Entrada plans also include possibility of PID to pay for public infrastructure in development

The town of Westlake will get $10,000 per residential lot for Westlake Academy, under an economic development agreement with the developers of Entrada, an 85-acre mixed use development along Hwy. 114.

The latest plans shows 322 lots in the $500 million development.

The academy, the town's municipal charter school, has grown dramatically over the last few years, and is being expanded.

The Entrada agreement also says developers Mehrdad Moayedi and Jeff Blackard will escrow funds or provide a letter of credit for 88 percent of several major traffic improvements including: completion of Solana Boulevard, which runs along one side of the development; costs for traffic signals at FM 1938 and Solana Boulevard, and at Solana Boulevard and Hwy. 114; and a new intersection between Solana Boulevard and an unnamed road that will link Entrada and Granada.

A total estimate for all the road improvements is not ready, but Town Manager Tom Brymer said the Solana Boulevard extension is expected to cost $1.1 million.

The Town Council approved the agreement after a closed session at its Oct. 28 meeting.

The developers also must maintain irrigation, landscaping, sidewalks and trails, water features, public art, streets and drainage. The town will maintain public water, sewer and telecommunications infrastructure.

Westlake will waive parkland dedication fees for the 10-acre lake, 12-foot perimeter trails and open spaces.

Brymer said the developers estimate their investment in streets, water/sewer, a telecom duct bank, the lake, plazas, open space and trails at $25–$30 million.

The town has agreed to consider a PID, or Public Improvement District to help pay for the development. Under a PID, property owners at Entrada would pay an amount assessed by the city that would be used to reimburse the developer for public infrastructure.

Entrada has been retooled since it originally was presented to the council.

Apartments, which some residents opposed, have been dropped.

Besides residential villas, the development near Solana Business Park is to include several hotels, a large amphitheater, two chapels, a cathedral, retail stores, restaurants and possibly an independent living center.

The current plan also includes lake with stores on one shore creating a "retail harbor" and vineyards used as landscaping along Hwy. 114.

The project received zoning and preliminary plat approvals from the Town Council when the revamped plan was presented.

Blackard, of McKinney, showed the council basic renderings of the development, along with slides of villages in Spain reflecting the architecture he plans to replicate.

The concept is similar to Blackard's Adriatica in McKinney, a mixed-use development that replicates parts of a Croatian village. His aim is to create a community feel by mixing homes with retail in a pedestrian-oriented village environment.

Blackard is partnering with Moayedi, a Carrollton developer and property owner, on Entrada.

The two men, together and separately, have developed North Texas subdivisions involving thousands of homes over the years, according to their business websites.