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Editor's note: This article has been updated with additional project information from the developer.
Zydeco Development Corp. is planning a 56-acre addition to its sprawling MetCenter development in Southeast Austin.
The development would include hundreds of thousands of square feet of new space in the longstanding business park, according to a site plan application filed with the city of Austin. Zydeco has been developing MetCenter, which sits on 550 acres, since 1993 and has been selling off pieces of the development over the years, according to previous reporting. The new addition to MetCenter joins a slew of other developments popping up near the Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in East Austin, a hub that has been growing rapidly since Tesla Inc.'s thunderous arrival in 2020.
The new development is planned to rise on 56.5 acres abutting SH-183 directly across from the airport, with access from both the highway and Metropolis Drive, according to the site plan.
The site plan indicated the addition would be over 400,000 square feet and would consist of warehouse, office and retail space. But after this article was published, a Zydeco representative said plans have since changed and the project will be 486,000 square feet of flex industrial space. A map published on the MetCenter website indicates that the latest phase of development would consist of seven buildings.
The land the project is planned for consists of five separate lots. Most are vacant and undeveloped, though one does have a substation located on it.
In 2020, Zydeco revealed plans for a 1.4 million-square-foot office park reimagined by Page Southerland Page Inc. at MetCenter; however, the status of those plans was unclear by publication time.
MetCenter is already a popular development with major tenants. Companies like Amazon, AMD, ERCOT, CyrusOne, the Austin-American Statesman, Ascension Seton and Digital Realty call MetCenter home, according to its website.
Zydeco has been selling off chunks of MetCenter as it has been developed. In 2021, Graymark Capital Inc. and BentallGreenOak partnered to purchase MetCenter 10 and 15, which totaled 603,000 square feet. Embattled real estate investor Nate Paul’s World Class Holdings also owns property within MetCenter, though Paul owes about $2.6 million in taxes for his three properties.
The area surrounding the airport has a number of large swaths of open land considered ripe for development. Many of the projects underway there are focused on the industrial sector, spurred in part by Tesla's gigafactory and its swath of suppliers locating in the region.
Houston-based Patrinely Group LLC and Realterm are developing a 439,000-square-foot-project off of McAngus Road. Brookfield Properties is developing a 53-acre industrial park north of McKinney Falls State Park, while Stream Realty Partners is developing a 413,338-square-foot industrial project north of the airport. To the east, Stoneridge Capital Partners is developing a 453,658-square-foot project named Colorado Bend.
But it isn’t just industrial development that’s coming to the area. Across the street from Colorado Bend, Presidium Group is planning a 270-acre mixed-use development called Velocity that promises 7 million square feet of apartments, offices and other commercial space. South of Velocity, The NRP Group is planning about 650 apartments across two developments.
And, more than 115 acres along the Colorado River in East Austin are slated for a transformative mixed-use development envisioned by San Antonio-based Kairoi Residential. Plans call for thousands of apartments, a hotel, music venue and much more.
