To the Editor,
As a concerned resident and business owner of Garland, I urge fellow community members to take action regarding the proposed Owl Icehouse development at 519 W. State Street. The City Council is expected to discuss this item on May 6, 2025, and we must voice our opposition to selling the rights to this location.
The Stix Icehouse in McKinney, built by the same developer, has raised significant concerns about its suitability for our downtown area. Located 1.5 miles from McKinney’s downtown square, the Stix Icehouse benefits from ample parking—12 spaces in front, 17 in back, and access to over 350 additional spaces nearby. In contrast, the proposed Owl Icehouse would be squeezed into a much smaller space surrounded by numerous retail businesses and restaurants, which could lead to parking shortages and increased congestion.
During visits to Stix Icehouse, I observed that even when the neighboring Texas Workforce Commission and Collin County Appraisal District offices were closed, their parking lots (roughly 350 parking spaces) were still nearly full, indicating a high demand for parking in that area. Furthermore, Stix Icehouse operates without nearby competitors, which is not the case for the proposed location, where patrons would compete for limited spaces. The Stix Icehouse also enjoys being along a walking trail through the adjacent park to a neighborhood home development.
Mrs. Luther testified in an early March 2025 Garland City Council meeting that they are great and supportive neighbors to surrounding businesses. Except for the Texas Workforce Commission and Collin County Appraisal District, they have NO neighboring retail or restaurant/bar businesses to be supportive of. Therefore, it appears not to be a parallel relation to the proposed Owl Icehouse location, which is surrounded by about 2 dozen retail businesses, restaurants, and bars.
During three separate visits there in the last few months, 175-225 cars were counted on these ground-level lots when the Texas Workforce Commission and appraisal buildings were closed (Friday evening, Sunday afternoon, and Sunday early evening). There is also a gravel parking area on a lower level situated behind the Workforce Commission building with about 25 parking spaces. Several members of the service staff say that they try to park on this gravel lot if there is space available.
In addition, there were about 6 or 7 cars parked illegally on the east side fire lane curb at the Texas Workforce Commission rear lot, seemingly because patrons couldn’t find available legal parking spaces close enough nearby. None of these three visits seemed to have all tables, chairs, and barstools occupied, indicating that they were not operating at full capacity. Naturally, a fuller capacity would require even more parking.
During 3 visits to Stix Icehouse, we didn’t see a single group of 20 or more people/sports teams, which was promoted by the developers at more than one Garland city council meeting.
Stix Icehouse had lots of people at the bar and a few kids playing around on the park that safely adjoins their patio space, but it is not divided by a two-way street with traffic and angled parking on both sides, which is the case on the Garland square proposed location.
Per Collin County CAD’s website, Stix Icehouse in McKinney has 9,979 square feet of interior space and is located on 1.69 acres (73,616 square feet). The adjacent flood plain land where the park is located serves as an expansive addition to the space. According to the Dallas County CAD’s website, 519 State Street has 9,592 square feet of interior space, resting on 0.32 acres (13,769 square feet).
The Owl Icehouse developer has proposed approximately 13,000 square feet of interior space on the Garland Square site, including the second-story addition. This is more than 3,000 more square feet of interior space than their McKinney location, which is located on a land mass of 5.34 times the land mass of Garland’s 519 State Street. Please let that sink in! How on earth does this make any sense?
A relatively massive footprint concept, a 350-400 seat restaurant and bar, equates to 5-7 of our existing restaurant & bar businesses currently on or near the Garland square, all at once.
How many of Garland’s current restaurants/bars are going to be put out of business for this? How many non-restaurant/bar businesses are going to suffer because of the parking nightmare? The florist, coffee shop, guitar shop, tattoo shop, new record store, etc.? This can only result in considerably less available parking for ALL businesses on and around the square. The argument has been made that the parking garage is available and nearly always vacant, but the garage isn’t centrally located, meanwhile the Icehouse will be and their customers will assume spots closest to their destination, even if that means parking in front of businesses around the entirety of the square or off of it.
Several comments have been made in Garland City Council meetings about this developer and their success in downtown developments, but please be aware that the Stix Icehouse in McKinney is 1.5 miles away from their own beautiful & quaint downtown square. In summary, the Owl Icehouse is a great concept for a location not on our Garland Square, considering our unique demographics and limited resources.
I encourage everyone to visit Stix Icehouse to understand firsthand the challenges of integrating a large restaurant and bar into our downtown area. They have good food, service, decor, available parking, and they deserve ALL the success in the world! It just doesn’t seem to be the right fit, literally, for the downtown Garland Square. While the concept may seem appealing, it does not fit the unique needs of our community.
Please join me in signing the petition to stop the sale of rights to 519 W. State Street and protect the character of our downtown Garland Square.
Sincerely,
John Johnston
