RREAF moves Lockhart master plan ahead

As Austin overflows with new inhabitants, developers continue to target smaller towns outside the city.

RREAF Holdings, the development arm of Dallas-based RREAF Communities, is moving forward with a master-planned community with thousands of homes in Lockhart. That’s despite plans falling through for a Micron Technology semiconductor in the town, the San Antonio Business Journal reported. 

Micron had flirted with a new operation in the Austin area for months, but the company ultimately chose New York. It “wasn’t good” for RREAF, which acquired 3,000 acres. But the firm still anticipates steady growth in Lockhart, located about 30 miles south of Austin in Caldwell County.

“We acquired our property before the Micron deal was announced,” RREAF Communities president Shannon Livingston told the outlet. “Our plan was to bring multiple lot products online for different levels of homebuyers.”

Economic factors such as increased interest rates and construction have forced RREAF to adjust its plans for the site. The firm originally planned 600 homes for the first phase of the project, but now its planning to build 200-300 homes incrementally over the next 12-15 years, Livingston told the outlet. RREAF aims to begin delivering lots in 2025.

RREAF stayed bullish on Lockhart in part because towns north of Austin, like Goergetown, Leander and Round Rock, were becoming oversaturated, said Tom Staub, CEO of Red Oak Development Group, which also owns a large chunk of land in Caldwell County. 

Infrastructure investments, such as highway widening and new Alliance Water lines, are a good sign, Staub told the outlet. The area is also becoming an industrial hub, including RREAF’s  planned industrial development along State Highway 130, the toll road designed for commercial traffic between San Antonio and Austin.

—Quinn Donoghue