An aerial view of the current Amaya’s site on the I-35 Frontage Road. Image: Bing Maps
A proposed zoning change for a 1.2-acre property near the southwest corner of I-35 and Highway 290 at the edge of the North Loop neighborhood would allow the Amaya family behind longtime Tex-Mex staple Amaya’s Taco Village to redevelop their restaurant site as a multistory mixed-use building containing a new restaurant space, additional retail, and a number of condominiums — a project that would presumably allow the restaurant, which has occupied several locations in the area since its founding in 1976 by family patriarch Roberto Amaya, to remain onsite in a new space while maximizing the rest of the property’s growth potential beyond a parking lot.
A current street view of the Amaya’s site from the I-35 frontage road.
A neighborhood plan amendment supporting the addition of mixed-use zoning to the tract at 5804 North I-35 received unanimous support — and even some excitement — from the North Loop Neighborhood Association and the area’s neighborhood contact team at meetings earlier this summer. With the amendment now in review at the city, the rezoning should appear before the Planning Commission in the near future.
The Amaya family have been in the food service business for over 30 years and at the N IH 35 location for over 12 years. The owners of the property located at 5804 N IH 35 wish to redevelop the property into a mixed use project. The property currently is occupied by the use of a commercial restaurant on 1.185 acres. The owners wish to redevelop the property into a commercial restaurant with an attached multistory condominium building with all required parking . . . at the June 21 monthly North Loop Neighborhood Association meeting the association gave an overwhelming support of the proposed zoning change.
A design for a project known as “Amaya Mixed Use” is now shown in the portfolio and social media of local firm Logan Architecture, and though the page includes no details beyond a date of “Fall 2021,” it appears to depict a redeveloped Amaya’s site with a new building facing Reinli Street — and the new restaurant’s front and center:
Image: Logan Architecture
No information is provided at this time regarding unit counts or other details, but once the case arrives at the Planning Commission we’ll likely hear more about what’s in store. Though the site’s location near the I-35 / 290 interchange reduces the chance of denser surrounding development, any plan allowing the family behind an iconic local business to stick around for the foreseeable future is worth celebrating — and since we have to worry about this kind of thing now, we’re happy to say current expansion plans for I-35 won’t impact the future of this property. Finally, some good news!
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