Bastrop Economic Development Corporation OKs land sale, $900,000 reimbursement for tech firm

by Colleen DeGuzman, adeguzman@statesman.com

(Reprinted with permission from Austin American-Statesman. Original article published on August 24, 2021 and can be viewed here.)

An Austin-based financial technology company is seeking to plant its headquarters in the Bastrop Business and Industrial Park, and potentially bring hundreds jobs to the city over several years.

The Bastrop Economic Development Corporation on Aug. 16 unanimously approved to sell a 26.5-acre site at the industrial park to MOCA Ventures Nebraska LLC for $900,000.

The BEDC had previously agreed to sell the tract of land to John Baasch Augers and Flighting Inc. — a Nebraska-based augers manufacturer but the agreement was later pulled to change the name of the owner-developer.

Flighting Inc. is run by John Baasch, who is also on the board of MOCA Ventures.

The terms of the property sale and incentive agreement remain the same for MOCA Ventures: the BEDC will reimburse MOCA Ventures the $900,000 it spent on purchasing the property if the company invests a minimum of $10.7 million in building an office complex that’s at least 40,000 square feet.

The company has until Jan. 1, 2026, to finish the building and receive a certificate of occupancy from the city to be reimbursed.

John Baasch Augers had previously said his company was planning to build an office complex and campus for software engineering, a call center and other business development operations.

MOCA Ventures is a financial technology company, which according to its website, has a mission of “helping community financial institutions remain competitive and thrive by delivering next-generation FinTech products for their retail and business customers.”