That line on the map just won’t sit still
Back in June I wrote about how new roads distort the land market. Once a major road is under discussion, landowners nearby often decide their property should be priced as if the road is already built. And once a route is published, it can get worse.
Never mind that it isn’t there yet.
Or that the “route” is just a line on a map, not an actual plan.
Or that construction might be decades away.
It takes years for these things to get decided, funded, and built. And any time along the way, the path can shift. Until the asphalt is down, nobody knows for sure where it will go.
And you never know, til you know.
If it sounds like I’m speaking from experience, I am. Not just from the past, but from Monday morning.
A client of mine bought a small tract near the published route of the Collin County Outer Loop a couple of years back. After the maps came out, development sprang up right where that line had been drawn.
So we expected an adjustment.
The logical spot was right next to his property, along a transmission line. The gap between the line and the neighborhood was almost the exact width of the needed right-of-way. It looked planned that way.
When the new maps came out? Bingo. Four options, all right by my client’s tract. Suddenly, what had been a nice property in a fast-growing area was also a potential freeway corner.
But not so fast.
Whenever routes are announced, there’s a comment and review period. Usually it’s a formality — they collect feedback and do what they intended anyway. But this time was different.
The new preferred route released Monday was shifted to avoid a neighborhood. Not sure who lives there, but somebody had some pull.
For my client, that meant the road ended up on the opposite side of the property. Disappointing, sure.
But he hadn’t bought it at a “future freeway corner” price. It was a good deal then, and it still is now.
And remember, this new route isn’t final either. There’s another round of comments and more chances for change.
And guess who will be one of the commenters?
Like I said — you never really know.
But uncertainty doesn’t mean you can avoid making decisions.
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