LEANDER, Texas (Austin Business Journal) — Over the last few years, those boarding and exiting the only rail stop outside Austin's city limits have been greeted by a sight familiar to the suburbs: chain-link fencing, construction crews and large swaths of dirt and grass being transformed into housing and businesses.
Around the Leander train stop, a transit-oriented hub is taking shape. It's already home to campuses for Austin Community College and St. David's HealthCare, the latter of which is growing. Then there's the future 116-acre Northline mixed-use development, which will be filled with commercial, residential and office space. It's all flanked by apartments and new subdivisions.
But over the next decade, once the construction crews are replaced by tenants and patrons, one big thing might be missing: the train itself.