The Georgetown City Council gave its initial approval Tuesday to give an estimated $91 million of the property taxes it will earn over a 30-year period on a 164-acre planned development with an Italian village theme to pay for infrastructure costs including five parking garages, utilities and streets.
The vote on a final approval for the creation of a tax increment reinvestment zone for Wolf Lakes Village will be Dec. 11. Under such a financing tool, the city would continue to collect the same amount of tax revenue from that area that it gets today. But as the area grows in value, 70 percent of any additional tax revenue over the next 30 years would go toward improvements in that district. The amount the city would give would be capped at $100 million.
Wolf Lakes Village is at the northwest corner of Interstate 35 and Texas 29. It will include arched bridges, a plaza, three lakes and a wedding chapel. It also will feature corporate campuses, apartments, town homes, restaurants, retail, a cinema, a cathedral, an amphitheater, parks, playgrounds and trails. Wolf Lakes LP is developing the project.
Construction is supposed to start next year.
“It will be a gamechanger for Georgetown,” said Iva Wolf McLachlan, president of Wolf Lakes LP, which is developing the project. She said at the council meeting Tuesday night that the development is designed to be walkable and a place where people can lives, work and play.
“We are seeking to bring first-class corporate businesses because one of the most vital and important parts is to create valuable high-paying jobs…we believe Wolf Lakes will be a tremendous economic engine for this extraordinary city,” McLachlan said.
Williamson County commissioners are also expected to consider on Dec. 18 contributing an estimated $19 million over a 20-year period for roads and drainage only for the development, said Laurie Brewer, a Georgetown assistant city manager.
The county’s amount would be capped will be at $30 million and would come from 50 percent of the new taxes generated by the increased valuations due to the new development.
None of the reimbursements from the city and county will happen until the first 150,000 square feet of commercial space is permitted, under the proposed agreement.
Private investment costs for Wolf Lakes Village are estimated at more than $978 million and include construction of retail, restaurants, a hotel, a conference or event center, business and corporate offices and other buildings, according to a preliminary plan for the project.
