The Amherst Group has announced plans to develop a new 145-home community in Lockhart, located just outside of Austin. The project, named "Firefly," is part of the Texas-based real estate investment, development, and operating platform's StudioBuilt business. This initiative aims to address the housing shortage by providing local homebuyers with high-quality, precision-built, and sustainable homes featuring the latest homebuilding technology. This information was released in an October 29 press release attributed to Amherst.
According to the release, Firefly represents the team's first major project. David Schwarz, Amherst's Head of Commercial Real Estate, said that it "generates much-needed housing supply for homebuyers in the growing and vibrant city of Lockhart." Schwarz further explained that their "StudioBuilt modular building process coupled with our relationship-based sourcing strategy across Texas allows us to reduce significant barriers presented by traditional homebuilding practices and meaningfully contribute to boosting supply in the state."
The release also cited a recent analysis conducted by Up for Growth, a national cross-member network. It highlighted that Texas ranks second in housing underproduction behind California, falling short by just over 300,000 homes last year. In response to the demand for both for-sale and rental housing in Texas, Amherst's Community Development team is focusing on methodically increasing housing supply in key metropolitan areas statewide.