Developer Delays 100,000-SF Project Decision Until Referendum Vote

COCKRELL HILL, TX-Margaux Development, holding the deed to nine acres, says the verdict's still out on whether to forge ahead on a plan to build an estimated $14-million shopping center inside the city line. The decision hinges on a May 14 referendum that would make the 4,400-resident town into the first Dallas County municipality south of the Trinity River to allow alcoholic beverage sales.

Don Silverman, president of the Dallas-based development firm, tells GlobeSt.com that the 100,000-sf Plaza del Oro's fate became apparent after several major Hispanic grocery chains opened doors at other nearby centers. Silverman's rescue play is a 15,000-sf commitment from a liquor store chain. "We need something to generate traffic," he says. "Nothing generates traffic like a liquor store."

Silverman acquired the southwest corner of Cockrell Hill Road and Jefferson Street in November 2005 from two land speculators. If Plaza del Oro comes out of the ground, it will be the first new large development in decades for a predominately Hispanic residential pocket sitting in the City of Dallas' shadow. From the developer's perspective, he says Plaza del Oro "is a great economic development play for the city."

Silverman says he was drawn to the southwest Dallas County pocket by Casa Modernas, a residential homebuilder of large subdivisions. He decided to buy the land and lock in options on more as an early bet to forge an inroad into the Hispanic retail market. "We figured we'd buy and either way we'd figure out what we were going to do after the referendum," he says. "You just need the city to work with you. Anytime you're talking about alcohol, there's always someone opposed to it."

Silverman says he's not opposed to banking the land as he's done in other areas. Three projects that are now in various development stages are rising on acreage he's had banked for three to five years. "If that's what we need to do at Cockrell Hill, we will do that too," he says.