(Editor’s Note: This story was revised Thursday to include new information from Pct. 4 Commissioner Jen Crownover and also to correct a fact error. Comal County Engineer Tom Hornseth is the county employee who spoke in Commissioners Court July 30, not Assistant Engineer David Vollbrecht.)
Comal County and Littlefield, Texas-based Pak & Save, Inc. are working on a deal to exchange the Sattler Lowe’s Market, which the county owns and leases to the grocer, for 2.1 acres of unimproved land the grocer owns at 1398 FM 2673.
Commissioner Jen Crownover said Pak & Save’s lease with the county expires later this year, prompting the county to either revise and extend that lease or investigate the possibility of a trade on the condition the Sattler store undergoes significant remodeling.
The county needs to build a new annex to replace the current Precinct 4 building it has outgrown.
“We pitched the idea: What if we just exchange barren property and you keep the store?” she said in an interview today.
Property values listed on the Comal County Appraisal District’s website could be misleading since there are three separate but adjacent properties on FM 2673, she said.
“We had independent appraisers assess both properties, and they were close enough to even, plus a couple of other factors that we were legally able to consider brought them up to somewhat even, which could legally allow the trade of the properties to move forward.”
Speaking at Commissioners Court July 30, County Engineer Tom Hornseth said the county has “entered into a conversation” with Pak & Save.
County spokesperson Cary Zayas said commissioners are soliciting offers of exchange through public notice required by statute. An agreement to exchange has not been reached.
The county inadvertently got into the grocery business in 2019 when it purchased the Sattler Lowe’s, 1345 Sattler Rd., with the intent of either renovating or building a new annex serving Canyon Lake residents.
Pak & Save planned to build a new Lowe’s on its land on FM 2673.
Those plans went up in smoke in 2020 when the Lowe’s Market in San Saba burned to the ground, causing Pak & Save to reconsider plans for a new Lowe’s in Sattler.
Crownover said price escalations following the COVID pandemic also proved a consideration for the company.
Pak & Save Marketing Director Matt Corbin declined to comment on negotiations, citing ongoing discussions with the county.