A primer on Robinson Ranch, 7,000 acres of Central Texas that will be home to new $1B Apple campus

Apple Inc. is buying into one of the worst-kept secrets in Austin real estate, Robinson Ranch.

As Austin Business Journal reported in April, the Robinson family earlier this year issued a request for interest and qualifications to feel out what developers might want to do with the roughly 7,000 acres north and east of Parmer Lane. Pieces have been carved off over the years for commercial and public developments, including McNeil High School, but for the most part the ranch has sat untouched as brokers…