A NEW SUBURB? Futuristic city, airport planned East Of Austin - A Dirt Has Turned

Stephen Carpenter leans over the dining room table in a brick townhome that overlooks the Bastrop Countryside and unrolls a series of maps.

Over the course of the next two hours, he powers his way through his family's schematics for the long-awaited Greenport Airport - planned for decades to be built on the field outside - and for Emerald Island, a city like development that would be located a few miles west down Farm to Market Road 969. Ultimately, the projects could represent at least $19 billion in investment through tourist attractions, business campuses, housing and much, much more on thousands of acres of what's now agricultural land east of downtown Austin.

The 5,426-acre Greenport campus could become a $10 billion mixed-use aviation and technology park for private flights, high-tech research, energy storage and data centers. The $8.7 billion resort "mini city" called Emerald Island, pegged for roughly 1,000 acres, could include resort casinos, hotels, entertainment hubs, retailers and restaurants.

The words Carpenter uses sound more like they were pulled from a script of the Jetsons than a development plan: Electrical vertical take-off landing aircrafts. Ferris wheel hotel. Autonomous fire detection. Hydrophonic lagoons. Underground data centers.

That's only a tiny silver of his aspirations, and Carpenter is keenly aware of how crazy he sounds. The city he envisions has been described as a mix of Las Vegas, Disney World, Nashville and Venice, Italy. It's depicted in a series of artificial intelligence-enhanced renderings that are decades of their time.

"There was a quote... "dreamers are only crazy until they make it a reality,' "said Carpenter, president of Austin-based Carpenter & Associates LLC. "Nothing that we're doing is crazy. Building an airport has been shown to be profitable, globally. Building a global destination and entertainment city has been proven to be profitable."

Whether the Carpenters are indeed crazy depends on who you ask. People they are working with are inspired. Developers nearby are curious. And Bastrop County neighbors are concerned about the potential for harm to their stretch of the Colorado River.

Greenport's first buildings have risen north of FM 969 and are occupied by bitcoin miners and data centers. Other elements at both sites are shovel ready and could come together by the end of the year. The Carpenters contend they have a dozen letters of intent for tenants and developers at both sites and many more on the way. The company hosted more than100 people at public exhibitions both on site and at the recent South and Southwest festival.

After all these years, Carpenter said the perception has changed. It was tougher to sell the ideas a decade ago, but with the area's growth and innovation - largely buoyed by Elon Musk's Tesla Inc., The Boring Co. and Space Exploration Technologies Corp. campuses nearby - they're no longer viewed as pipe dreams. Companies, investors and government officials are listening, he said.

"My goal is to change the world through real estate development, and these will singlehandedly be the most-profitable and eco-friendly city and airport that has ever been built in the history of humanity," Carpenter said.

There's no doubt that's a lofty declaration. But even if a small portion of it comes to fruition, it will transform what many view as the metro's last untouched frontier. in addition to an airport, there could potentially be thousands of jobs, millions in tax revenue and amenities unlike anything else in the region - or maybe the world.

"I think you have to be a little crazy to be a real estate developer to begin with," said Pete Dwyer, president of Austin-based Dwyer Realty Cos. Inc., which has been active on the east side of Austin. "I think time heals all kinds of things and they've been out there at it for a long time, ... With all of the Musk companies moving out to Bastrop and Manor and Bastrop, so that's going to be a node if Carpenter gets it all going."

However, others don't see the potential utopia Carpenter envisions. Years ago, the airport project was the first in a wave of possible development that neighbors deemed incongruous in an area that prides itself on scenic views and a well-kept stretch of the river. While they've long expected growth to come their way, they're aiming for more input to help devise plans that satisfy longtime residents and developers alike.

Carl Altman-Kaough has lived for more than three decades on four acres upstream between the Greenport and Emerald Island sites. 

This article originally appeared in the Austin Business Journal.