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CROSS ROADS, TX-A development partnership has cut out 195 acres to build 750,000 sf of commercial space and a 112-acre gated community in a 650-resident town at the heart of North Denton County's equestrian country. The estimated build-out value is $135 million.

Affiliates of Allegiance Commercial Development LLC of Dallas and Torreon Capital LLC of Austin are partnering on the Villages at Cross Roads, the first commercial development and gated community for a three-mile area with 30,000 single-family homes under construction or platted, says Joe Gampper, executive vice president for Allegiance Commercial. He tells GlobeSt.com that the land assembly from five local sellers has taken a year to put together, but the developers have picked up 4,000 feet of frontage along the main thoroughfare, Texas 380, at its intersection with three other primary roads at the mouth of a future toll bridge across Lake Lewisville.

Gampper says 83 acres are earmarked for a 600,000-sf regional shopping center and 150,000 sf of professional and service-related office space. Negotiations are under way for five out-parcel sales to national retailers. He says the plan is to deliver the first wave of finished pad sites in the fourth quarter. He estimates it will take until fall 2006 to deliver the balance of the ready-to-go pad sites or begin build-to-suit construction for big boxes. John Zikos and Ken Reimer with Venture Commercial Real Estate LLC in Dallas are preleasing the retail space. Finished pad sites of one to three acres will be sold for $15 per sf to $21 per sf.

"We have been pleasantly surprised that a lot of retailers are perceiving Highway 380 as they did Highway 121 about 11 years ago," Gampper says. The commercial project area abuts a five-acre tract for a proposed courthouse outpost for Denton County. Gampper says the developers are courting Cross Roads' officials to build a city hall in the town center of the master-planned commercial space.

Allegiance, led by president Charles Ames, has agreed to invest $1.5 million to bring sewer lines to the town. "We're kind of like the white knight," Gampper says.

O'Brien & Associates Inc. of Dallas is designing the Villages at Cross Roads with Texas prairie-style buildings and the region's equestrian backbone as key elements for the development. Kimely-Horn, also a Dallas company, is the project engineer.

Gampper estimates Villages at Cross Roads, with bragging rights to two lakes, will add about $135 million of value to municipal books, but it will take close to four years to build out the land. Talks are under way with three high-profile regional builders to develop the one-acre, single-family lots. Gampper says a decision should be in hand within 60 days.

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GlobeSt.com EXCLUSIVE: JV Assembles 195 Acres for $135M Project

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