Northeast Austin, Pflugerville, Hutto

The Northeast Austin market has caught on in a big way during the past six or seven years. Credit the city of Pflugerville and the affiliated Pflugerville Community Development Corp. for attracting new businesses to the large 130 Commerce Center corporate business park, as well as retailers to the StoneHill Town Center — Best Buy, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Office Depot and Home Depot, to name a few of its stores. Another big attraction for residents is the 25-acre Typhoon Texas water park.

The area’s aggressive economic development strategy has been bolstered by the nearby Texas 130 Toll Road, which provides a straight shot north past Georgetown and another straight shot south to east of San Antonio. Bypassing the incessant traffic pile-ups on I-35 has resulted in much more traffic passing along Texas 130 and boosted the development of housing nearby.

Both local and national homebuilders have been extremely active in Pflugerville, crafting master-planned communities with wide boulevards and landscaping appeal. Falcon Pointe by Newland Communities has been particularly well embraced and is nearly sold out with about 1,000 new homes on 700 acres. But there are many other choices in the community, which dates back to the 1870s when it was founded by German immigrants named “the Pflugers,” translated as “ploughers” or farmers.

A small distance southeast of Pflugerville, along the Manor Expressway, which is also known as East U.S. 290, several homebuilders have introduced new subdivisions that are priced in the $200,000s — an increasing rare price point in the Austin market.

Pflugerville has become a vibrant, family-oriented city just northeast of Austin’s city limits. Affordability has drawn many home buyers to the area, as well as family recreational options like the Typhoon Texas water park.

Pflugerville, pronounced with an f-sound, has a long history dating back to German immigrants who settled in the area around 1850. The town has been pretty quiet until the past decade when economic development became a major force and homebuilders acquired land at reasonable prices that were attainable for many buyers. Reminders of bygone days are evident around downtown, however, like this quaint Victorian house.

All across the city, new home communities are sprouting up. Some of the original master-planned communities have matured with trees and verdant landscaping. Wide. but quiet. boulevards are the norm.

Pflugerville Independent School District serves many families in Northeast Austin. The high school has more than 2,000 students and an impressive football stadium called Pflugerville Pfield. Pshaw!

Nearly every national and regional homebuilder operating in Central Texas is building new communities in Austin’s northeast sector. A quick drive along Dessau Road, which runs south to north, conveys the growing popularity of the area with numerous new communities. Many Austin residents have never exited off I-35 to discover all of the attractive new home sites in Northeast Austin — an area with excellent transportation access from U.S. 290 and Texas Highway 130. U.S. 183 in the area is in the throes of millions of dollars in improvements.