Plans to build in Schertz move ahead

City approves rezoning request for housing, commercial space on about 65 vacant acres

The Schertz City Council has approved a developer’s rezoning request needed to build housing and commercial space on about 65 acres of vacant land along the fast-growing Interstate 35 corridor between San

Antonio and New Braunfels, despite opposition from neighbors concerned about traffic and residential density.

Ocotillo Capital Partners plans to build commercial and retail space for restaurants, shops, a convenience store with gas pumps and potentially a grocery store on 19.6 acres abutting the I-35 access Road and Schwab Road. An additional 14.8 acres would be used for 518 apartments and 29.9 acres for 299 rental townhomes.

Rents likely will range from about $1,400 to $2,750 a month depending on the size of the unit, according to the San Antonio-based firm. Ocotillo Capital Partners, led by Nick Dyer and Josh Pollock, sought a zoning change from general business district to planned development district to facilitate the project, which received unanimous approval Tuesday night from council members.

The city issued public hearing notices to residents in November ahead of a Planning and Zoning Commission meeting, and it received two responses in favor of the development and 58 opposed to it.

In emails to the city and verbal comments made during the Planning and Zoning and council meetings, dozens of residents said they are worried the development will increase traffic, decrease property values, heighten the burden of an already-growing population on schools and roads, displace wildlife and potentially result in tenants trespassing on their properties.

They also said the project does not reflect the character of the surrounding area, which in

cludes the Cypress Point subdivision and land used for farming and ranching. Some asked that the three components of the development be zoned individually, instead of the entire site being rezoned as a planned development district.

“If I wanted to live next to an apartment complex, I would have moved to San Antonio,”

one resident wrote.

Others said they support the development because Schertz needs more housing for its swelling population and that they want to see more restaurants and other businesses in the city.

“Building more housing will expand the supply of homes within Schertz and as a result keep cost of living affordable here,” one wrote. “I have seen firsthand many of my friends and family struggle to afford

living in communities that have shot down proposals for more housing and I do not want to see the same thing happen to my community.”

City staff recommended that council members approve the zoning change, saying that it is aligned with Schertz’s land use plan and is appropriate for the area. They also noted that housing affordability in the area is a major issue and that home prices are soaring, increasing from an average of $210,650 to

$430,000 over the past decade.

Council members said Schertz’s expanding population and the changes resulting from it are inevitable and difficult for residents to grapple with. They said it’s led to an expanding workforce and more businesses opening, and they said that Schertz needs more housing options.

“I realize that the folks that are right next door to it are always going to have a little bit of a problem, but for the bigger

picture, I’m supportive of this and other future developments like it, especially along I-35,” Council Member Tim Brown said. “You can’t keep that rural.”

Ocotillo Capital Partners has developed about 320,000 square feet of industrial space in South Texas and has repositioned a warehouse and prepared infill properties for housing in San Antonio. It’s unclear when construction on the Schertz project will begin.