Wildflowers grow along the banks of the Colorado River just off Hergotz Lane ion May 27, 2026. Highway 183 is seen in the background. The Dog's Head development is proposed along this stretch of the river. BRIAN DIGGS FOR AUSTIN CURRENT
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The City of Austin and local developers made their case for Dog’s Head on Wednesday, urging Travis County Commissioners to financially support the 2,600-acre development planned for Southeast Austin even as major questions remain about what the project will actually entail.

Endeavor Real Estate Group,and city staff are seeking approval for a Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone, or TIRZ, that would allow the project to finance infrastructure using future property tax revenue. If approved by both the city and county, the deal could generate up to $2.2 billion in public subsidies over 35 years.

But after nearly an hour of pointed questions, commissioners couldn’t get the answer they wanted to a big question: Exactly what will be built on that land?

“What that actually looks like right now is to be determined,” said Kimberly Olivares, director of financial services for the City of Austin. “The market, the community needs and feedback from various folks will help determine what actually happens on the site.”

Dog’s Head is a mixed-use development planned for Southeast Austin. The project, headed by Endeavor, could bring housing, business and industry to property once largely used for mining.

Endeavor has kept its plans close to the vest, but more details trickled out during the commissioners meeting.

The site could have 12,000 homes, the city said. But developers clarified that was just a projection based on market conditions and what the land could support.

At least 20% of homes on the site would have to be affordable housing. Endeavor is responsible for 10% of that. The city, Endeavor and others would have to kick in the other 10%.

Dog’s Head would help ease the area’s food desert problem by attracting more business to the area, Olivares said.

“Are you going to build an H-E-B?” Commissioner George Morales asked. “I mean, I want to know.”

“With a development of this size, anchor tenants, such as grocers, would be a given,” she said.

The proposed development boundaries. COURTESY OF THE CITY OF AUSTIN

Dog’s Head — bounded by the Colorado River, US 183 and SH 130 — has been mired in controversy since late May, when the City of Austin annexed the property and signed off on a development agreement that allows the company to build almost anything. That includes housing, outdoor entertainment, schools, recycling facilities, warehouses and salvage yards.

The city did not notify Dog’s Head neighbors before the annexation. By law, it did not have to. But since the project went public, nearby residents and environmental groups have objected to the fact that they did not learn about it sooner.

City leaders publicly support the project, saying they need the tax money that could be generated from Dog’s Head. State limits on property taxes and the loss of federal COVID money has strained Austin’s budget and annexing more property is one way to bolster the city coffers.

Dog’s Head could bring in more than $3.5 billion in city taxes over the next 30 years, according to the city manager’s office. A TIRZ would direct half of the county’s share — an estimated $650 million — back into the development’s infrastructure.

At 2,600 acres, the proposed mixed-use development will be almost nine times bigger than the 300-acre Domain, a mixed-used development in North Austin. It’s nearly four times larger than the 700-acre Mueller mixed-used community in Central East Austin. Austin officials have referred to Dog’s Head as the size of a little city.

Environmentalists and neighbors on Wednesday showed up at the county meeting to urge Travis County Commissioners to refuse to subsidize the project. Daniel Loe, who lives near Dog’s Head, raised concerns Endeavor has not ruled out data centers for the site.

“I don’t want my tax money funding a data center,” Loe said.

Commissioner Brigid Shea, a longtime environmentalist, challenged Endeavor’s comments that Dog’s Head is largely not in a floodplain, as shown in FEMA maps. The company says FEMA maps are incorrect and they are working to change them. Shea said the issue “would have to be addressed in any contract” if the county were to proceed.

Shea also pushed Endeavor lawyer Richard Suttle to name the company they hope to lure to Dog’s Head.

Suttle said he could not. It’s an advanced manufacturing facility. It’s not Tesla, he said. It’s not a data center.

“Is it SpaceX?” Shea asked.

“It is not SpaceX,” Suttle answered

“Ruling that out,” Shea said. “Good.”

Commissioners are expected to take up the tax zone issue again in July. Suttle said Endeavor is moving through the process quickly because it wants to secure the Fortune 100 company, which will take up 300 acres of the site. When asked if they could find another large tenant that might be more willing to work with the community, Suttle expressed concern that running this one off could have a chilling effect on future prospects’ willingness to do business with Austin.

“It doesn’t seem to have affected it so far,” Shea said, laughing. “That’s been the big argument that all these environmental regulations are going to cause no growth in the community, and we’ve failed clearly at that.”

Andrea Ball is Austin Current's growth/development reporter. Before joining Austin Current, Ball worked as an investigative reporter for the Austin American-Statesman, USA Today and the Houston Chronicle.