With a 3-2 vote, Flower Mound Town Council approved the rezoning of 35 acres of land located at FM 2499 and Silveron Parkway within the Lakeside Business District Area giving the green light for The Point, a mixed-use development. Council members Bryan Webb, Don McDaniel and Claudio Forest voted in favor of the development. Council members Jason Webb and Kevin Bryant voted in opposition. Before the meeting started, Mayor Tom Hayden was asked to relinquish his gavel and not preside over this agenda item, and he declined. Hayden does not vote. The development will feature multifamily units by developer Trammell Crow Residential. The apartments will be built in two phases. The first phase will contain 301 multifamily units and 32 carriage homes, which were also referred to as townhomes. The multifamily units will range in price from $1,200/$1,400 to $2,000 a month. Phase 1 will also include a Hilton branded hotel, Tru. Developers are also required to have a minimum of 57,500 square feet of commercial space under construction in Phase 1. Phase 2 will include the rest of the development's residential units but only once the commercial space is finished in Phase 1. The applicant, Direct Development, said two Class A office buildings will likely be built in Phase 2. The developer said the reason why Flower Mound has not been able to attract Class A office buildings is because there is no where for the workers to live. Therefore, the multifamily must be built first. "Why hasn’t Class A office been built in 30 years?," he said. "Flower Mound is close to the airport and there is a good office market in DFW. So how do you attract [young professionals]? You create an environment where they live, work and play. Live is the most important part because if nobody lives there they can’t work or play." Many residents showed up in opposition to the development saying it would cause more traffic, the quality of the hotel was not good enough and apartments were not wanted or needed in town. Other residents, who spoke in favor, said having more multifamily would help out small businesses as those residents would shop and eat locally. Council Member Claudio Forest said residents calling the hotel "a budget hotel bothers him." "To compare this to a La Quinta, there is no comparison." "Hilton is not going to let this go south. I know the industry, Hilton is a top brand for a reason." Council Member Jason Webb was against the project's multifamily component. "I said when I ran I was only interested in senior apartments," he said. "What I see is an apartment complex with a hope of getting office." Council Member Don McDaniel said the multifamily would help attract young professionals who would eventually buy homes in Flower Mound. "I ran on making Flower Mound a multigenerational community," he said. "I believe a community is stronger and better, and wealthier in spirt and financially when we have a place for everyone—young professionals, parents and grandparents. We are aging in place and we are risking losing assets at schools. Schools such as Bridlewood and Liberty have empty classrooms. We need young families to stay vibrant; to keep our schools full with resources to provide the quality that we all expect. This is exactly the type of product we need."