The details
Flower Mound Town Council met Jan. 6 to take up one action item, the proposed development of a project called Monarch. After more than two hours of discussions and some concessions from the developer, council members voted unanimously to approve the project.
The Monarch project will sit near the intersection of Denton Creek Boulevard and Cleveland Gibbs Road.
It will include 278 townhomes, about 472,470 square feet of retail and restaurant development and a 0.5-acre pocket park. The mixed-use development will also include space for park land, pollinators and detention pond areas.
However, the Town Council members' vote of approval of the project came with some concessions from the developer.
Town Council member Adam Schiestel said he had concerns about the phasing of the project, which had townhomes being built first. He was worried about getting stuck with the townhomes without the commercial aspect of the project.
“I won’t vote for a master plan amendment that opens us up to the possibility of getting a townhome development and nothing else,” he said.
He recommended requiring a certain amount of commercial space in the development be built before the townhomes, which the developer agreed to. 150,000 square feet of commercial space must be built out before the first 150 townhomes can be built. Another 150,000 square feet of developed commercial space will unlock the developers ability to build the rest of the townhomes.
Zooming in
The developer and applicant behind the project, Eric Schmitz and the design firm McAdams, were seeking some changes from the council to get the project done.
They wanted the land the project will sit on to be rezoned from interim holding to a planned development district with campus commercial and single family uses. They were also seeking a master land use plan amendment from campus commercial to high density residential on 42 acres of land.
Both of these changes previously received recommendations of approval by the town’s planning and zoning commission. Town officials also agreed to some exceptions for the project, such as reduced setbacks and increased maximum lot coverage.
What they’re saying
Schmitz, the developer, said he was pleased with the council’s vote of approval on his Monarch project.
“Previously, deals have had a tough time getting through Flower Mound,” Schmitz said. “They’re known to be tough but they had their smart hats on tonight and they’re going to do the right thing for the community and we’re going to do our part to make it an A-plus development.”
Looking ahead
Schmitz told the council that some of the development may be complete by 2027 or 2028.
