Midtown Reserve's special district seeks council consent to borrow $2.5 million, repaid by its own taxpayers

A special taxing district that covers the Midtown Reserve neighborhood and the Midtown City Center land off State Highway 6 wants to borrow up to $2.5 million, and the City Council is asked Thursday to give its consent.

The request from Rock Prairie Management District No. 2 sits on the consent agenda for the council's Oct. 22 meeting. The staff report says the sale can proceed only if the council approves the district's bond order, and staff recommends approval. The report says the city carries no financial impact: the debt is repaid by the residents and businesses inside the district.

Who pays

The district, created by the Legislature in 2013, covers about 319 acres on the east side of Highway 6 between Rock Prairie Road and William D. Fitch Parkway.

A preliminary official statement for investors, included in the council packet, says that as of Aug. 1 it held 590 occupied homes, 10 finished but empty homes, 27 under construction and 222 vacant lots, with an estimated 2,593 residents. DR Horton, Kaleo Homes, Stylecraft Builders and Boxwood Homes are building there, and new homes run from about $240,000 to $550,000, the document says.

The district also contains an office park, a 116-bed transitional care and rehabilitation center and a 264-unit apartment complex.

Property owners inside the district paid a 2026 district tax rate of 65 cents per $100 of taxable value, 48 cents of it for debt and 17 cents for maintenance, according to the statement. Its certified 2026 taxable value is $228.9 million.

Where the money goes

This would be the district's first sale of water, sewer and drainage bonds from the $71.4 million its voters approved in 2015. It has already issued $13.65 million in road bonds.

Of the $2.5 million, about $1.6 million would repay construction of water, wastewater and drainage lines for five Midtown Reserve phases. Another $375,000 is listed as interest owed to the developers on money they advanced, with the rest covering a year of interest on the bonds, operating costs, an underwriter's discount and issuance fees.

The statement says the developers will still have about $14 million in unreimbursed infrastructure costs after this sale, and that future bond issues are expected to pay part of that back as allowed by state regulators.

Bids are due Nov. 12, with delivery of the bonds expected around Dec. 10. The meeting opens at 3 p.m. Thursday at City Hall, 1101 Texas Ave., and the open session with the consent agenda resumes no earlier than 6 p.m.

Sources

collegestationtx.api.civicclerk.com

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