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What’s Next for Boot Ranch?
On the not-too-distant horizon lies the day when development of Boot Ranch will be finished. Terra Verde Group and Wheelock Street Capital have been leading the project since late 2015, when they acquired Boot Ranch from Lehman Brothers. Recently, John Koenig, editor of The Boot, spoke with development and operating partner Mark Enderle about the final stages of the project and what will happen once the job is done. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
Q: What’s on tap near-term for
Boot Ranch?
Mark Enderle, Boot Ranch Operating Partner
A: The infrastructure is in place to begin doing a second round of significant core amenities. So this year we’ll build and finish the Racquet Club, which is a pickleball-tennis-playfield amenity right in the middle of Nordenhill, the northern half of the 2,000-acre property. We’re in the process of designing a Lake Club expansion, which will include a casual restaurant, pool, party barn and amphitheater. You’ll be able to go there to have lunch, hang out at Longhorn Lake, have a wedding or listen to a concert. It will round out the family amenities associated with Boot Ranch.
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The other amenity we’ll do while building the Lake Club is the Gun Club on the north side of the property. The Gun Club will be a sporting clays course, replacing the current trap and skeet range, and have a pavilion and archery component. Q: And on the residential side? A: We’ll be finishing the 150 to 180 lots we
have left to develop. The goal here is to match the development of the amenities with the sale of these last lots.
Q: How many residential units will there be
at Boot Ranch upon completion?
A: A maximum of 475, and that’s driven
by the amount of water rights we’ve been granted by the City of Fredericksburg.
Q: When do you anticipate having everything sold? A: We could potentially finish selling lots in
three to four years, but that’s dependent on economic and market conditions. We would not want to turn over the Club until we’ve completed the amenities and residential development, and sold all the home sites.
Q: To whom will you turn over Boot Ranch? A: There are two entities. There’s the Prop-
erty Owners Association, which will own the infrastructure, common areas, and so forth, and the Club, which will own the vast majority of the amenities. The ownership of the POA is the people who own the property and lots in Boot Ranch. The members of the
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Club are, by and large, the owners of property, too, although there were some non-resident members when we bought Boot Ranch. If you think about it, the owners of the Club and the owners of the POA are essentially the same people. How they decide to manage the Club, whether it’s as a separate equity club or as a part of the POA, that’s up to them. Our job is to deliver the Club to whatever entity they want to manage and operate it. A key objective for us is to deliver a Club that is operating at a sustainable level, which for us means it is appropriately staffed, well maintained, and on sound financial footing. Q: Is the Club operating at a sustainable level now? A: Yes, on all counts. We turned our first pos-
itive cash flow with the Club this past year. Transparency between us and the members is another of our objectives, so the transition can occur smoothly and they know what we’ve done and can continue operating the Club at a sustainable level. Currently, we’re working with 25 members who serve on the Advisory Board and related committees. You know, the initial vision for Boot Ranch was that it would become the finest private club community in Texas. When we bought Boot Ranch, we bought into that vision. We see ourselves as caretakers, charged with making it a reality. The job hasn’t always been easy. Sometimes the people who bought property before our arrival did not always agree with us on what Boot Ranch should look like at the end. But we worked hard with them to align our visions. And I like to think that on the day we hand over the keys, everyone will look at what Boot Ranch has become and be pleased.
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