Old Town Justin's Next Chapter Starts in an Alley Off West 4th Street
October 8, 2026
October 8, 2026
"Our city's pulse doesn't beat in concrete and traffic, it lives in the pulse of Old Town."
Mayor James Clark said that in January, when the Justin City Council unanimously approved the Old Town Master Plan. Seven months later, the council approved a construction contract for an alley. On August 27, the council approved a contract with Patcon Services, LLC for paving and lighting in the Boot Alley Project, in the 100 block of West 4th Street. The work will repair broken-down pavement and add lighting.
The project is small, and where it sits says a lot about the plan. Justin is choosing to grow Old Town from the back of its blocks, through alleys and small parcels, while keeping the storefronts as they are. Chain restaurants are going to the highways at the edge of town instead. If you eat, shop or spend a Saturday morning in Old Town, the changes coming over the next year will mostly happen in places you've been walking past.
The master plan took effect after its second reading on February 12. It sets an overlay over Old Town that aims to keep the district's historic character while adding a walkable stretch of shopping, dining and entertainment. The most practical detail in the Cross Timbers Gazette's coverage of the vote is also the easiest to skim past. The city has wanted to avoid adding sidewalks to Old Town streets. It believes renovated alleyways could connect people from City Hall Park to the Old Town shops instead.
That choice explains the rest. Building sidewalks along streets means changing the front of every lot along the way. Upgrading an alley leaves the storefronts and the street alone and makes walking possible behind them. The council also pushed in the same direction during the vote. It raised the minimum lot size for future Old Town development so properties can't easily be split into several lots. It also moved the district's edge, taking Hardeman Circle out and setting the cutoff at 8th Street and 7th Street.
Council member James Castle said the overlay was not meant to stop homeowners from doing what they want with their property. He said it was meant to keep a lot from being bought and rebuilt with "a house that looks like whatever," and that the work had been going on since 2022.
Boot Alley's address puts the paving and lighting work on the same short stretch where three Old Town businesses sit within a few doors of each other:
A burger and barbecue place, a wine bar with evening music and a fitness studio do much of their business after dark. Lighting and new pavement serve exactly that kind of block. The city hasn't publicly released the contract amount, a construction start date or a completion date, and its published materials don't explain where the name Boot Alley comes from. For now, the honest answer is that the work is approved and the timing is still to come. If you park or walk on that block in the evening, expect a work zone at some point between now and whenever the city posts a schedule.
The second piece of the plan is about a lot of land. In July, Justin's Economic and Community Development Corporation bought about 0.69 acres at the corner of 5th Street and South Sealy Avenue, and it is meant to become open space where the community can gather. The board has floated a stage for live music, a grassy picnic area, space for outdoor movies and an area for public art. Nothing is final yet. City staff are still looking for contractors to clear debris and heavy brush from the site.
The EDC/CDC has asked the public for input, and the Cross Timbers Gazette described the request as open to residents and nearby businesses alike. Few Old Town decisions are as easy to weigh in on as this one. If you have an opinion about whether Justin needs a stage or a picnic lawn more, now is the time to share it, before the brush is cleared and the design takes shape.
During January's vote, Mayor Clark said directly that the overlay is meant to keep fast food, big chain retail and franchises out of Old Town. The new chain projects filed since then are located accordingly.
Taco Bell filed plans in March for a 2,115-square-foot restaurant at 1248 Hwy. 114, near Roaring River Road and Wolff Crossing. The project is estimated at $1.35 million, and the filing showed construction wrapping up at the end of October. McDonald's filed in June for a location at the southwest corner of FM 156 and John Wiley Road in Justin Crossing. That filing shows construction starting in January 2027 and finishing at the beginning of July 2027. Both are outside Old Town, on the roads most traffic uses to get in and out of Justin.
Put the three projects side by side and you can see the plan working. Quick-service chains are filing for the highway corners. Public money is going to an alley and an empty lot behind the historic storefronts.
The alley plan describes a walking connection between City Hall Park and the Old Town shops. Most of this fall's public events are already split between those two ends: City Hall at 415 N. College Ave. on one side, and the Sealy Avenue storefronts on the other.
The city calendar is a live page, and the Gazette's community calendar suggests calling ahead to confirm listings, so check dates the week of. Last year's Small Business Saturday, on November 29, 2025, ran a vendor market down 4th Street and north on Sealy Avenue, with photos with Santa. A 2026 date hasn't been posted yet, but last year's layout used the same streets this plan is focused on.
You don't need to wait for the alley work to use Old Town this way. The farmers market is held at 1911 Beef, a family-owned meat market at 417 N. Sealy Ave. that sells its family's beef along with products from partner ranches. On a market Saturday, you can do your shopping inside and outside the same building.
For coffee first, Justin Coffee & Trading Co. at 804 W. 1st St. opens at 6:30 a.m. Monday through Saturday and stays open until 4 p.m. Its October calendar includes workshops such as a Mommy & Me Punkin' Painting session. Justin Discount Boots & Cowboy Outfitters at 101 N. Hwy. 156 is open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday. From there, the 100 block of West 4th Street works for lunch at Outlaw Burgers & BBQ, or for an evening glass at Grapes to Wine+ on a live-music night.
Every stop on that route already exists. What the master plan adds over the next year or two is a lit, paved way to walk between them that doesn't run along the street, and possibly a lawn at 5th and Sealy to finish at.
Changes like Boot Alley and the 5th and Sealy lot also shape how Old Town looks to people deciding where to live, and that matters to Old Town property owners. If you own in or near the overlay district and want to understand how the new lot-size rules or the coming projects might affect your plans, Diamond Realty Group is based right here in Justin and happy to talk it through with you.
This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.
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