Grossman & Jones Real Estate Blog - development

"Major homebuilder Taylor Morrison enters multifamily market in Austin metro"

Austin Business Journal shares, "One of Austin’s busiest single-family homebuilders is diving into the multifamily market in Central Texas.

Arizona-based Taylor Morrison, the fourth-busiest homebuilder in Austin last year, is bringing its multifamily brand, Yardly, to Pflugerville, according to an announcement. The new development, called Yardly Kelly Lane, will have 175 apartment-style units that are elevated a bit from traditional apartments with features like private backyards.

And while Austin’s multifamily housing market is experiencing elevated vacancy rates, Darin Rowe, Yardly president, said the company views the project as a long-term investment in a market that will eventually normalize.

Yardly Kelly Lane will be built on an 11-acre…

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"Caliterra in Dripping Springs breaks ground on second phase"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Caliterra, a 600-acre master-planned community in Dripping Springs, is growing.

Developer SR Capital Management broke ground this week on The Ranch at Calterra, a $40 million expansion of the community at 26025 Ranch Road 12, according to an announcement. The new development phase will add more than 200 homes and home sites.

Caliterra’s original plans called for 616 homes, of which 575 have been built. Counting 232 more attributable to The Ranch, Caliterra’s total eventually will come to 848.

The homes at The Ranch, from builders David Weekly Homes, Drees Homes and Scott Felder Homes, will range from 3,000 square feet to 5,000 square feet and will be built on 80- and 100-foot lots. They will start in the…

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"Construction underway at luxury Lake Travis master-planned community Thomas Ranch"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Construction is underway at the expansive Thomas Ranch luxury housing development on Lake Travis, but there’s still room for custom homebuilders to get involved with the project.

Thomas Ranch developers Areté Collective and the Wasatch Group secured a $106 million loan to finance infrastructure and initial home construction in the master-planned community late last year and have been making headway on the development’s first phase, called Loraloma, said Joe Rentfro, the project's managing director.

Homes should start rising soon in that section, Rentfro said, and its golf course, designed by David McLay-Kidd, should be playable later this year.

At full build-out, the 2,200-acre Thomas Ranch, which is situated…

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"Pearlstone secures big construction loan for downtown Austin condo project"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Pearlstone Partners has secured a $154.5 million construction loan for its latest downtown condo project, which broke ground March 26.

The Belvedere, a 158-unit condo in west downtown, is Austin-based Pearlstone’s first to break ground in the city since co-founder and CEO Robert Lee retired earlier this year.

Pearlstone, which is known for its luxury condo projects, secured the construction loan through New York-based Benefit Street Partners, according to an announcement.

Located on around 3 acres at 300 Pressler St., The Belvedere will be almost 300,000 square feet in total. Its 158 condos will range in size from 766 square feet to 2,488 square feet, with one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans. They'll be…

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"Austin metro's smallest county is among the fastest-growing in the nation"

Austin Business Journal shares, "Caldwell County Judge Hoppy Haden isn't surprised that his largely rural county is among the fastest-growing in the nation.

"I told somebody the other day that doesn't come as shock to me because I've been living it for the last three years," Haden said.

Newly released U.S. Census Bureau data pegs Caldwell County — the smallest of the Austin metro's five counties — at No. 9 on the annual list of fastest-growing U.S. counties among those with populations of at least 20,000.

The population of Caldwell County grew to 52,430 in 2024 from 50,107 a year prior — a 4.6% increase that doubled the metro's overall 2.3% growth rate. Still, all four of the metro's other counties — Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop —…

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"Home sales launch in massive Flora neighborhood in Hutto"

Austin Business Journal writes, "A sprawling master-planned community in Hutto is coming along as another homebuilder opens up sales within it.

Nevada-based Tri Pointe Homes, one of the busiest volume homebuilders in the metro, now has homes ready to purchase in the master-planned community, said Bryan Havel, Tri Pointe’s Austin division president. Work on Flora, an 835-acre project in Hutto developed by Precedent Land Company, began in March 2024.

Other homebuilders involved in the first phase of Flora, which Havel said is being built on about 50 acres, include Brightland Homes, Meritage Homes, Empire Communities, Perry Homes, Highland Homes and Westin Homes, according to Flora’s website. Of those, Westin is the only homebuilder not marketing…

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"A solution to housing affordability in Austin?"

Austin Business Journal writes, "Build-to-rent neighborhoods cropping up all around Austin could be one solution to the metro’s crisis-level shortage of affordable housing, some experts contend.

Developers like Arizona-based NexMetro Communities and Empire Group of Cos. have build-to-rent projects set to open here soon. The neighborhoods — which consist entirely of single-family homes built for rental use — are largely in the suburbs, such as Empire Group's projects in Hutto and NexMetro's projects in Liberty Hill and Georgetown.

Empire Group partner Randy Grudzinski said the model is intended to address affordability by offering something between renting an apartment and owning a home.

Build-to-rent homes "allow people to have an interim…

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"John Goff's Crescent Real Estate to build luxury development in Horseshoe Bay"

Austin Business Journal shares, "A major real estate development and management firm that once owned The Woodlands outside of Houston has broken ground on a new luxury housing development in Horseshoe Bay west of Austin.

Fort Worth-based Crescent Real Estate LLC already has lots available for purchase in the 114-acre project in the Summit Rock neighborhood of Horseshoe Bay, according to an announcement.

“We look for high-quality developments where we can develop product that fits market demand,” Crescent Chairman John Goff said following the March 4 groundbreaking. “When we look at Texas, it’s just on fire. We have a lot of in-migration because we’re a business-friendly state, and there is a clear need to offer high-end resort product in the…

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"Exclusive: The District, a huge and long-anticipated Round Rock project, finally moves forward"

Austin Business Journal shares, "It's been nearly six years to the day since The District in Round Rock was first approved north of Austin. But after years of tweaking and widening the design of the $500 million-plus mixed-use project across from Dell Technologies Inc.'s headquarters, construction is finally about to begin.

Stakeholders in March will hold a groundbreaking for the 66-acre project near I-35 and State Highway 45 Toll Road. It's a notable milestone for a project that was first brought to the Round Rock City Council in 2017 by California-based Mark IV Capital, was first approved for a development agreement in 2019, and has been moving back through the design, planning and incentives process over the last several years.

The District…

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"Austin to deliver more affordable housing in 2025 than any other US city, study says"

Austin Business Journal reports, "Austin is expected to deliver more affordable multifamily housing units than anywhere else in the country in 2025, and it still may not be enough.

With housing affordability a major issue both in Austin and across the country, 2025 is expected to see 78,377 affordable multifamily housing units delivered nationally, with 3,452 units in Austin alone, according to a new report from Yardi Matrix. Los Angeles is expected to deliver the second-most affordable units this year, at 2,752.

Even with nation-leading construction, however, worries persist that Austin still won't have enough. In addition, rising development costs and other issues could reduce the number of new units in coming years.

Affordable multifamily…

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