Austin Business Journal shares, "additional details have emerged about a housing development in Maxwell that could be part of a boom in rural Caldwell County.
Schulle Farms, an 800-plus home subdivision planned for the small community, is envisioned by Austin-based real estate brokerage and land development company La Tierra Realty LLC, said Trevor McManis, a broker with the firm.
La Tierra, which has amassed around 1,100 acres over the past four to five years in what it considers a region primed for growth, will be marketing the land to homebuilders.
“This is an area that we really believe in,” McManis said. “We think there’s a lot of value here, and it’s kind of been the area outside of Austin that a lot of people have maybe overlooked historically.”
Caldwell County commissioners approved the Schulle Farms development agreement Jan. 9. The 227-acre subdivision will have 831 homes and a potential 10-acre commercial property. There isn’t a construction timeline yet, McManis said.
“We’ll probably hand it off to a homebuilder once we have all the approvals in place," he said.
The company doesn't have a preference as to whether it will go with a single homebuilder or multiple homebuilders for Schulle Farms, McManis said. Site plans for the property have a natural dividing line in the form of a floodplain that could help separate lots purchased by different builders.
La Tierra already is making an impact in Caldwell County. The firm is behind the 99-acre Misty Farms development north of Maxwell, and it also sold the 53-acre property that will become a 310,000-square-foot cold storage facility in Lockhart.
Caldwell County is a largely rural region with an estimated population of about 48,000 in July 2022, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. For reference, neighboring Hays County had an estimated population of 270,000 in July 2022.
Despite Caldwell County's wide-open spaces, however, every large chunk of land in the area isn't suitable for development, McManis said. Since amassing large holdings is expensive, he said it's important to be selective.
For instance, availability of utilities and other infrastructure is hugely important. McManis said a site might not be viable for development if it doesn't have access to at least water.
To the north of Austin, Williamson County, which has seen plenty of population and economic growth but still has a huge swath of rural sprawl outside of the major suburbs north of Austin, is wrestling with that issue as well. At the Austin Business Journal’s 2023 Williamson County Growth Summit, business leaders criticized a lack of utility access at newer sites in the county and expressed concern that its roads might not be able to handle increased traffic."
Source: Austin Business Journal
Written by: Cody Baird
Published: January 25, 2024
Posted by Grossman & Jones Group on
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