A proposed New Braunfels land purchase now has a public price: $4.6 million for about 6.7 acres on Gruene Road, with the current purchase contract set to expire Oct. 22.
The deal covers five parcels adjoining the economic development corporation’s Gruene 16 property. City staff says adding the land would give planners more flexibility and expand the potential reach of whatever is ultimately developed at the site.
The newly posted packet for Thursday’s New Braunfels Economic Development Corporation meeting supplies the strongest details yet, but it does not authorize a purchase. The board is scheduled to receive a presentation and discuss the proposal; any funding action would return at a future meeting with a public-hearing notice and would also require City Council approval.
A Contract Deadline Is Approaching
The corporation entered the $4.6 million purchase agreement in May 2025 and later exercised extension options, according to the staff report. It now faces two stated choices: buy the properties by Oct. 22 or extend the contract again to Jan. 20, 2027.
Staff recommends completing the acquisition. The report says owning the adjacent parcels would let feasibility work and development planning proceed without another contract deadline hanging over the project.
How the Site Reached This Point
The economic development corporation bought the existing Gruene 16 property in 2016 for a planned HD Supply expansion that the company did not pursue. Rather than sell the land, the corporation began a visioning and predevelopment process intended to produce broader community benefits.
That early work examined market demand, possible development concepts and preliminary costs. A later phase—soliciting a developer and negotiating a development agreement—has been paused while the adjacent-property question remains unresolved.
The corporation receives 25% of the sales tax collected by the city, according to the same meeting packet. The document does not identify the specific funding source that would cover this purchase, making the financing plan one of the consequential details still to come before a vote.
The board meets at 5 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 13, in the City Hall council chambers at 550 Landa St. The next publishable milestone will be a posted public-hearing notice, funding request, recorded vote, purchase document or contract extension.