Austin Metro Development Updates

[H2O]

Originally Posted by Novacek

0 unless Cedar Park rejoins capital metro.

I believe there is a mechanism that does not require full membership in Cap Metro. Cedar Park could pay to construct a station and an annual fee for MetroRail service only out of their Economic Development 1/2 cent. I don't know if it would be any less expensive than just joining Cap Metro. And it wouldn't give them the potential of circulator bus routes leading to the station. I haven't seen any indication that Cedar Park is even interested though.

[guiml]

Originally Posted by H2O

I believe there is a mechanism that does not require full membership in Cap Metro. Cedar Park could pay to construct a station and an annual fee for MetroRail service only out of their Economic Development 1/2 cent. I don't know if it would be any less expensive than just joining Cap Metro. And it wouldn't give them the potential of circulator bus routes leading to the station. I haven't seen any indication that Cedar Park is even interested though.

Good to know, I will consider that when I buy my house. I was considering Cedar Park. Not anymore.

[Novacek]

Originally Posted by H2O

I believe there is a mechanism that does not require full membership in Cap Metro. Cedar Park could pay to construct a station and an annual fee for MetroRail service only out of their Economic Development 1/2 cent. I don't know if it would be any less expensive than just joining Cap Metro. And it wouldn't give them the potential of circulator bus routes leading to the station. I haven't seen any indication that Cedar Park is even interested though.

I mean sure, theoretically CM could cave. They've never contracted for rail service that way, only for bus service (e.g. Round Rock). It's an open question until someone tries to get them to do it, but my guess is they'd refuse. Too big of a chance of then losing Leander and Manor, who'd want the same deal. Rail service is the carrot to keep them.

[We vs us]

It's a damn shame is what it is. The new Bell District is right across the street from the Red Line tracks. It's a no brainer for a station, adjacent to some of the densest development in CP.

[dilliam]

It's interesting that Bell District advertises a rail connection in its marketing reel... There definitely seems to be some sort of political or business interest somewhere in the ether.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by dilliam

It's interesting that Bell District advertises a rail connection in its marketing reel... There definitely seems to be some sort of political or business interest somewhere in the ether.

That's interesting. And TBH, not really surprising. At some point the politics will almost certainly shift towards transit for CP, if only because they're going to need it as they become more of an inner ring suburb.

[drummer]

^^ The Bell District and the NFM development at New Hope and Bell both advertise rail connections (or the potential of them). There are certainly those in Cedar Park who want to capitalize on the proximity to mass transit. And I know a ton of people in Cedar Park who just catch a ride at the Leander or Lakeline stations frequently.

[Mopacs]

Originally Posted by dilliam

It's interesting that Bell District advertises a rail connection in its marketing reel... There definitely seems to be some sort of political or business interest somewhere in the ether.

There's some potential for a rail station on the east side of 183 at the southern end of the Bell District (where a Goodwill and adjacent businesses are currently located). Of course there would need to be accommodations for parking on both sides of 183, along with a protected crossing.



Note: this is from an older article but the layout and road realignment ended up close to what you see.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/news/...-redeveloped-district-on-bell-boulevard/

[JoninATX]

Up to 14,000 homes planned for Williamson/ Bell County

By TRD Staff
April 13, 2023

A master-planned community that’s been tied to rumors about a Walt Disney theme park is slated to take up a huge chunk of land in the Central Texas Hill Country.

Arizona-based DMB Development, led by CEO Brent Herrington, has plans for a neighborhood of 12,000 to 14,000 homes at a 7,000-acre ranch that straddles Williamson and Bell counties, north of Austin, near towns like Salado and Jarrell, the Austin Business Journal reported. Williamson County commissioners unanimously approved the project Tuesday.

https://therealdeal.com/texas/2023/04/13/dmb-plans-12000-homes-in-williamson-county/

[Echostatic]

That's a development over 5x larger than Circle C. What is Williamson County going to look like in 50 years? I shudder to think of it.

[Lobotomizer]

Originally Posted by Echostatic

That's a development over 5x larger than Circle C. What is Williamson County going to look like in 50 years? I shudder to think of it.

I have seen projections which predict Williamson County may one day surpass Travis County in population.

[Werdman89]

1,200-home Adelton neighborhood rising in Bastrop

Work is underway on a 348-acre mixed-use neighborhood in Bastrop and the search is on for commercial tenants to set up shop on three sites.

Homebuilders broke ground in October on the master-planned development, called Adelton, off State Highway 21 and Farm-to-Market 20. Plans call for 1,200 homes, 125,000 square feet of commercial space, four miles of trails and 50 acres of parks, according to a May announcement from developer West Bastrop Village Ltd., an entity tied to Austin-based Benchmark Land Development Inc.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/...x_testVariant=cx_21&cx_artPos=6#cxrecs_s

[drummer]

Well, I just looked out of curiosity to see which county is larger:

Travis County: 1,023 sq miles
Williamson County: 1,134 sq miles

Not that different. However, if you think of land that is available for development, Williamson County has a significantly larger area - and much of it is relatively flat.
Beyond that, Travis County has a lot of land that is either protected and/or difficult to develop. Think of how much area Lake Travis takes up, the Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge, etc. I'm on the side that like to see more protected lands, so count me in.

Suburbs have opportunities to invest in historic "downtown" areas in ways to promote density (future TOD, perhaps?....okay, maybe that's wishful thinking). But more pockets of focused density spread throughout, even if not as dense as DT, are better than a massive DT surrounded by sprawl in every direction. We all know that. Sadly, a lot of these mega developments are leading to more and more sprawl.

[Mopacs]

A lot of gaps are continuing to fill in between Georgetown and Temple/Belton.

[drummer]

Originally Posted by Mopacs

A lot of gaps are continuing to fill in between Georgetown and Temple/Belton.

Our company (like many others) is looking to build another large (100K+ sq ft) manufacturing facility between Georgetown and Jarrell. Lot of jobs headed in that direction now - not just housing. Several of these jobs aren't just assembly or warehouse, but manufacturing engineers, quality, technicians, etc. But - a lot of them are good, entry-level or mid-level jobs that don't require a college degree.

With that comes housing, stores, other services, etc. Likely more apartments as well as we're already beginning to see more of those on the north side of Georgetown.

[We vs us]

Originally Posted by drummer

Our company (like many others) is looking to build another large (100K+ sq ft) manufacturing facility between Georgetown and Jarrell. Lot of jobs headed in that direction now - not just housing. Several of these jobs aren't just assembly or warehouse, but manufacturing engineers, quality, technicians, etc. But - a lot of them are good, entry-level or mid-level jobs that don't require a college degree.

With that comes housing, stores, other services, etc. Likely more apartments as well as we're already beginning to see more of those on the north side of Georgetown.

I'm interested . . . why wouldn't they choose to build closer in to Austin? Is it just land prices, or does that location specifically have a draw?

[Mopacs]

I found it interesting that Costco is opening on the northside of Georgetown where there is not a lot of retail currently (I-35 at Lakeway Drive). Retailers do seem to be taking notice of the northward growth.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/georg...stco-georgetown-location-coming-in-june/
https://www.hellogeorgetown.com/coming-s...ate-when-is-costco-coming-to-georgetown/
https://www.storeopeninghours.com/costco-georgetown-tx

As I understand it a Lowe's is planned at the same corner. Also noticed that HEB has possible plans for a new store north of 130 at highway 195



https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/350-Hwy-195-Georgetown-TX/26328357/

[We vs us]

This surfaced in early April:

Huge neighborhood possible for Solana Ranch, long source of development rumors
Social media speculation once tied Disney to this project but there's no sign of entertainment behemoth's involvement

A massive hunting ranch north of Austin that for years has been the source of development rumors appears to finally be headed toward transformation into a large neighborhood.

The Williamson County Commissioners Court on April 11 will consider a consent and development agreement with Arizona-based DMB Development LLC for more than 7,000 acres straddling the line with Bell County, according to meeting documents.

The proposed agreement between the county and DMB notes that the latter's under contract to buy roughly 7,088 acres and "intends that the land will be developed in phases as a master-planned residential community that will include park and residential communities."

A preliminary map attached to the documents ties the parcels to Solana Ranch, described online as a 9,000-acre "cattle and wildlife ranch that stretches more than 13 miles over the Central Texas Hill Country." It's located near Salado, which is along the I-35 corridor between Georgetown and Temple.

Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell said the community — which would be about one-third in his county and two-thirds in Bell County — could have 12,000 to 14,000 homes but that he could not share any additional details about the project.

https://www.bizjournals.com/austin/news/...ch-jarrell-austin-dmb-disney-rumors.html

[Lobotomizer]

Like it has been said previously, it is likely there will be a CSA created with the Austin and Killeen metros at some point.

I believe this is much more likely than any potential San Antonio-Austin CSA.

Not only does Bell County directly abut Williamson, but Killeen and Temple are closer to Austin than San Antonio.

And of course much more of Austin's metro stretches north towards Bell County, rather than south towards San Antonio.

Using the 2020 census data, this hypothetical Austin-Killeen CSA would be an 8 county region containing 2,827,793 people.

Quite interesting to think about.

[Lobotomizer]

Originally Posted by Lobotomizer

Like it has been said previously, it is likely there will be a CSA created with the Austin and Killeen metros at some point.

I believe this is much more likely than any potential San Antonio-Austin CSA.

Not only does Bell County directly abut Williamson, but Killeen and Temple are closer to Austin than San Antonio.

And of course much more of Austin's metro stretches north towards Bell County, rather than south towards San Antonio.

Using the 2020 census data, this hypothetical Austin-Killeen CSA would be an 8 county region containing 2,827,793 people.

Quite interesting to think about.

And using the latest 2022 estimates, that population jumps to 2,917,343.

It is wild to consider how the creation of this CSA, which is hardly far-fetched would move Austin up the population rankings.

Austin would blow by San Antonio's CSA, and move to the 20th largest metro in the US.

It would also place Austin higher than St. Louis and Charlotte.