- Samsung has allegedly filed tax incentive applications to expand its foothold in Central Texas.
- If the applications are correct, Samsung will invest another $192 billion building additional factories in Central Texas.
- This further highlights the need for more dense housing in the area.
First I want to apologize for not writing an article last week. I was on vacation with my family and then got sick and just was not able to get one out. I can’t imagine the disappointment to our dozens of readers.
But we are back with a vengeance this week. And while I was gone, it seems like Central Texas potentially got some good news. As we all know, this area has been extremely hot. Lots of companies, people, and jobs have moved here in the last few years. But, as I wrote a couple of weeks ago, its possible we are seeing the beginnings of a recession coming across the country. And it was unclear how that would affect Central Texas.
Well thanks to some investigative reporting in town, it looks like Samsung may help insulate Central Texas from a recession. It appears to have some big plans for the area. And that’s what we talk about this week.
Samsung May Expand Beyond Chip Plant
I have written a few times in this blog about Samsung’s plans for a chip plant in Taylor. It was investing approximately $17 billion to build a large plant that will employ upwards of 1800 people. I have not been out there to see, but it has apparently broken ground and begun construction on the plant.
Well now, according to some tax incentive applications that it has filed, Samsung may be interested in building a lot more than that. According to the applications, it would look to not only expand its Taylor campus but also additional sites throughout Central Texas.
All told, Samsung is potentially looking to invest up to an additional $192 billion. This could bring up to 10,000 additional jobs – between its Taylor campus and at an existing manufacturing campus it has in North Austin. It would include the construction of eleven fabrication plants in the coming decades, with the first scheduled to be completed in 2034.
It appears, therefore, that Samsung is planning a long-term, major investment in Central Texas. And, as always, that is good news for the area. Because not only does Samsung bring jobs, but of course, there are suppliers and vendors that bring jobs to the area also.
Where is Everyone Going to Live?
And while this is undeniably very good news for Central Texas, it raises the same question we have been grappling with for years now – where is everyone going to live? These plans highlight the drastic need for more housing. And with Samsung building in Taylor, that is only going to expand the Central Texas footprint out that way. As a result, not only do we need much more housing in Austin, we will need it in Pflugerville and Hutto and Elgin and Taylor.
So this is another call for our City Council and for the County Commissioners to create the right conditions where developers can build. We need more housing. The best way to do that is through increased density. To do that, we need (to name a few things):
- smaller minimum lot sizes;
- more duplexes, triplexes, etc.;
- less restrictive compatibility requirements;
- fewer minimum parking requirements; and
- more streamlined and less expensive permitting.
Regardless of whether some folks want it to happen, people are coming to Central Texas. And that is not going to stop any time soon. I mean – it’s a great place to live and work. So we better be prepared and ready to meet the needs of a lot more people in this area. And to do that, we need to start now.
