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This Austin, Texas area waterfront property, blending wildlife and forests with both commercial and residential, is offered for sale by Lawrence R. Bell Real Estate (owner / agent).
The Austin area is considered one of the best places in America to buy real estate according to a January 2008 article in Entrepreneur.
Located at 4000 and 4010 FM 971 in Georgetown, Texas 78626, the entire property is around 26 acres in size. Situated at the confluence of three creeks, this heavily forested land has a rich history and over a half mile of waterfront. In addition, there is a half-acre pond fronting the house.
Because there is so much water and forest land on the property, a diverse variety of wildlife inhabits the land. Spring-fed Berry Creek, which flows directly behind the house and which remains several feet deep year-round, offers a launching point for canoes, kayaks, and paddleboats. One can voyage for miles down the creek and the San Gabriel River, which is only a thousand feet downstream from the house.
While mail for the property has a Georgetown, Texas address and is in the Georgetown Independent School District, it is actually situated just inside the Weir city limits and just outside the Georgetown extra-territorial jurisdiction (ETJ). The entire property has been zoned "B-2 commercial", but a new owner has the option to revert all or part of the property back to residential zoning in the future, if he so chooses. The current zoning provides the most flexibility possible, allowing for nearly any type of residential or commercial use. For example, the current residence could alternatively be made into a bed and breakfast, conference center, or executive retreat. Access is possible from anywhere in the world via the nearby TX 130 Tollway and the Austin Bergstrom International Airport just 30 minutes away. It is pretty amazing being in such a secluded nature preserve, yet being only a short 2 miles from the high-speed road to anywhere.
About 800 feet from the house there is a 5,000 square-foot building that is currently the home of Nacq Partners, Ltd., a business that markets antiques and prints and frames digitally-sourced pictures. Nacq also hosts several of its own e-commerce websites, including this one. The building is barely visible from the house thanks to the abundant trees and provides little or no sound pollution to the serenity of the residence.
The commercial building and house are served by a full T1 internet connection, which includes a digital phone system and common local area computer network. The house and the building are connected via fiber optics due to the large distance between buildings. Both buildings are served by the same high-capacity water well situated between them. Each building has its own separate septic system.
Two creeks, Berry Creek and Ranger Branch, come together directly behind the house. Between these 2 creeks is a magnificent 7.1-acre waterfront park populated with enormous hardwood trees. Access from FM 971 is available, and this parcel of land can be connected via a footbridge behind the house, or can be either anothe home site or commercial land. Seller will not allow the entire parcel to be sold for commercial use, leaving a reasonable of the forested waterfront property of remain as a buffer for exclusive use of the house parcel.
To the east of Ranger branch and extending to the Nacq parcel, is an 6.3-acre meadow that will be a commercial reserve. Bounded by Ranger Branch on the west, the dry creek on the east, FM 971 on the north, and on the south by a line sufficiently far from the house so as not to disturb its privacy. This commercial reserve is situated on FM 971, which has between 4,000 and 5,000 cars per day that pass by. In addition, it is at the intersection of County Road 194 and FM 971.
The property as a whole has varied elevations with a good deal of the land situated outside of the 100-year flood plain. Even the Waterfront Park has extensive high ground outside the flood plain. The desire in building the house was to have close-up waterfront views. The house is built on the edge of the "high bank" of Berry Creek, less than 100 feet from the water. While its footings are within the 100-year flood plain, current owners went to great expense, spending over 40% of total construction cost, elevating the actual structure on 42 concrete piers, each of which is 30 deep in the ground with bell-bottoms. Concrete cross beams required a long line of cement trucks to fill. Soil testing, pier and foundation design, were done by the well-respected Austin engineering firm MLAW. All power, gas, water, phone, internet, local area networks and HVAC systems were designed to pre-suppose water under the house at some points in time without service interruption. Despite what was considered by many to be a 100-year flood in July of 2007, this has never happened. Even if it were to flood considerably more than in the past, the floor level of the house is 2 feet above the 500-year flood plain. The Nacq commercial building is well above the 100-year flood plain. |
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