Austin eco-development Whisper Valley bets big on sustainable suburbs

In booming Austin, Texas—a red-hot real estate market primed by tech-sector-startup money and a staggering 159 new arrivals daily in 2016—the quickly coalescing mega-development of Whisper Valley seems perfectly normal.

A Texas-sized tract of land east of downtown has broken ground, with a handful of finished model homes foreshadowing a massive planned community, now on sale and set to open later this year. When it’s completed, it will will encompass more than 7,500 single and multi-family homes and more than two million square feet of commercial space.