TIMING THE PURCHASE
Over the course of approximately two and a half years, the city of New Braunfels will work with Union Pacic to acquire its downtown property and relocate the rail yard to another property in the unincorporated territory of Comal County. SOURCE: CITY OF NEW BRAUNFELSCOMMUNITY IMPACT NEWSPAPER
COURTESY ADOBE STOCK
City Council nalizes and adopts South Castell Avenue Vision Plan as a framework for future development
City awards contract to Kimley-Horn and Associates to prepare preliminary design and streetscape for Castell Avenue
City approves project and adopts resolution
Both parties nalize design of Union Pacic facility and purchase and sale agreement
Construction nalized and Union Pacic relocates from downtown property
to authorize the funding agreement
City begins discussions with Union Pacic regarding the sale of the property
City begins negotiations with Union Pacic to formalize a memorandum of understanding
New Braunfels Economic Development Corp. authorizes funding agreement with the city
Site evaluation, preliminary engineering and
Construction agreement nalized; city closes on downtown property; and construction on new Union Pacic facility begins
After the rail yard is moved, the city will solicit proposals from developers for future uses of the property.
feasibility study take place at Corbyn Yard Facility
FOR SA L E
property, Jewell said the city and economic development corporation agreed to fund the design and con- struction of a new rail oce at Union Pacic Railroad’s Corbyn Yard prop- erty located o of Bunker Street in an unincorporated area of Comal County. The NBEDC receives 25% of sales tax revenue collected by the city that is then made available to support community development projects and create incentives for develop- ment, Jewell said. “We have to basically absorb all of Union Pacic’s costs. … They have no incentive, basically, to move out,” Jew- ell said. “We’ve discussed it enough with elected ocials and appointed ocials that they feel like the expendi- ture in the long-term is worth it.” Of the $2.18 million expenditure
approved by City Council from the NBEDC, $1.5 million will be used to purchase the land while the remain- ing $680,000 will be used for study- ing the feasibility of relocating Union Pacic Railroad’s operations to Cor- byn Yard, designing a new facility and surveying the downtown property. “A preliminary engineering agree- ment will allow Union Pacic to begin determining the viability of relocating those operations,” Jaixen said. “It also allows the city to perform an environ- mental evaluation of our property in downtown New Braunfels. The suc- cess of this entire project hinges on the results of these eorts.” The deal gives the city the ability to exit the agreement if costs become too high or if the city’s environmental analysis uncovers signicant issues
with the property, Jewell said. Construction costs for the new rail yard facility are estimated to be $4mil- lion and are not included in the initial agreement, he said. A new agreement following the design and survey phase would cover the building itself. “Once the nal design is kind of nearing completion, at that point [Union Pacic Railroad] will have a pretty good idea about what that cost for those facilities would be,” Jewell said. “We anticipate wrapping this by the beginning of 2025.” Plans for South Castell Avenue In 2018, the city adopted the South Castell Avenue Visioning Plan after several years of planning and com- munity input regarding the redevel- opment of approximately 10 acres
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Adeal years in themaking The rail yard has been in operation for more than a century, according to city documents, and currently serves as a Union Pacic Railroad oce, switchyard and refueling station. Plans for the city to purchase the site have been a subject of conversa- tion for many years as ocials sought to make the area more cohesive with the rest of downtown, Jewell said. “Union Pacic and the city of New Braunfels have discussed this idea at a high level several times for more than a decade, but discussions became more serious over the last 3-4 years,” said Max Jaixen, senior manager of com- munications for UnionPacicRailroad. To facilitate the purchase of the
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