Houston Developer Targets Site Near Lago Vista
Hines Interests LP, an international real estate firm, now owns 875 acres in Lago Vista between FM 1431 and Lake Travis. The plan is to eventually turn the pristine property into an upscale residential development, says Lago Vista City Manager Bill Angelo.
Hines closed on the land, purchased from a group of families in the Rogers Ranch Group, within the past four months for an undisclosed price.
Angelo says right now the land is outside the Lago Vista city limits, and Hines and city officials are talking about a development agreement that could include annexation. While a firm land-use plan is about six months away, Angelo says, the project is slated to have about 2,000 upscale homes.
"It's a beautiful piece of land," says Mark Sprague, a partner with Residential Strategies who's working with Hines on the project. "It's perfectly terraced for a builder."
Sprague says the move by Hines, as well as the completion of U.S. 183A, will open up Lago Vista to interest from developers looking to capitalize on lakefront property and proximity to Central Texas employment hubs.
The city has already seen a sharp increase in proposed residential and mixed-use projects in the last several years, says Klee Lee, administrator with the Lago Vista Economic Development Foundation. If the proposed developments currently before the city come to fruition, Lago Vista could see an additional 4,000 homes in the works in coming years, Lee says.
"I think we have a rise in development just like Leander and Cedar Park," she says. "As Austin expands ... there's nowhere else to go."
Sprague says the price tag on lakefront acreage has gone up dramatically in the last two to three years. While an acre on Lake Travis might have cost around $50,000 three years ago, Sprague says the same land, especially on the south side of the lake, can now run for $100,000 to $500,000.
No comments:
Post a Comment