|
Josh
|
 |
« on: May 05, 2008, 06:09:07 PM » |
|
Today, Endeavor Real Estate Group, along with the City of Forney, have announced that Endeavor is now under contract to purchase 200 acres of what has been known as the Meadow Ridge Farm site with the intention to build a major regional shopping center. This site, which is located on the north side of Highway 80, roughly between the CR-212 and Windmill Farms Blvd exits, is planned to become over 2.2 million square feet of retail space, with phase 1 making up 500,000 to 750,000 square feet.
The landowners of the Meadow Ridge Farm site, Meadow Ridge Farm LP, have also announced plans to develop the remaining portion of the Meadow Ridge Farm site into a mixed use development with the potential for offices, hotels, motels and other entertainment and sports facilities. These developments, when combined with the 2.2 million square feet of shopping space that Endeavor is developing, will turn this site into a regional commercial center for the east side of Dallas and many of the surrounding communities.
Endeavor is currently in active negotiations with a number of top tier tenants, with specific tenants to be announced in the future.
Endeavor has expressed their appreciation and thanks to the entire City of Forney and specifically Mayor Grooms and the rest of the City Council for their enthusiastic support of the new thoroughfare plan and the highway interchange work that will be done in this area, including the creation of a new bridge over Highway 80. Endeavor has committed themselves to working hand in hand with the City of Forney to bring this project to fruition at the earliest possible date.
For now, I will say that when I began investigating the rumors I was hearing about this development many months ago, I had the opportunity to get a feel for the sheer scope of this project as well as the excitement and commitment of the companies involved; I am truly excited about this development and especially the forthcoming announcements of specific tenants - this development will be a top-notch destination that will draw people from throughout the eastern half of the Metroplex and even from as far as East Texas, in my opinion, to come shop and relax in Forney.
|
|
|
|
katiev
|
|
« Reply #1 on: May 05, 2008, 09:07:38 PM » |
|
Wow!!! That sounds incredible. Go Forney!!!
|
|
|
|
WFShaun
|
|
« Reply #2 on: May 05, 2008, 09:09:54 PM » |
|
BRING THAT BAD BOY ON!!!!!
|
|
|
|
katiev
|
|
« Reply #3 on: May 05, 2008, 09:11:58 PM » |
|
I wonder if this has any bearing on where that toll road that was being discussed last week will be? Surely this development company knows about the road.
|
|
|
|
CC
|
|
« Reply #4 on: May 05, 2008, 09:14:28 PM » |
|
|
|
|
|
Josh
|
|
« Reply #5 on: May 05, 2008, 09:15:47 PM » |
|
To facilitate access to the new center and to encourage further retail and commercial growth in the area, a bridge will be constructed over Highway 80, between the existing CR-212 exit and the Windmill Farms Blvd exit. This bridge, which has traffic lights planned on both sides, will be built tall enough to span over the railroad crossing on the south side of Highway 80, providing the only bridge over the train tracks in Forney. I wonder if this has any bearing on where that toll road that was being discussed last week will be? Surely this development company knows about the road. Is the toll road the same thing as Loop 9? Can't remember for sure...if so, Loop 9 is shown on the city's thoroughfare map to run east of Windmill Farms, so all this would be west of (but tied into) Loop 9.
|
|
|
|
Josh
|
|
« Reply #6 on: May 05, 2008, 09:18:18 PM » |
|
I spoke with several people from Endeavor, and they all want to see Phase 1 of this center open as soon as the bridge opens; it's believed that, if all goes well, the bridge could be open mid-to-late 2010.
The bridge will create access to a parcel of land on the south side of Highway 80 where other developers have expressed interest in putting in even more retail and commercial space, but so far only Endeavor is ready to make any announcements.
One thing that was tossed out a couple of times was that they can't make any specific announcements about who they're negotiating with because the prospective tenants are publicly traded corporations, so they have to be careful about what they say and when.
Maps coming in a sec, as well as, hopefully, a video fly-through of the proposed bridge...
|
|
|
|
|
|
txmom
|
|
« Reply #8 on: May 05, 2008, 09:52:09 PM » |
|
I'm excited about more shopping opportunities  , but not so excited about the traffic increase since I live in Windmill Farms. 
|
|
|
|
|
|
Josh
|
|
« Reply #10 on: May 05, 2008, 10:02:46 PM » |
|
I'll be putting more of this together and updating the blog post later tonight, but I thought I'd go ahead and post these maps for everyone. Click for a larger version of any of these maps... The current Forney Thoroughfare Map, including the roads for this development...  My very poor attempt at annotating the above map to show where the new bridge will be as well as where the development will be...  A photo of the overall site plan that was shown to the city council today - anything and everything may change, I'm sure, as this is a very preliminary plan. No specific businesses have been announced, so I'd imagine this could change a lot over the next couple of years. 
|
|
|
|
Josh
|
|
« Reply #11 on: May 05, 2008, 10:07:04 PM » |
|
I'm excited about more shopping opportunities , but not so excited about the traffic increase since I live in Windmill Farms.
I honestly think this will help traffic out this way - if we really are ever going to hit 9000 homes in Windmill Farms, or even half of that, we're going to need more roads. Part of this project will involve connecting Ridgecrest Road, which currently dead-ends at 548, straight through to this development, which will also connect to Reeder and a new road will be built from this bridge, south of 80, and eventually connect into the proposed Loop 9 as well as I-20. So we're getting more traffic, yes, but also a lot more roads. there is where our new target will be.
Go and look at the principals that work in the Dallas office.
http://www.endeavor-re.com/principals/#
Check out their other projects, too - I'm hoping those are on their website, I haven't checked yet. I have to run, I already had to rearrange several commitments today to make it to the city council meeting about this, but I do have some notes on a couple of Endeavor's projects in Austin - one of which they likened to a Northpark Center type of development. They've done some very, very cool stuff in Austin and San Antonio.
|
|
|
|
outspoken
|
|
« Reply #12 on: May 05, 2008, 10:09:11 PM » |
|
So it looks like the mall will be on the same side of 80 as Windmill Farms -- am I reading the map wrong?
Man, I think this kinda stinks -- it looks like it will only reinforce the Loop 9, which I don't think I like -- because of them taking people's homes.
|
|
|
|
Josh
|
|
« Reply #13 on: May 05, 2008, 10:13:32 PM » |
|
So it looks like the mall will be on the same side of 80 as Windmill Farms -- am I reading the map wrong?
Man, I think this kinda stinks -- it looks like it will only reinforce the Loop 9, which I don't think I like -- because of them taking people's homes.
The shopping center that Endeavor announced will be on the same side of the highway as Windmill Farms. There is the potential, with the construction of this bridge and these roads, for the creation of another shopping area on the south side of 80 as well. I, too, hope they don't take homes for Loop 9. I honestly would rather see them focus on the extension of the George Bush Turnpike for the time being. At least Loop 9 is so far in the future, there is time for it to change completely between now and then... Oh, the map of the development I posted - that's all 3 phases. The first phase is the eastern portion, I believe. Endeavor's pretty pumped about this - everyone I talked to at their company really wants to get the ball rolling and get these stores open!
|
|
|
|
stedmantx
|
|
« Reply #14 on: May 05, 2008, 10:18:30 PM » |
|
there is where our new target will be.
Go and look at the principals that work in the Dallas office.
http://www.endeavor-re.com/principals/#
Target seems to be the common thread among all three Dallas principals. But Barnes and Noble also appears--wouldn't that be great? The layout seems similar to a retail center built in my old neighborhood of Arlington, Virginia, and it was a great boon to the area. [Of course there you could walk everywhere!!!] It had Barnes and Noble as its anchor, but also had Pottery Barn, Crate and Barrel, Apple, Container Store, Origins, and a bunch of smaller retailers. This project appears to be larger in scope, though similar, so I am very excited. I'm tired of having to drag my a** into Dallas to shop, especially with gas being what it is. Wouldn't this be a great place for Central Market?? It also appears that this might alter the dynamics of the area, since now we go to Mesquite or Rockwall if we don't want to go all the way into Big D! This could well shift some of the focus to us. Yay! Maybe with this going in building in our sluggish new communities will pick up again...
|
|
|
|
