Instead of Taking Millions for Their Land, Texas Family Makes a Park Instead

[Michie]

A rare win for conservation was just scored in the fast-developing Travis County, Texas, where 30 minutes from Austin’s busy tech sector, music venues, and barbeque spots, a historic family ranch has just been converted into a public park.

It wasn’t just converted, it was voluntarily sold by the family who owned it—at $40 million less than what developers were offering to turn the partially forested Hill Country remnant close to Hamilton Pool Preserve into a series of apartment complexes and shopping malls.

Known as RGK Ranch, this 1,507-acre cattle ranch was owned by the Kozmetsky family for three generations. Its recently deceased owner, George Kozmetsky, made a fortune with a company called Teledyne, and invested a lot of money, entrepreneurially and philanthropically, in Austin and Travis County.

Continued below.

Instead of Taking Millions for Their Land, Texas Family Makes a Park Instead

It wasn't just converted to a park, it was voluntarily sold by the family who owned it—at $40 million less than what developers were offering

www.goodnewsnetwork.org

 

[AlexB23]

A rare win for conservation was just scored in the fast-developing Travis County, Texas, where 30 minutes from Austin’s busy tech sector, music venues, and barbeque spots, a historic family ranch has just been converted into a public park.

It wasn’t just converted, it was voluntarily sold by the family who owned it—at $40 million less than what developers were offering to turn the partially forested Hill Country remnant close to Hamilton Pool Preserve into a series of apartment complexes and shopping malls.

Known as RGK Ranch, this 1,507-acre cattle ranch was owned by the Kozmetsky family for three generations. Its recently deceased owner, George Kozmetsky, made a fortune with a company called Teledyne, and invested a lot of money, entrepreneurially and philanthropically, in Austin and Travis County.

Continued below.

Instead of Taking Millions for Their Land, Texas Family Makes a Park Instead

It wasn't just converted to a park, it was voluntarily sold by the family who owned it—at $40 million less than what developers were offering

www.goodnewsnetwork.org

God bless the family who converted this land into a public park. Parks are important for health, and are much more productive use of land instead of malls and expensive apartments.