Ames Design Build Brings Luxury Development to Bee Cave

Bee Cave is a hive of activity for luxury residential development.

Ames Design Build is developing 110 homesites on a 140-acre canyon in the wealthy suburb of Austin, the Austin Business Journal reported. The lots cost about $400,000, and the homes cost $3 million to $6 million.

Ames Design Build is owned by Brett Ames, founder of Inspire Development, which is building a $2 million mixed use development called Pearson Ranch, in Williamson County.

The Bee Cave development, called Madrone Canyon, includes custom and spec homes, the outlet said. Most of the homes will span 4,500 to 6,500 square feet, and some will be more than 7,000 square feet. Four have already been built, and more are under construction.

Ames Design Build, Sendero Homes and Eppright Homes are building in Madrone Canyon. Ames has 45 lots, Sendero has 33, and Eppright has 32.

The location is south of State Highway 71, near Sweetwater Village Road. Construction on streets leading to the development, which is described as a gated community on Google Maps, started in 2021 and wrapped up in April.

Bee Caves has some of the wealthiest communities in the Austin metro area. The zip code where Madrone Canyon is located, 78669, is the 18th wealthiest in the Austin area. Its median household income is over $110,000, and the median home value is over $460,000, the outlet reported.

The Austin metro was the second-largest luxury real estate market in Texas after Dallas-Fort Worth last year. More than 3,500 homes were sold for $1 million or more in the Austin area, according to Texas Realtors. The median home sale price was over $492,000 in September, according to Realtor.com.

A few other luxury home developments are underway in the Austin area. Unicus Developments is building Five, a 5.5-acre development with five homes starting at $12.5 million, at 3605 Stoneridge Road, near West Lake Hills. Cascade Homes and Urbane Roost are developing eight homes priced $1.6 to $1.9 million in Austin’s Brentwood neighborhood.