One of the most talked-about undeveloped tracts of land in Southlake by residents is a parcel at the southeast corner of Dove Road and SH 114.
The tract has seen multiple development plans and recently was involved in a drawn-out controversy involving Southlake residents and developers who wanted to bring in a development with Kroger as an anchor.
Citizens, city officials and a new developer will soon begin to discuss another plan for the land, as Fidelis Realty Partners DFW LLC, a subsidiary of Fidelis Realty Partners, a Houston-based development firm, purchased the 55-acre tract May 6.
Stephen Hassenflu, FRP acquisitions and development analyst, said one of the reasons FRP decided to purchase the land is because of the city’s commercial growth.
“We really like the city of Southlake,” he said. “It’s a good market for commercial property, and from a macroeconomic standpoint it’s great. The city has a lot of residential growth, a great school district and a great community, and we look forward to working with them.”
Hassenflu said FRP has not made any concrete plans, but by the end of the summer the firm plans to have a complete master plan for the tract.
Southlake Mayor Laura Hill created a task force whose mission is to work with developers to inform them on what residents envision for the land.
“We only have a few large land tracts that are undeveloped, so why not come up with a plan to get exactly what we want on those tracts?” Hill said. “This tract is going to affect people who live north of SH 114 as there are some neighborhoods who touch the land, and it’s going to affect the traffic.”
Hill added the task force will only be working with the developer to help put together the overall look and feel of the development.
The task force is led by Ken Baker, Southlake senior director of planning and development services, and consists of Hill, council members Brandon Bledsoe and Gary Fawks, members of the Planning and Zoning Commission, and citizen volunteers.
Hill added the task force has reached out to FRP for introductions.
“We did make it clear that we wanted to form a working relationship with them,” Hill said. “We told them to go back and look at the meetings for the Kroger project so they do not make the same mistakes.”
Hill added city officials will also be reviewing all commercial zoning ordinances.
“Most of these ordinances were written over 15 years ago before we even could imagine there could be big-box developments that would take up 120,000 square feet or more,” she said. “We just want to make sure the ordinances are up to date with the type of developments we are seeing now and could see in the future.”
