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Starplex — a San Marcos movie theater mainstay before it closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 — is being replaced with an apartment complex. Pictured above and below, demolition takes place at the old Starplex location. Daily Record photos by Gerald Castillo & Lance Winter

Demolition underway at Starplex, apartments to be built

Monday, November 14, 2022

Demolition is underway at the Starplex location.

The movie theater — a San Marcos mainstay before it closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 — is being replaced with an apartment complex.

The San Marcos Planning and Zoning gave approval in November 2021 of a zoning change from general commercial to character district-5. The San Marcos City Council approved of the zoning change during a public hearing in December 2021 and finalized the decision 2022.

Daniel Campbell, Managing Director at Long View Equity, LLC, said the investment management company saw the site as an opportunity to develop Wonder World Apartments —  a multifamily development.

“Theatres are built with auditoriums, especially this site, it has big slanted slabs,” Campbell previously said. “They are very special use buildings that are hard to reuse. We saw this as an opportunity for a well done redevelopment.”

“We look at this site as a site that has kind of outgrown what it used to be and look to breathe life into what it can be,” Campbell added. “We see a nice mix of multifamily and commercial, together …  We love the fact that it is right across the street from a number of medical employers. It’s a way to take property that has outseen its usefulness and move it into something that can contribute to the community.”

The old Starplex location is a 12.75 acre site with the theater taking up 45,247 square feet. The new apartment complex will be built at 1250 Wonder World Drive

Campbell stated that the development would not be “by-the-bed student housing,” rather it would include a mix of one, two and three bedroom apartments and townhomes.

The original conceptual site plan included 10 buildings with 104 one-bedroom; one bath units at 630 square feet; 88 one-bedroom units at 756 square feet; 38 two bedroom, two bath units at 1,101 square feet; 56 two-bedroom, two bathroom units at 1,205 square feet; 11 three bedroom, two bath units at 1,446 square feet; and five two bedroom, two bath units at 1,233. The complex would also include 449 parking spaces, pool court, cabana and dog park.

San Marcos Record

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P.O. Box 1109, San Marcos, TX 78666