Located within the city limits of both Port Aransas and Aransas Pass, Harbor Island is zoned for industry. It has deep water, a highway, and channel frontage access.
The Port of Corpus Christi will hold a special meeting Thursday, March 28, to vote on a multibillion-dollar lease agreement on Harbor Island. The vote comes after the 13th Court of Appeals lifted its previous stay on the port’s attempt to lease the property in Port Aransas for a major marine terminal.
The $2 billion to $4 billion, 50-year lease to The Carlyle Group and Berry Lone Star Ports LLC had been on the port commission’s agenda for a vote March 19 when the stay was issued. A final vote of approval will need a further OK from the Berry Lone Star Ports Board of Directors to take effect.
Court action concerning the lease began with County Court-at-Law Judge Mark Woerner, who denied a request by former port Commissioner Kenneth Berry for a temporary restraining order the day before the vote. Berry, president of the Port of Corpus Christi LP, took his case to the 13th Court of Appeals, which granted a temporary stay to study the case.
Berry accused the commissioners of violating the Open Meetings Act in negotiating the lease of 200 acres of land on Harbor Island. The property is to be used for a marine terminal, pipelines, a petroleum storage facility, and two new docks capable of handling Very Large Crude Carriers, which can hold up to 2 million barrels of crude.
Port officials say the facility is necessary to prevent a bottleneck for oil and gas coming in from the Permian Basin and Eagle Ford shale plays.
