Massive Mayfair project will help New Braunfels house its exploding population

June 30, 2021

NEW BRAUNFELS – A massive mixed-use development that will help New Braunfels keep up with its skyrocketing growth has just received the green light from City Council.

One of the country’s fastest growing counties will soon have a steady supply of new housing options thanks to Mayfair, a 6,000-home community that will straddle I-35 just north of the city limits.

“This is a win-win for New Braunfels and our citizens,” says New Braunfels mayor Rusty Brockman.

Locally based SouthStar Communities will develop the 2,000-acre project.

“These mixed-use master planned developments I think are really the future,” says Michael Meek, interim CEO of the Greater New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce.

“This is one of the places in America where people are seriously considering moving.”

It’s more than just new houses too. Retail space, schools, and parks will also be part of the project, which is expected to take 15 years to complete.

“It seems like the community is moving northward,” Meek says.

The first Mayfair homes should be ready by 2023.

“They are committing to hundreds of acres of parkland space, green space, hike and bike trails that will be provided for the entire community,” Brockman says. “It’s the mixed use part of it that’s really exciting.

“This puts a quality project on the ground for New Braunfels.”

An I-35 overpass will connect both sides of the project. Traffic is already an issue in the area.

“Anything that happens along I-35 is going to be adding stress and volume to the freeway,” Brockman says. “But I don’t believe this development is going to create an impact that would be any different than any other developments that are happening along I-35.”

Mayfair follows another billion-dollar-plus development in New Braunfels – Veramendi.

“The city had a template with Veramendi,” Meek says, “having gone through that for several years.

“These are master planned developments that are not in the city limits of New Braunfels but yet provide the city the opportunity to not stop or control growth but shape growth.”

New Braunfels’ growth has been staggering in recent years.

“I can remember a time when we hit 100 permits here in the early 90s,” Meek says. “The city manager at the time told me it was just an anomaly.

“We added about 1,800 last year in new single family home permits.”

And the numbers figure to keep climbing for the foreseeable future.