Following four years of discussions between the city and the developer and several modifications to the site plan, council members approved an updated plan that includes 79 residential lots and sets aside land for a potential library, if the city should decide to place it there.
The new library, initially planned to be built as one of the many amenities inside the mixed-use development, was removed from the final plan Nov. 16 with city officials citing the need to review responses from a citywide survey on library needs submitted this summer.
The project, which will break ground in summer 2022, will start Phase 1 with a $3.5 million to $4 million investment from the developers to construct site infrastructure—roadways and utilities. Those must be completed before the 79 residential lots can be released.
John Terrell, one of the developers of the project and former Southlake mayor, said the idea is to start the project by building the homes so the revenue generated from the residential sales can be used to finance the commercial development that is part of Carillon Parc.
“This development team is excited as it has ever been to move forward with this [project] and make it a reality,” Terrell said. “Residentials are simply a stepping stone to make the [rest of the project] occur.”
Carillon Parc, which Terrell described as a public-private partnership with the city of Southlake, will include various high-end restaurants and retail options as well as an eight to nine acres public park estimated at $10 million to be dedicated to the city. Terrell said the mixed-use development is planning to house a culinary institute.
“This is a project that truly is a legacy project,” Terrell said. “ It’s one that I want our development team, the city and the citizens to be extremely proud of that development—the folks that it’s going to bring to our community to spend additional tax dollars and the kind of economic impact that it’s going to have on our community.”
Estimates showt Carillon Parc would have an overall taxable value of $350 million.
Council raised concerns about the homes being built first and the project falling through without the promised commercial aspect—as was the case in 2008 when the project was first proposed.
Southlake Mayor John Huffman said the risk of this happening again is mitigated due to some items proposed in the economic incentive package being discussed between the city and developer. This includes “no upfront payments” to the developer until the commercial pieces come online.
“I think this project is special enough to move forward with a view and a hope that we’re all sitting here in three to four years excited about the grand opening,” Huffman said.
For now, plans for a new library inside Carillon Parc have been halted, and the city must notify the developers by June 30 of whether a new library will be built inside the development.
“The [Carillon Parc] residents have been waiting years for this to happen and to be able to fulfill that dream as to why they bought in their community—that actually means a lot as a developer and as a former mayor and City Council person who voted on the original plans,” Terrell said. “It is great to be able to have driven from an elected position a direction as a city and now be in a developer’s shoes understanding what it's going to take to bring this project to fruition.”
