Twenty Peaceful Minutes » Shopping

New Video and Maps Regarding Regional Shopping Center Planned for Forney

Josh — Tue, 06 May 2008 08:27:09 +0000

I’ve uploaded a video from Monday’s City Council meeting where Pate Transportation detailed plans for a new bridge to cross Highway 80 between CR-212 and Windmill Farms Blvd. This is actually our first video here on TwentyPeacefulMinutes.com and was shot rather spur of the moment using my digital camera, so I hope it is at least watchable so everyone has a chance to see the fly-through of the 3D rendering of what is planned for this bridge. This bridge is significant for a number of reasons, which I’ll detail below the video. In the meantime, check out the video – this is from the council meeting, so the voice you hear is a Pate employee describing what you’re seeing. If the video does not appear below (click on it to begin playback), simply visit this page to view it.

Click ‘Read On’, below, to read more about this bridge and the surrounding development and roadwork.

In addition to providing the first and only road in Forney that will allow travelers to cross on a bridge over the railroad, eliminating delays due to trains, this bridge is one of the critical components that attracted developers to the planned 2.2 million square foot regional shopping mall that was announced for this area, as the bridge and related roadways will connect to FM-548 north of Ridgecrest Road, near Reeder Road as well as continue south towards 741, providing another route to I-20. Furthermore, the roadways are being designed with an eye towards the future Loop 9, planned to pass through Kaufman County just east of Windmill Farms, between Forney and Terrell.

This roadwork plays an integral part of the Forney thoroughfare plan, a map of which appears below.

I have enlarged the portion of the map that surrounds the Endeavor retail project and annotated it to better show the area this bridge will be built in.

These maps show what a central role this new bridge and the related roadwork will play into the future of Forney; indeed, it creates quite a few possibilities for future development in the eastern portion of Forney.

This bridge is also significant because, unlike the development that has been discussed in Terrell, the plan for this bridge and the surrounding development is not a TIF district (Tax Increment Financing), but instead, a TRZ or Transportation Reinvestment Zone. These zones are brand new – they were authorized during the most recent legislative session in Texas and, combined with the pass-through financing that Forney is already employing with the improvements to the FM-548/Highway 80 area, will allow Forney to complete this project in record-breaking time. Representatives from the City as well as Pate Transportation believe that Forney could be the first city in the State of Texas to take advantage of a TRZ.

Forney was also one of the first cities in the state to take advantage of the pass-through financing program the legislature passed in 2003, which is allowing Forney to improve FM-548, FM-740 and FM-741 using funds from the city bond election. By funding these projects up front, the city did not have to wait for the Texas Department of Transportation to make these improvements and will be able to complete this roadwork years ahead of when TxDOT would’ve likely finished. Through the pass-through program, TxDOT will reimburse the city for the cost of the roadway once it is completed, based primarily on the amount of traffic the road receives.

This willingness to consider and embrace new approaches to these projects is allowing Forney to adapt to the rapid growth in the area while attracting top notch retail and residential developments.

Stay tuned, an article about Endeavor Real Estate Group, the real estate developers behind the retail center announced today will be coming soon. In the meantime, feel free to continue to discuss this news in the thread created earlier today for the announcement of the 2.2 million square foot regional shopping center.

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SuperTarget in Forney?; Shafer Plaza Expansion

Josh — Sat, 28 Jul 2007 19:47:40 +0000

While discussing the latest SuperTarget rumors in the Forney Discussion Forums, I decided to do a bit of digging and get in touch with a few people who might be able to confirm or deny what I had been hearing. In the process, I found out that Metropolitan Capital Advisors, Ltd. has been soliciting for an investment into Shafer Plaza at Mustang Crossing. Specifically, of $23.55 million needed to develop and pay-off the development costs for the remaining phase(s) of Shafer Plaza, $4.2 million is being raised from equity investors. One item that has caught several people’s attention is that the information that was distributed about the investment states “If the Sponsorship is able to consummate a deal with SuperTarget…” – read on for more info…

Apparently Shafer is trying to purchase the land that Forney Commons was going to be built on. I had heard rumors that Woodmont had pulled out and Forney Commons was not going to happen, leaving 40 acres of land prime for retail development there along 80 just sitting idle. If Shafer is successful in purchasing the land, it appears the intent is to re-design the remaining phase of Shafer Plaza that has yet to be built in order to better tie it into a new SuperTarget-anchored shopping center that would be built there.

From what I’ve heard, this information concerning this investment was put together back in February. So at this point, it could be a done-deal, or it could have fallen through. I can’t seem to find anyone who will publicly confirm or deny this.

Even if the SuperTarget deal falls through, it appears that the remaining phase of Shafer Plaza will be a great development – it looks like the building that Double Dave’s is in will be expanded to include 2 24,000 square foot “anchor” stores as well as another 15,000 square feet of smaller shops, similar to the 3 buildings already completed in Shafer Plaza. There’s also 2 pad sites remaining – they look perfect for a couple more good fast food options.

Here’s a good overview of the plan for Shafer Plaza – the highlighted portion is the land that has yet to be built on, which is the section that will change to provide better access to the SuperTarget, if the SuperTarget is indeed built. The SuperTarget-anchored shopping center would be above this photo, on the other side of Old FM-548. Click the image to view a larger version.

I can’t determine for sure if this investment opportunity is still available – I believe it is, however, and according to what I’ve heard, it has an IRR of 25%, so it’s not a bad deal, in my opinion. Those with way more money than I have who want to invest in Forney’s future and make a decent profit doing so, can contact Metropolitan Capital Advisors at 18111 Preston Road, Suite #650, Dallas, TX 75252 or via phone at 972-267-0600. They seem to be calling the project the Mustang Crossing project.

Also, it never hurts to get in touch with Target and make sure they realize there’s a huge demand in Forney for not just a Target, but a SuperTarget. The appropriate contact-us form on the Target website seems to be located here, and that page lists a phone number of 1-800-440-0680 to speak with a member of their “guest relations” team about their stores.

Feel free to leave comments here on the blog, or visit this discussion in the Forney Discussion Forums to discuss this post, the latest SuperTarget rumor and Shafer Plaza.

If you have any other information you’d like to share directly with me about this financing deal, SuperTarget, etc., feel free to email me at Josh@TwentyPeacefulMinutes.com.

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Drive-Thru Grocery Store Scouting for Location in Forney!

Josh — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 02:19:04 +0000

According to a Star Telegram article, Fresh Lane Drive-Thru Grocery, which recently opened in Saginaw and has locations opening in Keller and Lewisville this fall, is scouting for a location to open at in Forney. Fresh Lane is a grocery store that operates on a completely drive-thru basis; customers are not allowed inside the store, and instead purchase everything via a drive-thru window. The stores, which are usually under 1,000 square feet, stock about 400 different items.

While it sounds pretty revolutionary, it turns out Fresh Lane Grocery is based on a type of store that has been open for about fifty years in Florida. Fresh Lane will stock the 400 most-frequently-purchased grocery store items in one or two sizes and usually just one brand. The Star Telegram article says that they’re scouting locations in 12 different cities, including Forney, and hope to have 50 stores across D/FW within three years. Considering that they built their first store for $250,000 and hope to build the next two for $150,000 each, it might actually happen.

The list of cities they’re currently scouting is exciting – “Fort Worth, Haltom City, Euless, Southlake, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Keller, Forney, Trophy Club, Allen and Dallas” – we’ve all heard the Forney/Frisco comparisons, but it’s really nice to see Forney in a list of cities along with Southlake, Frisco, The Colony, Plano, Trophy Club, etc.

Fresh Lane’s website has a place to suggest a new store location – drop by and let them know where you think they should build in Forney!

Also, this story is the first to use a new feature for the posts here at Twenty Peaceful Minutes – a specific discussion thread to discuss this post. Go visit this link to discuss this story in the Forney Discussion Forums.

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