The Corpus Christi City Council recently approved spending more than $850,000 to fund off-site storm water improvements for a designated Annaville residential development near the Steel Dynamics plant in Sinton. 
As part of an economic development initiative to incentivize residential home development in areas near the plant, the city agreed to participate in construction costs associated with storm water improvements. 
The developer participation agreement was signed with MPM Development LP in conjunction with the project, Royal Oak Future Units, 17 miles from Steel Dynamics.
The plan is for 218 single-family homes and 9.5 acres of commercial development on the 55.24-acre plot, which is located on Rand Morgan Road south of Leopard Street. The storm water improvements will enable runoff to drain into an underground pipe and on to the McNorton Reach 4 Drainage Channel.
The estimated cost of the stormwater drainage improvements is $2.4 million. City participation will be $867,649.76, funded by bonds from 2012, 2016, and 2018.
“We are grateful to MPM Development LP for their partnership in this economic development strategy to help increase workforce housing in the Calallen and Annaville areas of Corpus Christi,” Mayor Paulette Guajardo said. “These 218 houses will serve as homes to hardworking families in our city.”
The Steel Dynamics campus is under construction but nearing the start of production of nearly 3 million tons of steel each year, the company said.
In mid-January, ThyssenKrupp AG, a German manufacturing conglomerate, announced it will open a service center on the Steel Dynamics Sinton campus. This additional facility has the potential to provide even more employment opportunities in the area.