New Braunfels group hires development leader for 1,900-acre Mayfair community

A New Braunfels development group has made a key hire to oversee its massive mixed-use development in northern Comal County.

Chip Mills has joined SouthStar Communities as senior vice president to oversee planning and development of Mayfair, a project spanning 1,900 acres expected to create 2,000 jobs once complete. He will also work with the city of New Braunfels and Comal County to coordinate the community’s pubic-facing elements.

Mills was previously senior vice president for Austin-based RVi, the planning and landscape architecture firm that designed Mayfair. There he was responsible for business development, market growth, strategic planning and marketing. He also guided development planning of real estate projects.

Mills’ portfolio includes other large projects in Central Texas including Trace, Kissing Tree and La Cima in San Marcos; Mueller in Austin; and Wolf Ranch in Georgetown.

“I’ve worked with SouthStar’s leadership for several years, and I have been impressed by their vision and values,” Mills said in a prepared statement. “I’m also looking forward to continuing my work with the city of New Braunfels and the New Braunfels Economic Development Foundation, who share our commitment to thoughtful, planned growth along the I-35 corridor.”

The New Braunfels City Council in June approved a development agreement with SouthStar for the project, which sits in the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction just north of the city limits along I-35. The agreement gives the city regulation over the property for permitting, land use, parks and utilities.

SouthStar plans to bring to the site up to 6,000 residential units, more than 300 acres of public parks, 35 miles of trails, four Comal Independent School District schools, and more than 200 acres of commercial space. About 123 acres of the residential property will be mixed-use.

Construction will take place over 15 years. The developers said it will begin construction this year with the first homes expected for completion by 2023.

SouthStar began site work earlier this year on Vida, a 600-acre master-planned community in South San Antonio near Texas A&M University-San Antonio. It has also developed Mission Del Lago, which has so far brought 1,700 homes to the South Side, with 1,200 remaining to build, plus 500 multifamily units and about 50 acres of retail.