American Ventures bringing massive retail development to Elgin

Some opportunities aren’t hard to spot, especially with cliches like “retail follows rooftops” handy.

It looks as though Austin-based American Ventures can see the opportunity for retail development in the suburb of Elgin now that homebuilders have laid out plans for enough residential activity to boost the population by about 50 percent.

Elgin City Council approved American Ventures’ rezoning that will accommodate retail projects on 60 acres it owns along U.S. 290, the Austin Business Journal reported. 

The chunk of land, known as Rhode Tract, would get about 350,000 square feet of retail and a hotel, according to a site plan included in an agenda earlier this month. 

The plan calls for a 90,000-square-foot anchor store, complemented by shops in the 5,000-square-foot to 20,000-square-foot range. The developer also plans to sell seven pads that front the highway.

The site is near the Ascension Seton Elgin Medical Center, and the project will bring an estimated 349,000 square feet of retail space to the city. Several retail and hotel chains have expressed interest, said Shravan Parsi, founder and CEO of American Ventures, although he declined to name any of the brands.

The developer has hired BGE as the civil engineer and Market Square as architect. It is still seeking a general contractor, with construction expected to start by year’s end. American Ventures also developed The Draper apartments, at 217 South Garland Avenue in the Dallas suburb Garland, according to its website. And it has rental developments in San Marcos.

Elgin’s population grew by about 50 percent, to 12,500, between 2010 and 2023. The city appears poised to grow by another 50 percent in the coming year. Pflugerville-based Qualico Communities is working on 875 homes in the area; Ashton Gray Development’s 772 single-family homes in the works; and Blossoms Development LLS planning 1,800 more.