(Seguin) – Guadalupe County has locked in several more acres along Interstate 10. The Guadalupe County Commissioners Court on Tuesday gave final approval for the land acquisition near the county’s current facilities on North Guadalupe Street. The exact location for the 27.265 acres is 510 IH 10 West.
Helping work out the details of that land deal was Guadalupe County Commissioner Pct. 2 Drew Engelke.
“The county during the budget process this year set aside some funds for the purchase of real estate for the future, for the county. The way the growth is in the county, we are all aware of the housing coming, the population explosions –what’s going on in the county. So, in relation to the budget process this year, the commissioners court approved funds for the purchase of real estate. So, we looked around and found this parcel of land which is contiguous to the current property we own on Guadalupe Street just south of the 134 acres and directly across the street from the current road and bridge offices. I talked with the landowner and went through the process and came to an agreement and some terms and he was willing to sell to the county,” said Engelke.
Engelke says as part of that budget process, $1 million was set aside for such a deal.
“The budgeted amount that we did have for land purchase was $1 million. Coincidently that’s just the way it ended up. Budget wise, we were right on the mark,” said Engelke.
Engelke says he believes this parcel of land is the required puzzle piece for the county’s future.
“It’s the triangular piece of property, approximately 27. 265 acres. It consists of three different tracts, 1.09-acre tract; 5-point acre tract and 21 point something acre tract to approximately make 27 acres. So, for long term planning for the county, the future growth, we’ve talked about this, it hasn’t been a secret about the future of that 134-acre tract for future government centers with the growth we are seeing. With this acquisition, it would allow the county to have IH 10 frontage access road so that would create a whole new dynamic to the parcel that we currently own and with the width of the right-of-way actually currently was Guadalupe Street — it allows us to have again that other option to go off of the I-10 frontage road to then access all of that property,” said Engelke.
Guadalupe County Judge Kyle Kutscher says at $36,678 an acre, he believes the county not only dodged having to pay more later but made an investment today for taxpayers.
“Compared to a handful of years ago, when we bought that 134-acres at right over $10,000 an acre, it is considerably higher. If we wait a handful of years, all I-10 frontage and major tracts of land on corridors and thoroughfares are going to be sold by the square foot and some are already happening today. A dollar a square foot is $43,560 an acre. So, we are seeing tracts of land sell for $2 and $3, and $4 and $5 and up towards New Braunfels on 46, some of those selling for $8 a square foot. So, there is a lot of value in this. It’s an asset that the county can utilize in the future being it’s an adjoining property but at the same time, if the county ever got into a situation and needed cash and we are not looking at it this way, it’s just the failsafe of owning an asset like land. It can be liquidated. You could sell that. You can control what happens on that and make sure that it is a beneficial use for the community and then the taxpayers will have that money and revenue back in the budget, so it really is a win, win, win,” said Kutscher.
More importantly, Kutscher says the land purchase helps to provide a cohesiveness for current and future county facilities.
“I think there is a lot of benefit with that transaction. A handful of years ago, we looked at the purchase of that 134-acres for future county facilities. If we hadn’t taken those steps, we would not have the stability long-term moving forward and the ability to build out future county projects, but I have a strong feeling that if we didn’t purchase that land, a developer or a homebuilder would have bought it and we would have probably seen tract homes on a tract like that of 134 acres. With this frontage, it is something that is valuable. It is beneficial to us. Having road and bridge right here with the new development center, having our jail, animal control, future county facilities as well as this property connecting to it,” said Kutscher.
As part of its long-term planning, Engelke says moving forward with the land purchase was a smart move for the county.
“As we all know, land is becoming less and less available as developers are coming into the area and kind of taking over and the property owner was very gracious in the fact that he had other offers of course and although it’s an awkward shaped property, it is still on the IH 10 frontage road,” said Engelke.
Among those also applauding this latest land deal was Commissioner Pct. 1 Greg Seidenberger. Seidenberger says the county has already proven the benefits of planning.
“Judge, eight years ago, we purchased the six acres continuous to the existing road and bridge property and if you look at that property today, it is fully utilized and we think, what would we do without it? Purchasing the 134 acres and then this property continuous with that acreage, I think in the future, this county is going to be well served to have that resource available and have that land available for the growth and expansion that we expect,” said Seidenberger.
Commissioner Pct. 4 Judy Cope says the county is now well equipped to meet the needs of the county’s future.
“If we don’t purchase additional land, there’s nowhere to put additional buildings for the requirement of the services of the people which has exponentially increased. They don’t make any more land, so we were really fortunate in order to get enough land that the county can move forward in the future to serve the residents,” said Cope.
All in all, Kutscher says he believes this land deal was just part of “the plan” and can’t wait to see how it unfolds in the years to come.
“We talked about the need for future land purchases and went back and forth with the auditor trying to figure out what that should look like, what future plans were for other developments and other projects, construction and otherwise – transportation, contracting and doing a number of things and we felt that we had committed and restricted money for matching dollars on the transportation side, the million dollars and said, you know, we probably need to put the same amount in there for land purchase and didn’t even know that this tract was for sale at the time and then to come full circle and it be the same thing (price). I just think it’s another sign that it was supposed to be,” said Kutscher.
The land deal comes while the county is in the midst of designing and constructing a new development center near that I-10 frontage road location. Off site, it is also working to transform the old hospital and Head Start building on Weinert Street into the new Guadalupe County Veterans Outreach Center.
