Newest Marble Falls subdivision to include commercial space
Marble Falls Assistant City Manager Caleb Kraenzel presents a development agreement for the Legacy Crossing subdivision to the City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 16. Staff photo by Nathan Bush
Another subdivision is planned for the southeast corner of the Texas 71-U.S. 281 intersection near where the Gregg Ranch and Thunder Rock developments are now under construction. Legacy Crossing will include 100 acres of commercial space as well as 1,342 single-family homes, 264 multi-family units, 150 mixed-use townhome units, six public parks, and more than 3 miles of interconnected walking trails.
The Marble Falls City Council on Tuesday, Aug. 16, approved a development agreement with MMK Ventures and 71/281 Investments to develop the new subdivision.
The land where Legacy Crossing is mapped out was purchased by Darrel Sargent and three of his friends days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001.
“We thought about not buying it,” Sargent said, “but we thought it was an important part of the Hill Country.”
Now, 21 years later, Sargent’s group is ready to build.
“We have done our best to be good stewards of that land,” he said. “I’ve known that corner was going to be an important part of this city and an important part of the Hill Country region, and I think we’ll all be proud to drive by that intersection and see what this city has invested there.”
Assistant City Manager Caleb Kraenzel presented the concept plan to the council at its Tuesday meeting.
“I think, for future consideration, this project really sets a new standard for Marble Falls in terms of what a residential neighborhood should be and bring online, especially if they’re negotiating a development agreement with the city,” Kraenzel said.
The 100 acres of commercial space is something that has been missing from other planned developments in the area, he continued.
“Thunder Rock doesn’t have a lot of commercial development on it,” he said. “This project will be the bread and butter of commercial development at this intersection.”
Also included in the recently approved agreement is a commitment that the project’s developer contribute $600,000 toward the construction of a new fire station to service the area.
“The reason it’s capped at $600,000 is its share of the amount of (living unit equivalents) the fire station will serve,” Kraenzel said. “The fire station will serve Thunder Rock, Gregg Ranch, and a lot of other developments. The $600,000 is their portion of the overall share.”
Utilities were somewhat of a challenge for city staff.
“This was a pretty big dragon for us to slay in terms of figuring out how to work utilities on this project,” Kraenzel said.
About 4,000 feet of off-site water line will be needed to complete the line that loops the entire intersection. It will allow water to be fed bi-directionally, affording resiliency to the utility system, Kraenzel said.
Sewer lines for the proposed project are more complicated. Currently, the city is encouraging the developer to rely on a gravity sewer main as opposed to a high-pressure sewer main.
“It’s mostly for the long-term maintenance and resilience of a gravity sewer main,” Kraenzel said. “There’s no pumps, no electrical. If there’s a leak, it’s not under pressure.”
The City Council plans to hold a public hearing Sept. 6 on the creation of a Legacy Crossing Public Improvement District.
2 thoughts on “Newest Marble Falls subdivision to include commercial space”
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Wonder where water is going to come from if the drought continues?
If the “Phasing Plan” map shown in the article is a bit confusing as to exactly how this development is situated, it needs to be rotated 90º clockwise to better align with the actual directions of the highways.