“You’re seeing a real revitalization of the [US 75] corridor, and that’s really exciting,” Director of Special Projects Peter Braster said.
The planned redevelopment of the Plano Market Square Mall will include about 325 new apartments and town homes as well as up to 16,500 square feet of restaurant and retail space. Council Member Shelby Williams said Dec. 14 that the property is “desperately” in need of revitalization.
“[The developers] proposed something that is moderately dense,” he said. “And while it’s nowhere near the same scope and scale as the Collin Creek development, I’m hopeful that they can serve as bookends of our [US] 75 corridor.”
The former Collin Creek Mall property will be transformed into a $1 billion mixed-use destination with up to 3,100 new residential units and a series of new office, restaurant and hotel buildings.
Braster said those projects, as well as the Heritage Creekside development and Texas InTown Homes’ plans for First Baptist Church’s historic downtown property on East 15th Street, are exciting for the city because Plano needs “more housing.”
InTown Homes plans to re-purpose the church site to have 50 for-sale urban townhouses and 270 apartments with live-work units as well as office, retail and restaurant space. However, Braster noted, work cannot begin until First Baptist relocates to its new home off the George Bush Turnpike later this year.
Work on the $900 million Heritage Creekside development, located northwest of where Alma Road meets President George Bush Turnpike, is continuing, Braster said. The 156-acre, mixed-use development is slated to include nearly 900 new housing units as well as restaurants, retail stores and an office tower district.
“A lot of our stuff is just sort of on hold [because of COVID-19],” he said. “Things like the malls [are] a little different because they’re mostly empty anyway. Now is the time to do rehab or redevelop.”
