"This auction is part of an ongoing series of sales in which we take the profit from the land sales and reinvest it for the Permanent School Fund," says Jeff Boudreau, land development manager for the Texas General Land Office, which manages the land and isfacilitating the sale. "This is a fairly substantial sale in terms of dollar value and size."

Boudreau says the land is best suited for single-family and multifamily development although some acreage could hold commercial development. "We expect there to be considerable interest in the land because this whole area along Grand Parkway has been very active," he tells GlobeSt.com, "and this is the last sizeable piece of land within the corridor."

The land is situated east of Grand Parkway, west of FM 1464 and bounded on the north by Madden Road. The Permanent School Fund first acquired roughly 1,500 acres in 2002 from the Texas Department of Transportation, which had control of the acreage since 1986 under an order of the state Legislature to buy 5,000 acres from the state's criminal justice department. Six months ago, another 400-plus acres were bought from the state justice department.