Government
BY GRANT CRAWFORD
Midway les $300M suit against Hutto o cials
Brad Freels, chairman and CEO of Midway, explained to Snyder—a HEDC board member—that Terra Halona wasn’t part of Midway’s development team and that its only involvement was the initial introduction to former HEDC director Bob Farley, per the ling. The petition states that Snyder said “things would not end well for Midway” if Terra Halona was not satis ed with the compensation structure, and that “the city and HEDC would restart the process with another developer.”
Houston-based development company Midway led a petition Feb. 18 against the Hutto Economic Development Corporation, Hutto Mayor Mike Snyder, real estate development rm Terra Halona and its co-managing partner Joel Scott, seeking $250 million in exemplary damages and $50 million in compensatory damages. The lawsuit— led with Harris County District Clerk Marilyn Burgess—comes more than four months after the Hutto EDC announced it had ended negotiations with Midway to serve as the master developer for the Cottonwood Properties in Hutto. Midway was rst selected as the developer for the 250- acre site in December 2023, with the goal of building a mixed-use site including retail, grocery, restaurant and entertainment options. In March 2024, Midway and HEDC agreed to a memorandum of understanding. In its petition, the development company claims that Snyder asked how Terra Halona would be compensated after Scott helped arrange a meeting between the mayor and Midway.
November 2023: Midway presents quali cations to HEDC December 2023: Midway is selected as master developer March 2024: Midway and HEDC agree to memorandum of understanding October 2025: HEDC ends partnership with Midway Feb. 2026: Midway les suit against HEDC
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SOURCE: CITY OF HUTTO COMMUNITY IMPACT
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of the MOU being agreed to, Midway had not provided the HEDC with any site plan or elevation of what the development would look like. “What we did get was a lot of excuses,” Snyder wrote. Midway is seeking a jury trial.
Midway claims that Snyder’s actions constitute bribery and that, upon Midway’s refusal, Snyder took action “to kill the prospective contract between Midway and HEDC.” In a Facebook post, Snyder wrote that within 18 months
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PFLUGERVILLE HUTTO EDITION
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