There’s a Texas size boom happening just outside the capital of the Lone Star State. A rural area full of farms, 40 minutes from Austin, is set to see mega-growth as the site of a new film studio, an Elon Musk technology hub, and a new luxury housing community.
Bastrop, TX—population only about 13,000 people—is preparing to welcome thousands more moving in within the next few years.
“These recent developments are likely to attract more residents to the larger Bastrop County area,” says Hannah Jones, senior economic research analyst at Realtor.com®. “In the short term, a rapid influx of residents could strain local infrastructure and resources, but over time, continued investment should support new development and economic growth.”
Hollywood 2.0
Two Los Angeles film production companies, Line 204 and Zio Studios, are building a new film studio in town, to be called Texas Line 204. CEO Alton Butler told MySA that at least four soundstages should be finished by the end of 2025.
The production company provides stage and production equipment for media giants like Netflix, Warner Bros., Paramount, Hulu, and Disney.
In 2021, Butler purchased 546 acres in Bastrop County, which had plenty of cheapish land for sale, offered better tax incentives than he could get elsewhere, and had a stunning topography that the exec said was perfect for making movie magic.
With the nearby Colorado River, McKinney Roughs Nature Park, a plethora of green pastures, and a “beach on site,” he says that the Bastrop studio will offer the type of scenery that makes Hollywood salivate.
“I think Texas really has a chance of being that Hollywood 2.0,” he told the outlet. According to a county analysis, the studio will bring in $1.9 billion to the area within the next decade.
Realtor.com reached out to Butler for comment.
Elon Musk and Bastrop
It’s that wide-open land combined with the pro-business environment of the Lone Star State that attracted Tesla founder Elon Musk in 2021.
The billionaire is expanding a tech campus that will be the headquarters for his social media platform, X; his infrastructure company, Boring Company; a Tesla gigafactory (to produce lithium-ion batteries); and a SpaceX/Starlink facility.
Bastrop locals have mixed feelings about Musk moving in.
“Residents are happy that their children and grandchildren will have jobs in the area,” Sylvia Carrillo, city manager of Bastrop, told the BBC.
“On the other hand, it can feel like we are being overwhelmed by a third party and that the development will quickly urbanize our area.”
The median listing price in Bastrop County rose from $298,000 in October 2019 to $411,000 in October 2025, a 37.9% increase.
Large parcels of undeveloped land near the expanding campus are being snapped up.
A $12.4 million 146-acre parcel with no zoning restrictions on Walker-Watson Road, off of FM (Farm-to-Market Road) 1209, touts its proximity to Musk central.
“With its prime location, this site is well-suited for single-family residential development,” promised the listing, which has gone under contract.
The Colony and Lost Pines
The primarily rural area still has lots of 100+ acres of farmland for sale, with hefty multimillion dollar price tags.
But if you’d prefer a luxury development with resort-style amenities, then look no further than The Colony, an under-construction 2,300-acre masterplanned community that will eventually have about 4,000 homes.
Builders include well-known names such as Lennar and Drees, with homes starting in the mid-$300,000s and going up to over $1 million.
“There’s a lot of new growth here,” The Colony General Manager Tobin Hurley tells Realtor.com. “It’s a great place to live.”
He notes that the Bastrop location means more bang for the buck. A $1 million, five-bedroom home within the amenity-rich development—it has an Olympic-sized pool, tennis and pickleball courts, and miles of hiking trails—has a shockingly low $110 HOA fee.
It’s in the development where builder Del Webb (part of PulteGroup) is building a new 55+ active community.
Called Lost Pines, the senior community will have 500+ houses with 12 different floor plans from three different series of homes starting in the low $300,000s.
“We were initially drawn to Bastrop as a charming city with a small-town atmosphere that is surrounded by the natural beauty of Texas Hill Country, yet offers easy access to everyday conveniences like shopping, medical services, and a lively, expanding downtown district,” Pablo Rivas, central Texas division president of PulteGroup, tells Realtor.com.
The proximity to Austin was key, too. Since 2020, the city has ranked No. 1 in Zonda’s Baby Chaser Index three times. “Baby chasers”—older people who relocate to be near adult children and grandchildren—are a vital demographic to the senior housing industry.
If there is a downside to this explosion of building, it’s the effect it has had on the resale market. Many older homes have lingered on the market for over a year.
Brad Alexander of the Alexander Home Team with Keller Williams Realty notes that the town, like many others in the South, saw an influx of city dwellers during the COVID-19 pandemic, driving up prices.
But he says those prices are now coming back down to earth.
“Prices have seriously slowed,” he tells Realtor.com. “Maybe not slowed, but corrected.”
For example, he reps a three-bedroom house, built in 1993 and fully renovated with an in-ground kidney pool that sits on 2 acres that “feels like 10.”
The house has been on the market since March 2024 and seen a $120,500 shave off its price to $769,500.
The agent says that new construction at The Colony has dampened the resale market, as builders can offer many more buying incentives like free upgrades and lower mortgage rates.
And then there is the lack of deep-pocketed luxury buyers in the small, rural town—something that could change if Musk’s tech-campus attracts enough higher-salaried workers.
“He’s chosen Bastrop,” the agent says of Musk. “That can’t be a negative. It’s just … how big of a positive will it be?”
Susan Nogues, a local real estate agent who also lives in town, says that demand for higher-end homes has been “steady”—in part thanks to those employed by Musk—but acknowledges prices have recently stagnated.
Still, she says that a unique property, move-in ready, and priced right will get snapped up, such as the six-bedroom home with guesthouse on 5 acres she closed on for near its $870,000 ask.
The buyer was an out-of-stater who paid all cash.
“There’s a circling group of sharks in any given market,” she says. “Sometimes there are less sharks, and sometimes more, but there’s always sharks.”