four-story buildings, she said.
“The local culture is different,” Lee said. “This is the first case when East meets West, and we (will change our) mindset.”
Rossman said it is too early in the development process to say whether Tan will submit a revised zoning application.
“That’s a discussion that is later on in the development process,” Rossman said. “It’s way too early to talk about that.”