A Dallas-based developer has closed on more than 3,000 acres in Caldwell County, with plans to construct an eclectic mixed-use neighborhood that will bring thousands of homes to the region.
RREAF Communities, a division of RREAF Holdings LLC, will develop the community, which has yet to be named. The 3,173-acre subdivision will be located along the Austin-San Antonio corridor, at the intersection of State Highways 130 and 80. The land is undeveloped.
Initial plans for the neighborhood include between 4,000 and 6,000 single-family homes, according to Kip Sowden, chairman and CEO of RREAF Holdings. That’s roughly what the Circle C neighborhood in Southwest Austin offers today.
The developer also plans to include approximately 3,000 multifamily units, as well as 2,500 built-to-rent houses. Sowden said these numbers may change as the development process moves forward.
The developer also plans to have retail space, restaurants, hotels, offices, health care facilities, industrial sites and schools in the community, according to an announcement. There will also be amenities including trails, outdoor event spaces and fitness centers.
“In these master-planned neighborhoods, you want to have products to attract all kinds of people and be able to target them at the price points where they can afford to buy,” Sowden said.
Shannon Livingston, president of RREAF Communities, said the developer hopes to break ground during the second quarter of 2023. He said the first homes will likely be delivered in the first quarter of 2025. RREAF will be the builder for the multifamily and built-to-rent products in the community, and plans to tap outside builders for the single-family product.
The location was chosen for its proximity to two high-demand housing markets in Austin and San Antonio, as well as the burgeoning corridor between the two major metros.
Experts have predicted that the Austin-San Antonio corridor may soon be comparable to other large metroplexes, such as Dallas-Fort Worth. Hays County saw the largest population growth in the country between 2010 and 2020 at 53%, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. Its neighbor to the southwest, Comal County, grew by about 49% during the same time.
“There is this unbridled demand, greater than anything I’ve ever seen in the business, and we’re trying hard to develop to meet that demand because supply cannot keep up,” Livingston said.
Examples of other master-planned communities in the corridor include the 1,900-acre Mayfair in New Braunfels, which is expected to have around 6,000 residential units, plus 70 acres of commercial space and 120 acres dedicated to mixed-use development; 2,400-acre Sunfield in Buda, which last year was one of the fastest-growing communities in the entire metro; and the 1,332-acre Kissing Tree age-restricted community in San Marcos.
The corridor is seeing a rush of industry interest in the area, including from electric vehicle manufacturers.
RREAF Communities was established in 2020. The division focuses on developing master-planned communities in large markets in Texas.
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