Gin buildings key to Hutto co-op

Antenora Architects has consulted with Hutto on the co-op renovations and designed several plans and options for the city to consider. Antenora also assisted in a "facility needs assessment study" of Hutto. The study concluded Hutto's rapid growth will require new facilities including a city hall.

Assistant City Manager Micah Grau said the co-op project has so far experienced a "chicken-or-egg" dilemma.

City officials want a private investor to take on pieces of the project such as retail development and housing, which will bring in city revenue and help offset costs for the city's structures. However, private developers want to see some activity already taking place before they begin development, Grau said.

Since the city purchased the roughly 20 acres of co-op land in 2003, it could profit from private developers coming into the area.

"That is going to add money to the city because it is going to be land that we are either selling or leasing. It is going to be something that is taxable," Grau said. "It is going to bring more revenue into the city."

The cost of renovations for one or both of the gin buildings in the latest plans could be low enough for the city to finance and be the signal of activity private developers want to see.

The architects submitted several options that included turning one of the gin buildings into event space, much of which could be opened on the ground floor for open-air events.

Gordon Bingaman, associate principal at Antenora Architects, said that even though the gin buildings have stood since the 1930s, they are not sound.

"This is a very weak structure, almost every structural component requires reinforcement," Bingaman said.

Antenora estimates the cost of renovating the south gin building to be between $390,000 and $900,000 and the north gin building to be between $320,000 and $800,000, depending on the level of renovation city leaders want.

The cost of the gin buildings' renovations has not been budgeted, but it is noted in Hutto's capital improvement plan. Grau said if the city council decides to move forward with the capital improvement plan it could make an appropriation with the budget.

The funds could come from general fund monies or the city could seek a grant, he said.