A 211-acre master-planned community that could bring a surf park and $1.5 billion in development to Mustang Ridge, about 15 miles southeast of downtown Austin, is moving forward.
The Mustang Ridge City Council approved a development agreement with an affiliate of Austin-based SonWest Company last week, allowing the firm to advance infrastructure work on its long-gestating Pura Vida project, the Austin Business Journal reported.
The vote came after years of negotiations over water rights, state approvals and local entitlements in the small but fast-growing city of about 1,000 residents.
SonWest partners Andy Bilger and Shawn Breedlove said construction could begin by late next year if market conditions hold. Early plans call for a multifamily, retail, restaurants, a hotel and civic space, plus a potential surf park that could span up to 30 acres.
The developers said they’ve held talks with several surf park operators, including Surf Lakes Holdings, but have not finalized an agreement.
SonWest, best known for building the 5,000-acre Sonterra community in Jarrell, has spent the past four years assembling land and negotiating infrastructure terms for the Mustang Ridge site, which sits off U.S. Highway 183 and FM 1327.
The property is across from a 1.2 million-square-foot industrial project under construction by Houston-based Clay Development & Construction, including a building leased to a Tesla supplier.
SonWest is footing the bill for tens of millions of dollars in new utilities for the project. The developer is coordinating with the Creedmoor Maha Water Supply District on a 30,000-foot water line and a new wastewater treatment facility capable of handling 3.3 million gallons per day.
Mustang Ridge’s lack of infrastructure has long deterred large-scale projects, but city officials say Pura Vida could change that. Mayor David Bunn said the city expects “significant ancillary business” from the development.
The agreement authorizes the city to consider financial incentives such as property tax abatements and sales and hotel tax rebates. Developers said they’re already in talks with prospective multifamily and retail partners and are marketing sites to major anchors.
Water use remains a point of contention. With Central Texas facing persistent drought, some residents have questioned the optics of building a surf park in the region.
Bilger countered that Pura Vida’s system would rely on recycled and reclaimed water, not drinking water, and would use “very low volumes” through a partnership with Austin-based VVater.
The Mustang Ridge project would add to the growing interest in lagoon- and surf-themed developments across Texas, including iLand Development’s proposed $1 billion Leander Springs project in the northwest Austin suburb of Leander; a $400 million lagoon project with a monorail iLand proposed in Marble Falls; and Discovery Land Company and Kelly Slater are already underway redeveloping a wavegarden lagoon near Austin in Del Valle into a surf-and-condo community.
Sports Hospitality Ventures canceled plans recently for a Sports Illustrated Resort at the Lago Mar Crystal Lagoon in Texas City outside of Houston. That project was announced in January 2024 and was to include a 200-room hotel, restaurant and beach club.
Another Houston-area lagoon-centered residential project launched in 2022, Dallas-based developer Megatel’s $2 billion Saint Tropez near Lake Houston, has completed its first phase.
— Eric Weilbacher
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