AGENDA CAPTION:
Title
Receive a Staff update on the New City Hall/Hopkins City Center Project and provide direction to Staff.
Body
Meeting date: June 16, 2026
Department: City Manager’s Office
Amount & Source of Funding
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Fiscal Note:
Prior Council Action: November 6, 2024: City Council appoints members to the Hopkins City Center/New City Hall Steering Committee; City Council awards a contract to Economic and Planning Systems, Inc. to provide public-private partnership services and transaction advice for the Hopkins City Center/New City Hall Project. October 21, 2025 - City Council approves a Conceptual Planning Agreement with Upward Communities for a redevelopment in downtown San Marcos known as the Hopkins Redevelopment Project, including a new City Hall, and a potential public-private partnership.
City Council Strategic Initiative: [Please select from the dropdown menu below]
Quality of Life & Sense of Place
Public Safety, Core Services & Fiscal Excellence
Economic Vitality
Comprehensive Plan Element (s): [Please select the Plan element(s) and Goal # from dropdown menu below]
☒ Arts and Culture - Choose an item.
☒ Economic Development - Choose an item.
☒ Environment & Resource Protection - Choose an item.
☐ Housing + Neighborhoods - Choose an item.
☒ Land Use + Community Design and Character - Choose an item.
☒ Parks & Public Spaces + Health, Safety & Wellness - Choose an item.
☐ Transportation - Choose an item.
☒ Core Services
☐ Not Applicable
Master Plan: [Please select the corresponding Master Plan from the dropdown menu below (if applicable)]
Downtown Master Plan
Background Information:
This project is envisioned as more than a new city hall to replace the current facility that has numerous structural and capacity issues. It is seen as a transformational project for San Marcos that would bring:
• Community-oriented development that revitalizes area
• True gateway into community that reflect San Marcos’ best
• Placemaking
• Opportunity for civic pride
A number of goals were established for the Hopkins City Center/New City Hall Project:
• Build a new City Hall that serves not only our current needs, but the needs of our growing City for years to come.
• Leverage the existing City facilities and parkland to create a cohesive, well-designed, connected Civic Corridor space that the community can enjoy.
• Safe, connected multi-modal transportation within the area by making improvements to Hopkins Street.
• Attractive public spaces and roadways.
• Environmental protection of the nearby river.
• Spark new development in the area that meets market and community needs, including mixed use through possible public/private partnerships.
A contract was awarded to Economic and Planning Systems, Inc. (EPS) in November 2024 to provide public/private partnership services and transaction advice to the city for developing a plan to accomplish these goals. In addition to EPS, the consultant team also includes Freese & Nichols and McCann Adams Studio.
Also in November 2024, City Council appointed the 23-member Hopkins City Center/New City Hall Steering Committee. This Committee has met five times to learn more about the project and review concepts developed by the consultant team and the developer. Those meeting dates were: February 20, 2025; March 20, 2025; May 19, 2025; October 15, 2025; and May 11, 2026.
At the April 15, 2025 City Council meeting, direction was provided to proceed with concept planning for the City-owned property north of Hopkins. In July 2025, the City received an unsolicited proposal for the development of a new city hall along with other possible components. In the interest of transparency, we prepared a Request for Information solicitation process to gauge if there are any other parties interested in submitting a proposal. That solicitation closed in August 2025, and staff brought forward an item to enter into a
Conceptual Planning agreement with Upward Communities to further consider the construction of a new city hall along with other potential development that would activate a portion of Downtown. The Conceptual Planning Agreement is split into two phases: the Concept Refinement Phase and the Predevelopment Phase.
The item approved by City Council in October 2025 was only in regard to the City’s participation in the Concept Refinement Phase; a separate item will be brought forward for Council consideration prior to proceeding into the Predevelopment Phase. This part of the agreement was approved with a not-to-exceed amount of $767,970.00; however, after refining the scope further with Upward Communities, the City only expended $103,318.20 to complete that portion.
Since entering into the Conceptual Planning Agreement with Upward Communities last October, City staff and our consultants have been working on a couple of different topics: concepts for the Downtown location and financing available for this project. Both of these were presented to the Hopkins City Center/New City Hall Steering Committee on May 11, 2026, and that information along with the Committee’s recommendations will be presented to the City Council. The Committee was also presented with the idea of releasing an additional request for information (RFI) seeking a developer to monetize the mixed-use portion of the new city hall site as well as other City-owned properties located Downtown that would assist in paying for this project. City staff has also worked with our consultants to create a Hopkins City Center/New City Hall Project webpage that can be found at the following link: www.sanmarcostx.gov/newcityhall <http://www.sanmarcostx.gov/newcityhall>. In addition, staff is looking at scheduling a community informational open house regarding the 3 site location options, process, and next steps.
Council Committee, Board/Commission Action:
On May 11, 2026, the Hopkins City Center/New City Hall Steering Committee was in general consensus to proceed with exploration of the New City Hall project at the Downtown site, with preferences for concepts 1 and 2. The Committee also provided a recommendation to proceed with a RFI to seek a developer that would be able to assist in bringing additional partners to develop the new City Hall site as well as other City-owned locations in the Downtown area.
Alternatives:
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Recommendation:
Staff seeks Council direction on how to proceed with the New City Hall/Hopkins City Center Project.