A first-of-its-kind international marketplace is set to transform a massive mixed-used development on the rise in Central Texas. This vision for a modern, Koreatown-like shopping experience is poised to become a retail hub for a growing Asian population in north Austin suburbs.
Developed in partnership with Partners Real Estate, the Market District at Northline will be a retail and dining destination that aims to bring a diverse range of retailers, restaurants and shops to Leander, a city about 27 miles north of Austin. Founder and Developer of Northline Leander Development Company Alex Tynberg told MySA that the concept to recruit Asian businesses for the Market came after seeing the huge population growth in Williamson County from Samsung's $17 billion chip plant.
"Really this was precipitated by the the Samsung plant that was developed in Taylor and all of the associated business that comes with a facility like that, and the interest specifically initiated from the South Korean market," Tynberg said. "We had been approached a number of years ago from the Williamson County Economic Development Partnership, because there was a Korean hotel brand that was interested in developing a hotel in Williamson County, and Northline became a targeted location for that."
Although that hotel project was put on hold, Tynberg explained that the interest created a relationship between Northline and the Williamson County EDP to create something that could cater to the area's growing demographics in the future. Over the past decade, Williamson County's Asian population has surged from an estimated 35,000 residents in 2015 to approximately 106,900 residents by 2025, according to U.S. Census data.
"It's where the majority of the Korean residents live, in that sort of Leander-Cedar Park-North Austin corridor [that] is the epicenter of Korean life," Tynberg said. "There wasn't a whole lot of opportunity to do something like this in North Austin or Cedar Park because it was relatively built out, and Northline was what she [the Korean representative from the Williamson County EDP] felt would be the logical place for this.”
The Market District will add 30,000 square feet of new retail space to the Northline project, which is a 116-acre mixed-use project that will become Leander's new downtown. Partners Real Estate is leading the development of the marketplace's first phase, which is targeted to open in the first quarter of 2028, according to partner Bryan McMurrey.
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McMurrey helped develop Austin's first and only Asian shopping center, the Crescent, which he explained will be different than what's coming to Northline.
"We took it to our folks in the development arm and said, okay, let's try to recreate what was generally done at Airport in North Lamar at the Crescent, and it's a little bit smaller scale," McMurrey said. "We don't have an Asian grocery anchor, but I think there's enough momentum for us to put some really cool food and beverage on the end caps of our buildings."
The Market District at Northline’s two buildings will sit west of The Shops at Northline, a separate retail center anchored by Sprouts Farmers Market that is set to open later this year. McMurrey noted that while the targeted tenant mix will lean toward Asian businesses, The Market District at Northline will remain open to a variety of creative concepts that share the spirit of the project.
"It's something that's different from anything else that they can find in Austin to where they can go there, spend a couple hours, get something great to eat, shop, buy some retail items that they probably couldn't get anywhere else," McMurrey said.
Tynberg agreed saying he hopes this project will ultimately bring a "unique shopping experience" to residents and tourists alike.
"The overall project [Northline] is a live-work-play environment," Tynberg added. "It's going to be very, very unique to this area of Central Texas because you really don't have something like this in the suburbs at this time, and you know we have the group [Endeavor Real Estate] that developed the Domain [in Austin], as a key partner here."
Sep 24, 2026
Cristela Jones is an Austin-based reporter covering all things retail, commercial, real estate and shopping in the state’s capital city. A proud Longhorn, Cristela holds an M.A. in journalism from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in electronic media from Texas State University. Her work has appeared in Bloomberg News, NPR's Next Generation Radio, KUT y más.
Cristela was born in San Antonio, Texas, is a member of the Bey Hive and loves to binge Grey's Anatomy in her spare time.