(Seguin) — The developers of a highly-anticipated retail and residential project are offering reassurances to the community that they are committed to building something special in the city of Seguin. Henry Che and Delphine Nguyen, of the Che Capital Group — based in the Chicago area, were again in Seguin last week to discuss their Creekside Gardens and Moonshine Industrial Park projects. Creekside Gardens would be a 62-acre mixed use development that would include apartments, townhomes, and a new retail development at the northeast corner of State Highway 123 Bypass and East Kingsbury Street (U.S. Highway 90). The Moonshine Industrial Park would be a 54-acre warehouse development for industrial customers, and would be located on Highway 90, just east of Seguin.
Che says they weren’t just here to provide an update on their plans, but they also wanted to introduce the community to two of their Asia-based investors. Just like Che and Nguyen, their investors Kongkiat Opaswongkam and Thu Huong Duong, are also married. Che says they wanted to give them a first hand look at the land associated with both projects, and to allow them to mingle with community leaders during meetings here in the city.
“The commitment has always been there. We’re just here to really reiterate our commitment to Seguin, and at the same time, like I mentioned at the luncheon, we want to make more connections with Seguin to find additional opportunities to invest here. So, we don’t take this investment lightly. This is a very big deal for us. We believe in Seguin. We believe in its potential. We believe in its people. So, we’re here to stay,” said Che.
Che says it’s important for their investors to really get to know Seguin, and for the community to get to know them as well. He says they plan to be a long term partner in this community.
“We’re here as your neighbor. We’re here as an investment partner to grow with Seguin, because over the next five to 10 years — as your own EDC and city manager have said — we’re growing like crazy. We will be growing up to 40 or 50 thousand residents, right? That’s in the next five to 10 years. So, we want to a part of that wave,” said Che.
Nguyen says they have cleared the initial hurdles associated with the Creekside Gardens project, but she says there are several steps that still lie ahead. The old saying that time is money, definitely applies to this project, and that’s something that they are also watching as they move forward.
“We’re very glad that we got it re-zoned for multi-family, retail, (and) townhouses. That’s wonderful. That was the first step, and now we’re working on another step to pursue permits,” said Nguyen. “Interest rates already affect a lot of budgets, and definitely there’s an impact on our budget too. So, that is something that can also delay the project a little bit, but we believe in 2024-25, things may change.”
Duong, who wore a beautiful Vietnamese formal gown as a sign of respect for Seguin during her visit last Tuesday, says she felt very comfortable in Seguin. She says it’s warm here, just like home, and she was also very impressed by the warmth of the people here as well. Duong is the founder and CEO of a large investment firm, with offices in Vietnam and Singapore. She says they are excited to be part of these projects.
“When I heard Henry and Delphine present about Texas, everybody knows Texas. They know Houston and Dallas, but they don’t know the other cities that are hidden gems. They showed us the strategic location of Seguin,” said Duong.
Seguin’s location is certainly one of the factors that led to the couple investing in these projects. Opaswongkam says they recognize the benefit of being involved in a growing market.
“We learn from different locations around the world, that sooner or later secondary cities will be developed as the primary cities will be full of density and crowded, and so they have to expand it. I grew up in Bangkok. I saw what happened in Bangkok. The city is becoming bigger and bigger, and of course they’re eating into the surrounding area. So, new airports develop, new expressways, etc. I think Seguin is facing the same kind of situation, because the big cities around you have been fully developed. So, populations have to sort of move out, and factory manufacturing facilities also move out further,” said Opaswongkam.
Opaswongkam serves as the CEO of Asia Plus Group Holdings, which is the largest investment company in Thailand, and has investments around the world. He says they believe in this project. In fact, they agreed to make the investment sight-unseen.
“This is the first time we came to look at our land. We invested without looking at it. This is my first investment in my entire career that I invest without looking at the property. You know, I’ve been investing for almost 40 years of my life, and this is something very exceptional. So, I trust both of our friends here, who introduced us to this place. That’s why we decided to invest, and (decided) to come to meet with the people, the mayor, the city council, ect. They all showed a passion to develop this city, and to show their love for this beautiful city. So, we feel more confident,” said Opaswongkam. .
The warm welcome that they received during a community reception at El Ranchito Mexican Restaurant helped the investors feel right at home in Seguin. Duong says they were thrilled with their visit and all the people they met while they were here.
“I never regret making a decision. Even today, it just more reinforces the decision that we have made. When you see the leadership — the very strong leadership from the mayor to the city council — everyone makes us feel welcome. So, this is a great sign that will attract more investors. We want to invest more in the future,” said Duong.
Che says he knows the community is eager for the Creekside Gardens project to get moving. It will not only include new retails space for restaurant and shops, but it will also offer some other amenities, like access to a large pond that is part of the property. He says it takes time for the projects to move forward, but they are working with the city to keep things going.
“When we put this property under contract 18 months ago, we wanted it done tomorrow as well. But as you know, the entitlement process dragged on, for good reasons. We were able to get work with the city staff and got feedback and we reiterated our plans to meet not only our financial projections, but also what the city needs there. I think what came out of that process is a good marriage of both what the city wants and what we can afford to do,” said Che.
Che says there are some economic pressures that will impact their development efforts, like rising interest rates, but he says they working through those as best as they can.
“There are macroeconomic pressures and conditions that are dictating our timelines there. The least of which is the high interest rates and construction costs. So, those things are putting pressure on our timelines. We do have plans to do four phases and this is the original plan. The first phase is the multi-family. The second phase is the townhomes. The third and fourth phases are building out the retail. We’re actively looking at that plan based on the current economic conditions to see if we can move things around. And we are also making connections with the local and regional banks to see how we can work out financing models. If we can align all those things, then yes, we’d like to move forward,” said Che.
Che says they have developed a good working relationship with the city of Seguin, but he says some recent changes in the city’s fee structure is also applying some additional pressure to their plans to move forward.
“I do want to say though, that recently passed ordinances to increase the impact fees here by basically doubling the impact fees. Yes, it’s bringing Seguin up to levels like San Marcos and New Braunfels; however, that does impact our performa and our financial projections as well. Whereas before it was much cheaper to build. Now it’s a little more expensive to build. So, it’s almost like the perfect storm of high interest rates, increased impact fees, and high construction costs is kind of. slowing down the project,” said Che.
The developers and their investors all said they loved being in Seguin, and they are looking forward to developing Creekside Gardens and the Mooshine Industrial Park. The reception hosted for the group included stakeholders from all walks of life in Seguin, including business and community leaders. You can read our original story on the Creekside Gardens project on our website, seguintoday.com.
