Schlitterbahn water park resort will bring 1,000 jobs and cost $360 million

By Melissa Mixon Thursday, 28 January 2010

CEDAR PARK — The water park resort planned for Cedar Park will cost $360 million to develop and could create more than 1,000 jobs in the area, according to city documents.

The documents also cite an independent study that estimates the economic impact of the park will be $2.5 billion over the next 30 years for the area.

News of the Schlitterbahn Waterpark broke Wednesday and since then city officials have been mum on the project’s details, however they plan to announce more on the park during a meeting scheduled for today at 5:30 p.m.

Cedar Park Chamber of Commerce President Harold Dean said the water park’s opening will be “another piece of the puzzle” that is needed to make Cedar Park a destination city.

“It will bring a lot of revenue to our community that’s not presently here and it will bring activity to our community that will hopefully increase business and sales tax,” he said. “It will create jobs, which we desperately need, and fill a gap that we’ve been missing for sometime.”

Cedar Park Councilmembers are expected to vote this evening on whether to approve a proposed agreement between the Cedar Park Community Development Corporation (4B) and Cedar Park Land, LP that would allow the corporation to spend $6 million to help pay for construction and installation of phase I of the project, according to city documents. The 4B corporation can offer businesses incentives that a city cannot and it uses a portion of the city’s sales tax to fund certain projects for streets, public parks, municipal facilities, and others.

The water park resort will be located on 95 acres near the southeast intersection of FM 1431 and Toro Grande Boulevard and west of Raley Road, according to 4B documents.

Schlitterbahn spokesman Jeffrey Siebert would not comment on the project but said two presentations will be made tonight—one during a 4B corporation meeting and another during the city council meeting— and will include information as to why Cedar Park was chosen as well as when the park will be open.

Developers have discussed building a water park in Cedar Park for the past two years, but Rick Redmond, one of the principals of the group developing the park and the owner of Volente Beach Waterpark on Lake Travis, said at the time that the slumping economy and a lack of incentive packages from the city had stalled the project.

In a statement released Wednesday, Redmond said after “much planning,” a site was selected and the plan was formulated.

“The Henrys, owner of Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts, and the Redmonds, friends for many years decided that the Schlitterbahn concept was a perfect fit for this site,” he said in the statement. “The City of Cedar Park agreed and here we are.”

Redmond said the Volente Beach Waterpark would remain open for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, but he did not specify whether it would remain open after the water park resort is opened.

Schlitterbahn owns four water parks, including Schlitterbahn Vacation Village—a $749 million retail entertainment center made up of multiple shopping, dining, lodging and entertainment venues. A man-made river system carries guests between lodging units, a summertime water resort, a marine park, stores and restaurants. A covered riverwalk also crisscrosses the development.

Siebert said information on the project, including photos and renderings, will be available following tonight’s meeting at www.schlitterbahn.com/news.

Read related content on Community Impact Newspaper: Schlitterbahn announces plans to build resort in Cedar Park.