A potential 207-acre project in Kyle that could include a JD's Supermarket and more than 1,400 housing units is in the early planning stages.
Developers and city officials brought the mixed-use project to the Kyle City Council on Jan. 7 to see if council members would support a land use change petition for it. The project would rise near the intersection of East Farm to Market Road 150 and State Highway 21 in the eastern part of the city.
Urpi Arriola with Austin-based Metcalfe Wolff Stuart & Williams LLP — who represented the development team, which includes JD's, Austin-based ACR Building Enterprises Inc. and SEC Planning LLC — gave a brief presentation that detailed plans for the site.
JD's, which is based in Austin, has four supermarkets and nine express mart locations across the Austin metro, according to its website. FM RD 812 LLC — an entity that ties to JD's headquarters on East Anderson Lane — purchased the 207 acres where the project would be located in 2019, according to Hays County property records.
News reports at the time noted that the Kyle City Council approved the purchase for a shopping center, with JD's President Adam Ahmad stating that the abundance of existing and proposed residential developments in the area, along with proximity to two major roads, would make the site a “great opportunity to provide closer, local commercial, retail, grocery and gas for the entire surrounding area.”
The site plan currently includes 37 acres of warehouse or industrial uses, the JD's market as part of 38 acres of commercial space, 579 townhome units on 58 acres, 862 multifamily units on 43 acres, and 21 acres of parkland and open space with connections to the city's Vybe Trail, according to the Jan. 7 presentation.
Arriola stressed that the plans are preliminary and that the development team would be open to things like more commercial space or more high-density, mixed-use amenities, with more specific details to be hammered out during the entitlement process.
"We are trying to create something that you guys will like," she said during the meeting.
The council approved the petition based on the project having space for industrial and warehouse uses as well as mixed-use and commercial spaces. The petition is the first step in the process, with issues such as annexation, utility access and more still needing to be discussed.
"The uses you are considering are all something we would consider with your application," Kyle Mayor Travis Mitchell said during the meeting.
If it comes to fruition, the project would provide more amenities for Kyle, which was the second-fastest growing city of its size in the country last year and has a population nearing 63,000 people.