Austin Business Journal reports, "Developers behind the Leander Springs project near Austin reaffirmed their commitment to build the billion-dollar, 78-acre lagoon-centered mixed-use project despite numerous challenges — including owing millions to contractors and losing their incentives agreement.
Austin-based iLand Development Group on June 18 said it "is moving forward with confidence" despite the setbacks and has submitted amendments to its development agreement and planned unit development.
"We recognize there’s been frustration around the timeline, but it’s important the public understand the full picture," iLand CEO Andrey Derevianko said in a statement.
"We have worked diligently and in good faith to move this project forward, while facing numerous delays in the permit approval process with multiple regulatory bodies," Derevianko said. "Despite public statements to the contrary, we have never stopped working toward making Leander Springs a reality. If there are no further delays with permitting, we hope to break ground on the project by the end of the year."
City officials on June 20 confirmed staff has completed its review of the amendments. The project is anticipated to be included on agendas of the July 24 Planning and Zoning Commission meeting and the Sept. 4 and Sept. 18 City Council meetings, although that's subject to change. It requires two readings from the council to pass.
It marks the latest update in the Leander Springs since the project was first announced to much fanfare in 2021. Even though the development team secured final zoning and other approvals in 2021, the site at the corner at Farm to Market Road 2243 and the U.S. Highway 183A frontage remains untouched — devoid of the 1,600 multifamily units, hotel and 1 million square feet of commercial space that was promised.
The city last year terminated the $22 million agreement for incentives after the developer missed construction deadlines on the first phase. The Austin Business Journal later detailed roughly $3 million in liens owed to contractors who worked on the project.
The incentives agreement was terminated partially because the developer needed to submit an updated PUD for the site because it had expired. City representatives confirmed last year that the update had been submitted and the project was under review — and that the "developers have paid all their invoices."
But in the letter terminating the economic development agreement, Leander economic development director Randall Malik wrote that the city made attempts to assist the developer with an expedited entitlement process. Despite those efforts, he said the company was responsible for several actions that delayed the project, including pushing a 2020 public hearing back three months, initiating significant plan changes in 2022, not submitting road construction drawings until 2022 and never submitting a comprehensive plan for the first phase.
"The City welcomes the opportunity to continue dialogue with Leander Springs LLC on a path forward for development of the Property," Malik wrote at the time.
In its June 18 statement, iLand said "recent media coverage has not reflected the complexities of the situation or the progress being made behind the scene." The company said the amendments address concerns and lay groundwork for development of the lagoon, hotel and conference center, public spaces, retail, dining, housing and more. It cited an economic impact analysis from TXP Inc. forecasting that it will create 2,614 jobs and bring in $2.1 billion in revenues for businesses related to construction. Stallion Funding is a lender on the project.
"We are as committed as ever to delivering a project that meets and exceeds expectations," Derevianko added. "We’re excited for the next chapter and look forward to sharing more milestones soon."
Derevianko told the Hill Country News last year that iLand was aiming to have the first phase of the project done by 2027, estimating it would take two years to obtain the needed permitting and zoning requirements and two years for construction. He added that the company had secured more than $200 million via a line of credit from a private fund that it planned to refinance at the start of subsequent project phases. Future phases would be dependent on the first phase and how quickly units are leased, he said at the time.
"The project is very complex, and the city has never done something like this before, so ... they wanted to make sure everything is done correctly," Derevianko said, according to Hill Country News.
Leander Mayor Christine DeLisle, who has been opposed to the project since she was a council member several years ago primarily due to concerns regarding water use, said last year she hopes the updates to the PUD show how far the city has come since the original agreement. But as for whether there's an appetite for another incentive agreement?
"We never want to unilaterally close the door on someone without hearing what they have to say," DeLisle said. "We're in a different environment than the first time they came to council, so I don't think the original incentive would still work. But coming up with something else? Maybe. I don't know. We'll have to see."
She said the city is in better shape on water capacity and would be able to handle the project based on the timeline Derevianko has proposed. If developers can bring something to council that fits the city, she said it would be a project the city would embrace.
"If they can't pull it off, there is a potential the city ends up with a giant hole," she said."
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Justin Sayers
Published: June 23, 2025
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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