City leadership seeks to tap into Austin-area demand for apartment dwellings

While the city of Hutto is actively campaigning to bring in commercial development, city officials are also looking to attract multifamily developments to meet the city's wide array of housing needs.

Multifamily housing, while generally thought of as apartment complexes, can also be defined as duplex developments and senior living facilities. In Hutto, a fourplex community is being constructed in Old Town, while the Trails at Carmel Creek, a senior living development, has been platted for a 6.25-acre lot off of FM 685.

Joey Grisham, president and CEO of the Hutto Economic Development Corp., said the demand for multifamily rental properties in the city is high and will continue to grow. People who are not ready to buy a house or cannot get a mortgage, as well as students attending the East Williamson County Higher Education Center, are among those city officials feel are looking for apartments and duplexes to rent. There is also a belief that high prices in Austin are pushing workers to suburbs such as Hutto, which has quick accessibility to downtown Austin via the SH 130 toll road.

"This is one of our glaring voids right now, a lack of multifamily [housing]," Grisham said. "We feel interest will only grow as development comes our way. You need all kinds of housing options to attract people of all different types of backgrounds."

A need for elderly care and retirement communities in Hutto has also been identified as adults look to house their parents close to where they themselves live.

Today the city's multifamily housing options include fourplexes on West Street, and the Mansions and Fairways at Star Ranch, apartment complexes located in Hutto's unincorporated area. Other plans have been proposed, including on an area of land called The Narrows at the southwest corner of FM 1660 and CR 137. The project, however, has not been confirmed.

"We have had that interest, it's just been a matter of [developers] coming back and submitting plans and moving forward with projects," Hutto Development Services Director Will Guerin said. "The market in Austin for multifamily is very strong, and I think Hutto is no exception—it's just a matter of when we move forward and the pieces come together."

Multifamily developments also stand to benefit the city economically. Building complexes that house large amounts of people creates what Grisham calls "quick density," and retailers looking to locate in the area are attracted to large numbers of residents who could patronize their stores.

Building communities inside the city could also help Hutto retain consumers to shop within its boundaries. With its location outside of Hutto city limits, Star Ranch residents' closest shopping and eating options are at Stone Hill Town Center or elsewhere in Pflugerville or Round Rock.

"Retailers are interested in rooftop numbers, and certainly if you build an apartment complex with 300 units, those are going to fill up fairly quickly," Grisham said. "It will help to get more multifamily near the [Hwy.] 79 corridor and SH 130 where the city will see more benefit."