Two large tracts of land in the Austin area are hitting the market with major ambitions — one banking on the Samsung effect, the other on the rise of an “innovation corridor” between Austin and San Antonio.
In Taylor, San Antonio–based West & Swope Ranches is marketing a 180-acre site branded as Taylor Farms, listed for $26.5 million, over $147,000 per acre, the Austin Business Journal reported.
The land, which straddles Farm Road 973 just three miles from Samsung’s $37 billion chipmaking complex, sits in an opportunity zone and outside of floodplains. Brokers say the site is ripe for single-family, commercial or mixed-use development, with utility infrastructure already in place.
The listing comes as developers scramble to secure dirt around the Korean tech giant’s Texas megaproject, which is expected to create over 3,500 permanent jobs and attract a wave of suppliers — not to mention an estimated 10,000 workers who’ll need housing. Players like Forterra, Epitome and Megatel are already active in the area.
Farther south, in Kyle, Avison Young is marketing a 132-acre parcel branded as “Innovation Park” within the Plum Creek master-planned community. The Austin-based seller, Momark Development, is targeting buyers or tenants for a mixed-use or R&D campus. Though divisible, the site is shovel-ready and sits near an Austin Community College campus and the city’s Brick and Mortar District.
Avison Young’s Damian McKinney likened the broader Interstate 35 corridor between Austin and San Antonio to a budding Orange County, Silicon Valley or other burgeoning midpoints between two metro regions, citing proximity to major universities and the area’s growing cachet with employers. Kyle has already landed Tesla suppliers like Simwon and ENF Technology.
Both listings reflect the heightened stakes for Central Texas’ growth markets: the land grabs around Samsung’s semiconductor hub to the northeast and the knowledge-economy buildup between San Marcos and Austin to the south.
In both, brokers are eschewing warehouse-heavy plays in favor of projects that bring jobs and long-term economic gravity. In Kyle, stakeholders say they’re aiming to attract life sciences, biotechnology, aerospace, automotive or education occupiers over other market sectors, like data centers, that don’t bring well-paying jobs in high numbers.
— Judah Duke
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