Tim Barton, president and CEO of JMJ Development Inc. in Dallas,says the Centre at Crossroads plan was dusted off about a month agoafter sitting on the drawing board until the developmentpartnership perceived the market to be ready for the added space.He tells GlobeSt.com that another 47 acres on the north side ofTexas 121 are under contract for eventual build-out as commercialor possibly more retail space.

Barton says he's interviewing "the three best brokerage housesin Dallas" to prelease the Centre at Crossroads, gateway retail toa residential development of townhomes, apartments andsingle-family houses. He says the decision will be made in a coupleweeks so a full-court press can be ready to lob at the Las Vegasconvention of the International Council of Shopping Centers inMay.

A multifamily developer has just broken ground on the first waveof residential space, 150 townhouses. JMJ, which also developedFrisco Bridges and Stonebriar Mall, has a 20-acre tract undercontract to develop 175 townhomes. Two other developers are in lineto buy another pair of multifamily tracts from the five-year owner,Baruch Properties of Dallas, he says. Meanwhile, its neighborCentex has sold out its residential lots and the Bright family'sCastle Hills is "going very strong," he says, explaining that thefast-paced residential growth is reason enough for JMJ to startworking its land.