Austin area: Former Woodlands CEO Starts 2,200-Acre Master Planned Community

Tom D’Alesandro

In Austin, Thomas Ranch, a 2,200-acre large-scale planned community in the Texas Hill Country, will be developed in west Travis County by Blakefield LLC.

Tom D’Alesandro, former CEO of The Woodlands Development Co., is overseeing development of the project, which will have 3,300 single-family homes, apartments, retail, a hotel and a town square.

Featuring shoreline frontage on the Pedernales River, Thomas Ranch will be near Highway 71 and Paleface Ranch Road.

“This is not going to be another subdivision with a sea of residential rooftops,” said D’Alesandro. “This is a full community built to have the heart and personality of a real Hill Country town, with everything from beautiful homes and apartments at a range of prices, a resort hotel for visitors, merchants and restaurants that the region can enjoy and offices to encourage working close to home.”

Master planning is by Hart Howerton. Other firms involved in the Thomas Ranch development: Doucet & Associates,, Sherwood Engineers, SWCA Environmental Consultants, Ten Eyke Landscape Architects and Integra Group.