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Austin

Wood plans rare apartment project in Bastrop

Rural area near Austin has been focus of Elon Musk’s development ambitions

From left: Wood Partners' Joseph Keough, Pearl River Properties' Spencer Harkness and a site plan for the apartment project in Bastrop (Getty, Wood Partners, Pearl River Properties)
From left: Wood Partners' Joseph Keough, Pearl River Properties' Spencer Harkness and a site plan for the apartment project in Bastrop (Getty, Wood Partners, Pearl River Properties)

A big patch of grass is set to become apartment buildings in largely rural Bastrop, Texas. 

Atlanta-based developer Wood Partners bought a 26-acre parcel from Pearl River Companies, a builder headquartered in Houston. Wood plans to construct a 650-unit apartment project on the site, at the intersection of Highway 71 and FM 969, and finish work in the next two years.

The apartments will be part of a larger, mixed-use development master-planned by Pearl River. That project, which will run west from Burleson Crossing shopping center, spans 75 acres and includes retail, entertainment, dining, medical and residential developments. Pearl River expects to complete the project in two or three years. 

Pearl River specializes in master-planned communities and has been working on this one since at least 2021. That year, an entity owned by the company purchased a 74-acre plot from Erhard Legacy Partners. That acreage now forms the backbone of the project. While the price of that sale was not disclosed, the deed mentions a $14.3 million mortgage with Prosperity Bank and another $5.6 million note with Holmes/Bastrop Loan LP. 

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The firm bought another 25 acres near the site in March 2023 from Blakey Owner Apartments. 

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New multifamily projects have slowed in recent months as the cost of construction and acquisition debt has risen, making the deal a slight outlier from prevailing market conditions. Avison Young, which arranged the sale, said in a statement that the firm “emphasized the lifestyle community” of the larger mixed-use development when selling. 

The development will be one of Bastrop’s largest multifamily projects to date. A search of apartments on the market turned up 91 results this week, in a growing town of more than 10,000. It’s not far from ​​the fast-rising cities along Interstate 35, sprawling from Austin into ever-farther reaches. Elon Musk, who has moved several of his companies to the city’s outskirts, has reportedly considered building a city in Bastrop.

Tags
BastropJoseph KeoughMultifamilyPearl River PropertiesSpencer HarknessWood Partners