In seven to 10 years Flower Mound officials said the town’s lake area will be transformed into an area that includes shopping, restaurants, office space and public
amenities.

Economic Development Director Andrea Roy said the lakeshore area is the town’s last “hurrah” as it is the last large tract of land that can be developed commercially.

“We don’t have that much developable land left, so developing that land in a quality, well-thought-out, well-designed manner is going to be an attraction for other things as well,” she said. “What it’s also doing is it’s diversifying our tax base, which is a great thing and something we definitely need to do.”

Several mixed-use developments are planned or underway in Flower Mound’s undeveloped 290 acres of lakeside property. Those developments include Lakeside DFW, Lakeside Village, Lakeside Crossing and Southgate.

Developing Flower Mound’s shoreline

In 2013 Dallas-based developer Realty Capital broke ground on the first of three phases of the $1 billion, 150-acre Lakeside DFW mixed-use development.

Lakeside DFW is located within 6 miles of the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, and has more than a mile of shorefront on Lake Grapevine.

Realty Capital Vice President Rebecca Everitt said the combination of these factors created the perfect environment for a mixed-use project that would provide residents high-quality housing with the luxuries of restaurants and retail right outside their homes.

Phase 1, which was completed in December 2014, includes a shopping center—The Shops at Lakeside, which has 105,000 square feet of retail—425 multifamily units and 250 single-family homes within the 150-acre Lakeside DFW development. The development also has a 1-acre dog park, and walking and biking trails as well as an observation deck.

Some of the tenants in Phase 1 include Moviehouse & Eatery, Bottle & Bottega, Hello Daffodil, Paradise Bistro & Café and Mena’s Tex-Mex Cantina.

The second phase, currently under construction, includes several residential projects, including the multifamily development Elan Flower Mound as well as Overture, which will be an age 55 and older community. It also contains the first luxury condominium tower on Lake Grapevine, The Lakeside Tower, as well as the Lakeside Professional Office Building and a 7-Eleven convenience store and gas station.  Overture is already open, and Elan Phase 2 as well as The Lakeside Tower will open in 2018.

The third phase is Lakeside Village, which is south of Lakeside DFW on 35 acres and will contain a mix of uses and public amenities, such as an amphitheater, that take advantage of the views of Lake Grapevine. Seven restaurants with outdoor patios looking out over Lake Grapevine will be the main attraction in this phase of the development, according to Everitt.

“The projects bring amenities that we don’t currently have here in the community,” Roy said. “One of the things [town staff] is really trying to stress is being able to pull in the public into the lake area, so it’s important that it not be all private development. And the restaurants, amphitheater and the trail will pull in the public. To have these great things on the lake that don’t exist anywhere else on our lakeshore is a huge asset.”

Everitt said Realty Capital is looking to start construction on the streets and utilities for Lakeside Village in summer 2018 and begin the first building projects and restaurants in the summer  2019 with completion on these projects targeted for summer 2020.

“We expect Lakeside Village to take around seven to 10 years for complete build-out,” she said. “It will serve as a tourist attraction for the Town of Flower Mound for years to come.”

Everitt said at full build-out Realty Capital projects the entire valuation of Lakeside DFW and Lakeside Village to be over $2 billion, which equates to $13 million in sales tax revenue.

In addition, between The Shops at Lakeside and Lakeside Village, the two projects should generate an estimated total of $2 million in sales tax revenue per year, according to Everitt.

Lakeside Business District

Adjacent to the Lakeside DFW development are 1,500 acres known as the town’s Lakeside Business District. Roy said the district has approximately 350 acres of available land left and 100 acres under development.

Seventy-nine businesses operate in the district, including Stryker Communications, Wayfair, Mercedes-Benz, HD Supply and Best Buy Distribution.

“If you look at what was here just a couple of years ago and what has already happened, it’s amazing,” Roy said. “We’ve added several million square feet of industrial product, and I think this will become more attractive as Frisco gets busier and Plano gets busier. I think we are a great secondary office market. I don’t envision Amazon here, but I do envision those office uses that have 250-300 employees here.”

The district will not be all business, however, as there are plans for mixed-use developments.

Inside the district, just south of Lakeside DFW on 12 acres, between Northwood Drive and FM 2499, Newstream Commercial has plans for a mixed-use development called Lakeside Crossing.

Plans include a five-story Unscripted Hotel with 134 rooms, restaurants, retail and 15 three-story townhomes. The Unscripted Hotel will be the first of its kind in Texas. The developer has plans to open the hotel in 2020.

Additionally, Southgate at Flower Mound, a 108-acre mixed-use development, is planned at Gerault Road and FM 2499. The development will contain single-family homes, apartments, commercial uses and mixed uses. The single-family homes are being built.

At a Oct. 23 Planning and Zoning workshop, members heard a presentation for The Point, a 34.5-acre, mixed-use development south of Home Depot on the eastern side of FM 2499. If P&Z and Town Council approve the development it will include a Hilton Tru Hotel, office space and apartments.

Lewisville Lake

In neighboring cities Lewisville and Highland Village, who share Lewisville Lake, developing anything on the lakefront that is not recreational is challenging because the land surrounding the lake is owned by the Army Corps of Engineers.

“There is a lot of potential for Lewisville Lake, but there are a lot of hurdles, mainly because there is no private property unlike what you see at Lake Grapevine where much of it is private land,” Lewisville Economic Development Director Nika Reinecke said.

Both cities lease land from the corps for recreational purposes. Highland Village City Manager Michael Leavitt said the city will continue to lease land from the corps and the city does not have plans to use the land for anything other than recreational purposes.

The city of Lewisville at one time had plans to develop corps property into something more.

In 2013, Lewisville approved a
$161 million public-private project that would feature a resort hotel and convention center overlooking Lewisville Lake, however, due to corps restrictions and financial issues the project never went anywhere, Reinecke said.

“There’s a lot of restrictions on what you can develop on the corps’ property,” she said. “They do allow certain development, but it has to relate to the lake or enhance lake recreation activities. For example, they allowed Sneaky Pete’s on the lake because it was providing food and beverages to people who are on the lake; it’s directly related to the lake. Because [lakeside usage is] so restricted it was very difficult to come up with a scenario that would be beneficial to the developer as well as the corps.”

Reinecke said in 2025, when the lease for corps property is up, she expects some form of the hotel development to come back up for discussion.

Lewisville does, however, have some private land—5 acres—on Lewisville Lake in an area known as Tower Bay.

Developers have plans to build The Tower Bay Lofts, which will include 308 lofts in a four-story building.

Reinecke said construction has not yet started on the lofts but they are expected to be complete in 2019.