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Opportunity in the Luxury Market This Year

by Christie Cannon

Opportunity in the Luxury Market This Year

Opportunity in the Luxury Market This Year | MyKCM
 

Homes priced in the top 25% of a price range for a particular area of the country are considered “premium homes.” At the start of last year, many of the more expensive homes listed for sale hadn’t seen as much interest, since much of the demand for housing over the past few years has come from first-time buyers looking for starter homes. It looks like buyer activity, however, is starting to show a shift in this segment.

According to the January Luxury Report from the Institute for Luxury Home Marketing (ILHM):

“In a snapshot of 2019, despite pessimism at the start of the year, the last quarter showcased a strengthening, with an upswing in the luxury market for sales in both the single family and condo markets.”

Momentum is growing, and those looking to enter the luxury market are poised for success in 2020 as well. With more inventory available at the upper-end, historically low interest rates, and increasing average wages, the stage is set for buyers with an interest in this tier to embrace the perfect move-up opportunity.

The report highlights the increase in buyer activity in this segment, resulting in growing sales toward the end of 2019:

“According to reports from many luxury real estate professionals, the significant increase in number of properties bought at the end of 2019 versus 2018 is reflective of an early 2019 holding pattern.

Many of early 2019’s prospective luxury buyers held off while waiting to see how prices would react to new tax regulations and other policy changes. Buyer confidence returned in late spring and compared to 2018, above average sales were reported in the final quarter of 2019.”

With evidence of strong buyer confidence, this is great news, as more homeowners are building equity and growing their net worth throughout the country:

“Many homeowners are now diversifying their wealth, owning several properties rather than a single mega mansion. In addition, there have been an increase number of home purchases taking place in smaller cities, reflecting the rising number of people relocating from major metropolises. Their property equity wealth or ability to pay high rental costs have afforded them the opportunity to purchase luxury properties in…secondary cities throughout North America.”

With a strong economy and a backdrop set for moving up this year, it’s a great time to explore the luxury market. Keep in mind, luxury can mean different things to different people, too. To one person, luxury is a secluded home with plenty of property and privacy. To another, it is a penthouse at the center of a bustling city. Knowing what characteristics mean luxury to you will help your agent understand what you’re after as you define the scope and location for the home of your dreams.

Bottom Line

If you’re thinking about upgrading your current house to a luxury home, or adding an additional property to your portfolio, let’s get together to determine if you’re ready to make your move.

Innovation Hub Called 'Silicon Valley of Golf' Ready to Tee Off in Texas

by Christie Cannon

Innovation Hub Called 'Silicon Valley of Golf' Ready to Tee Off in Texas

PGA of America Focuses on Golf Innovation

Fields is a master-planned, mixed-use development adjacent to the PGA of America proposed headquarters in Frisco, Texas. (The Karahan Cos.)

Fields is a master-planned, mixed-use development adjacent to the PGA of America proposed headquarters in Frisco, Texas. (The Karahan Cos.)

When PGA of America's Chief Operating Officer Darrell Crall and other top executives of the golf industry group began touring the country in search of fertile ground for creating innovation for the sport, they didn't expect to find it on a former cattle ranch.

But, as Crall and his team navigated the Texas Blackland Prairie ground dodging cow pies, they found a raw piece of land with enough room to build a new corporate headquarters with two championship golf courses, as well as a convention center hotel and resort. That helped them make the decision to relocate their longtime headquarters from Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, a city known for its golf courses and gated communities, for the wide, open spaces of Frisco, Texas, about 27 miles north of downtown Dallas.

PGA of America, a 104-year-old group with nearly 29,000 members, has resided in Palm Beach Gardens for 60 years. Frisco lured the headquarters from the Florida city, and beat out other cities such as Atlanta, Phoenix and Charlotte, North Carolina, by offering more than $160 million of economic incentives from various entities.

About 600 acres are being transformed into the "Silicon Valley of Golf," or a hub of innovation for the golf industry, said Seth Waugh, CEO of the PGA of America. The moniker is a tip of the golf cap to Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has some of the most expensive real estate in the country and is home to tech giants such as Google, Facebook and Apple, and tech-innovation minds centered on Palo Alto's Stanford University.

The PGA of America's campus in Frisco is aimed at becoming, like Silicon Valley, a magnet for luring golf companies and services or executive golf enthusiasts wanting to be near the action. A 100,000-square-foot building for PGA of America's corporate headquarters is expected to be completed in 2022.

The two planned championship golf courses will be open to the public, the first one expected to start in 2023, and the PGA already has more than two dozen championship tournaments scheduled to be held in Frisco in the next decade.

"We want to build a place where ideas come to live, not to die," said Darrell Crall, PGA of America's Chief Operating Officer. (PGA)

"We want to be a hub for innovation," Crall said in an interview. "We want to build a place where ideas come to live, not to die. We are an organization rich with traditions and the only way to achieve our mission is to evolve with an entrepreneurial mindset, not just inside and under the umbrella of golf, but we want to invest in companies that have a golf app."

He declined to disclose the names of the companies the PGA of America is looking to add to its campus leader board, citing non-disclosure agreements.

With the innovation hub, the PGA of America hopes to bring more diversity to golf, a sport heavily weighted to white males, while building an affinity for the game with a younger population with the help of partnerships with Frisco Independent School District and the University of North Texas System.

More Golfers Sought

Golf participation in the United States increased incrementally in 2018 for the first time after declining year-over-year for 14 years, according to the latest golf industry report conducted by the National Golf Foundation, an advocacy group for the sport. The foundation estimated 24.2 million people played golf on a course in 2018, which increased slightly from 23.8 million people in the previous year, according to the foundation's study. Participation is well below the all-time high set in 2003 of more than 30 million golfers, but advocates say it remains relevant to millions of people.

Meanwhile, Frisco has boomed from 37,714 residents in 2010 to 155,363 residents in 2018, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. With the proposed developments in the city, including those of the PGA of America, the city doesn't show any signs of slowing.

The former cattle ranch is making way for PGA of America play by 2022. (City of Frisco)

The addition of the PGA of America and the creation of the golf innovation hub builds on the brand of the city being "Sports City U.S.A.," said Mayor Jeff Cheney, with the world headquarters and practice facility of the Dallas Cowboys; the corporate home and practice facility for the NHL team, Dallas Stars; the corporate headquarters and 20,500-seat stadium for FC Dallas, the Major League Soccer team; and the corporate headquarters and 10,316-seat ballpark for the Minor League Baseball team, Frisco RoughRiders.

"We don't just have teams and brands, but we have evolved in the business of sports by bringing startups and businesses to Frisco," Cheney said in an interview. "Like The Star in Frisco, which is home to the Dallas Cowboys, we want to create a halo effect with other brands wanting to attach their names to the Cowboys, which have led to some of the highest lease rates in all of Dallas-Fort Worth" for office space.

"With the PGA, it doesn't just play out on a national stage, but it has international recognition," he added. "Every tract of land next to the PGA is in active design and negotiations with various entities to have a direct attachment to the PGA and the golf courses. This part of Frisco is going to develop 15 years faster. It will develop seemingly overnight."

A map showing the 600-acre campus of the PGA of America to the east of the northern side of Frisco, as well as the 100-acre future campus of The University of North Texas System's Frisco location. Between the two projects is more than 2,100 acres of master-planned, mixed-use development being called Fields. (The Karahan Companies)

 

 

Omni Stillwater Woods, the developer of the PGA of America project, bought the 600 acres for $455 million last year from Hunt Realty Investments. The company is a joint venture led by the Omni Hotels & Resorts with Dallas-based Stillwater Capital and Dallas-based Woods Capital. Plans include a 500-room Omni resort with private villas and a 127,000-square-foot conference center.

When Chris Kleinert, CEO and president of Hunt Realty, initially saw the sprawling tract of prairie land called the Bert Fields estate, totaling more than 2,700 acres in Frisco four years ago, he and his team passed on buying the land.

The Dallas-based investment firm was primarily in the energy business and his team was selective about its real estate investments, he said. But they changed their mind when the PGA of America and the University of North Texas System began to hone in on the northern part of Frisco.

"Over the course of time, as well as talking about this with our partners, and we ended up closing on the property in August 2018," Kleinert said, adding Hunt and its development team plans to build out "a seamless campus site" to attract Fortune 100 companies and add a variety of housing from high-end homes overlooking the PGA championship golf courses to student housing on the eastern side of the master-planned development near the UNT-Frisco campus.

"There's so much potential for this site," he added. "The opportunities were too great to pass up."

Legacy West

Prior to buying the development tract, Kleinert bounced the idea off his friend Fehmi Karahan, who also happens to be the master developer behind Legacy West, a $3.2 billion mixed-use development in Plano, located just south of Frisco. Legacy West is widely considered by real estate executives as a success as an urban-suburban development and is home of Toyota's new North American campus, as well as major employment centers for JPMorgan Chase, Liberty Mutual Insurance and home to the corporate office of Boeing's new global services division.

Legacy West includes a food hall, as well as restaurants and shops typically found in urbanized cities. The result has created a new central business district in the region outside of downtown Dallas, which has been likened to Tysons Corner, Virginia, a former rural area that transformed into a central business district outside of Washington, D.C.

Karahan, who is president of the Karahan Cos., is working with Hunt Realty to build out the land in Frisco.

Fehmi Karahan, president of the Karahan Cos., the master developer behind Legacy West, has traveled the country looking to build his next big legacy project, called Fields. (The Karahan Cos.)

"The Legacy area is full without any large acreage available and I wanted to be part of a great master-planned development, which is what Fields will be," Karahan said in an interview. "Our goal is to create the master plan of the development with all the product mixes to attract great companies. This isn't just limited to the PGA-related brands, but we feel we can attract the next big relocation with an impact like Toyota and we are planning the land to accommodate it."

By the end of the month, the Fields development is set to reach a major milestone with land planning and zoning approval from city officials, which can make way for infrastructure work to begin on the raw land to help create nine distinct villages and break up the massive tract into chunks of workable real estate.

Following the addition of infrastructure and building out a roadway system, the development partnership plans to concentrate on building single-family homes overlooking the championship golf courses. But it won't be a homogeneous design.

"The blending of the residential neighborhoods is our goal," Karahan said. "We don't just want to do these gated large communities, but create an environment with all the components from a big lot with a multimillion-dollar home to a three-story townhouse with a beautiful terrace overlooking the golf course."

The development team plans to begin on the western side of the Fields master-planned development on a neighborhood known as The Preserve, followed by moving to the eastern side toward the UNT-Frisco campus. The acreage along the Dallas North Tollway, in the center of Fields, is expected to attract corporate tenants with mid- and high-rise towers.

A conceptual rendering of Fields with mid- to high-rise towers centered along the Dallas North Tollway with more residential users on the western and eastern sides of the project. (The Karahan Companies)

 

 

Even though plans to add a corporate tenant could be in the years ahead, Karahan said there's the ability to add a mid- to high-rise corporate tenant, much like Liberty Mutual Insurance's campus in Plano's Legacy West, in part of Fields in the next few years. A roughly 10-acre tract along the Dallas North Tollway at the corner of Rock Hill Road could be carved out of the Fields' puzzle for the right corporate tenant, he said.

"By having more than 2,000 acres to develop, it gives us a lot of flexibility and the ability to showcase what the whole environment is going to look like," Karahan said. "This is very important to large corporations, they want to know what the neighboring environment looks like and what they can offer their employees. It helps protect their investment."

The development partnership hopes to get the green light from City of Frisco planning officials for its nine neighborhood pocket design, which helps parcel out the massive master-planned development. (Hunt Realty)

 

 

A Golf Education

The University of North Texas System has recently received approval from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board to begin development on its 100-acre campus at the southwest corner of Preston Road and Panther Creek Parkway in Frisco.

This October, construction is expected to begin on the initial phase of the $115 million, 130,000-square-foot education building, called Building 1, at the UNT-Frisco campus, which will sit on land donated as part of a partnership with the city of Frisco. The university system also has the ability to extend its campus on another 50 adjacent acres. At full build-out, the new UNT campus could bring up to 25,000 university students to the city.

The new building is expected to help significantly expand UNT-Frisco, which currently has an enrollment of roughly 1,500 students at Hall Park in about 36,000 square feet of leased space at 2811 Internet Blvd. in Frisco. If the university "does it right," it could have up to 25,000 students enrolled at the Frisco campus, said Wesley Randall, dean of the new Frisco campus.

"The opportunity to grow and to be focused on going back to the main campus to efficiently and agilely bring things that are of value to Frisco and to nimbly move in the ecosystem," Randall said. "We are going bring down the parts that will help enable the Frisco economic engine."

UNT's flagship campus is located in Denton, which is about 25 miles west of Frisco, and has an enrollment nearing 40,000 students. In opening a Frisco campus, Randall said the vision is to bring nanotechnology, sports innovation and other fields of study that would track well with Frisco and the PGA of America's shared vision.

Inspire Park, a business incubator owned by the University of North Texas, is home to software and robotics companies in Frisco. (CoStar)

The city of Frisco, development corporations, and the Frisco Independent School District contributed $35 million to helping develop the public golf facilities at the PGA of America-anchored development. The public-private partnership ensures more than 300 Frisco ISD high school golfers will have access to practice at the facility on a weekly basis.

The move echoes one seen years ago from Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones' playbook when the billionaire decided to put the team's corporate headquarters and practice facility in Frisco. The venue anchors a 91-acre mixed-use development called The Star in Frisco, located along the Dallas North Tollway, a few exits from the PGA of America's soon-to-be headquarters and championship golf courses.

The Star includes The Ford Center, a 12,000-seat indoor stadium developed in a public-private partnership with the city of Frisco and Frisco ISD the Cowboys use as an indoor practice facility and allows students to play on the same field as professional players. The deal also gives the city and school district the ability to host other events, trade shows and concerts at the venue.

The allure of these partnerships being tied to the Cowboys or PGA brand, as well as the incoming students from UNT, could bring an important quality to Frisco every employer needs: A pipeline of labor.

"Corporate location decisions are driven primarily around labor," said King White, president of Dallas-based Site Selection Group. "If you are looking to staff a large operation, you want to put yourself in a strategic place to pull employees from multiple angles. The north side of Frisco is pushing out to the edges, but this move has certainly been done in the past with Silicon Valley companies in the 1980s."

Developing the urban-suburban part of the Fields puzzle will be an important piece, as well as a potential corporate magnet, in the years ahead, said White.

Meanwhile, Frisco Mayor Cheney said he expects good things to come out of this public-private partnership with the PGA of America.

"We are growing to grow the game of golf," he added. "This project is going to be a place people will want to be in even if they've never picked up a golf club. We're going to have a whole new generation of golf lovers."

ccarlisle@costar.com
@ByCCarlisle

Proud Sponsor of the Children's Advocacy Gala 2020

by Christie Cannon

The Christie Cannon Team is once again a VERY PROUD sponsor of the Children's Advocacy Gala!

Children's Advocacy provides a safe and child friendly environment for abused and/or neglected children. 

The Gala is on Saturday April 4, 2020 at The Star in Frisco.

For more information on this great cause, how to donate or where to purchase tickets click the link below!

 

https://www.caccollincounty.org/

3542 Hickory Grove

by Christie Cannon

Reasons to Fall in Love with Homeownership

by Christie Cannon

Reasons to Fall in Love with Homeownership

Top Reasons to Love Homeownership [INFOGRAPHIC] | MyKCM
 

Some Highlights:

  • There are many benefits to love about homeownership, and they’re not all financial.
  • Being a part of a neighborhood, driving academic achievement, and improving mental health are just a few of these advantages.
  • Let’s get together today to determine if you’re ready to embrace the rewards of owning your own home.

How Pricing Your Home Right Makes a Big Difference

by Christie Cannon

How Pricing Your Home Right Makes a Big Difference

How Pricing Your Home Right Makes a Big Difference | MyKCM
 

Even though there’s a big buyer demand for homes in today’s low inventory market, it doesn’t mean you should price your home as high as the sky when you’re ready to sell. Here’s why making sure you price it right is key to driving the best price for the sale.

If you’ve ever watched the show “The Price Is Right,” you know the only way to win the game is to be the one to correctly guess the price of the item up for bid without going over. That means your guess must be just slightly under the retail price.

When it comes to pricing your home, setting it at or slightly below market value will increase the visibility of your listing and drive more buyers your way. This strategy actually increases the number of buyers who will see your home in their search process. Why? When potential buyers look at your listing and see a great price for a fantastic home, they’re probably going to want to take a closer look. This means more buyers are going to be excited about your house and more apt to make an offer.

When this happens, you’re more likely to set up a scenario with multiple offers, potential bidding wars, and the ability to drive a higher final sale price. At the end of the day, even when inventory is tight, pricing it right – or pricing it to sell immediately – makes a big difference.

Here’s the other thing: homeowners who make the mistake of overpricing their homes will eventually have to lower the prices anyway after they sit on the market for an extended period of time. This leaves buyers wondering if the price drops were caused by something wrong with these homes when in reality, nothing was wrong, the initial prices were just too high.

Bottom Line

If you’re thinking about selling your home this year, let’s get together so you have a professional on your side to help you properly price your home and maximize demand from the start.

Great News for Renters Who Want to Buy a Home

by Christie Cannon

Great News for Renters Who Want to Buy a Home

Great News for Renters Who Want to Buy a Home | MyKCM
 

Rents in the United States have been skyrocketing since 2012. This has caused many renters to face a tremendous burden when juggling their housing expenses and the desire to save for a down payment at the same time. The recent stabilization of rental prices provides a great opportunity for renters to save more of their current income to put toward the purchase of a home.

Just last week the Joint Center of Housing Studies of Harvard University released the America's Rental Housing 2020 Report. The results explain the financial challenges renters are experiencing today,

“Despite slowing demand and the continued strength of new construction, rental markets in the U.S. remain extremely tight. Vacancy rates are at decades-long lows, pushing up rents far faster than incomes. Both the number and share of cost-burdened renters are again on the rise, especially among middle-income households.”

According to the most recent Zillow Rent Index, which measures the estimated market-rate rent for all homes and apartments, the typical U.S. rent now stands at $1,600 per month. Here is a graph of how the index’s median rent values have climbed over the last eight years:Great News for Renters Who Want to Buy a Home | MyKCM

Is Good News Coming?

There seems, however, to be some good news on the horizon. Four of the major rent indices are all reporting that rents are finally beginning to stabilize in all rental categories:

1. The Zillow Rent Index, linked above, only rose 2.6% over the last year.

2. RENTCafé’s research team also analyzes rent data across the 260 largest cities in the United States. The data on average rents comes directly from competitively rented, large-scale, multi-family properties (50+ units in size). Their 2019 Year-End Rent Report shows only a 3% increase in rents from last year, the slowest annual rise over the past 17 months.

3. The CoreLogic Single Family Rent Index reports on single-family only rental listing data in the Multiple Listing Service. Their latest index shows how overall year-over-year rent price increases have slowed since February 2016, when they peaked at 4.2%. They have stabilized around 3% since early 2019.

4. The Apartment List National Rent Report uses median rent statistics for recent movers taken from the Census Bureau American Community Survey. The 2020 report reveals that the year-over-year growth rate of 1.6% matches the rate at this time last year; it is just ahead of the 1.5% rate from January 2016. They also explain how “the past five years also saw stretches of notably faster rent growth. Year-over-year rent growth stood at 2.6% in January 2018, and in January 2016 it was 3.3%, more than double the current rate.”

It seems tenants are getting a breather from the rapid rent increases that have plagued them for almost a decade.

Bottom Line

Rental expenses are beginning to moderate, and at the same time, average wages are increasing. That power combination may allow renters who dream of buying a home of their own an opportunity to save more money to put toward a down payment. That’s sensational news!

Should I Sell My House This Year?

by Christie Cannon

Should I Sell My House This Year?

Should I Sell My House This Year? | MyKCM
 

If one of the questions you’re asking yourself today is, “Should I sell my house this year?” the current Housing Opportunities and Market Experience (HOME) Survey from the National Association of Realtors® (NAR) should boost your confidence as it relates to the current selling sentiment in the housing market. Even with all the information overload in the media circling around talk of a possible recession, the upcoming 2020 election, and more, Americans feel good about selling a house now. That’s some news to get excited about!

As the graph below shows, as of Q4 2019, 75% of people surveyed indicate they believe now is a good time to sell a home:Should I Sell My House This Year? | MyKCMIn the case of those with a yearly salary of $100,000 or more, the results jumped even higher, coming in at an 82% positive sentiment.

When the study divided the outcomes by region, the results still consistently showed Americans feeling good about selling:

  • Northeast: 71% positive
  • Midwest: 76% positive
  • South: 72% positive
  • West: 81% positive

In addition to looking at income and region, the report also divided the results by generation, as shown in the graph below:Should I Sell My House This Year? | MyKCMAs you can see, many believe that, despite everything going on in the world, it is still a good time to sell a home.

According to NAR, the unsold inventory available today “sits at a 3.0-month supply at the current sales pace,” which is down from a 3.7-month supply in November. The current inventory is half of what we need for a normal or neutral housing market, which should have a 6.0-month supply of unsold inventory. This is good news for sellers, as Lawrence Yun, Chief Economist at NAR, says:

“Home sellers are positioned well, but prospective buyers aren’t as fortunate. Low inventory remains a problem, with first-time buyers affected the most.”

Bottom Line

If you’re ready to list your home, you can feel good about the current sentiment in the market. Let’s get together today to determine the best next step when it comes to selling your house this year.

Make the Dream of Homeownership a Reality in 2020

by Christie Cannon

Make the Dream of Homeownership a Reality in 2020

Make the Dream of Homeownership a Reality in 2020 | MyKCM
 

In 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr. led and inspired a powerful movement with his famous “I Have a Dream” speech. Through his passion and determination, he sparked interest, ambition, and courage in his audience. Today, reflecting on his message encourages many of us to think about our own dreams, goals, beliefs, and aspirations. For many Americans, one of those common goals is owning a home: a piece of land, a roof over our heads, and a place where our families can grow and flourish.

If you’re dreaming of buying a home this year, the best way to start the process is to connect with a Real Estate professional to understand what goes into buying a home. Once you have that covered, then you can answer the questions below to make the best decision for you and your family.

1. How Can I Better Understand the Process, and How Much Can I Afford?

The process of buying a home is not one to enter into lightly. You need to decide on key things like how long you plan on living in an area, school districts you prefer, what kind of commute works for you, and how much you can afford to spend.

Keep in mind, before you start the process to purchase a home, you’ll also need to apply for a mortgage. Lenders will evaluate several factors connected to your financial track record, one of which is your credit history. They’ll want to see how well you’ve been able to minimize past debts, so make sure you’ve been paying your student loans, credit cards, and car loans on time. Most agents have loan officers they trust that they can refer you to.

According to ConsumerReports.org,

Financial planners recommend limiting the amount you spend on housing to 25 percent of your monthly budget.”

2. How Much Do I Need for a Down Payment?

In addition to knowing how much you can afford on a monthly mortgage payment, understanding how much you’ll need for a down payment is another critical step. Thankfully, there are many different options and resources in the market to potentially reduce the amount you may think you need to put down up front.

If you’re concerned about saving for a down payment, start small and be consistent. A little bit each month goes a long way. Jumpstart your savings by automatically adding a portion of your monthly paycheck into a separate savings account or house fund. AmericaSaves.org says,

“Over time, these automatic deposits add up. For example, $50 a month accumulates to $600 a year and $3,000 after five years, plus interest that has compounded.”

Before you know it, you’ll have enough for a down payment if you’re disciplined and thoughtful about your process.

3. Saving Takes Time: Practice Living on a Budget

As tempting as it is to settle in each morning with a fancy cup of coffee from your favorite local shop, putting that daily spend toward your down payment will help accelerate your path to homeownership. It’s the little things that count, so start trying to live on a slightly tighter budget if you aren’t doing so already. A budget will allow you to save more for your down payment and help you pay down other debts to improve your credit score. A survey of Millennial spending shows,

“70 percent of would-be first-time homebuyers will cut spending on spa days, shopping and going to the movies in exchange for purchasing a home within the next year.”

While you don’t need to cut all of the fun out of your current lifestyle, making smarter choices and limiting your spending in areas where you can slim down will make a big difference.

Bottom Line

If homeownership is on your dream list this year, take a good look at what you can prioritize to help you get there. Let’s get together today to discuss the best steps you can take to start the process.

That’s what Jeff Lind, president of Grandscape, a $1.5 billion development along State Highway 121 in The Colony, is hoping.

Other multibillion-dollar developments — one after another, shiny and bright from Legacy West in Plano to The Star in Frisco — entice residents to come out and meet friends and family in new entertainment and shopping environments.

At the same time, the malls in the neighborhood — Stonebriar Centre in Frisco and the Shops at Willow Bend in Plano — have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to add a wing of restaurants, multiple kid venues, a luxury gym and a high-rise hotel.

Now there’s one more new destination for eating, drinking, playing and shopping coming to the growing neighborhoods fanning east and west of the Dallas North Tollway.

“We’re trying to be very different," said Lind, who is leading Grandscape, a project next to Nebraska Furniture Mart that’s part of Warren Buffett’s expansive Berkshire Hathaway. "We wanted to create a space that’s different from other lifestyle centers in the area and to give people reasons to keep coming back.”

Grandscape, which will start to open in March and April, is not like any development in the Dallas area. Almost all the restaurants and stores, big and small, are new to the market.

“I really think this is going to be the first destination up north that will get people from down in Dallas to visit,” said Dan Bradley, who owns T-shirt and gift shop Bullzerk. He’s an exception at Grandscape as a familiar retailer, with six stores in Dallas-Fort Worth.

The D-FW retail real estate market is still considered overbuilt, but there’s been less new construction in recent years, and occupancy rates have been rising.

Grandscape is being built for “future growth in the region,” Lind said.

Instead of turning leasing over to another company, Lind and marketing director Katie Wedekind, both Nebraska Furniture Mart veterans, became the leasing agents. Lind alone clocked 288,000 air miles last year traveling the world to discover new tenants and ways to make Grandscape unique.

Here’s what they came up with.

Multiple levels, 433 acres

Grandscape, which has been in the works since Nebraska Furniture Mart opened in 2015, will operate on multiple levels with lush landscaping, water venues, digital features and lots of places to sit in a pedestrian-friendly layout.

 

The entire property is 433 acres. NFM, which the furniture store is now calling itself, has attracted restaurants and hotels on its west side. That area takes up about 100 acres.

Scheels is a sporting goods and entertainment venue at Grandscape.
Scheels is a sporting goods and entertainment venue at Grandscape.(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

The Grandscape shopping center, just east of NFM, is on 125 more acres, including a 7-acre man-made lake with restaurants bordering it.

It’s anchored by three additional big-box tenants that are not as big as NFM but almost:

  • Andretti’s Indoor Karting & Games is 110,300 square feet and has three indoor tracks, bowling lanes, an arcade, restaurants and bars on two levels.
  • Scheels, at 331,000 square feet, is a supersized sporting goods store with a 65-foot Ferris wheel inside with 16 cars on it.
  • The 85,000-square-foot Galaxy Theatres 15-screen venue that will open this spring is like only one other that Sony has built, in Las Vegas.

While the giant NFM furniture store, at 560,000 square feet, is hard to miss, Grandscape has been designed to disguise its big boxes and “foster more interesting walks across the shopping center,” Lind said.

To prevent boring long stretches across the front of Andretti’s, Scheels and the Galaxy theater, smaller spaces were built on either side of their entrances for shops and restaurants.

“No one wants to walk across the front of a 300-foot building,” Lind said.

The Homestead area of Grandscape features small buildings with local tenants.
The Homestead area of Grandscape features small buildings with local tenants. (Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

‘Something for everybody’

 

The development has six courtyards.

One of them, the Homestead, is a new idea for shopping centers. It’s a rustic collection of small buildings nestled, not lined up, next to an outdoor wine bar with a large fireplace. The dozen businesses occupy spaces as small as 250 square feet.

On paper, the development “looks kind of crazy,” Bullzerk’s Bradley said, “but when you see it, you understand that people can come and really be here all day."

“There’s something for everybody, and it’s not luxury,” which he said Dallas has plenty of. His Bullzerk store will have a $250,000 bus inside that customers can climb into for social media shots and videos.

Construction continues at Grandscape in The Colony. Nebraska Furniture Mart can be seen in the distance.
Construction continues at Grandscape in The Colony. Nebraska Furniture Mart can be seen in the distance. (Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

Other small-business Homestead tenants include Odin Leather Goods, Tyler Kingston Mercantile, Julie’s Sweets and Gnome Cones.

The Lawn section also will be finished this spring. It’s in front of a $4.5 million, 55-foot stage with dressing rooms and three LED digital boards that can be part of an audio/digital experience.

Some parts of the project will still be under construction when it begins to open.

The Grotto will have a courtyard, restaurants and entertainment venues, a water feature and a living wall.
The Grotto will have a courtyard, restaurants and entertainment venues, a water feature and a living wall. (Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

The Grotto section, Lind said, will open later this year. It’s inspired by Covent Garden in London and has a tunnel that leads to a lake with restaurants.

 

When it’s finished, Grandscape will have a couple of dozen restaurants, including Windmills, a restaurant from India with a library-inspired interior design, and Davio’s Northern Italian Steakhouse.

Jeff Lind of Grandscape in The Colony on Wednesday, January 8, 2020. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)
Jeff Lind of Grandscape in The Colony on Wednesday, January 8, 2020. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)
 
Katie Wedekind of Grandscape in The Colony on Wednesday, January 8, 2020. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)
Katie Wedekind of Grandscape in The Colony on Wednesday, January 8, 2020. (Vernon Bryant/The Dallas Morning News)(Vernon Bryant / Staff Photographer)

A 12-story apartment building is under construction and will open next year with 345 luxury units with lots of amenities, including dog parks and meeting rooms.

 

What Lind calls a fashion section is coming later, with retail shops that will connect NFM with Grandscape.

When it’s finished, the walk from NFM to sporting goods superstore Scheels will be almost the length of six football fields, and the space is designed for stops along the way.

Lind and Wedekind said they kept three ideas always in focus: the environment, technology and a nontraditional merchandise mix.

“We’re not developers," Lind said. “We’re retailers."

Here are the firms that are working on the Grandscape project:

Master plan and design architect: Mark Tweed, HTH Architects (Los Angeles)

Architect of Record: Merriman Anderson Architects (Dallas)

Civil Engineer: Olsson Associates

Construction: VCC, which has moved its Dallas office to Grandscape

Landscape Design: Ochsner Hare & Hare, The Olsson Studio

 

Technology features designed and built by The Barnycz Group of Baltimore

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Christie Cannon
Keller Williams Realty
5933 Preston Road #300
Frisco TX 75034
972-215-7747
Fax: 972-215-7748
Keller Williams Frisco - The Christie Cannon Team - http://www.christiecannon.com