Seguin: Home Sweet Home

(Seguin) – When it comes to housing, Seguin is breaking records. Josh Schneuker, the executive director of the Seguin Economic Development Corporation, says all you have to do is look around and see all the new rooftops and construction that continues throughout the city of Seguin.

“It’s really been incredible with the amount of activity on the residential side. I look at some of the numbers and it might have slowed down or at least kind of paused as everybody was kind of just evaluating what the heck was going on back in March and April but we are breaking records this year just in terms of residential building permits being issued within the city. As of Aug. 22, we have issued 358 residential building permits and speaking with our planning department, we anticipate probably getting right close to about 500 permits issued within the city before end of the calendar year. That 358 number in August, I believe, is already a record for the amount of permits that we’ve issued in a single calendar year. It’s at the 138 percent from 2019 and then we still have five months to go in the year. It’s just been really incredible,” said Schneuker.
More importantly, Schneuker adds that construction appears to be continuing with no signs of slowing down.

“We’ve got 15 plat subdivisions under construction just within the city limits. It’s got 8,500 lots that are either tied to a development that is currently under construction or tied to a development that is moving through the entitlement phase. So the construction activity, the prospective development activity really hasn’t slowed down either so it’s really encouraging to see that either with the pandemic, the demand for housing is still there and the demand for housing in Seguin is still there as well which is just great for the stuff that we are trying to work on in bringing new commercial and retail opportunities to Seguin so, it’s going to be a record breaking year in 2020 and it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down at least this year or even into next year. We have a lot of really positive momentum in regards to that,” said Schneuker.

As soon as houses are on the ground, Schneuker says he is being told that they are quickly being sold. He says this type of demand only reflects the healing and current economic climate for the city.

“We have a very solid job base here in the community and usually what you see is when you have a lot of jobs, the houses typically follow and looking back six to eight years, it was a little slow to follow but I feel like now it’s rushing to catch up to the amount of jobs and opportunities that we have here in Seguin. So, there’s folks that are either working here in Seguin and might live outside the market that are now moving in to the market with this new inventory of housing and then you are also looking at folks who might even work and live in San Antonio but don’t want to be in San Antonio where the cost of living might be a little more or the taxes might be a little higher and they come out here to Seguin and enjoy that I guess easier pace of life and more affordable lifestyle and still have a lot of the great amenities that we all have living in this region,” said Schneuker.

While there are several large housing projects underway, Schneuker credits the Arroyo Ranch housing development on FM 725 near Vogel Elementary School for being the catalyst to all other development.

“I would say that Arroyo Ranch one has really been exciting. I think that was the domino that fell and starting knocking a lot of the other ones into place and we were able even to get television media coverage in San Antonio for that development when they broke ground and we had that ground breaking ceremony and I believe that it is still to date the largest single master plan, single family residential development that we have on the books here in the city of Seguin so it is really exciting to see that one continue to move forward and really act as that catalyst,” said Schneuker.

Construction crews today are also outfitting property on Jefferson near the West Court and State Highway 46 intersection for the Pecan Cove Apartments. He says there, the site will welcome 198 new apartments. One of the newest batches of multi family living units can also be seen at the corner of Cedar and North King Street where developers are finishing up a set of townhomes. Greenspoint Village and Greenspoint Heights subdivisions will also run side by side off of State Highway 46 North for an additional 941 homes.

No matter what families are looking for, Schneuker says the diversity in Seguin’s housing stock is perfect for anyone looking for a new place to call home.

“You have a diverse price range. You might have some starting in the upper $100,000s to mid $200,000 so there’s a lot of options for folks regardless of income to have their opportunity whether you are a first time homebuyer or you are going to buying your second or third home. There seems to be an option really for everyone that comes into the market right now,” said Schneuker.

Schneuker, again, admits that he was a bit worried when the pandemic first started. Obviously, he was most afraid that developers and builders would put a stop to all projects. Today, however, he is most encouraged and is excited to be in the talks with even more housing developers looking to bring their blueprints to Seguin. As of today, there are currently 17 subdivisions under construction with the city of Seguin.

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