TEXAS SNAPSHOT, JULY 2009

Fort Worth Submarket Spotlight: Mesquite

Plans are being finalized for the first major development under Mesquite’s “Project Renewal” campaign, the city’s long-term initiative to rebuild and reinvent itself. Since its inception last September, the initiative has already attracted approximately $92 million in proposed new development, including Peachtree Towne Center.

Dallas/Fort Worth-based Lang and Company is developing Peachtree Towne Center, a $52 million, mixed-use project on 60 acres off Interstate 635 in Mesquite, Texas. While the mixed-use format has become ubiquitous in commercial development, this one has a bit of a twist: a large medical facility will anchor the project.

“Mesquite has a need for more medical facilities,” says Tris Tipton, vice president of Lang and Company. “Currently, most residents drive to Garland or Dallas to receive treatment.”

Lang and Company’s CEO did not plan to build a medical mixed-use community in Mesquite. Instead, the plan came to him.

Jim Lang, the company CEO, was visiting Mesquite on other business. Tom Palmer, economic development manager for the city of Mesquite, told Lang about a 60-acre site that was sitting unused and available near the interstate and asked what to do with it. The unique and challenging topography of the site had kept local developers at bay; however, Lang had been a developer in California, where hurdles such as steep grades and an abundance of water were the norm in site development. He saw the land as a nugget of potential.

After Lang left the site, he immediately called Ken Killian, a local architect with whom Lang had worked in the past. Unbeknownst to Lang, Killian had drawn up a master plan for the site 10 years earlier. Lang liked what he saw, so he went back to the City office with the plan in hand. The rest is history.

Peachtree Towne Center will feature four main components. Thirty acres of open space divide the property in half; on the western side will be the medical center and a proposed Main Street-style village with residential units on top of retail/office space, and a hotel/conference center will be built on the eastern side. A bridge will connect the two.

The 30 acres of open, natural space will have a 12-foot-wide hike-and-bike trail that ties into the city’s trail, altogether creating a 26-mile system.

“The City will have a trail long enough to host a marathon,” Tipton says.

Lang and Company hopes to profit from the project’s location, which has access to three interstates, one state highway and sits along a 1/2-mile stretch of I-635. Additionally, Peachtree Towne Center is positioned in between two of the region’s most well-known landmarks. One mile north of the site is Town East Mall, which receives more visitors than Disney World, according to city officials. Then, 1/2 mile south is the home of the Mesquite Championship Rodeo, Resistol Arena.

“Peachtree Towne Center will benefit from existing traffic generated by the two nearby landmarks. And we also believe Peachtree Towne Center will provide more customers for the mall and the arena. It will be a win-win for all involved,” says Tipton.

Lang and Company currently is working on nailing down the project’s medical tenant. Once the hospital is on paper, Tipton says the company will work as fast as possible to put the rest into place.

“We hope to have a hospital operator confirmed this summer,” he says. “After that, we’ll begin engineering and design plans. We are estimating an 18-month timeline on the medical portion, with it functioning in 2011.”

Halff & Associates is providing master infrastructure engineering design, and Ken Killian is the project architect (though tenants may choose to bring in their own architect/engineer for their lot design).

As the developer of the first major project approved under “Project Renewal,” Tipton says he and his company have had nothing but a positive experience working with the city on Peachtree Towne Center. The Peachtree project is anticipated to have an over $1 billion impact on the local economy over the next 10 years, according to a report by Insight
Research.

— Lindsey Walker Marcec

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