Real Estate Photographer in Liberty Hill, TX

Construction is scheduled to commence in the fall of 2025

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As Collin County experiences rapid growth, its northern cities are witnessing a significant influx of new residents. This population boom is driving increased demand for housing, businesses and public services, transforming once-quiet communities into thriving urban centers.

Enter Liberty Hills — an exciting new development announced by the Anna Economic Development Corporation (EDC). This master-planned community is set to bring a mix of residential and commercial development to northern Collin County.

Why This Matters

Located about 20 miles south of Sherman and 40 miles north of Dallas, Anna has experienced a surge of new residents. With rapid growth on both sides, the town's population is expected to double from 20,000 in 2021 to 45,000 by 2030, as previously reported by Local Profile.

To accommodate this growth, the city is enhancing its infrastructure with improvements to roadways and sewers, ensuring support for ongoing development. The permit process has also been streamlined, reducing approval times from weeks to days, making it easier for developers to build — and they are building.

What To Expect From Liberty Hills

Spanning 1,035 acres along U.S. Highway 75 at Anna's northern edge, Liberty Hills is set to become one of the city's largest and most comprehensive mixed-use developments. Offering a diverse selection of home sizes and designs, an array of amenities that embrace the area's natural beauty and future retail opportunities, the community aims to set a new benchmark for urban planning.

“Anna’s Liberty Hills master-planned community will be monumental for our city, the fourth fastest-growing in the nation, as well as the surrounding region,” said Bernie Parker, director of economic development for the Anna EDC, in an official statement. “Our priority remains on expanding Anna’s diverse housing footprint to accommodate for growth, and also on offering a city with an outstanding lifestyle where neighbors can feel a deep sense of community pride.”

The first phase of Liberty Hills will cover 74 acres on the eastern portion of the site, featuring 269 residential lots starting at $500,000. These homes will feature luxury design elements such as high ceilings, expansive windows for abundant natural light, steep roof pitches and integrated smart home technology. Ranging in size from 1,800 to 4,000 square feet, these homes will be available on lots spanning 40 to 70 feet, with over 80 distinct floor plans. At full buildout, Liberty Hills will comprise 1,800 residential lots.

Prominent builders for phase one include Grand Homes, Perry Homes, Shaddock Homes and William Ryan Homes. Veritas Communities, the project’s principal developer, will oversee the remaining acreage and introduce additional homebuilders in future phases.

Construction is scheduled to commence in fall 2025, with the first wave of homebuyers expected to move in by 2027.

Investment in Infrastructure and Future Expansion

In collaboration with the city of Anna, Veritas Communities will invest $50 million in infrastructure improvements. A key aspect of this initiative includes the construction of an east-west thoroughfare over U.S. Highway 75 via Mantua Parkway and Standridge Boulevard, ensuring seamless connectivity for Liberty Hills residents.

“The beauty of the land captivated us from the start, and we’re focused on maintaining much of the original topography to give future residents an elevated and scenic community to call home,” said Teague Griffin, Liberty Hills’ commercial property landowner and partner at Old Prosper Partners. “Conveniently located 45 minutes from downtown Dallas and just south of Grayson County’s growing tech hub, Anna is booming with opportunity, and we’re excited to make our mark with our first mixed-use development project in the community.”

Future phases of Liberty Hills will incorporate high-end multifamily housing and a vibrant commercial district featuring a curated mix of national retailers, popular dining establishments, sports centers and other attractions.

Other Developments In The Works

Liberty Hills won’t be Anna’s only new development. As Local Profile previously reported, Proper-based Tellus Group acquired 970 acres in the city to launch the $1.5 billion Sherley Farms project. The land purchase was finalized in late December 2024, marking the first phase of this ambitious development.

The Sherley Farms community, located just east of Highway 5, will feature 3,000 homes, expansive green spaces, a 65-acre working organic farm as a central highlight and trails that connect the development to downtown Anna and other local amenities.

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Liberty Hill ISD explores option of moving to 4-day school week

The district says it is still in the process of collecting feedback and looking into childcare, staffing, and transportation

The Brief

LIBERTY HILL, Texas - Liberty Hill ISD is exploring the option of moving to a four-day school week for the 2025-26 school year.

The district says this allows more staff development days in the school year.

Breakdown of Calendar A and Calendar B

The backstory:

A Liberty Hill ISD school board meeting held in December laid out options for a four-day school week, using Calendar A and Calendar B.

A survey on the calendars was sent out to parents and staff and more than 2,400 community members responded.

"We sent out 2 calendar options. One was Calendar A, the other was Calendar B. Both of them meet the minimum structure requirements of 75,600 minutes and 187 teacher and campus days," says Liberty Hill ISD Chief of Schools Travis Motal.

According to the district, Calendar B has three fewer days than Calendar A.

Calendar B also has 16 staff development days, nearly double the amount of Calendar A.

Those staff development days in Calendar B fall on Mondays, meaning students would be out of school.

"Calendar A 67%, strongly agree. Calendar B 57 % agree, strongly agree," says Motal.

Breakdown of Calendar B Plus and Calendar C

The backstory:

After the December meeting and receiving feedback, the district went back to the drawing board and created new calendars, presenting those at a board meeting held this month.

"We created a Calendar B Plus option. It is really the Calendar B that y’all saw earlier except it moves all the Mondays to Fridays. We went ahead and created a Calendar C option which is more of what people kind of originally thought the calendar would look like, which is more of a true four-day week from the beginning of the school year all the way to the end," says Motal.

In the new Calendar B Plus option, staff development days would be moved to Fridays instead of Mondays.

Calendar C would have no early release days and may require adding up to 20 minutes to the school day.

What's next:

The district says it is still in the process of collecting feedback and looking into childcare, staffing, and transportation.

A decision is expected to be made by February 18 after the calendars are reviewed by the Liberty Hill District Educational Improvement Committee.

The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Tan Radford

The outlook for water in Texas is looking a bit … dry. The state will face a long-term water deficit if it fails to develop new supplies and gets hit by another multi-year drought, according to a new report.

The report also suggests that a prolonged, severe drought, like that of the 1950s or 2011, could cost the state's economy hundreds of billions of dollars.

Texas 2036, a non-profit, public policy organization, commissioned the report to explore the possible consequences of under-investment in the state’s water infrastructure.

That potential large loss of money is because industries such as agriculture, manufacturing and energy production heavily rely upon water availability, said Jeremy Mazur, director of infrastructure and natural resources policy at Texas 2036.

“If we don’t have reliable water infrastructure, then we likely cannot have the continuation of the Texas economic miracle,” he said. “But one of the more alarming findings was that if we don’t have enough reliable water supplies and have a long, severe drought, then the reliability of our state’s electric grid could come into question.”

For those reasons, Mazur said Texas 2036 has chosen water infrastructure as one its main areas of focus for this year’s legislative session. He said he plans to work with state lawmakers to help fund improvements to the state’s more than 10,000 drinking water and wastewater systems.

The organization estimates $154 billion will need to be spent on the state’s water infrastructure over the next 50 years.

That includes $59 billion for new water supplies, nearly $74 billion for drinking water upgrades and over $21 billion to fix wastewater systems.

To help finance those investments, Mazur is recommending state lawmakers establish a dedicated, lasting revenue stream for water infrastructure similar to what is currently done for parks and state highways.

“We already have dedicated consistent, reliable funding for state roads and highways coming from our sales tax and severance tax,” he said. “We think that the legislature should consider adopting a similar funding strategy for our water infrastructure.”

Specifically, Mazur is recommending that the legislature consider approving a $1 billion per year funding dedication to the recently created Texas Water Fund.

“We can begin to work on two things: first, expanding the water supply portfolio that we need for a growing and drought prone state,” he said. “But second, to fix the problems attributable to aging and deteriorating drinking water and wastewater systems.”

Sarah Kirkle, the Texas Water Association’s director of policy and legislative affairs, said her organization has similar priorities heading into this year’s legislative session.

Like Mazur, Kirkle said she hopes to work with state lawmakers to create a dedicated revenue source for the Texas Water Fund and Flood Infrastructure Fund.

“I think that’s really going to help set up our state to meet the challenges that we’re facing with water infrastructure, especially as it relates to population growth and extreme weather and economic development needs that we’re seeing in our growing state,” she said.

Mazur said it’s also important that lawmakers act now.

“In addition to these economic losses, if we don’t start investing in our water infrastructure now, the costs for fixing these issues are just going to go up over time,” he said.

“So the dollar that we don’t spend today will be $10 that we’re going to need to spend in 10 years from now … It’s the financially prudent thing to do to make these investments now, or otherwise we’re going to cost future taxpayers more dollars down the road.”

State Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R-Lakeway) told KUT that water is a “hot topic” in her district, which encompasses part of Travis County, as well as Blanco, Burnet, Gillespie and Kendall counties.

“Water is a major issue in my district, not only because we have high growth areas outside of Austin,” she said. “But also because in the rural areas of my district, we have so much agriculture.”

Troxclair recently filed House Bill 1344, which seeks to prioritize state water infrastructure funds for cities in high growth areas.

She pointed to Lago Vista as an example of a city that could benefit from this type of legislation.

“They (Lago Vista) are having issues keeping up with their infrastructure demands. They’re a small city, but because of their location right outside of Austin, they are growing rapidly,” she said. “House Bill 1344 just gives them a little bit [of] extra consideration from the Texas Water Development Board.”

Troxclair said she’s reminded of these issues every time she drives by Lake Travis, which, like Lago Vista, is also located in her district.

“That’s drinking water for a lot of Central Texans. And every time you drive by, it is a reminder that, you know, it’s a finite resource,” she said. “So (water) is a high priority for me this session.”