The Grapevine City Council tabled a market study and master plan agreement July 15 with HR&A Advisors on its 185-acre tract near Grapevine Mills.

The city acquired the land in a $29.5 million deal from former Texas Rangers professional baseball player Rafael Palmeiro about six months ago.

The agreement with HR&A, a roughly $257,000 contract that would pull funds from the city's economic development reserves, was worrisome for Mayor William Tate and several members of the council because it didn't go far enough in providing possible tenants for the land.

Tate also said it was too vague about what the next phases of work with the company would entail and at what costs, and he didn't want to start a process to be surprised by its price tag as the phases developed. It also didn't focus enough on entertainment development concepts, Tate said.

HR&A's proposed services included goal setting, market and site context analysis, visioning based on market study findings, a development program and land use alternatives, presentations on alternative uses and a presentation on the preferred use. HR&A said it would take five to six months to develop the work.

Tate argued it didn't provide any true tangible product for the money, and took too long. The council had chosen HR&A to make a proposal based on the California-based company's connections with the entertainment industry, which Tate said is the council's main interest for the property.

"We've got a short window to get our momentum back," Tate said. "The momentum is heading to north Fort Worth, Frisco, Allen and McKinney. For us to get anything we want [on this land], time is marching on us. I haven't given up on the ability to get hotels, family entertainment and retail [at the site], but I kinda want to know what it's going to take to complete the project with these people."

He said he preferred to instead advertise the property nationally and try and land a development that way.

HR&A's Amitabh Barthakur said that was a valid approach, but he questioned its effectiveness as he advocated for the proposal.

"That's a fair enough way of doing it," Barthakur said. "You can get a broker, find who's interested and get a deal done. We think that plays on a short-term real estate cycle. This is the last piece of property Grapevine has. It needs to do a lot of things over a long period time. Putting some thought into it and putting a road map out there about how you are going to tackle this issue is very valuable, and we've seen it successfully done in other communities."

After the initial $250,000 study, Barthakur said more work would be necessary.

"We think that there are subsequent stages," he said. "A disposition strategy for the land could be varied. Really, mapping that out, mapping that strategy, knowing what is worth your time to go after and what you can achieve in terms of what your goals are is important. You could otherwise be spending a lot more resources over a longer period of time and not get where you want to be."

Tate said he thought HR&A "had a good entertainment department" and would be able to make a clear connection to developers quickly, which is why he had initially approved hearing a proposal from them.

"I thought you could bring some more entertainment to Grapevine," Tate said. "To get where I wanted to be and we wanted to be is going to be a lot more money than this and that's very clear to me What has worked for us is deciding what we want and going after it."

He pointed to the examples of Bass Pro Shops, Grapevine Mills, the Gaylord Texan Resort and Convention Center and Great Wolf Lodge.

"I thought that was what we were going to get out of this," Tate said. "[But that] is not for this amount of money. It's for an unknown amount of money. And until you get to that goal, you've got nothing."

Councilwoman Sharron Spencer said she felt the expertise the city needs "rests in this firm" and wasn't surprised end users for the property weren't a part of the proposal at this point.

"I thought that was just the way things are done, because we've never done this before," Spencer said. "We kinda need it all in this first go-around."

City Manager Bruno Rumbelow said he clearly understood Tate's objections and the concerns of other City Council members. He asked HR&A to return to the city in August with a revised scope of services that had more specific phasing for a market study and master plan agreement on the property.

Barthakur maintained that he thought "whale hunting" that would put another large development on the ground in Grapevine should be a separate exercise from the planning and discussion stage.

"In our experience, this is a successful process," Barthakur said. "We give you a framework, that framework establishes what is sacred to you, and the rest is negotiable. You may need outside help or your may do the next step yourself."

Barthakur said he thought it unfair to try and price all of the phasing without more information that would be gained from the first phase market study, but Rumbelow said HR&A had done it before and could do it again for Grapevine.

Tate hammered home the idea that speed is of the essence to him or the possibility of landing a large entertainment option or themed attraction would slip away.

"We don't have the luxury of several years here," Tate said. "If we wait, it's going to be apartments, offices or warehouses, in my mind."