spicewood splendor

Hill Country residential community outside Austin breaks ground on development

Areté Collective broke ground on the new residential community June 15.

Photo courtesy of Areté Collective

Four months after receiving approval from Travis County for initial plans, development has broken ground on a new private residential community in Thomas Ranch outside Austin.

Construction of the Loraloma community and golf club is spearheaded by luxury real estate developers Areté Collective. More than half of Loraloma will be undeveloped, illustrating the developer's goal of reviving a "relationship" between future homeowners and the natural beauty of the land. An exclusive number of initial properties consisting of 25 estate, villa, cottage, and custom-designed homes will be put up for sale later this summer.

To commemorate the launch of the new community, Areté Collective members gathered with several partners to help transplant a 23-foot tall Live Oak tree at the center of Loraloma's first development phase.

Thomas Ranch Managing Director Joe Rentfro said the symbolic ceremony also showcases the "commitment to the reconnection between [the] owners and the simplistic allure of a nature-focused lifestyle."

"We’re honored to have been able to join together with our expert, global partners and leading local talents to officially celebrate the land that will shape Loraloma," said Thomas Ranch Managing Director Joe Rentfro. "As we move forward, we’re excited to bring this vision to life and deliver something truly special for both Austinites and those seeking a more purpose-driven community."

CEO and co-founder of Areté Collective Rebecca Buchan said in the release that she and her company are looking forward to bringing "uncompromised living" to the Hill County with the new community.

"As a project developed and delivered by designers, Loraloma is telling a new story of luxury, celebrating the origins of the land and channeling the cultural allure of Austin,” she said.

More Foraging

Free 'food forest' in East Austin expands with thousands of new plants

Angelina Alanis at Festival Beach Food Forest

Photo courtesy of KVUE

Angelina Alanis gives a tour of the garden, which is open to anyone.

In East Austin, there is an edible forest garden called Festival Beach Food Forest where anyone can walk around and harvest free produce, nuts, medicinal plant leaves and herbs. And over the summer, it grew to several times its size.

The forest has fig trees, peach trees, grapevines, asparagus and more that's not in season right now. You can grab passionfruit and plants like yaupon holly, with leaves that can make a caffeinated tea, rosemary and lemon balm.

"[Lemon balm] is part of the mint family," said Angelina Alanis, communication and partnership coordinator for Festival Beach Food Forest. "It has a lemony taste but it's good for a nervous stomach. I'm prone to anxiety so I always grab a hunk."

The food forest is located right next to Interstate 35 and Lady Bird Lake on 29 Waller St., near a part of town that's known for being a food desert, lacking grocery stores.

"There's as much as a 20-year life expectancy difference between parts of East and West Austin, and a lot of that comes down to food access, health care access and also access to nature."

Alanis said for the past nine years, the volunteer-based grassroots project been helping with the issue and just recently expanded in the summer from two-thirds of an acre of city parkland to over 3.5 acres.

"We're going to have hundreds of new trees," said Alanis. "We've already planted 150 new trees in the area and then thousands of plants on the ground."

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They also plan to add a community kitchen and a pavilion to do things like cooking classes or informational sessions.

Read the full story at KVUE.com.

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