Jimmy Archie, managing director at Realty Capital Management in Irving, told Flower Mound Town Council on Oct. 2 that his company will not move ahead with an office building project in the south part of Flower Mound.
“The bottom line is we have failed to convince the greater Flower Mound community that this project makes sense for them,” Archie said in a prepared statement at the council meeting, noting direct neighbors to the property were not supportive of the project.
The property is generally located south of Lakeside Parkway along and between Long Prairie Road and Northwood Drive, according to the council agenda. The Flower Mound Planning and Zoning Commission recommended denial at its Sept. 25 meeting.
The details
Archie told council that his company would not go forward with an ordinance request for the Lakeside Center development and asked to withdraw that request as well as two other items involving tree removal applications at the project site from the agenda.
Council obliged his request, but Archie’s company opted to keep an item on the agenda for consideration regarding the Lakeside DFW development, a mixed-use development, and council approved that measure.
That item revolved around building two elevations and split parking ratios at the Lakeside Crossing development.
“We would still build that building eventually,” Archie said.
He added his company will “back to the drawing board” with regard to the two parking lots in the rear of the property and come back with a request to council that has the support of town residents or at a minimum only have objections from direct neighbors. He stressed his company would not go back to the current plan.
A public hearing was held after Archie spoke with a few people voicing their concerns. Many residents' concerns about the project centered on the size and height of the building, and given the proposed increase in the size and the height of the office building, residents also were concerned about its proximity to existing townhomes, said Lexin Murphy, director of development services with the town of Flower Mound, in an email.
The background
The request that Archie withdrew centered on a boundary change between two planned developments to accommodate a four-story office building on top of a three-story garage.
Realty officials originally had an ordinance for rezoning a planned development with campus commercial uses for both residential and nonresidential uses. They requested a change to a planned development boundary to include additional acreage; to modify development standards; and to request certain exceptions, modifications and waivers to the code of ordinances.
What they’re saying
After hearing about the commission’s vote, Archie said his enthusiasm for this office building project waned as he said a supermajority council vote was needed for passage. He didn’t think that would happen.
He said, though, that his company has had success in Flower Mound, but he did not think this project would get council support and that it was not a recipe for success.
“Lakeside exists today because of the will of the Flower Mound people and their commitment to actively getting involved in the process to make it happen,” Archie said.
He discussed the genesis of the Lakeside development, which has mixed uses, and how the residents wanted a project like Lakeside because of commercial development, including restaurants and retail options, entertainment, and community events. He discussed other aspects of the project, such as housing.
Toward the end of his speech, Archie said it was important that people know that his company didn’t want to force a vote unlikely to be approved and then leave the impression that the town of Flower Mound was not receptive to business in the Lakeside business district.
“That would not help any of us, including our neighbors in opposition, in our efforts to fulfill the greater vision of what Realty Capital is working on in Lakeside,” he said.
