By Edmond Ortiz
While New Braunfels’ newly elected mayor has already presided over a few meetings, local leaders are looking to the long-term future and exploring a potential 2027 bond issue.
Meanwhile, changes are afoot at one of the area’s biggest, ongoing mixed-use developments.
Potential city bond
City Council held a July 17 workshop to discuss future capital investments and options available to the local government should it proceed with a 2027 bond election.
According to city staff, such a bond could cover various street, pedestrian and intersection improvements, drainage fixes, Phase I development of a Northwest Side park, construction of a police and fire safety training facility, and new public safety equipment and vehicle replacements.
Roadway and drainage elements eyed for potential bond-funded improvements include Cross Street and Blieders Creek.
City officials said, ideally, the city could aim to max out each of these proposals at $25 million. However, New Braunfels’ current property tax structure can only support up to $75 million in new bond debt without an increase.
New Braunfels leaders agreed it is important to develop the city’s next bond program before state legislators seek out more ways to cap local governments’ ability to issue debt to address mounting needs in growing communities.
New Braunfels voters last approved a bond package in 2023, resulting in the allocation of $140 million for a range of road infrastructure improvements, upgrades to Mission Hill Park, and construction of a Southeast Branch Library.
Mayfair plan revision
A few days earlier, on July 13, council approved amendments to the overarching framework for SouthStar Communities’ Mayfair master-planned development.
Thad Rutherford, SouthStar’s president and CEO, said the revisions give his company more mixed-use design flexibility, including reclassifying a 22-acre tract from mixed-density residential to commercial.
That site, Rutherford said, could accommodate medical services, which he said is becoming an increasingly desired amenity among Mayfair residents. Other revamps to the framework agreement include permitting construction of public facilities on any land within the development.
Rutherford also provided an update on ongoing growth at Mayfair. A Major Middle School, a Comal Independent School District campus, and an early childhood PREP school are both slated to open in fall 2027.
New trails connecting Fairway Park and Mayfair Elementary School are nearing completion.Celebration Hall, an event pavilion, recently opened, and. Midtown Swim Club, a resort-style pool, is set to open its doors before the end of July.
Additionally at Mayfair, a Midtown cafe is taking shape, retail spaces along Interstate 35 are now available for leasing, and nearby, Costco opened a 152,000-square-foot, $37 million store at I-35 and Kohlenburg Road.
