Disney and Central Texas Land
UPDATE APRIL 2026 | SOLANA RANCH, DISNEY RUMORS, AND WHAT’S ACTUALLY MOVING
The rumor mill loves a costume. The filings do not. Here is the clean version: Solana Ranch is real, large, and still moving through the boring-but-important machinery that turns ranch land into a town. Texas created Solana Ranch Municipal Utility District No. 1 in 2023. The bill sets the initial district at 7,088.47 acres, requires municipal consent, and requires a confirmation election before the district can fully do its tax-and-bond heavy lifting.
Since the earlier Beck-Reit updates, the action has stayed mostly in utilities and entitlements, not rooftops. Solana Ranch filed to decertify part of Georgetown’s water service area in March 2024, supplemented that filing through late 2024, and the Public Utility Commission docket shows additional movement in January, March, April, and July 2025. Translation: this project is still in infrastructure mode, but it is not dead paper gathering dust in a courthouse drawer.
Now for the mouse ears. The Disney connection is real in one sense and still rumor in the Texas sense. Disney publicly says it is collaborating with developers on Storyliving by Disney communities, and Disney’s 2025 annual report names Cotino in California and Asteria in North Carolina. DMB’s current portfolio also features Cotino and Asteria. None of Disney’s current public disclosures name a Texas Solana project. So the disciplined takeaway is not “Disney is building in Salado.” It is this: Solana Ranch remains a serious long-horizon master-planned community story near Salado and Jarrell, and serious land stories eventually show up in commercial real estate.
Public reporting around Solana Ranch has consistently framed the project in the range of roughly 12,000 to 14,000 homes, with a long-term population impact of roughly 40,000 to 50,000 people. That scale is why nearby owners, tenants, and investors keep watching it like a hawk on a fencepost.
WHAT IF GAME
IF DISNEY IS INVOLVED AND SOLANA RANCH REALLY BECOMES A 14,000-HOME CITY
Let’s play straight. Disney is not publicly confirmed here. But if the rumor proves true and a 14,000-home, 50,000-person community gets built, we are not talking about one more subdivision. We are talking about a city-scale development node on the I-35 corridor. For perspective, Jarrell’s 2024 population estimate was 5,151, while Georgetown has now surpassed 100,000. A 50,000-resident Solana Ranch would be nearly 10 times Jarrell’s current size and roughly half of present-day Georgetown. That is not a side note. That is a regional reshuffling.
To pull off a project that big, the glamour comes last and the plumbing comes first: water, wastewater, drainage, roads, utility capacity, school expansion, municipal consents, MUD elections, bond financing, builders, retail pads, fire/EMS coverage, and years of phased absorption. HB 5367 itself exists because projects at this scale need special-district tools for roads, drainage, and utilities. No fairy dust. Just infrastructure, debt markets, and bulldozers.
Texas already gives us a good comp for how these giant places behave over time: Sun City Texas in Georgetown. It opened in 1996 with 522 homes and 940 residents. By 2021, it had grown to 8,488 homes and 15,700 residents, and Del Webb is still marketing new construction there in 2026. That is the lesson: Texas mega-communities are marathons, not microwave burritos. They change trade areas years before full build-out ever shows up in the brochure.
Beck-Reit’s 3-year view:
If Solana Ranch is real and moving, the next three years are about site prep, utility fights, road packages, land planning, first builder signals, and early service demand. The first commercial winners are usually not luxury brands. They are contractors, trades, equipment users, home-service companies, suppliers, and practical flex tenants. That matters because On Target Business Park is exactly the kind of right-size office/warehouse product that growth corridors absorb early: functional space, visibility, truck access, and room for businesses that actually build and service a boom.
Beck-Reit’s 5-year view:
If execution is real, this is when you start seeing the first meaningful rooftops, daily traffic, school pressure, fuel stations, quick-service food, medical, childcare, churches, home services, and neighborhood retail. This is also where flex space, service industrial, and small office/warehouse stop looking “early” and start looking smart. Big residential growth does not just create rooftops. It creates repair people, delivery vans, maintenance fleets, tutors, medical users, and every other business that follows households around like ducks follow water.
Beck-Reit’s 10-year view:
If the full program is truly underway, the corridor likely feels different in both your windshield and your rent roll. More rooftops. More workforce. More service demand. More traffic counts. More land value pressure. More reasons for small and midsize businesses to want access near I-35 without Austin pricing. At that point, the usual winners are the folks who controlled usable commercial land and flexible product before the crowd got religion.
And if Solana Ranch ever gets anywhere close to full build-out, the region gets more than houses. It gets a new consumer base, a bigger labor shed, more school demand, more local-service demand, more trades, more healthcare, more food, more supply runs, more maintenance fleets, and more daily traffic. For Salado commercial real estate, that is the whole ballgame. For On Target Business Park, it is even more specific: these growth corridors feed the exact kind of office/warehouse, service, contractor, maker, and small-distribution tenants that keep practical commercial property full and valuable.
UPDATE NOVEMBER 2024
• Voting on the MUD:
In Williamson County, local officials (such as County Judge Bill Gravell) reported that their commissioners backed the creation of the district.
In Bell County, however, news reports indicate that while county officials (for example, County Judge David Blackburn) have been in discussions and expressed confidence in the project, a formal county vote on the MUD has not yet taken place.
• Fundraising and Bond Issuance:
No public records or news updates to date show that the district has already raised funds or issued bonds. The district’s creation (through House Bill 5367) is intended to provide the financing tool (via the ability to issue bonds and levy taxes on property within its boundaries) needed to pay for future infrastructure (such as sewer, stormwater, and utility improvements). The process appears to be in its early stages—the enabling legislation has passed the Texas Legislature and awaits the Governor’s signature, and then local (municipal and county) consent must be obtained.
• Local Context:
Public discussion around Solana Ranch (spanning over 7,000 acres in Bell and Williamson counties) suggests that the MUD is part of a larger master-planned community effort. In Williamson County, officials have moved ahead with plans (including granting rights-of‑way and agreeing on service funding); in Bell County (where Salado is located), the process is still unfolding, with local commissioners in the early review stages and no definitive vote on record.
At this point, public records and local news confirm that while Williamson County has already expressed support for the district, Bell County’s formal vote on the Solana MUD has not yet been completed. Similarly, there’s no evidence that the district has begun raising funds or issuing bonds—these steps are intended for later stages once all approvals (including the Governor’s signature and municipal consents) are in place.
UPDATE June 2023
“The Texas House of Representatives and Senate passed a proposal last month to create Solana Municipal Utility District No. 1. If Gov. Greg Abbott signs off on the taxing district, it could be used to finance infrastructure like sewer, stormwater and utilities.
Williamson County commissioners unanimously approved the project in April. There were rumors of a Walt Disney theme park tied to the development, and although Williamson County Judge Bill Gravell shot down those rumors, Disney and DMB have collaborated on projects in the past.
Herrington estimates that the Solana Ranch project could amount to a roughly $2 billion investment. The community is expected to have a wide range of housing types, sizes and price points. The development is also slated for shopping, dining, offices, entertainment, recreational facilities, schools, churches and a vast network of trails.
The firm aims to complete construction by late 2026, Herrington told the outlet. Eventually, the site could house between 40,000 and 50,000 people, which would mark a huge population spike in the area. In 2021, Jarrell had a population of just over 2,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Salado, a town that also overlaps with Solana Ranch, had a slightly higher population in 2021” Read full HERE story on The Real Deal by Quinn Donoghue June 5, 2023
JUNE 11 - Texas Governor Approves
Yes, the Solana Ranch Municipal Utility District (MUD) No. 1 was approved by the Texas Legislature and became effective on June 11, 2023. The bill creating the district, House Bill 5367, was filed without the governor's signature, which is a procedural action that allows a bill to become law without explicit approval. Consequently, the district was established on that date.
Since the establishment of the Solana Ranch Municipal Utility District (MUD) No. 1 in June 2023, the following developments have occurred:
Land Acquisition
DMB Development's Purchase: DMB Development LLC is finalizing the acquisition of approximately 7,088 acres of the 9,000-acre Solana Ranch. This land is designated for the creation of a master-planned community, often referred to as a "new town," which is projected to include 12,000 to 14,000 homes along with amenities such as shopping, dining, offices, entertainment, recreational facilities, schools, and churches. The project is estimated to represent an investment of around $2 billion, with construction anticipated to commence by late 2026.
Infrastructure Financing
Municipal Utility District (MUD) Approval: The Texas Legislature approved the creation of the Solana Ranch MUD No. 1, granting it the authority to issue bonds and levy property taxes to finance essential infrastructure such as water, wastewater, drainage, and roads. This approval is a critical step in facilitating the large-scale development planned for the area.
Development Plans
Community Features: The proposed development aims to incorporate various elements typical of a traditional Texas town. It is planned to be built out in a series of villages, potentially accommodating up to 50,000 residents, making it one of the largest population centers in Williamson County.
Project Timeline
Construction Schedule: Preparatory work for the sprawling site is expected to take several years, with the goal of opening the community in late 2026.
These developments indicate significant progress in the Solana Ranch project, with land acquisition completed and infrastructure financing mechanisms in place, paving the way for the commencement of construction activities.
Update APRIL 2023
Arizona-based development firm, DMB Development LLC, aims to transform more than 7,000 acres near Jarrell, north of Austin in Bell and Williamson counties, into what he's calling a "new town" with 14,000 homes. The Land purchase is expected to close by June 2023.
They vision Solana Ranch with many elements of a traditional Texas town, with a wide range of housing types, sizes and price points, along with shopping, dining, offices, entertainment, recreational facilities, schools and churches. There will also be a robust network of paths and trails for walkers or bikers. The community will be built out in a series of villages.
It will take several years to prepare the sprawling site for development & the aim is to open the community in late 2026. Full buildout would take several years beyond that — at which point, the community could reach a population of 40,000 to 50,000, the chief executive said. That would be a significant population center in its own right for Williamson County. For context, the population in Leander to the southwest of the ranch surpassed 67,000 in 2021, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates. The land development costs alone are estimated well over a billion dollars and likely closer to $2 billion."
Is Disney involved, are they the purchaser of the Texas Ranch? “There’s been no commitment from DMB, Disney, or the Michaux family for Disney to be involved in the Solana Ranch project,” per DMB. Beck-Reit sources and friends doing commercial real estate and land sales hold strong it is indeed Disney.
January 2022
Disney has been buying up land around Jarrell, Texas for years now. Disney usually buys land secretly, which allows them to buy land without suspicion and at low prices. The latest rumor is Disney bought 9,000 acres between Solado and Jarrell -Solana Ranch. A 9,000-acre cattle and wildlife ranch along the I-35 corridor between Georgetown and Temple. The Michaux family has owned Solana Ranch for more than half a century.
What is Disney planning on building on all the land they’ve purchased? The top three guesses we’ve heard around town are a new Disney theme park, a film production studio, or a Disney office. Want to know what they are really going to build? Call us to find out. We’ve got the insider scoop.
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