San Marcos film studio eyes Netflix, Disney
Hill Country LLC is set to hire 22 full-time employees at an average salary of $100,000 and up to 1,400 contract workers
SAN MARCOS — The city of San Marcos is offering tax breaks to the developer of a planned 820,000-square-foot film production studio, to be built atop the critical Edwards Aquifer recharge zone.
The project has been a closely guarded secret for much of the past year. City officials referred to it cryptically as “Dark Monday.” This month, it was revealed to be a $267 million film production facility built on 75 acres within the La Cima residential development.
Plans call for 12 production stages, four workshops, a welcome center and 250,000 square feet of office space. Construction is slated to begin in April 2023.
The production facility will try to attract some of the largest film studios in the nation, like Netflix, Disney, Paramount and NBC Universal, said Zach Price, the chief operating officer of Hill Country Studios.
The goal is to get “the higherend film industry” to complete projects there, and then after that they would target “some smaller productions, like commercial and music videos,” he said.
“That’s kind of how we’ve designed this facility,” Price said.
Hill Country Studios will be the developers and owner-operators of the production studio. The team includes Texas State University alumnus Blake Kotrla, who first posed the idea of building the facility in San Marcos more than two years ago, Bill Foley, an Atlanta-based architect who designed the Pinewood Atlanta Studios in Georgia where many Marvel films are made, as well as David Godfrey, an England-based film production consultant with international credits.
Two weeks ago, the San Marcos City Council approved millions of dollars in property tax rebates for the production facility. But its location stirred controversy. The recharge zone is a 1,250-square-mile area, stretching from Bracketville in the west nearly to Austin, where fractures in limestone formations allow large quantities of water to flow into the Edwards Aquifer. The aquifer is the primary water source for 2 million people.
The primary concern over building atop the aquifer is that it blocks water from entering and refilling the aquifer.
“I have never received this many emails on any one subject as long as I’ve been involved in government here,” city Councilman Mark Gleason said at a June 7 council meeting. “That shows that people care. They’re paying attention.”
Still, city staff said the film studio is the lesser of two evils, compared to another project proposed for La Cima: a strip-mall, big-box retail development that would have created more impervious cover than the film studio will, said Joe Pantalion, assistant city manager.
“If you’re worried about the environment, and you really are concerned about the Edwards Aquifer, as we are,” the film studio is a better choice, Pantalion told the council.
Price said that Hill Country Studios has “taken every single measure that we possible can” to ensure the project meets environmental standards.
Any development that is built over an aquifer recharge zone needs to acquire a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Price said Hill Country Studios has not begun the process of getting the permit, but is in the active permitting process with San Marcos.
The council voted 6-1 to enter into a Chapter 380 agreement with Hill Country Studios. Chapter 380 agreements allow municipalities to provide loans, grants, tax breaks and other incentives for projects that will create jobs and stimulate the economy. The agreement will give Hill Country LLC property tax rebates staggered over five years, provided that the developer meets certain requirements for job creation, capital investment and more.
City leaders lauded the film studio project as a way to diversify San Marcos’ economy.
The studio is set to hire 22 fulltime employees with an average salary of $100,000, as well as up to 1,400 contract workers for production projects. Hill Country LLC said it will work with the San Marcos Consolidated Independent School District and Texas State University for internships and learning opportunities.