HUTTO – The five-year drama surrounding Hutto’s Co-op District has entered a new chapter.
On Nov. 17, amid concerns of invalid contracts and lack of progress, city council voted to send notice of material default to developer MA Partners LLC. The parties now have 180 days to work out their differences if the project is to proceed.
At the heart of the discussion are a set of development agreements that city council says did not go through the correct channels for approval, and the amount of time it has taken for the project to move forward. The initial agreements were handled by a previous city manager who left Hutto in 2019.
“The DAs are invalid. They were never brought before the public, never voted on in public. So at some point you guys need to sit down and acknowledge that fact that you don’t have a development agreement,” Mayor Mike Snyder told the development’s project financial lead Matt Harris at a public meeting Nov. 3.
Snyder asserted that if the agreements are valid, the developer is in default of the timetable, so whether they are valid or not; the project needs to be renegotiated.
“I’m ready to take a vote and take the property back from you guys,” Snyder said.
While the developer reported on potential progress and inquiries with different businesses, the council was not shy about making their dissatisfaction known.
“At this point y’all have failed on your end from our perspective as a city,” said council member Robin Sutton. “As a long-term Hutto citizen, I want to see this succeed but it’s not and it hasn’t. I agree with the mayor. I’m just ready to take the land back and give us more control over that land and do what needs to be done for the city.”
Control over what types of businesses will be built on the land was another sore spot for council members. The development was originally envisioned as an entertainment and shopping destination.
Flix Brewhouse signed on as one of the first tenants planning to open in the Co-op, but the company’s expansion succumbed under pressure of the pandemic. Harris said that current plans include the possibility of apartments and town homes.
Council member Randal Clark pointed out that there are already multiple apartment complexes being built in the area and no room to build another elementary school to serve new families so having more residences at that location was not in the city’s best interests, as well as being counter to the original vision.
“Abandoning an entertainment venue for an apartment complex seems like a bait and switch for the citizens,” Clark said. “One way or another we’ve got a crisis. And that can be negotiated and worked through or it can be painful and drawn out. If you guys want to work through it you need to come to the table and work with the city manager and figure out what we can do moving forward.”
Hutto Co-op District is currently home to Hutto City Hall, the city library, Hutto Silos Farmers Market and Southside Market & Barbecue. Harris reported that Jack Allen’s Kitchen has signed an agreement for a restaurant and parking garage with an 18-month time frame, Top Notch Burgers is scheduled to open by late December and Cocina Jalisco is scheduled to open a few weeks later.
