Salado aldermen will consider at their 6:30 p.m. Aug. 15 meeting the first construction plat from Sanctuary for 190 residential lots on Phase I of the development.

Village administrator Don Ferguson reports that he has been able to get two agreements from the developer on Phase I. The first is to change the intersection of the Phase I to be a three-way stop at the top of Royal Street where the east-bound road takes a 90-degree turn to the north. Sanctuary will enter on Royal Street from the south at that intersection, resulting in the three-way stop. The second agreement is to pave a second exit from the Phase I development to FM 2268 to alleviate traffic congestion on Royal. 

Later phases were planned to have exits on FM 2268, but this will be implemented with Phase I.

The construction plans call for lots ranging in size from 0.08 acre to just over 0.20 acres in size. Phase I will have 15 lots of 0.08-0.1 acres in size, 157 lots of 0.1-0.2 acres in size and 20 lots over 0.2 acres in size. It will also have 20 acres of open space.

The Master Development Agreement between the Village and Sanctuary was signed by Mayor Skip Blancett and Billy Hanks in November 2015.

In it, the Village approved the general land use categories outlined in the Conceptual Master Plan and Land Use Chart. It allows for the Sanctuary developer to deviate from that Conceptual Master Plan by as much as 20 percent without seeking approval for a major Concept Plan amendment. General Use Categories for Sanctuary and their numbers are the following:

• Commercial (e.g. office, retail, restaurants, etc.): 515,000 Heated Square Feet.

• Entertainment Venue (performing arts): 40,000 Heated Square Feet.

• Lodging: 355 Rooms.

•Multi-Family (multi-story, including senior housing, rental): 575 Units.

• Multi-Family (for sale, including condos, town-homes and duplexes): 130 Units.

• Single Family (for sale):  364 Units.

• Parking Garage(s): 500 Spaces.

The Annexation Agreement that brought the Sanctuary development into the Village of Salado allowed the existing undeveloped land to be taxed as Agriculture land.

The properties that were commercial at the time of the annexation continued to be taxed as such. 

Once undeveloped land is platted, then it no longer qualifies for Ag exemptions. However, agreements with Sanctuary provide for a 15-year 50% tax grant to the Sanctuary developer.

For residential lots, the 15-year 50% tax grant begins at the time the construction plat is approved.

The agreements further allow Sanctuary developers to enter into individual contracts with property owners in which the 50% tax grant may be paid to those end-user owners, but the Sanctuary developer is not required to pay those 50% tax grants to the end-user owners. 

Ferguson told Salado Village Voice that Sanctuary developers state that the price point for the residential development is $400,000 per unit.

At this price point, if 190 homes are developed, it would bring $76 million in property values into the Village. 

At the proposed tax rate of $0.6135, this would generate a potential $466,260 in property taxes to the village, of which half, or $233,130 would be granted back to the Sanctuary developer/owners. Over the lifespan of 15 years, this would be $3.5 million in tax grants to Sanctuary.

The Village of Salado will not fully realize the taxable value of Phase I Sanctuary until fiscal year 2035.

The 15-year clock on tax grants on other phases of Sanctuary development begin with the filing of plats for residential pieces and the issuance of Certificate of Occupancy for commercial properties.

There are no strict time-lines in any of the agreements for the developer to develop any parts of the properties.