Whitetail Ridge moves ahead with higher funding after Hidalgo drop-out

By Marc Robertson - Editor | March 4, 2026

“The best news we could have received…”

$15.2M Cotulla housing development includes 48 rental units

A resolution signed last week by Cotulla councilors revives a 2025 plan to build homes for scores of families on a hill between the Las Palmas business park and the local elementary school.

Called for a special meeting Tuesday night, February 24, councilors squeaked their application into the state’s tax credit program only hours before a deadline that would have put Cotulla out of the running for a coveted high-rate plan.

Estimated at more than $15 million, the residential development at the newly named Whitetail Ridge will be built with a majority of its construction funding coming from investors using federal tax credits. The project requires $2 million in local funds.

City Hall has confirmed that a purchaser for the investment has already been found.

The La Salle County government voted unanimously in February to support the Cotulla housing program with as much as $2 million to fill the gap between investor funding and eventual construction cost.

The announcement prior to last week’s special council meeting that Cotulla may yet qualify for the higher tax credit rate put an end to a secondary plan that would have offered fewer credits towards the multi-family housing complex and required greater local input.

In order to gain the most revenue in return for the investment Cotulla would have needed to wedge at least 80 rental units into the 2.5-acre land parcel.

Councilors had been prepared at the end of January to switch their project to the lesser-funded scheme when they learned that Hidalgo County might turn down the program for which it had been given approval by the state.

Ranking in fourth place behind Hidalgo’s three projects at the end of 2025, Cotulla is now bumped to the front of the line and likely to be awarded the preferred program, according to both City Administrator David Wright and housing consultant Pegy Brimhall last week.

“The great news is that the higher tax credit program gives us approximately seventy percent equity towards the project,” Brimhall told councilors on Feb. 24. “This is the one we always wanted.

The miracle that occurred when we were ranked in fourth place was that Hidalgo County and the city of Hidalgo rejected the program, likely because of the local funding that would have been required from them, and we are now more than ten points ahead in the scoring, putting us well into first place.

“Other projects have also been wiped out,” Brimhall said of the competitive application process with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, which administers the federal monies derived from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development. “This is the best news we could have received, and the best funding for the project.”

Councilors had been working throughout 2025 to secure a development deal that meets the community’s need for family housing during a shortage that has lasted more than two decades. Under contract with the city, Brimhall revealed last year that the Volunteers of America housing development and management company has expressed interest in helping Cotulla provide affordable housing to its working families. Company representative Deborah Welchel told councilors at a meeting earlier in February that the non-profit group is committed to operating the Whitetail Ridge complex and has secured a Houston-based builder for the job.

The land on which Whitetail Ridge will be built is owned by I-35 Adelante Ltd., based in Laredo. The company is closely affiliated with Able City Communities and the Frank Rodnofsky architectural firm that has been responsible for a number of improvement projects in Cotulla, including the beautification of the Front Street historical district and – through a subsidiary – drafting a master plan that includes parks and recreation facilities.

Although Brimhall is a member of Able City, she is under contract with the city of Cotulla and said last week that she is not employed by the landowner or any company with profitable interests in the real estate.

A purchase deal for the Whitetail Ridge property is now in the contract phase, although City Hall has not disclosed the anticipated sale price.

Under the tax credit program, Whitetail Ridge will be exempt from property taxes for at least the first 15 years, after which the program may be continued for a further 15. It is the absence of taxes, both Brimhall and Wright said last week, that will enable Volunteers of America to set affordable rental rates, with a large portion of the income going towards a debt pay-off to investors.

Wright acknowledged that the property would be valued considerably higher with housing units built on it than at present, representing a significant boost in tax revenues to local entities when it is ultimately returned to the tax rolls.

Brimhall said last week that the city expects to plant its rental units on a portion of the hill between Las Palmas and the school, and that adjoining properties may be developed as single-family privately owned homes. The Whitetail Ridge builder, she said, will remain on site to complete those structures if deals are struck with landowners.

Whitetail Ridge’s proximity to retail stores, businesses, principal roads and the school district helped elevate its score in the state’s eligibility ranking, the city administrator said. Both Wright and Brimhall told councilors that a pedestrian walkway between the housing complex and the elementary school and ease of access to places of employment will make the property attractive to young families.

All those living at Whitetail Ridge will pass residency applications that require renters to remain employed, and none will be indigent, according to City Hall last week.

“It can house retirees on a fixed income, but all renters must have a source of income,” Brimhall said. “These are wonderful community programs.”

Although councilors had been told in 2025 that the housing units would be appropriate for middle-level professionals such as teachers, law enforcement officers and energy industry managers, the demographic was expanded last month to include retail and foodservice industry workers.

The development plan calls for a number of services available to residents, including financial counseling, a community room or activity center, and City Hall negotiations have resumed on an option to provide childcare.

“The building has to be Class A quality to meet state requirements, or we lose our tax credits,” the housing consultant said last week.

City Attorney Steve Pena had cautioned councilors at their meeting earlier in February that the program they were considering does not include privately owned single-family homes and is limited to the rental apartment or townhouse complex. Atty. Pena has twice indicated he believes the city should ensure that any project with which it is affiliated maintains an elevated standard of structural integrity and sets the bar higher than a traditional apartment complex for quality of living.

“The reason there is a Phase 2 for the privately owned single-family homes is that we are bringing in a builder who only does affordable housing,” the city attorney said last week. “Without the 48-unit phase, we would not have the builder.

“You are approving multi-family units managed by Volunteers of America,” Atty. Pena told the council before last week’s vote. “It is not Section 8. It’s not going to turn into something the Cotulla Housing Authority would have.”

Pena said he had researched a track record for Volunteers of America-managed units around the country to determine whether any had deteriorated or altered in their mission of providing affordable housing for working families.

“I wanted to know what the history of past buildings is, and whether they have been maintained, and the answer is yes,” the attorney said. “The concern with any apartment complex is what it becomes over time, and this is not that.”

The city attorney declined to indicate with which local multi-family housing complex he was making a comparison.

“Most people want to have their own home,” Atty. Pena added. “Private money is going to come in and build those homes that we do not have in Cotulla. You need to see how the pieces fit together.

I want you to understand what you are voting for.”

The decision to sign a resolution as part of the application process to the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs was made on a motion by Councilor Manuel Rodriguez, seconded by Councilor Gilbert Ayala and supported by Councilors Alejandro Garcia, Mary Koraleski and Trish Garcia.

The city will be required to establish a public facilities development corporation to oversee the funding process and eventual construction of the new complex. Councilors have unanimously approved granting the city administrator authority to initiate the process of founding the organization with a temporary board of directors.