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Elgin approves sale and master-lease plan to spur 120,000‑sq. ft. industrial building
Summary
The Elgin City Council approved a purchase-and-sale agreement allowing the Elgin Economic Development Corporation to sell roughly 11.5 acres in Elgin Business Park 3 to Downstream Interests LLC for a Class A 120,000‑square‑foot industrial speculative building, with an EDC backstop lease and minimum $10 million capital investment.
Elgin's City Council voted April 21 to approve a purchase-and-sale agreement between the Elgin Economic Development Corporation (EDC) and Downstream Interests LLC that clears the way for a roughly 120,000‑square‑foot Class A industrial speculative building in Elgin Business Park 3.
Kaylee Fry, director of economic development for the Elgin EDC, told the council the two lots total about 11.5 acres on the road between Walmart and Whataburger and that the EDC structured the deal to help recruit industrial tenants and expand the city's industrial tax base. "This will be one of the largest industrial buildings in Elgin," Fry said, adding the facility will offer flexible tenant configurations to accommodate either a single large employer or multiple mid‑size tenants.
Under the agreement the land is priced at $3 per square foot (about $1.5 million for the parcel), the developer must complete construction within 18 months of closing, and the project carries a minimum capital investment requirement of $10 million. To reduce financing risk for a speculative build, the EDC agreed to a master‑lease back provision that guarantees a one‑year lease at $11 per square foot if the developer cannot secure tenants before construction is complete; Fry said market rents in the Austin metropolitan area currently range from $16 to $20 per square foot.
Fry said the EDC has preliminary interest from two foreign investors: one prospecting roughly 400 jobs and another starting near 50 and scaling toward 150. "We have two prospects who are looking at about 60,000 square feet to start," Fry said. She cautioned those are preliminary discussions, not finalized commitments.
Council members who spoke during the item praised the agreement's additional restrictions and "clawbacks" intended to protect the city's investment by limiting subdividing below specified module sizes and keeping standards attached to the property if it changes hands. The resolution passed on a unanimous voice vote.
What happens next: the agreement authorizes the EDC director to execute the sale and related master‑lease documents; construction timelines, tenant announcements and any required permitting will follow the developer's planning and financing schedule.
