Argyle Town Council unanimously approved the Heritage development zoning change March 18.
What’s happening?
With H-E-B going to the Landmark development in Denton, property owner Jim Wills has a new grocer interested in the property.
“As much as we miss the glitz and glamor of H-E-B [and] everybody loves H-E-B, there are some positives as a result," Willis said. "With [H-E-B as the] particular grocer, they place deep restrictions effectively on the remainder of that property such that they limit specific uses so that they don’t compete with their stores."
Now, Wills said they can “supercharge their marketing effort” and add more retail spaces that they may not have been able to with an H-E-B.
“We do have another grocer that we feel very good about,” Wills said. “They’re doing some due diligence right now.”
Zooming in
The development includes a grocery store up to 150,000 square feet and a potential six-story hospital not to exceed 120 feet. These are the only large scale developments permitted on the property, according to city documents.
The wellness campus on 50 acres of the property will include retail, fitness and medical buildings with a building height not to exceed 75 feet. A surgical center, specialty heart hospital and an acute care hospital was also proposed, but BS&W representatives Charles Shelburne and Angel Benschneider said they would assess community needs to decide what will serve the town best.
The rest of the property will have commercial, office and retail buildings not to exceed 50 feet in height.
Additionally, the developer plans to add 1,500 trees, an entrance fountain near Robson Ranch Road and two amenities on each lot.
Phase one of construction will include the grocery store with gas pumps, 44,000 square feet of medical office space and 36,000 square feet of retail space, according to city documents.
A traffic light will be built on the two north access drives proposed along Robson Ranch Road to deal with the expected increase in traffic, per city documents.
Measuring the impact
According to an economic impact study presented by the developer, over a 30-year period, the development is expected to generate over $17 million in new tax revenue and over $131 million in new sales tax revenue.
The development is also expected to generate over 3,200 jobs.
The details
The council approved the plan with planning and zoning recommendations, including limiting large developments on the property and adding 20% aggregate landscaping and 15% landscaping for each lot.
Additionally, council asked to reduce the medical uses along Robson Ranch Road in favor of retail and restaurants which the developer agreed to do.
What they’re saying
“We’ve really kind of ended up with the best of both worlds,” Mayor Rick Bradford said. “We’re still gonna have an H-E-B in the community, but it kind of opens up the door for us to really benefit from additional retail and sales taxes that we may not have realized before.”
Council member Casey Stewart added that it was "absolutely the right location" for BS&W.
“It’s on the most improved road we have, that’s going to be even better," he said. "Most importantly, it’s not in our cross timbers area, it’s not affecting our tree canopies, not affecting the stuff we’re really sensitive about.”
The backstory
H-E-B announced March 13 that a store will be built in Hillwood’s mixed-use development Landmark on Robson Ranch Road in Denton.
The Heritage development was first proposed to planning and zoning Dec. 4 and was tabled. The development was again tabled Jan. 8 and Feb. 5 before planning and zoning recommended approval 6-1 at the March 5 meeting.
Several changes were made to the development since the first proposal including decreasing the size from 195 acres, adding more landscaping, introducing the BS&W wellness campus and restricting the uses of big buildings on the property.
What’s next?
The developer will look at engineering for the property including drainage and utilities.
A site plan will eventually be brought to town council for approval.
