One of the nation’s largest homebuilding companies is planning a Central Texas development that will include 2,200 single-family homes, along with apartments and commercial space, in fast-growing Hays County.
The project, known as Prairie Lakes, is planned for about 1,000 acres along FM 2001, about three miles east of Interstate 35. Most of the site where Prairie Lakes is planned is in the city of Kyle’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, with the rest in Niederwald’s extraterritorial jurisdiction.
The Prairie Lakes project is being planned by Continental Homes of Texas, which is a subsidiary of Arlington-based D.R. Horton, the nation’s largest homebuilder by volume.
Current plans for the project call for about 2,200 single-family homes. Prices are expected to start at about $300,000. Prairie Lakes also will have multi-family and commercial development.The multi-family sites will have apartments and duplexes, as well as single-family homes available for rent.
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How much are homes in Hays County?
Like much of the five-county Austin metro area, Hays County is seeing a boom in its job and population growth.
That growth is driving demand for housing. But experts say a short supply of homes continues to push housing prices up, including in suburban areas surrounding Austin.
The new project will bring “much needed” housing supply to Hays County, said Bryan Glasshagel, a senior vice president with housing market research firm Zonda.
“In a market where housing supply and affordability issues are top of mind, D.R. Horton can make an immediate impact,” Glasshagel said. “They have an ability unlike almost any other builder to quickly start a large number of homes at attractive entry-level and move-up price points. This is exactly what the Austin market needs right now.”
The Kyle-Buda area “continues to grow as it offers a relatively close-in location with access to growing employment options in the south and east areas of the Austin (region) and relatively affordable housing options,” Glasshagel said.
In the last quarter of 2021, 34% of new home starts in the Kyle-Buda area were for homes priced below $350,000 compared to 24% of starts across the rest of the Austin region, he said.
In January, half of the homes that sold in Hays County went for more than $395,070 and half sold for less, for a 29.5% increaes in the median price year-over-year, according to the Austin Board of Realtors’ latest figures.
As far as new-home construction, starts jumped 49% in 2021, compared with a 25% increase for the Austin region overall, Zonda’s research shows.
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The surge in demand has pushed the supply of developed lots in the Kyle-Buda area to their lowest levels on record, Glasshagel said.
Kyle-Buda the most active Austin area real estate market
The Kyle-Buda market accounts for 11.5% of total new home starts in the market, making it the most active submarket in the Austin region.
The Kyle-Buda area is seeing a surge of development of all types — homes, apartments, commercial, retail and industrial development.
In one of Kyle’s most ambitious projects to date, construction started last year on the first phase of a138-acre mixed-use project called the Brick and Mortar District.
Plans for that project call for 2,500 homes, hundreds of apartment units, 150,000 square feet of retail space, 250,000 square feet of office space and 35 acres of parkland and trails once completed over the next several years.
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The Brick and Mortar District, part of the larger Plum Creek development, is just west of Interstate 35, off Kohlers Crossing and FM 1626.
Nearby, Austin-based Endeavor Real Estate Group is developing its 65-acre mixed-use project called the Dry River District. Plans call for medical, hotel, multifamily and retail space totaling more than 300,000 square feet.
In December, California-based Landsea Homes Corp.announced that it acquired more than 900 lots in a Kyle subdivision called Anthem Texas, which is about 4 miles west of Interstate 35.
The lots are the last ones remaining in the 422-acre master-planned Anthem community, located along FM 150. The subdivision is surrounded by green belts and parks. More than 30% of the subdivision is bordered by permanently protected open space, Landsea officials have said.
The first homes are expected to be ready for buyers to move into in late 2023, according to Landsea, a publicly traded homebuilder based in Newport Beach, Calif.
Landsea now owns about 60% of the Anthem project. Other builders include Gehan, Scott Felder, and Perry Homes.