A full crowd gathered for the Aug. 6 ground breaking of Wade Park, a mixed-use development expected to include upscale retail, dining, entertainment, hotels, office space and residential components.
Frisco leaders and officials from Thomas Land & Development spoke from the 175-acre site on the southeast corner of Lebanon Road and the Dallas North Tollway.
"Over the next few months we are going to be announcing different tenants that we've signed, and we've been very blessed to sign quite a few already," said Stan Thomas, president and CEO of TL&D. "We've had a tremendous amount of success, some 15 different restaurants with celebrity chefs and special places to have fun and for entertainment, for bowling, for any kind of premier movie experience—all of those are things that you will expect here."
TL&D officials said the initial, 110-acre phase of the project—anchored by a 45,000-square-foot Whole Foods store—is expected to open in spring 2016. The first phase will include more than 600,000 square feet of specialty retail and more than 2 million square feet of Class A office space. Another 65 acres to the south of the original 110 acres is slated for additional office space development.
Planned residential space includes 1,300 apartments and 50 condominiums, as well as 127 Charleston-style single-family homes complete with luxury amenities and concierge services.
"We are very excited," Mayor Maher Maso said. "This is a true mixed-use project that will grow with us. With Frisco's growth it is really never about the buildings—never about the streets and infrastructure or what you put here—it's always about the people and always has been, [including] the quality partnerships, and Thomas Land & Development is one of them. We are looking forward to growing with them, because [Frisco has] a lot of growth left in us."
Frisco Economic Development Corp. President Jim Gandy said Wade Park will be different than anything Frisco has today.
"We are proud to be a part of it," Gandy said. "We will be assisting the project through the Economic Development Corp. with some significant economic assistance in the form of qualified infrastructure reimbursement to Mr. Thomas to help him upgrade this project so that it can be the best it can be and be an incredible long-term destination for Frisco."
Frisco Chamber of Commerce President Tony Felker said he thinks Wade Park will push Frisco to the next level—to the point that Frisco becomes a separate sector from the rest of North Dallas.
"We have had other great, high-quality developments along the tollway, going back 20 years," he said. "You have Hall Office Park that were pioneers out here. Ten years ago you had the ballpark and the development around there. You've got Frisco Square to the north. I think there's a difference between having high-quality developments on the tollway and having the development that truly creates a tollway corridor. Having this development here is what's going to bring other high-quality developments and create a corridor that is going to separate us."
TL&D is planning a "Taste of Frisco" event on the property in fall, where chefs from some of the development's 15 restaurants will prepare food to give residents a chance to see what the choices in Wade Park will be. The date has not yet been announced.
In addition to TL&D, Wade Park development and leasing partners include Peloton Land Solutions, PLAT.FORM, b2 and company, UCR, Greenstone Properties and Newman Real Estate, along with Wakefield Beasley & Associates and Balfour Beatty.
