Developers and government leaders held a ribbon-cutting Nov. 4 to celebrate the opening of Plum Creek Industrial Center, which is expected to support roughly 1,000 new direct and indirect jobs in the fast-growing city Kyle.
Kansas City-based NorthPoint Development LLC is behind the business park at 19200 Marketplace Ave., west of I-35 near Kohlers Crossing, part of the wider Plum Creek master-planned community. The park represents a $66 million capital investment by NorthPoint and is expected to produce roughly $860,116 annually in tax revenue once fully operational.
The park is already home to multiple tenants. They include, in the 185,000-square-foot first building, Viking SupplyNet, the distribution arm of fire equipment company Viking Group Inc., and transportation provider Lanter Delivery Systems Inc. In the 259,000-square-foot second building are Outer Aisle Gourmet LLC, maker of low-carb bread products; American HVAC Metal Supply Inc.; and Plastikon Industries Inc., a plastic parts manufacturer that supplies Tesla Inc. and Toyota Motor Corp.
A third building is under construction. Plum Creek Industrial Center is expected to eventually total four buildings and 935,000 square feet.
Jed Momot, NorthPoint's chief strategy officer, said in front of roughly 75 members of the regional business community that the development is projected to result in $26 million in new wages and will stimulate other areas of the economy such as retail, hospitality and restaurants.
"The Plum Creek Industrial Center is an example of the impact and momentum that building strong partnerships can have," Momot said in an announcement. "Every part of this development was brought to realization because of accord built between the private and public sector in Kyle, our business partners that are putting this development into motion and the economic development organizations that fan the flames for growth in the region."
Diana Blank-Torres, Kyle's director of economic development, said the park "is a perfect example" of core principles of economic development including job creation and diversification of the economy.
"We have tenants that are joining this park everywhere from construction, manufacturing, food and beverage to advanced manufacturing of automotive supply chain, and everywhere in between," she said. "We're really excited to see that kind of mix of users and tenants."
Viking SupplyNet, Lanter and American Metals are already operating at the business park, while Plastikon and Outer Aisle are still finishing their spaces and are expected to begin operations soon, according to a representative from the Greater San Marcos Partnership.
The development brings a large influx of jobs to Kyle, located about 20 miles south of downtown Austin. It has ranked among the fastest-growing cities in the country over the past two decades, growing from 5,314 residents in 2000 to 45,697 in 2020, according to U.S. Census Bureau data.
Hays County as a whole saw its population grow faster than any other county in Texas from 2010 to 2020, and was the only county in the nation with at least 100,000 residents that grew by more than 50% over the past decade, adding nearly 84,000 residents from 2010 to 2020.
That rapid growth has attracted a slew of new employers. Simwon North America Corp., also reportedly a Tesla supplier, recently leased nearly 500,000 square feet elsewhere in Plum Creek. Amazon.com Inc., Lowe's Cos. Inc. and ENF Technology Co. Ltd., a South Korea-based chemicals business that sells to Samsung, are among the large companies that have also eaten up space nearby.
Colliers International Group Inc. handles leasing for Plum Creek Industrial Center. Colliers Associate Vice President Chase Clancy said during the Austin-San Antonio Growth Summit, hosted Sept. 13 by Austin Business Journal and San Antonio Business Journal, that the Plum Creek Industrial Center was 92% pre-leased during construction, a number that included Tesla vendors.
"My partner and I joke that we became an auto manufacturing market overnight, which we effectively did," he said. "That is a huge win for an area. It can't be understated. There's going to be a lot of that kind of activity going forward."
Plum Creek itself already has more than 2,500 single-family homes, 2,100 multifamily homes, an assisted living facility, a golf course, a 100-acre Austin Community College campus and more than 150 acres of parks and open space. The master developer is Austin-based Momark Development LLC.
Work continues on The Brick and Mortar District in Plum Creek, a mixed-use hub slated to eventually have about 2,500 residences, 150,000 square feet of retail space, 250,000 square feet of offices and 35 acres of parkland and trails.