(Seguin) –Recently, the Seguin Daily News reported on the Seguin Town Center project — a massive retail complex, that will bring new stores and restaurants to its location on Interstate 10, between Highway 46 and FM 464. Today, our new reporting focuses on another big commercial project in Seguin. This one is expected to breathe new life into the city’s actual town center.
The city is working with another developer to completely revamp the entire city block that currently includes the old Wells Fargo bank building. The block is surrounded by Nolte, River, Washington and Austin streets.
Seguin Mayor Donna Dodgen provided an update on the Wells Fargo/Nolte Project, which will completely revamp a big part of the city’s downtown historic district. The city now owns the building and after a lengthy process, has chosen GroundFloor Development to create the vision for the project and to bring it to a reality. Dodgen says much like the Town Center project on I-10, this project will bring several mixed uses to downtown Seguin.
“We purchased that whole block and we did that with the intent of truly controlling what happened there. We want it to be something nice. We want it to be the next level. We want it to be the catalyst for movement of retail and other things downtown. We have an incredible downtown. We hear it all the time. Everyone who comes to town talks about how amazing our downtown is. We are situated amazingly. That I-10 corridor is far enough away from our downtown that we can have two incredible spots. So, what happens on I-10 doesn’t take away from downtown and downtown doesn’t take away from what’s happening on I-10. They can build together and we can have choice, and we can have avenues, and we can have different things. That’s pretty amazing. Not all communities have that,” said Dodgen.
Dodgen says GroundFloor Development has some big ideas for that block and potentially could expand to some other nearby areas in downtown Seguin. She says there are lots of plans in the works for this project.
“We have an incredible developer with a vision. So, we’re beginning to work on what it’s going to look like and what it’s going to become. It’s going to be the next level with hotel space, event space, shops, (and) parking. I know that lovely P word, parking in downtown. It’s going to be a really incredible venture that may spread out to other buildings that are occurring downtown. But it’s pretty amazing, and it will happen. It won’t happen tomorrow, but in the next two to five years, that’s going to really be a transformative space,” said Dodgen.
Dodgen made her comments during Tuesday’s State of the City presentation in the Seguin Coliseum. The meeting focused on what’s currently happening in Seguin and what could be on the horizon in the future. That ultimately led to a discussion of the Wells Fargo project in downtown Seguin and the announcement that the Seguin Town Center project was moving forward along I-10 thanks to another partnership with developers from the New Quest company.
One of the other big retail and commercial discussions focused on the community’s desire to see another grocery store built in Seguin. City Manager Steve Parker says that’s ultimately a decision that will be made by HEB, but he says he believes that the fast growth in Seguin will keep the community on their radar.
“There are a lot of different things that go into why HEB is going to be where they are. They determine when and where they’re going to be. They like corner intersections of property. They have to find the right property with the right utilities. They have to find the right property at the right price. And then once that happens, they got to have enough people living in a certain area, who are making a certain income level. Sometimes they’ll buy property and sit on it for five to 10 years. They bought a piece of property in San Marcos. They’re just building that 10 years later for their third store in San Marcos. So, it’s coming. I can’t say that they’re definitely looking (at Seguin), but I think they’re probably looking for that next piece of property (here). I just can’t comment on when or how long it’ll be before they actually build it,” said Parker.
The city of Seguin is now the 29th fastest growing community in the United States. That growth is bringing a number of changes to the area. You can watch the full State of the City presentation on the city of Seguin Facebook page. You can also find a link to it on our website, seguintoday.com.