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Austin

Alton Butler requests de-annexation to propel Bastrop film studio 

Developer seeking to remove development site from city’s ETJ to bypass regulations

Texas De-annexation Law Could Propel Bastrop Film Studio
Line 204 Studios' Alton Butler with rendering of Bastrop 552 film studio (Getty, Mode Design Company)

Alton Butler, the developer behind a long-awaited film studio in Bastrop, is using a controversial “de-annexation” law to propel the 546-acre project.

Senate Bill 2038, which took effect Sept. 1, allows developers to remove themselves from a city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, bypassing bureaucratic steps in the development approval process. The legislation is especially relevant in rural areas, like Bastrop, where there are more unincorporated communities of which municipalities have little control. 

Butler’s firm, California-based Line 204 Studios, has requested to deannex the development site to expedite the Bastrop 552 film studio. Bastrop City Council is set to consider the matter later this month, the Austin Business Journal reported. 

Despite the controversy surrounding the law, city officials have shown support for this case, the outlet said.

The first phase of the project, set to cost $50 million, is slated for six 20,000-square-foot studios, two 10,000-square-foot sound stages, a 50,000-square-foot warehouse with mill space and 52,000 square feet of office. At full build, Bastrop 552 could comprise 486,000 square feet of studio space, 300,000 square feet of warehouse/mill space and 200,000 square feet of office.

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Following years of setbacks due to city regulations, Butler is hopeful that the first phase will open in the middle of next year, largely because of Senate Bill 2038, which he compared to being under your grandparents’ rules as opposed to your parents’ rules.

“For us, that lack of oversight — not that we are trying to do anything that we wouldn’t approve of — but the time that it takes the city to go all through all the things, the county goes, ‘Okay, yeah,’” he told the outlet. “Those rules and regulations are going to save us countless months from being able to get started and get moving.”

While de-annexation places a greater burden on developers initially due to upfront costs and sorting out utilities, Butler believes the faster delivery is “easily worth the money that we will spend.” 

A recent move by one of the country’s most prolific film and TV producers called into question whether there is a future for large film studios. Tyler Perry halted a planned $800 million expansion of his Atlanta studio because he believes rapid advancements in AI-generated video will require much less studio space.

—Quinn Donoghue 

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