$75M Plus Mixed-Use Project Ramping Up in Dallas Suburb

"The market will dictate as to how it ultimately builds out," Scott Johnson, vice president of Dallas-based Centex Commercial Development, tells GlobeSt.com. The Colony Business Park, still in the conceptual stages, is master-planned for 15 buildings that will rise on the western fringe of the Colony. The park will debut as spec product on the bulk of Centex's remaining 136-acre land bank in the community although there are another 116 Centex-owned raw acres sitting right across the road in the bounds of Lewisville.

Architect and general contractor have yet to be decided for the undertaking, which has Dallas-based Bradford Cos. on board as development partner. Bradford also gets the job of leasing and managing the project situated near Texas 121, north of the proposed Memorial Drive extension between Main Street and Standridge Drive.

Buildings will range in size from 75,000 sf to 100,000 sf and be, for the most part, single-story designs with rear-loading doors and front parking. The first phase–two buildings of 150,000 sf to 200,000 sf–conceivably could break ground in the third quarter. Small- to mid-size users are being targeted. Johnson says the build-to-suit market definitely is part of the unfolding strategy for the land, rezoned in December.

As the project builds out, other development partners could be brought on board, according to Johnson. Planning started in spring and summer 2001, but the troubled market, he says, created some "hurdles" that needed to be overcome. With the rezoning in hand, it's time to get down to the nitty gritty of pushing the project forward.

It's projected that 1,500 jobs could result and $500,000 generated in ad valorem tax revenue plus some $1.6 million in revenue for the school district. "We have carefully cultivated our economic development plan to include the appropriate mix of business profiles for our community," Colony's city manager Dale Cheatham said in a press release.