Midway files suit against Hutto officials, seeks $300M in damages

Midway was first selected as the developer for the 250-acre site in December 2023, with the goal of building a mixed-use site including retail, grocery, restaurant and entertainment options. In March 2024, Midway and HEDC agreed to a memorandum of understanding, which was approved by Hutto City Council in April of that year.

The details

According to the filing, Terra Halona representatives had previously introduced Midway to former HEDC director Bob Farley, and presented Midway with a proposal to partner on the project that was never agreed to. Terra Halona also helped arrange a meeting between Midway and Snyder, after Midway was formally selected as the master developer.

In its petition, the development company claims that during the initial planning phase, Snyder asked how Terra Halona would be compensated. The petition states that Snyder said “things would not end well for Midway” if Terra Halona was not satisfied with the compensation structure, and that “the city and HEDC would restart the process with another developer.”

Brad Freels, chairman and CEO of Midway, subsequently explained to Snyder—a HEDC board member—that Terra Halona wasn’t part of Midway’s development team and that its only involvement was the initial introduction to Farley, per the filing.

In an email cited in the petition—which Community Impact also obtained in a public information request to the city of Hutto—Snyder wrote to Freels that he needed “to know that both Midway and Terramark are good with each other.”

Scott serves as the president of TerraMark Ventures, which joined with Halona Development to form the real estate development firm Terra Halona.

“How that is shown, whether by some agreement or something is up to you all,” he wrote. He later added that Hutto had “waited 2yrs to get no where. So, there is nothing telling me that we can’t just start the process all over and pick a different developer.”

Midway claims that Snyder’s actions constitute bribery and that, upon Midway’s refusal, Snyder took action “to kill the prospective contract between Midway and HEDC.”

Midway is seeking a jury trial. The full petition can be found here.

The city of Hutto provided Community Impact with a statement regarding the pending litigation.

"The city of Hutto and the Hutto Economic Development Corporation are aware of the lawsuit that was recently filed. As public organizations, we are committed to ethical conduct and take legal matters seriously. Because this is an active legal matter, we are limited in what we can discuss publicly. The city will respond through the appropriate legal process, including a thorough review of the claims. City operations and services remain fully operational, and we remain focused on serving our residents."