Bastrop poised to add convention center for smaller meetings

Austin Business Journal - by Kate Harrington Staff Writer

A proposed convention center in Bastrop will give the city more event and conference space, and could also give the city's Hyatt Lost Pines a boost in its hotel and event business.

The Bastrop Convention and Civic Center will span about 30,000 square feet and seat 1,000 visitors. Joe Newman, CEO of Bastrop's Economic Development Corp., says the city will likely select a developer this fall. The city hopes to start construction on the project, which will also include a new city hall, in November. The buildings will take shape on Chestnut Street, the loop that runs through Bastrop's historic section. An exact location hasn't been pinpointed.

The project still doesn't have an exact price tag, says Bastrop City Secretary Teresa Valdez, but it will largely be paid for through the city's hotel and motel tax.

"Right now, we're in desperate need for that facility," says Susan Weems Wendel, president and CEO of the Bastrop Chamber of Commerce. Aside from the Hyatt Lost Pines conference and event facilities, which total 230,000 square feet, Bastrop doesn't have a center to hold large groups, she says.

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Bastrop's med services grow

Austin Business Journal - by Kate Harrington ABJ Staff

While medical facilities and plans for future medical infrastructure are booming in Travis and Williamson counties, doctors and landowners in Bastrop are trying to grow that area's own medical space to attract the specialists they say the growing community needs.

Gary Schiff, a managing partner in Bastrop's Lakeside Hospital, says he hopes two new buildings will lure specialists to Bastrop, which until recently has seen little in the way of specialty medical care. Schiff sold the land for The Lost Pines Center for Cancer Care, a 10,000-square-foot building off State Highway 71 under construction now, to San Marcos-based Dr. David Jones.

Jones plans to open that center in about a year, and will offer radiation and chemotherapy treatment. Schiff himself finished constructing the 35,000-square-foot Lakeside Professional Building, adjacent to the Lakeside Hospital, in October and is now filling it with specialists who come to Bastrop one day a week to treat patients from Fayetteville, LaGrange and the growing Bastrop area.

Of all the tenants starting to fill the Lakeside building -- Schiff says it's 65 percent leased -- only one practitioner, a family practice doctor, already had a practice in Bastrop. The new doctors -- a cardiologist, plastic surgeon, dermatologist, and orthopedic spine surgeon, and a pain management and physical therapist and a gastroenterologist -- come to Bastrop once a week, and Schiff says he hopes they will ultimately establish permanent practices in the area.

The Lakeside medical office building will also help the two-year-old hospital, Schiff says. The hospital had a rocky start when it opened in early 2006 because its original management company lost the hospital's Medicare application.

After recovering from that early financial upset, the hospital has now started to benefit from the presence of more doctors practicing in the area, Schiff says.

Jones, the doctor who will run the Lost Pines cancer treatment center, says it made sense to locate the center in Bastrop because the area's growth now justifies the investment. Jones says the center will cost $3 million to $5 million when it's completed, mostly because of technology investments.

Bastrop patients, and patients from points further east, now have to make the increasingly difficult trek into Austin to get the specialized treatment, he says. Jones says it's one thing going to another city to have a procedure done, but when it comes to more frequent treatments, such as radiation treatment, driving 30 miles gets to be too much.

"So every single day, patients and their families have the burden of getting to a highly specialized radiation center that has the machine needed to do the treatment."

Having more specialized medical options and facilities could also be a boon to economic development, says Joe Newman, CEO of the Bastrop Economic Development Corp.

"We point that out regularly when we show property to potential industries," Newman says of the hospital and new medical buildings. "It's filling up quickly."

kharrington@bizjournals.com | (512) 494-2523

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Bastrop EDC…..working to improve the area

Special to Bastrop Advertiser, Feb. 9, 2008, Progress Edition

 

            People often ask, “just what does the BEDC do?”  The answer is much more detailed than you might imagine. 

 

Introduction and Brief History of BEDC

 

            The Bastrop Economic Development Corporation was incorporated March 17, 1995 after the citizens of Bastrop voted to impose a one-half cent sales tax that would be dedicated to economic development and bettering the lives of Bastropians. 

            A seven member board was appointed by the Bastrop City Council, comprised of Dr. Neil Gurwitz, Pat Crawford, Mayor David Lock, Willie DeLaRosa, Robert Jenkins, Bill Taylor, and Tommy Goode.  City manager Mike Talbot served in a dual role as the first executive director.

            One of the BEDC’s first tasks was to purchase land for use as an industrial park.  Because the organization’s primary function is to bring meaningful and rewarding employment to our citizens, the BEDC acquired 263 acres near the juncture of State Highways 71, 95, and 21 – a prime location for potential businesses.  The corporation spent $1.9 million to purchase the land, improve infrastructure, and construct roads in the new Industrial Park.

            Since the inception of the Bastrop Business and Industrial Park, several successful companies have either joined our community or expanded operations here, including Garments to Go, the park’s first tenant.  Since then, others have joined the ranks, including Deep in the Heart Art Foundry, the Coghlan Group, and newcomers Dig Tech/Line Tech, Bargas Medical Manufacturing, and Bluebonnet Trails Mental Health and Mental Retardation facility.

            The first full year, the half-cent sales tax raised about $422,300.  This year it is expected to raise more than $1.1 million. 

 

But that’s not all we do….

 

            Here is a sampling of where some of those tax dollars have gone recently.

 

BEDC-funded Infrastructure Projects:

 

• $150,000 to match a $640,000 grant for construction of the parking lot at Water & Pine Streets and sidewalks along Chestnut Street and Old Austin Hwy.

• $85,000 to extend and upgrade water and sewer lines along Old Austin Highway to Hwy. 71.

• $282,000 to extend roads in the Industrial Park and install utilities.

• $145,000 grant for Chestnut Square Entertainment Center-related infrastructure improvements, including materials for repairing and improving Farm Street and moving the water transmission line.  This $4 million project is expected to expand to eight screens soon.

• $250,000 for Chestnut Street/Highway 95 improvements plus $200,000 for additional work on Chestnut near site of future city hall.

• $100,000 grant for new parking lot near Fisherman’s Park, across street from Bastrop Library.

• Acquired 0.335 acre (at no cost) for the construction of a sidewalk between the City’s parking lot and Main Street.  Spent $26,000 for sidewalk construction, lighting, and landscaping between Baxter’s and the Prokop buildings.

• Grant to Lakeside Hospital to upsize waterlines for future development in the area, which allowed a new 38,000 sq. ft. medical office building to be constructed.

• Purchased three lots next to the Kerr Community Center for a neighborhood park, and hired a consultant to study the feasibility of refurbishing of the Kerr building.

• $150,000 budgeted for Phase I of Loop 150/Highway 71 entryway improvements and signs.

• Coming soon:  Phase II of approximately $2.5 million in Loop 150 (Chestnut Street) improvements from Highway 71 to Highway 95.

But that’s not all we do….

 

Main Street Project

 

            BEDC contributes one-half of the operational expense of the Texas Main Street Program for Bastrop.  However, that is only a very small portion of the overall support BEDC contributes within the project’s boundaries.

            In the past six years, BEDC budgeted $25,000 per year for façade renovation grants in our historic downtown area.  Dozens of shop owners painted and repaired their buildings. 

            This year, $75,000 was budgeted for central business district renovation and beautification matching grants.  Recently the grant amounts were increased to allow some major renovations and new construction to be achieved.

            The largest and most-ambitious project will be Chestnut Street/Loop 150 infrastructure and landscaping.  Current estimates top $2.5 million.  Bonds will need to be sold and BEDC has budgeted $150,000 per year to repay that debt.

 

Measures of Success

 

            Stories about Bastrop, and the BEDC specifically, have appeared all over the State, touting our numerous successes and achievements.  As the community continues to grow, the BEDC is hard at work to bring the types of jobs, businesses, and development that our residents desire. 

            One measure of success has to be Bastrop’s unemployment rate.  In 2003 the rate ran as high as 7.2% unemployed.  The most recent average rate was a low 3.8%.  Almost everyone who is employable is working.

            Another way of judging success is new ad valorem tax values.  Within the corporate limits, the city’s 1995 total assessed valuation was $149,736,879.  This year it was $529,952,522, or an increase of 253.9%.  Some of the increase is due to inflation, but much can also be attributed to projects such as the new HEB, First National Bank, Home Depot, Woodland Village Shopping Center, and new homes.

 

Our Work is Ongoing

 

            This city is a very special place that is blessed with some outstanding people and an excellent quality of life.

            Bastrop has several shopping center projects on the horizon, and industrial prospects are being courted for our area.  Next year and beyond should be good for Bastrop and the entire Central Texas region.  BEDC’s close association with Opportunity Austin, the Governor’s Office of Economic Development, and regional real estate partners have brought numerous prospects that are considering Bastrop for expansion or relocation.

            Nobody knows what the future will bring, but it is believed that our area will continue to grow and flourish.  It won’t be easy, but with the City’s and BEDC’s help and guidance, we can leave Bastropians with a better place for the next generation.

            Please don’t hesitate to contact me or members of our current Board of Directors, which include Mayor Tom Scott, Dr. Neil Gurwitz, Gwen O’Barr, Gary Schiff, Pat Crawford, Gary Gutierrez, and Steve Mills.  We welcome your comments and input in our common goal to keep Bastrop the best place to live and work in Texas.

 

Joe D. Newman, President and CEO

Bastrop Economic Development Corporation

 

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Council could add to city territory

 

By Davis McAuley, Editor, Bastrop Advertiser

 

 

Bastrop’s city limits and population could grow significantly if a proposal unviled this week leads to successful talks over the next six to 12 months.

 

At a city council workshop Tuesday, officials representing Harvard Investments, based in Scottsdale, AZ, outlined their ambitions for developing a 550-acre tract with more than two miles of Colorado River frontage just west of Tahitian Village.

 

Paul Lineham of Land Strategies, Inc. said the goal is to have the city annex the development, presently called Higgins Ranch, and provide water and sewer service.  Presently the tract is accessible only along Lovers Lane, but planners hope to create a second entryway from a new road off Texas 304 and a new river bridge, said Lineham.

 

Financing the bride and related road improvements may be possible only if the city agrees to the creation of a special taxing district, officials said.  The main route into the development would be along the new road and bridge, said Lineham.

 

A special road tax district for the project could also help pay for improvements to Lovers Lane, making that access easier, said City Manager Mike Talbot.

 

Another issue raised by the council is that the Higgins Ranch area is presently in the service territory assigned to the water district which serves Tahitian Village.  Negotiations with water district officials would be the first step to turning present plans into reality, according to Talbot.  “And there will be a cost to it,” Talbot added.

 

Building a new river bridge could cost more than $13 million, depending on how wide the span is, said Lineham.

 

Current preliminary plans call for construction of up to 1,298 single family homes, a small retail district and nearby townhomes, Linehams said.

 

The site lies within the city’s extra-territorial jurisdiction, said Talbot.  When fully built out, it could add an estimated $27 million to the city’s tax base, said Lineham.

 

The council urged Talbot to begin talks with developers and the water district.  “It could be a beautiful piece of property,” said Council member Terry Sanders.

 

Talbot said he should be able to make a progress report to the council in six to eight weeks.

 

Mayor Tom Scott suggested a public hearing might be scheduled after Talbot’s report.

 

Talbot said negotiating detailed agreements with developers could take up to a year.

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Lowe’s on way to Bastrop

 

By Jacqueline Davis, Bastrop Advertiser, Saturday, January 26, 2008

 

The Burleson Crossing Shopping Center had its official groundbreaking Tuesday afternoon at its 60-acre site north of Texas 71 at Texas 304.

 

By then, site preparation and dirt work were well underway to ready the area for its anchor store, a Lowe’s home improvement store, which will have 117,000 square fee of retail sales space and offer 40,000 products.  The store is expected to open in the first quarter of 2009 and create up to 175 jobs.

 

The Lowe’s will have an additional 31,000 square feet for its garden center, which will offer flowers, bushes, trees and garden supplies selected for a Texas climate.

 

The Burleson Crossing project will entail a new rear entrance road called Blakely Boulevard, which will connect to FM 969.  The developers will pay for the construction of about $9 million worth of new roads up front and be reimbursed with half of the development’s sales taxes over the years, according to Joe Newman, executive director of the Bastrop Economic Development Corporation.

 

“The Burleson Crossing development is a welcome addition to our community,” Newman said, “As Bastrop continues to grow and prosper, businesses will not only enhance our quality of life, but provide new jobs for our citizens.”

 

As for the other pad sites in the development, only an IBC bank is slated as a definite.  The project’s developers had originally identified 15 pad sites of varying sizes, said Stacy Snell, Bastrop planning director, but the final number of retail sites will depend on negotiations with retailers, which are still ongoing.

 

Snell said that each pad site could contain up to four or five separate businesses, but that one larger anchor store is expected to take up an entire pad site similar to Lowe’s.

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