Development agreement altered for huge neighborhood planned for Elgin

Nearly 2,500 residences are set to be constructed in a new neighborhood in Elgin.

Elgin City Council on June 21 approved an amendment to a development and consent agreement for the Brickston Municipal Utility District. The city entered into the agreement with developer Texas Bridle Trails LLC in 2019, but the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in a lengthy delay for the start of construction.

The Brickston MUD, situated on 637.3 acres on the western side of Elgin, will feature 1,909 single-family homes, 112 duplexes and 476 multifamily units, according to Council documents.

These homes would represent substantial growth for Elgin, which had an estimated 2021 population of 10,549, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For example, if a family of three moved into each of the new single-family homes, it would boost Elgin’s population by 5,727, a nearly 50% jump.

The MUD will also feature more than 96 acres of public parks and open spaces, plus about 17 acres devoted to public schools and safety services. Of that, 15 acres will be donated to Elgin Independent School District for a new elementary school, and two acres will go to public safety use, Elgin City Manager Thomas Mattis said.

Approximately 22 acres of the MUD are designated for commercial use along U.S. Route 290, Mattis said. It is not yet clear which businesses will be located there.

“The Brickston MUD is actually one of the first projects we approved when we started this wave of growth and development in the city,” Mattis said. “But we’ve had a couple of changes, and we’re proposing an amendment to the development agreement as it relates to wastewater treatment.”

The amended plan calls for a large wastewater treatment facility to eventually be constructed on the developer’s dime. But in the meantime, wastewater will be pumped to Elgin’s existing facility for treatment, ditching a prior plan for the developer to pay for a temporary treatment facility on the property.

When the new treatment facility is completed, the developer will be responsible for costs to divert the wastewater.

Elgin is seeing lots of growth, as it stands in the path of eastward expansion for the Austin metro. Cullen Texas Health Inc., a cannabidiol company, is considering building a 10,000-square-foot manufacturing and distribution space on six acres in a city-owned business park. Aviator Pizza & Drafthouse received approval last month for an incentives agreement that will aid with the development of a three-building, 54,000-square-foot dining and entertainment.

A bit south of town, Spark River Entertainment LLC recently took over Spiderwood Studios 969 and plans to turn the 152-acre movie studio into a “true entertainment destination” with additional high-tech studio space, an amphitheater and eventually apartments and a hotel.

Courtesy of Austin Business Journal. See the full article here.