Like bluebonnets on highway medians in spring, company towns are blooming in Texas.
Elon Musk has two: Snailbrook is a tiny settlement across the street from the SpaceX plant in Bastrop, a town about 33 miles from Austin. Then there’s Starbase, the town built around SpaceX launch site. Formerly Boca Chica Village, Starbase officially became a city in May of last year.
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Another company town is taking shape in Lockhart, a city between Austin and San Antonio, about 30 miles from Bastrop.
Caldwell County commissioners approved a development agreement for Proto-Town in August. Earthship founders Merle Nye and Joshua Farahzad are behind the project. The twentysomethings, who met at Duke University (Nye finished; Farahzad did not), pitched the 528-acre “innovation hub” at 1307 Westwood Road as a company town for tech manufacturing.
Their proposition has already proven to be attractive. Former county commissioner and state Rep. John Cyrier, a Republican, partnered with Nye and Farahzad on Proto-Town. Earthship recruited Allen Control Systems, a company that makes drone-destroying robots. It was founded by Steve Simoni and Luke Allen, two guys inspired by the Russian invasion of Ukraine to get into war tech, according to a GQ profile of Proto-Town.
The latest addition to Proto-Town is nuclear research. This week, Earthship filed plans with the state to develop a 7,600-square-foot nuclear research reactor in Proto-Town, at 2600 Mineral Springs Road. The project is expected to cost $23 million. Nye and Farahzad recruited nuclear scientist Thomas Eiden for the project.
Sam Dean’s description of Proto-Town for GQ shows the town already has a strong sense of culture. It’s a haven for tech entrepreneurs to shoot guns, fly drones and ride ATVS. The group of young founders (which was all men when Dean visited) call themselves “pioneers.”
Mehrdad Moayedi plants flag at Harwood
Mehrdad Moayedi is the latest player to plant a flag in Dallas’ Harwood District, on the heels of a distress sale involving property developed by Gabriel Barbier-Mueller’s Harwood International. The Centurion American founder confirmed to The Real Deal that he purchased 20 units at Bleu Ciel from TexasBank after the lender acquired the condos in a $23.6 million credit bid at a foreclosure sale last week. The condos ended up at auction after Harwood International allegedly defaulted on a $30 million loan from TexasBank, according to Roddy’s Foreclosure Listing Service.
“Inexperienced” New York operator files for bankruptcy
New York-based apartment landlord Nord Group filed for Chapter 11 protection in Delaware for Huntington Glen, a Houston apartment property. The Delaware bankruptcy court is the third venue in which Nord Group has filed for bankruptcy on Huntington Glen. Since November 2024, Nord has sought protection for eight other Texas properties. In one filing, Nord said it was “inexperienced and unfamiliar” with multifamily commercial real estate. Fannie Mae is asking the court to dismiss the Delaware case, after Nord’s Chapter 11 cases were dismissed in Texas in January.
Downtown Dallas updates
As Dallas weighs the ballooning cost of renovating its City Hall building, the city is exploring other options to, some say, make way for the development of an arena district for the Dallas Mavericks. One of its options is Bryan Tower. Pacific Elm Properties submitted the vacant downtown building to be considered as a potential replacement for City Hall. City staff have already toured the 1.1 million-square-foot tower at 2001 Bryan Street, PacElm CEO Billy Prewitt told the Dallas Business Journal.
Meanwhile, Ray Washburne is trying to figure out what to do with the former Dallas Morning News building. He proposed an $800 million, 30-story convention center hotel on the 3.7-acre plot at 508 Young Street. Washburne plans to ask the city to cover up to a quarter of the development cost.
Accused fraudster offloads Highland Park homes
Daniel Chu, the founder of Irving-based auto retailer Tricolor, sold two Highland Park homes while under federal investigation for “orchestrating a years-long financial crimes enterprise” against banks and private creditors. He sold a 3,520-square-foot house at 4544 Westway Avenue and a 6,500-square-foot home at 4208 Beverly Drive. Tricolor had sold and provided subprime financing for used cars since 2007. The company filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection in September, according to the indictment. Chu was arrested in December in Florida.
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Earthship to develop nuclear research reactor at Proto-Town in Lockhart
Mehrdad Moayedi plants flag in Harwood District with purchase of distressed condos
“Inexperienced” New York operator files for bankruptcy protection on Houston apartments