Empire launches built-to-rent near Austin

Empire Group of Companies is off and running with a built-to-rent community in a fast-growing suburb of Austin.

The Arizona-based firm started construction on the Village at Hutto Station, a 247-home development spanning 30 acres, just east of the Texas 130 toll road and about 30 miles north of Austin in Hutto, the Austin American-Statesman reported. Empire Group secured a $62.4 million loan from Arbor Realty to help finance the project. 

With several large-scale developments and employment opportunities on the horizon, Empire Group is banking on the steadily growing apartment demand in Williamson County. Village at Hutto Station is near a “megasite,” where Prologis and Skybox Datacenters are building a $10 billion data center campus with six buildings totalling 3.9 million square feet. It’s also a 10-minute drive from Samsung’s $17 billion semiconductor factory that’s underway in Taylor.

“The number of new employers moving to this area is staggering, and will require a large amount of new housing options to accommodate all of the jobs that have been created,” Empire’s Bryan Freel told the outlet. 

The development will feature a mix of one-, two- and three-bedroom floor plans, ranging from  680 to 1,300 square feet. Each dwelling will have a backyard and smart home technology packages. Amenities will include a pool, fire pits, a fitness center and a dog park.

On the northwest side of the Village at Hutto Station, the first phase of the Williamson County Southeast Loop is nearing completion. The added infrastructure will allow residents along Texas 130 to have easier access to Samsung and the Hutto Mega Tech Center industrial park, the outlet said.

Empire, founded by Richard Felker, is one of the most active developers in the Southwest, known for its expertise in the built-to-rent realm. The firm has 22 built-to-rent projects in the pipeline, most of them in the Phoenix metropolitan area. 

—Quinn Donoghue 

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