BEDC agrees to be 1st tenant in building

For nearly a year, the Bastrop Economic Development Corp. has been overseeing the redevelopment of the vacant lot at 921 Main St. in downtown Bastrop.

In August, the corporation’s board selected Stone Cobalt Partners to redevelop the bare concrete slab by financing a building and filling it with tenants. Last month, the development group announced that it was in negotiations with two possible tenants, and last week the BEDC released documents revealing itself as the first of two tenants to have struck a deal with Stone Cobalt.

A letter of intent released to the Bastrop Advertiser shows the BEDC has plans to occupy 4,500 square feet of the future building’s second story for a term of 120 months.

A cash contribution of $123,535 by the BEDC will be required to help pay for remediation of crumbling walls along the boundary of the lot. Engineers have estimated total repairs could cost as much as $250,000.

The BEDC, which is leasing space off Loop 150 for its small staff, will be permitted to sublet some of the upstairs space to another tenant, the letter says.

Stone Cobalt, which will own the building through a subsidiary group called 921 Bastrop LLC, is in negotiations with the prospective groundfloor tenant. The name of that tenant, who would occupy 4,500 square feet of retail space, will not become public until a contract is signed.

Guy Dudley, managing partner of Stone Cobalt Partners, said he hopes to lock in contracts with both tenants within the next few weeks.

“For me, it feels good,” Dudley said about negotiations with the prospective ground-floor tenant. “But nothing’s final until it’s signed.”

Dudley also said he expects construction of the building to begin around Thanksgiving if all things go according to plan.

“We’re looking forward to the project, the whole reason we undertook this project to begin with is we believe in Bastrop. We believe that this is the place to be,” Dudley said. “I think they are posed for some fantastic growth — I would even say over the next few years.”

During the BEDC’s June meeting, Bastrop Mayor and BEDC board member Connie Schroeder said the board would be ready to call an emergency meeting as soon as both tenants are ready to execute a contract.

Stone Cobalt has been trying to get both an upstairs and a downstairs tenant locked into an agreement to help secure financing.

Over the past several months, the development group could not come to terms with a handful of potential tenants — breweries, restaurants and a distillery — who ultimately found the property lacking adequate foot traffic and compatible uses nearby.

The empty lot has sat vacant for 14 years after the last building burned to the ground. In 2009, the city purchased the lot as part of a larger parcel to expand downtown parking. For many years, it was used by the Downtown Business Alliance for outdoor markets and events until structural problems, including the crumbling walls, forced the city to close the site.

The city sold the property to the BEDC for $4 in 2016.