“It is the future of our company, and we have a chance to do something very special that can fit directly in line with New Braunfels’ comprehensive plan,” SouthStar CEO Thad Rutherford said. “The entire growth corridor up and down I-35 would just be a great complement to all of the existing growth, so we are absolutely moving forward.”
The whole project will span multiple decades and is planned to be a mixed-use development.
Housing products will include both rental and ownership options, Rutherford said.
According to Rutherford, there could also be business park and industrial areas due to the site's prime location on either side of I-35.
Affordable housing is also among the ideas under consideration for the project, he said.
“We recognize that we have a role to play and what the market requirements are in New Braunfels, and we look at them as being varied,” said Gretchen Howell, a vice president at SouthStar. “It’s not just affordable [housing]; it’s workforce [housing]. We know that healthier communities are more diverse communities that offer a breadth of product[s] and experiences.”
It will be a couple of months before more details about the composition of the project are settled on, officials said.
“We’re creating what we look at as being another hometown in our area, but it really, on its own, doesn’t have that essence until we really deliver the meat of the story,” Howell said.
According to Rutherford, SouthStar is working to close on the real estate in early 2021.
A development agreement with undisclosed entitlements similar to Veramendi’s is in the works.
“I think the [New Braunfels City] Council saw a lot of Veramendi and liked a lot of what happened,” Rutherford said.
Parts of the agreement could differ now that the city has seen how some of Veramendi’s entitlements and development agreement worked in action, Rutherford said.
