The Grand Peninsula development marks the first major project to emerge from Grand Prairie's master plan for the peninsula at the 7,740-acre Joe Pool Lake, Clyde Jackson, chairman and CEO for Wynne/Jackson, tells GlobeSt.com. The single-family development contains a 15-acre site for a grocery-anchored project in the $15-million to $20-million price range, a two-acre parcel for a convenience store undertaking and scattered tracts for additional community retail. The retail component represents the first of its type within a two-mile radius of Joe Pool Lake.

Wynne/Jackson's retail component is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg since the city is in the preliminary stages of plotting upward of 100 acres as a destination point for mixed uses, Jackson says. A forward-thinking city team is steering the retail grand plan, which, he says, is sure to be "innovative and imaginative." The city already has set up tax increment financing districts to advance the project area, which has other single-family developments north and south of the peninsula.

Wynne/Jackson Inc. bought the bulk of its Estes Peninsula from the heirs of O.R. McMurray. The region's top homebuilders are lined up to develop 1,300 lots in seven villages with such lifestyle amenities as a clubhouse, swimming pool and picnic grounds. Linked by hike-and-bike trails, the lots will be delivered to builders in summer 2002 after Wynne/Jackson and the city wrap up the first phase of site preparation work in and around Lake Ridge Parkway, estimated to cost $20 million just for basic horizontal infrastructure. Jackson is uncertain when the retail component gets under way.

The Grand Peninsula developer and Grand Prairie have been laying the groundwork for today's ground-breaking for more than a year. Wynne/Jackson also holds an option for another 100 acres, mostly lakefront land that abut its existing holding. Jackson says that too will be dedicated for single-family lots.

John Gosling of RTKL in Dallas worked up the original grand scheme for the lake's couple thousand acres. Wynne/Jackson's civil engineer, Nathan D. Maier of Dallas, handled site development and Enviro-Design of Dallas gamed out the landscaping, including greenspace. Wynne/Jackson will act as Grand Peninsula's retail developer.

Instant Insights /

$350-Mil Plus Mixed-Use Plan Breaks Ground Today

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