Austin Metro Development Updates

[JoninATX]

City Council approves zoning for The District

The Round Rock City Council voted unanimously Thursday, June 10, to approve Planned Unit Development (PUD) zoning for The District, a 65.5-acre mixed-use project planned for SH 45 just east of IH 35, following a public hearing.

The project is expected to include multifamily housing, hotels, offices, retail stores and restaurants and a grocery store.​ The open space master plan includes “livable” streets designed to heighten driver awareness of pedestrian activity, enhanced detention areas, greens, plazas and courtyards.​

The construction of the development will be split into phases. The design for the first phase, which is currently under review, includes a four-story office building with a parking garage and a retail building with a coffee shop.

https://www.roundrocktexas.gov/news/city-council-approves-zoning-for-the-district/

[Echostatic]

Pretty sweet for Round Rock.

[KevinFromTexas]

This says no more than 8 floors, but I counted 10 in one of these.

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/loc...xed-use-development-district/7659773002/
Round Rock City Council gives its approval to 65.5-acre, mixed-use project, The District

Rebeccah Macias
Austin American-Statesman

• 120,000 square feet completed by 2022

• 250,000 square feet completed by 2029

Wiseman said the 6.84-acre tract will be referred to as the Round Rock Lofts and will be multi-level urban residential building that will have 10,000 square feet of commercial space on its first floor, no less than 45 residential units and a height limit of eight stories.

-


https://www.statesman.com/story/news/loc...xed-use-development-district/7659773002/

[JollyvilleJ-Rad]

Originally Posted by KevinFromTexas

This says no more than 8 floors, but I counted 10 in one of these.

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/loc...xed-use-development-district/7659773002/
Round Rock City Council gives its approval to 65.5-acre, mixed-use project, The District

Wiseman said the 6.84-acre tract will be referred to as the Round Rock Lofts and will be multi-level urban residential building that will have 10,000 square feet of commercial space on its first floor, no less than 45 residential units and a height limit of eight stories.
https://www.statesman.com/story/news/loc...xed-use-development-district/7659773002/

I believe that is for the nearby PUD Round Rock Lofts, not the District. Round Rock Lofts will be off Chisholm Trail a bit further north.

From Community Impact:

The District, as the project is known, will be a mixed-use development with approximately 1 million square feet of residential, retail and office space, “with pedestrians and cyclists in mind,” using different road textures to increase driver awareness, Wiseman said. It will have a maximum building height of 15 stories, but Wiseman said that could change.

“They can foresee actually coming back to council at some point and going for even taller buildings way into the future,” Wiseman said.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/round...ck-lofts-first-reading-for-the-district/

It sounds like the height limitations now are probably around 160ft (I haven't scoured the city docs, but I'm sure the info is somewhere out there) and the developers have made it clear that they intend to seek additional height in the future if the market demands. The fact that they said this ahead of the vote and it still passed is an indication to me that this project may end up even more dense. Much as I cringe watching the expansion of the suburbs, this is the kind of development I can get behind - dense and a destination in itself, no single-family homes. Maybe one day the orange line will see an expansion out to La Frontera/The District (though I have a hard time imagining RR/Wilco getting behind that).

[wwmiv]

Originally Posted by JollyvilleJ-Rad

I believe that is for the nearby PUD Round Rock Lofts, not the District. Round Rock Lofts will be off Chisholm Trail a bit further north.

From Community Impact:



https://communityimpact.com/austin/round...ck-lofts-first-reading-for-the-district/

It sounds like the height limitations now are probably around 160ft (I haven't scoured the city docs, but I'm sure the info is somewhere out there) and the developers have made it clear that they intend to seek additional height in the future if the market demands. The fact that they said this ahead of the vote and it still passed is an indication to me that this project may end up even more dense. Much as I cringe watching the expansion of the suburbs, this is the kind of development I can get behind - dense and a destination in itself, no single-family homes. Maybe one day the orange line will see an expansion out to La Frontera/The District (though I have a hard time imagining RR/Wilco getting behind that).

This is in Travis County, albeit still Round Rock. I hope construction moves forward fast, because that’ll raise my dad’s property value even more before he cashes out. He’s right down the road.

[drummer]

That’s great for Round Rock!

[ahealy]

RR getting all urban! Woot! I wonder if/when they'll ever have a high-rise downtown

[KevinFromTexas]

Originally Posted by JollyvilleJ-Rad

I believe that is for the nearby PUD Round Rock Lofts, not the District. Round Rock Lofts will be off Chisholm Trail a bit further north.

From Community Impact:



https://communityimpact.com/austin/round...ck-lofts-first-reading-for-the-district/

It sounds like the height limitations now are probably around 160ft (I haven't scoured the city docs, but I'm sure the info is somewhere out there) and the developers have made it clear that they intend to seek additional height in the future if the market demands. The fact that they said this ahead of the vote and it still passed is an indication to me that this project may end up even more dense. Much as I cringe watching the expansion of the suburbs, this is the kind of development I can get behind - dense and a destination in itself, no single-family homes. Maybe one day the orange line will see an expansion out to La Frontera/The District (though I have a hard time imagining RR/Wilco getting behind that).

Ok, but the American-Statesman article said it was The District. And the rendering is the same as the two that JoninATX posted from the Round Rock government website.

[We vs us]

I like this for RR a TON. They've needed density diversity for a long time. This is a great start.

Isn't the new Switch data center going to be near here, too?

[clubtokyo]

Originally Posted by We vs us

I like this for RR a TON. They've needed density diversity for a long time. This is a great start.

Isn't the new Switch data center going to be near here, too?

Yup they are building it next to building 5 and will have a business relationship with Dell as well.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by ahealy

RR getting all urban! Woot! I wonder if/when they'll ever have a high-rise downtown

I'd be surprised if the historic Round Rock downtown would ever have a high--rise. I could see it happening at around the I-35/45/Mopac area, though. I think downtown (and perhaps even the area near the outlet mall) have some low-rise development with a Domain-ish feel, but it will all likely be surrounded by parking garages out of necessity, of course.

[We vs us]

Another major mixed-use project could be on its way to Round Rock
Site is less than a mile from Dell Diamond, near new Kalahari Resort

Just a week after the long-anticipated The District project was given the go-ahead in Round Rock, another major mixed-use project could be on its way to the city, this time near Dell Diamond.

Milhaus, an Indianapolis-based developer, was given approval by the city's Planning and Zoning Commission to rezone for a 110-acre mixed-use project that will include a mix of multifamily residences and townhomes, retail, a maker space and park space on a lot near East Palm Valley and Kenney Fort boulevards.

The developers are seeking to rezone the property, located across the street from the Kalahari Resort and less than a mile from the baseball stadium, from business park to the Kenney Fort North planned unit development with greenfield and large lot designation. It will head to the Round Rock City Council for final approval.

The property would include retail, office and hotel space (10-50%), urban-style multifamily residences (20-60%), mixed residential (0-30%), and single-family and townhouses (20-40%), according to city documents. A total of 25 acres of the property would be designated for parks and open space.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2021/06/17/round-rock-dell-diamond-mixed-use-project.html

[The ATX]

The City of Bastrop approved the plans for the 546 acre movie studios project:

https://www.statesman.com/story/news/loc...io-proposal-line-204-studios/7741327002/

[clubtokyo]

Wow that looks legit!

[drummer]

Mixed-use development proposed at Hwy. 29, Ronald Reagan Boulevard in Leander

A new 32-acre mixed-use development is under consideration in north Leander.

29 Gateway, a proposed mixed-use development located on the corner of Ronald Reagan Boulevard and Hwy. 29, would include restaurants, retail, an apartment complex, offices and a Montessori school. The planned project is across from the second Leander H-E-B store set to open this fall.

Leander City Council approved the first reading for the development's zoning change June 17 in a 4-3 vote. The change will allow for a 32-acre planned unit development with general commercial and multifamily zoning. It was previously zoned for single-family rural.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/cedar...eagan-boulevard-in-leander/#&gid=1&pid=1

The rendering looks like strip shopping and a gas station, for the most part. But then there's a random 5-story apartment building wrapped around a parking garage with a rooftop pool (this part concerned some folks at the first reading, according to the article). There are a number of faux-urban developments and some almost-urban developments in the northern suburbs either happening or proposed. This one is on the fringes and isn't by any planned or existing mass transit, but it does seem that the theme of demand for increasing density even in the burbs.

[ATX2030]

Taylor ISD accepts Chapter 313 incentives application for mysterious project, officials hint at more in the pipeline

Something is brewing in Taylor......

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2021/07/01/chapter-313-applications-ramp-up-in-taylor.html

Kathryn Hardison – Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal

"As companies continue to make massive investments in Central Texas, a large manufacturing or renewable energy project may be headed for the quiet town of Taylor.

Taylor Independent School District trustees accepted an application for an appraised value limitation on qualified property at its June 30 meeting for a project dubbed Project Colin. The application is for property tax abatements under Chapter 313 of the state tax code, which are used for new manufacturing and energy projects."

...."Padavil declined to comment on the industry or size of the company behind Project Colin.

“Any business development, no matter the size, they’re huge drops in the bucket for the school district,” he said. “In my six months here, I haven’t seen a project this size here, let’s put it that way.”

Many large companies are eyeing Central Texas — especially auto suppliers that would feed Tesla's new plant, which is about 30 minutes from Taylor.

The biggest fish circling Austin's economic pond now is tech giant Samsung, which is reportedly considering Taylor for its $17 billion chipmaking plant.

The South Korea-based company is weighing sites in Phoenix, Austin and upstate New York for a fabrication facility to manufacture a new line of advanced computer chips. A Samsung exec recently stressed the importance of an expansion during a roundtable in Austin with other industry officials about the global chip shortage. The federal government may also soon offer incentives for semiconductor activity in the United States.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this year that Samsung was considering the Williamson County suburb of Taylor, though this hasn’t been confirmed by company or city officials.

If Samsung does select rural Taylor, there is an abundance of land for the company to build, and the $17 billion project would certainly be the largest corporate investment the city has ever seen.

Samsung may also choose to add to its massive manufacturing campus in North Austin, where it’s already invested $17 billion over the last 25 years. The company applied for Chapter 313 incentives from Manor ISD earlier this year for a potential project, and there's company interest to apply for incentives from Travis County and the city of Austin. The state could also kick in a grant."

[We vs us]

Very interesting. That would be a wild left-field play for Samsung, IMO -- since they've just doubled their holdings in Pflugerville, right next to their existing fab. Would it make sense to build further out in Taylor?

Relatedly/unrelatedly: in chatting with my GM a couple of days back, he mentioned he'd heard that Tesla would be having another company supply its chassis, and that it was a major car manufacturer, and that that manufacturer would be coming to town soon, too. No mention of brand, or timing, or placement . . . and overall it was very much 9th hand gossip.

But. It seems creditable, and in line with what we know about Tesla and how it operates with suppliers. I'd almost put as much weight behind the ABJ throwaway line about Tesla suppliers as I would about the Samsung fab.

[drummer]

With all the suburban development (read: sprawl) taking place farther and farther out, I'll admit it's nice to see some areas protected. This is by an area known as Spicewood Beach off of 71.

Easement protects Spicewood Ranch acreage, habitat from development

As Austin pushes westward along the Texas 71 corridor, protecting land from development is becoming more critical to conservationists. The Hill Country Conservancy and Spicewood Ranch took a big step in doing just that with a conservation easement on about 561 contiguous acres of ranch land.

The conservancy and Chris Harte and son Will Harte of Spicewood Ranch announced the partnership Tuesday, June 29. The move permanently protects the acreage from development.

https://www.dailytrib.com/2021/07/02/eas...-ranch-acreage-habitat-from-development/

[We vs us]

More large scale stuff in Round Rock, this time near Dell Diamond and Kalahari.

10-acre mixed-use project near Dell Diamond could bring up to $300M in development
Site is across from new Kalahari Resort but developers want their own hotel

An Indiana mixed-used developer is poised to invest as much as $300 million into a 110-acre project located in an entertainment and tourism region near Dell Diamond in Round Rock.

Milhaus, which is based in Indianapolis, will bring its informally titled Kenney Fort North PUD project to the Round Rock City Council next month after the city's Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approving a rezoning to allow a mix of multifamily residences and townhomes, retail, a maker space and park space on a lot near East Palm Valley and Kenney Fort boulevards.

While the specifics of the project are still being finalized, Brad Vogelsmeier, vice president of development for Milhaus, said the first phase will include 350 market-rate apartments in addition to infrastructure and connections to the Brushy Creek Trail. They're hoping to break ground early next year and open the first buildings in 18-24 months.

The entire project is scheduled to be completed over the next 5-7 years, and could bring as many as 1,500 housing units and a few-hundred thousand square feet of commercial space, Vogelsmeier said. He estimated the project will cost between $250 and $300 million.

Image from Community Impact

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/2021/07/02/round-rock-fort-kenney-mixed-use-project.html

[ATX2030]

Elon Musk's The Boring Co. grabs land east of Austin through a separate entity

Property records tie the tunneling company to 73 acres in rural Central Texas

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/...artup-boring-co-has-land-in-bastrop.html

Kathryn Hardison – Staff Writer, Austin Business Journal

Elon Musk’s tunneling startup The Boring Co. is using another entity to buy up land in the Bastrop area.

Property records filed with Bastrop County reveal that Gapped Bass LLC purchased 73 acres in May in Northwest Bastrop. Though that entity may not appear to have a direct connection to the tunneling company, Gapped Bass LLC is tied to top executives at The Boring Co., as well as the company's Pflugerville address.

...."The Bastrop site, located near State Highway 71 and Farm Road 1209, could be used to develop a tunneling technology highlighted in local job postings called "Prufrock." Prufrock is a machine designed by The Boring Co. to "porpoise," meaning it launches from the surface, mines underground and re-emerges once it's finished, according to past ABJ reporting. It's designed to tunnel faster than one mile per week, which is six times faster than the company's previous machinery. The medium-term goal is to increase that to seven miles per day, according to its website."