Dive Brief:
- Developers broke ground Tuesday on the $1 billion Mercer Crossing mixed-use development in the Dallas suburb of Farmers Branch, TX, according to the Dallas News.
- The 374-acre project will feature apartments and single-family homes, as well as retail and commercial space. The largest blocks of the Mercer Crossing development will include 174 acres of single-family homes and 92 acres of "urban commerce construction."
- Developer Mehrdad Moayedi said the Mercer Crossing aesthetic will be a cross between English Tudor design and contemporary Texas style, a hybrid he called Texas Tudor.
Dive Insight:
The old saying is that everything is bigger in Texas. While that might not be completely true, it certainly seems appropriate when it comes to the massive developments popping up around the state.
Last month, developer Blakefield scored approval from the Travis County Commissioners Court to move forward with a master planned community near Austin that will include 3,300 residential units, apartments, retail and entertainment space, and a hotel.
Fort Worth, TX, is also getting a massive MPC courtesy of Dallas-based Republic Property Group, which has started planning a 15,000-home development on 7,200 acres there. The first phase of that project will also include a 10,000-square-foot gym, a pool and walking trails.
Also expected to begin construction soon is the $1 billion Bayside development on Lake Ray Hubbard in Dallas-area Rowlett, TX. The project will be the first in Texas to have a Crystal Lagoon water feature and will also include two acres of artificial beach areas. Upon completion, the project will also offer a marina, 700 hotel rooms, 3,000 residential units, 800,000 square feet of mixed-use office and retail, more than 1 million square feet of commercial space and 300,000 square feet of entertainment and dining venues.
An even larger project underway in the state, however, is the "$5 billion mile" in Frisco, TX. The development consists of a string of mixed-use projects, all anchored by the new Dallas Cowboys headquarters, which opened last July.