Dive Brief:
- Developers of the Texas Gulf Coast vacation community of Cinnamon Shore in Port Aransas, TX, have revealed details for a planned $1.3 billion, 300-acre expansion, according to Culturemap Houston.
- The master-planned community, which is 40 minutes from Corpus Christi, TX, and four hours from Houston, will triple the width of Cinnamon Shore's existing beachfront and will add several swimming pools and lakes, a mile-long boardwalk, restaurants, retail stores, a spa, a hotel, additional residences and a golf cart bridge that connects the development across a state highway.
- Developer Sea Oats Group said the expansion is expected to take 15 to 20 years, and construction on the new homes will begin in 2018.
Dive Insight:
Texas is not short of $1 billion-plus mixed-use developments, and Cinnamon Shore, which already boasts upscale homes, a beach and other resort-style amenities, is just the latest to announce its own ambitions for such a massive project.
In January, developer Bayside Land Partners announced that construction was ready to begin on the 262-acre, $1 billion Bayside development in Rowlett, TX, and crews started work in March. Bayside will feature an 8-acre Crystal Lagoon and 2 acres of artificial beaches along Lake Ray Hubbard, already a popular recreational spot in North Texas. Developers will also build a new 1,000-boat marina on the lake, as well as 1.5 million square feet of commercial space, 700 hotel rooms and 3,000 condos and apartments.
In May, Houston-based developer Hines announced its own massive development to join the ranks of projects like Bayside. The Strand, a 3.5 million-square-foot, 135-acre, Gensler-designed development in the Dallas suburb of Allen, TX, will include 1.7 million square feet of offices, 380,000 square feet of retail offerings and 300,000 square feet of residences. Hines said the live-work-play complex would provide the "socio-cultural" hub that Allen needed to give it the popular urban, walkable aspect.
Not too far from Allen is the town of Frisco, now famous for a series of $1 billion developments, now dubbed the "$5 billion mile." Projects there include the Dallas' Cowboys Star of Frisco and the $1.5 billion Frisco Station.