Featured Image (above): Ponds connected by trails will be a major recreational feature in Brickston, a 650-acre mixed-use, master-planned development planned in Elgin’s western ETJ. Image: Ranch Road Development/Texas Bridle Trails
Posted: 4-2-20
By Edmond Ortiz
Elgin (Travis County)–The city hopes a newly approved strategic partnership agreement (SPA) will remove obstacles to a planned 650-acre mixed-use, master-planned development.
City Council on March 17 approved an SPA with Texas Bridle Trails LLC, the developer of Brickston, which will have 580 multi-family residential units, 22 acres of commercial and retail space, a plot reserved for a future elementary school, and an 8.4-acre private amenity facility.
The development plan also includes four public parks and more than 6 miles of trails that connect to a series of ponds.
The single-family homes component of Brickston totals more than 2,200 single-family lots. The community would be located on undeveloped land generally bound by U.S. Highway 290, Giese Lane, Klaus Lane, and Farm Road 1100 in Elgin’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, west of city limits.
Planning on the development has been in the works for a few years. The city has already approved a preliminary plat, and a development agreement to form a municipal utility district (MUD).
However, Travis County has become a bureaucratic challenge for the project. The county has yet to finish reviewing the preliminary plat.
City officials also have said the county has been slow to act on a 1445 agreement with the city. The 1445 enables Texas cities to regulate prospective developments in their ETJ.
According to Elgin officials, the SPA permits limited purposed annexation of the MUD, and lets the city apply development standards to the project site and collect sales tax from commercial development.
In exchange, Brickston’s developers can access basic services from the city.
Texas Bridle Trails is attached to Bastrop-based Ranch Road Development, a firm that has developed a number of master-planned communities and infill projects nationwide.
The development team has not given specifics on an estimated construction timeline, cost or delivery method. VBX members may track this project using ID number: 2020-2AD6.
edmond@virtualbx.com
