An incoming Hutto-area business park could offer more jobs for local residents as well as greater connectivity west of SH 130.

John Lloyd, an area businessman whose recent projects include the planned Carmel housing development in Pflugerville, is the developer of the planned 112-acre commercial complex off Hwy. 79 and SH 130 dubbed Park 79.

Park 79 could include up to 25 lots averaging about 3 acres each and support uses ranging from office to light industrial, Lloyd said. Utility and road construction is underway, and the project is scheduled to be completed by 2017, he said.

“There’s just a huge demand for these small, industrial-type buildings where people have anything from offices to showrooms to light manufacturing,” Lloyd said.

There are currently eight businesses negotiating leases, although none have been officially confirmed for the site, Lloyd said.

A former horse farm, Park 79 is located just west of Hutto’s city limits in a rural section of the city’s extraterritorial jurisdiction, which is land the city reserves the right to annex. Although the city of Hutto will not receive property or sales tax revenue from the site, Tim Chase, Hutto Economic Development Corp. president and CEO, said the development will add value to the city by potentially boosting Hutto’s residential population.

“We’re well aware of the project and looking forward to its completion,” Chase said in an email. “As soon as the developers have completed construction and have provided us with marketing materials, we will certainly add it to those shovel-ready sites we currently promote.”

Park 79 could also have an impact on transportation and interconnectivity west of the toll road. After an eight-year process, Lloyd received approval to relocate the railroad crossing next to Hwy. 79 from CR 123 to Tradesman Park Drive, he said. Lloyd’s project also extends Tradesman Park across Hwy. 79 into his new commercial park and installs a traffic light at the intersection. The extension is one of the last pieces of a Williamson County goal to connect Tradesman Park to Star Ranch Boulevard and beyond, county engineer Joe England said.

“We sought [Hutto’s] advice, and we believe a roadway that would connect Hwy. 79 southward to at least [SH] 130 and Gattis School Road is a good thing,” England said.

England said there is one more piece of private property on the proposed Tradesman-to-[SH] 130 path that would need to be developed before the extension could be completed, and the plan is subject to change.

Lloyd said he plans to complete the first phase of the extension, from Tradesman to CR 123, by March 15.