3,173-acre community planned in the ‘major metroplex’ of tomorrow

As land between Austin and San Antonio is filled with subdivisions, stores and warehouses, and populations of cities along the corridor surge, a Dallas company is seeking to capitalize on the boom.

RREAF Communities recently bought 3,173 undeveloped acres at Texas 130 and Texas 80 south of Lockhart and east of San Marcos.

It’s about 60 miles from downtown San Antonio and 50 miles from downtown Austin.

The company’s master plan includes 4,000 to 6,000 singlefamily homes for purchase, 2,000 to 2,500 build-to-rent singlefamily homes and 2,500 to 3,000 apartments. It is seeking to work with homebuilders.

Retail, restaurants, hotels, offices, health care services, light industrial facilities and schools would also be part of the development. It also calls for hike-andbike trails, outdoor pavilions, athletic fields and fitness centers.

“We feel like that area is experiencing explosive growth and has great access to both the San Antonio and Austin MSAs,” said Shannon Livingston, president of RREAF Communities.

The company is a division of commercial real estate firm RREAF Holdings and was created last year to focus on masterplanned communities in fastgrowing areas.

Before RREAF acquired the land, a previous concept for a master-planned development called Cherryville had long been proposed there.

The developers of Cherryville had requested a permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for a wastewater treatment plant that would dump into Dickerson Creek, which feeds into the San Marcos River, the Austin American-Statesman reported. That prompted concerns from residents and environmental advocates about the effects on water quality with private and public supply wells and the river.

The permit is being transferred to RREAF Communities, and the company expects to start preparing the site for development in early 2023.

Amid booming prices in the Austin and San Antonio metro areas, it’s too early to say what home prices could be, Livingston said.

“This really will be kind of at the center of a major metroplex in the years to come,” he said.

As the Austin and San Antonio metros swell, people are flooding into suburban cities such as New Braunfels, San Marcos, Buda and Seguin.

Hays County — which includes San Marcos, Wimberley, Dripping Springs, Kyle and Buda — was the fastest-growing county nationwide between 2010 and 2020 among those with a population of 100,000 or more.

Its population rose 53.4 percent during that period, from 157,107 residents to 241,067 residents. In Comal County, which includes New Braunfels and Canyon Lake, population jumped 48.9 percent, from 108,472 to 161,501.

Caldwell County, where RREAF Communities’ development would be, grew 20.5 percent, from 38,066 to 45,883.

The rapid growth has prompted concerns about effects on the environment — particularly water resources — and limited infrastructure. And some residents are loath to lose the small-town feel and bucolic beauty they’ve enjoyed.

“We live in a place that was beautiful and wooded, and now we have AstroTurf and landscaping companies and homeowners associations telling people what they can and can’t plant,” San Marcos resident Sharri Boyett told my colleague Annie Blanks last year. “It’s the quintessential reflection of those lyrics, ‘You paved paradise and put in a parking lot.’ ”

Home sales prices are rising, too. In Hays County, the median home price was $440,000 in March, up 27.6 percent from the same month last year, according to the Four Rivers Association of Realtors. The median was up 20.2 percent to $395,510 in Comal County and 31.2 percent to $329,000 in Caldwell County.

The supply of homes available for sale remains tight. All three counties had about one month’s inventory in March, relatively unchanged from a year earlier.

Livingston said he expects RREAF Communities’ development to be attractive to families working in Austin and San Antonio, and retirees seeking to be closer to their children in those cities.

“We think it’s very well-located to play a big part in meeting demand that is growing and growing in that area,” he said.

RREAF Communities seeks to build a master-planned development at Texas 130 and Texas 80.

Courtesy RREAF Communities