Arlington is the latest of the North Texas cities to take steps to impose stringent regulations on big boxes. The restrictions ironically come at a time when many big-box retailers say they are being pinched by too many stores and too few sales as they shutter doors on locations nationwide.

Big boxes in excess of 50,000 sf face unavoidable higher construction costs with Arlington's regulations. Officials, bowing to homeowners' demands, want to see ornamental lighting, clock towers, covered walkways and exteriors of brick, tile, natural stone or neutral and earth-tone masonry. The familiar bright colors of Wal-Mart and Target will be allowed, but trim may not exceed 10% of any single exterior wall, exclusive of windows, doors and glass. Go any larger than 100,000 sf and the city's "honey do" list gets longer. Two-thirds of all parking would have to be positioned between the front wall and primary street. Landscaped pedestrian walkways must be at least six feet wide and made of brick, patterned concrete or special pavers. Parking lot access must be via a four-lane, divided highway or two-lane, one-way artery. Literally, every big box trait is under scrutiny.

Arlington's planning and zoning already have approved the measure, which comes before city council for action this week. The regulations have been under consideration since last summer when complaining property owners halted a Wal-Mart project in the city's western sector. All across the metroplex, it's Wal-Mart that has most often drawn property owners' wrath. Just last month, Colleyville--where the average residential home price is $327,780--had OK'd similar restrictions for big-box projects.

But, say commercial real estate executives, the restrictions won't turn the tide against one-stop-shopping megaplexes. "There's an enormous amount of land available in Dallas-Ft. Worth and a number of smaller communities seeking out new development," says Robert Grunnah, president of Henry S. Miller Commercial's investment land division. "So while you have a Colleyville or Southlake, which are attractive residential communities ... all that will happen is they won't get the development and the others will."

The regulations won't impede growth, but will drive up land costs, says Grunnah, adding that incentive packages from smaller communities' Economic Development Councils will only get sweeter as they vie for the discards from the "not in my neighborhood" crowd. Kennedale, Arlington's neighbor, is hoping to lure Wal-Mart to its side of the street.

Tom Metcalf, senior vice president of Dallas' the Weitzman Group's investment property division, told GlobeSt.com that Arlington may impose its restrictions, but it won't stop Wal-Mart, which has been the most persistent of the big boxes when its mind is set on a market. "Wal-Mart seems to be immune to anything," he says. Sam Walton's team has agreed to build mid-block instead of anchoring a prime corner along the Great Southwest Parkway in Grand Prairie while it has downsized projects in some areas and shelled out hefty sums for land in others just to join the neighborhood. Compromise, Metcalf says, hinges "on how bad they need a certain area." In the end, what Wal-Mart shells out for a prime location balances out, either from less costly construction in other regions or at the cash register when the store opens.

"People all over Texas are glad to save $1, but they're bemoaning losing their neighborhood essence," he says. "They're a little bit paranoid and a little bit cynical of what big boxes can do for their city." Metcalf believes more cities will follow suit with Arlington, Colleyville and Southlake "just so they don't get blindsided by the Wal-Marts of the world."

And, he says, the word on the street is that Wal-Mart isn't dead in the water as yet in Arlington, a city that is feeling orphaned by office and high-tech developers. Tracts of raw land along Interstates 20 and 360, Cooper Street and Matlock Road reserved for office and high-tech projects may soon welcome retail development should Arlington tire of waiting in the shadows of cities basking in the financial glory of being closer to the Dallas-Ft. Worth Airport. The regulations primarily are ways of "being proactively careful about what happens," says Metcalf, without turning backs on the economic advantages of big-box development.

Instant Insights /

North Texas Cities' Big-Box Regulations Won't Stymie Development

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