Freehold Proposes 2,300 Homes in Georgetown

Freehold Capital Management isn’t wasting time scaling up in Georgetown.

Just weeks after unveiling plans for a nearly 1,900-home community, the Boston-based developer is back with another large-scale proposal that would bring more than 2,300 homes to fast-growing Williamson County, where a master-planned corridor is taking shape north of Austin.

The Austin Business Journal first reported the plans. Freehold presented early designs for Rock Bluff Ranch, a development slated for up to 2,375 homes near the intersection of Rattlesnake Road and Ronald Reagan Boulevard, at a Georgetown City Council workshop this week. The project would rise alongside Freehold’s previously proposed Yearwood community, creating a combined pipeline of more than 4,000 homes across adjacent sites.

Freehold is seeking approval for in-city municipal utility districts for both developments — a key tax component that would allow the developer to finance infrastructure through tax-exempt bonds while keeping the projects within city limits.

Company executives framed the two communities as complementary pieces of a broader master plan, Freehold’s regional president, Matt Matthews, told council members, pointing to shared infrastructure and overlapping buyer pools.

Rock Bluff Ranch is expected to have primarily 40-foot to 50-foot lots widths, with a mix of housing types spread across the broader development area. Freehold is also carving out roughly 700 homes for age-restricted buyers, leaning into demand from active senior adult households drawn to the area by the nearby Sun City Texas development, geared toward the 55-year-old and over crowd.

That positioning marks a shift from the developer’s initial approach at Yearwood, where plans for a larger age-restricted component drew pushback from city officials. Freehold has since scaled that portion down to no more than 10 percent of the project.

The dual-development strategy is aimed at broadening the firm’s housing offerings. Age-restricted housing, Matthews said at the meeting, allows the firm to target different homebuilders as well as capture a wider range of buyers.

Amenities are central to the pitch, with plans calling for lakes, parks, green corridors and trail systems that would link the two communities, creating a continuous network of open space. The developer has also set aside 15 acres at Rock Bluff Ranch for a future elementary school, anticipating enrollment growth as rooftops rise.

Infrastructure remains a key variable, as both projects are expected to connect to the planned Northlands Wastewater Treatment Plant, though interim capacity could come from Sun City if needed.

— Eric Weilbacher