Silver Lake Centre, located at the intersection of Bass Pro Drive and Texas 26, is an undertaking of a Tennessee-based investment group that bought the site in December 1999. Permits have just been obtained and dirt is flying on Silver Lake Centre's road, which will open up the site for would-be buyers' inspections. Infrastructure will be completed in October. At the heart of the acreage is the six-acre Silver Lake.

The 15-acre hotel-conference center, which abuts the Dallas Cowboys Golf Club, will be the most difficult to market, Ted Murphy, managing partner of Greyhawk Realty Capital LLC, tells GlobeSt.com. That's because the team is looking for a key hotel player that will be a good fit with the $200-million Opryland, which is going up right down the road. Murphy says Opryland "wants to see more development come in to complement what they're doing."

Murphy says Opryland execs reportedly are concerned they've underestimated the number of rooms needed to support their project. Opryland and Silver Lake Centre talked, but have since decided the way to go is to find another hotel-conference center developer willing to strike up an alliance and willing to build a 200-to 400-room, full-service facility. According to Murphy, there's really no room available for such an alliance at the nearby Hilton DFW and Embassy Suites, which are boasting daily occupancies upward of 75%.

As the dirt starts to fly, the inquiries about the acreage are pouring in, says Murphy. Some sites already are taken, such as a 2 1/2-acre tract that will boast a new eatery concept from Chili's developer, Larry Levine of Dallas. The deal will close at the end of August and trigger construction on a 7,500-sf restaurant in time for a Q1 2002 opening. Murphy says the concept's name has yet to be picked.

Murphy believes the 19-acre retail parcel, which will support 180,000 sf to 200,000 sf, will close by year's end and ground will break in 2002's first quarter. For now, the focus is on signing that high-end retailer, either as a land buyer or joint venture partner. Murphy won't give on the developer's identity, but did say it is not Dallas-based, definitely out of state and has an international presence.

With Opryland well under way, Grapevine most likely will be the region's next high-growth area. And, says Murphy, it's a market severely lacking in high-end retail. Grapevine Mills is perhaps the nation's largest outlet shopping district and one flanked by big box retailers. Noticeably absent is the ultra-tony fare.

Murphy has talked to a handful of developers since the land acquisition. Now, it's time to start courting seriously. There are restaurant pad sites on a hill overlooking the lake, a four-acre tract for a smaller hotel and 3 1/2 acres earmarked for an office component. "It's Texas Hill Country five minutes from DFW Airport," he says.

Cumberland Grapevine Partners LP is the owner of record and Silver Lake Centre, designed by O'Brien & Associates of Dallas, marks the investment group's Texas entry. Several of the partners are investors in a 1,000-acre, mixed-use undertaking in Sevier County, TN.