PROSPER, TX-In an emerging development hotspot, a North Texas supplier of residential building materials has gotten ahead of the curve by grabbing 50 acres of rail line-fronting land in Collin County. The deal will one day add 125 jobs to become one of the top three employers in a rural town undergoing a residential and retail transformation.
CTX Builders Supply, a division of Dallas-based Centex Corp., bought its land from Dallas-based land speculator, Tomlin Investments. The acquisition, though, will be banked until the 28-square-mile Town of Prosper's 5,200 population expands into what is predicted to be the next high-growth spot in the far northern suburbs of the metroplex.
CTX is the first industry to buy land in the town in decades. "They're our first and we hope there's many more to come," says Karen P. Gandy, executive director of Prosper's Economic Development Corp. The local job force is supported by top employer, Mahard Egg Farm Inc., which controls 2,500 acres inside the town boundaries, and the school district.
CTX effectively is staking its claim until the residential activity starts to produce rooftops. The plan could change, but right now the $12-million, 90,000-sf office/warehouse project won't break ground until 2009. CTX, now in Carrollton, will use the building to headquarter its DFW management team and assemble roof, floor and wall components.
Gandy spent 16 years in economic development in Tarrant County's Southlake, one of the high-end favored addresses of corporate executives and sports team stars. "So, I know how the land grab occurs," she tells GlobeSt.com. "I think the Prosper 75078 could be the next hot Zip Code."
Residential land is going for $50,000 to $60,000 per acre. Commercial land has crossed over the edge of pricing by the acre to per sf, with rates running from $1 per sf to $6 per sf, according to Gandy.
CTX's game plan is to wait until the first developers coming out of the chute get their product on the ground in a town that straddles the Collin-Denton county line. In recent days, council approved a 40-acre, 77-lot residential development for Dallas builder, Parthenon Development Inc., which is proposing single-family homes ranging from $600,000 to $2 million. Meanwhile talks are under way with Dallas Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones' Blue Star Development Co. for a 550-acre, mixed-use development. "We're in serious discussions with them," Gandy says, "and I think we're going to get it on the ground." Other investors are eyeing a business park development, she says.
As the development momentum picks up, Preston Development LP, led by Tom Clark, is adding more new buildings to the 40-acre Prosper Town Center. Gandy says the developer has started on a second 6,000-sf retail building, half of which has been preleased to an Italian restaurant, and 9,000-sf office/showroom structure. Clark has teamed with well-known architect Charles Hodges of Hodges & Associates in Dallas to develop the northeast corner of First Street and Preston Road.
Gandy says the Prosper Town Center team is courting grocery chains to anchor the retail and office development. "That's what the community really wants," she stresses. So far, the developers have seated a bank, restaurant and eye-care retail business. "You've got to have the rooftops before you can do the shops," she adds. "That's why we're so excited about Centex putting its stake in the ground."
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