Plans for the approaching County Annex were revealed Dec. 14 at the Bandera County Commissioners’ Court from DRG Architects of San Antonio.
Architect Wayne Gondeck presented the design concept, which encompasses a two-story building with a total of 19,500-square-feet that will sit at the corner of Hackberry and 12th Street in the City of Bandera (current location of the Justice of the Peace building).
The annex property will extend along the remaining portion of 12th Street to the corner of Cedar Street (current location of the County Tax Office and DMV services).
This area is slated for parking spaces and a dedicated area for future expansion of the complex.
The Bandera County Annex will be the future offices and operations ofcCounty business, whose employees are currently dispersed in several locations throughout the City of Bandera.
These offices will include Justices of the Peace, Constables, Tax Assessor, Engineer, Inspector, Elections Office, Administration, H.R., Auditor, Attorney, Veteran’s Services, Treasurer and Public Information.
Gondeck explained that the plan includes adherence to the City of Bandera’s zoning ordinances.
Considering that the location is specified as place type P5 Core in the Heritage District, the building must be set back 15-feet from the curb.
According to the city’s description, P5 regulates a higher density mixture of building types that accommodate commercial, restaurants and bars, retail, offices, hotels, and apartments. It is integrated into the grid through a network of streets with the potential for wide sidewalks, consistent street tree planting, and a highly walkable environment throughout the place type. It promotes a continuous line of buildings critical to defining the public frontage.
DRG’s next steps with the County to move towards breaking ground is arranged to occur at a regular meeting of the Commissioners’ Court.
Authorization to advertise for bids is scheduled for Jan. 11, begin advertising for bids on Jan. 25, receive bids on Feb. 22, and award the contract to the selected General Contractor on March 14.
The anticipated date for the General Contractor to begin construction is April 1, 2024.
With a budget of $350 per square foot, the cost is estimated at $6,825,000, a price tag that will be honed when the GC’s bid is realized and formalized.
Gondeck stated to the court, “We’re pushing on this as much as we can to keep these numbers down. We’ve pushed back and pushed back to not include more things. We’ve tried to keep this project as straight forward as we could to try to keep it in the budget. Those prices out there in construction, as you probably well know, are going through the roof, so we are trying to keep this down.”
Per Commissioner Jody Rutherford, the funds will be drawn from the County’s reserve fund.
The county’s adopted budget for 2023-2024 reports a total of $14,226, 227 for the estimated fund balance.
