Commissioned by Hunt Development Group in close partnership with the City of Waco, Overland has been instrumental in leading and developing the Strategic Roadmap for the advancement and revitalization of historic downtown Waco. Collaborating with Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and Walker Partners Engineers, the roadmap’s organizing design principle is to celebrate the Brazos River as the gravitational center of downtown and the heart of the city, receiving unanimous approval by Waco City Council in June 2024. Its objective focus is to reveal and celebrate Waco’s distinct identity, ensuring an abundant future for generations to come.

This initiative represents a long-term commitment to purposeful economic development and activation, outlining a significant and impactful strategy for the next 10+ years. Key elements of the Strategic Roadmap include enhancements to the Brazos riverfront, expansion of public green spaces, the creation of new mixed-use districts, and the advancement of key civic anchors, including a vision for the future convention center, a new performing arts center, and construction of a downtown ballpark. The roadmap addresses essential steps to prepare for a vibrant future, fostering opportunities for the unique stories and characteristics of downtown to emerge and thrive.

The initial phase of development aims to revitalize a once thriving Mexican-American neighborhood along old Second Street, known as “Calle Dos”, erased in the 1960s when federal Urban Renewal initiatives led to the demolishing of many buildings in downtown and displacement of residents. The vision for this neighborhood, Barron’s Branch District, establishes the roadmap’s most ambitious public green space, Barron’s Branch Park, led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. Daylighting a lost tributary of the Brazos River, the park organizes shaded gathering spaces, vegetated retreats, interactive water play, picnic groves, and an iconic pedestrian suspension bridge within this urban creek environment. Additionally, a new linear plaza will connect the historic spring-fed La Pila fountain with St. Francis on the Brazos Catholic Church, a center of community life in the district since 1924. In collaboration with Walker Partners Engineers, the new Barron’s Branch District development enables critical infrastructure improvements, while the park spaces are utilized in mitigating nearly 20 acres of floodplain within historic downtown.