Austin-based Legend Communities has broken ground on the first phase of a mixed-use Lakeway project called the Square at Lohmans.

Plans for the project call for houses, apartments, offices, hotel and retail and restaurant uses.

Legend Communities, which develops residential, multifamily and commercial projects in Central Texas and California — will build the Square at Lohmans at 1931 Lohmans Crossing in Lakeway. The development is expected to take place in phases over five years or more, with a value of about $500 million once completed, according to the company.

“The Square at Lohmans will be a modern take on an old-fashioned concept,” Legend’s founder and CEO Haythem Dawlett said in a written statement. “Main streets and town squares have been around for hundreds of years. This project will combine the charm of those traditional features with the convenience and other advantages of modern design and energy efficiency.”

The project will include outdoor gathering spaces, a park and amphitheater and a pavilion.

The first phase involves building the project’s infrastructure, which is expected to take about a year, with housing construction to follow. The first phase will consist of Main Street and Lohmans Spur, along with 150 homes of various types and 210 apartment units for people ages 55 and older. Rents are projected to be about $2 per square foot, while prices for the single-family homes could range from $600,000 to $2 million, Legend executives said.

“We are creating something Lakeway has never really had before — a central gathering place for all the people who live here,” said Bill Hayes, Legend’s chief operating officer. “The combination of the road network we are building and the town square, I believe, will make this the most important project this city has ever seen.”

Work starts on 241-unit apartment project near Dripping Springs

Construction is underway on a project that will bring 241 apartments to the Dripping Springs market, one of the few new rental developments in that fast-growing area west of Austin.

Called Lookout, the apartment complex is due to open in late 2024, said executives with Wayfinder, an Austin-based real estate development and investment company. The complex, part of the Ledgestone master-planned community, is across U.S. 290 from the mixed-use Belterra neighborhood.

Lookout’s 7 acre site, at 13059 Four Star Bouldevard, was formerly home to Trudy’s Four Star, a Tex-Mex restaurant that closed in 2019.

Lookout’s apartments will provide a more moderately priced alternative to single-family home ownership in Dripping Springs, where the population has more than doubled over the past decade and the median home price has soared to $905,000, according to Mac McElwrath, Wayfinder’s co-founder.

“Dripping Springs has long attracted young families due to its excellent schools and small-town charm in the middle of the Texas Hill Country,” McElwrath. “With home prices already out of reach for many households and interest rates rising, more people than ever are looking to rent but few apartments are available.”

Apartment complexes in the Dripping Springs market are 95% occupied, according to Axiometric,. Limited water and wastewater capacity in the city and nearby area make it challenging to build new multifamily communities to meet the growing demand, McElwrath said.

The Lookout complex will have one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments as well as townhomes.