Living in Arlington

Master-planned Arlington community dreamed up by Huffines twins gets new boss with big ideas

The Viridian in Arlington touts its natural amenities.

Photo courtesy of Viridian

A master-planned community in Arlington has new owners. The Viridian is a 2,083-acre property along the Trinity River, west of 360 and north of 30, that was created by twin brothers Donald and Phillip Huffines, grandsons of famed auto dealer.

The new sheriff: Houston developer Johnson Development and real estate investor Tricon, who purchased the complex from original funder CrossHarbor Capital Partners. Johnson Development is big into master-planned communities, with 13 under development in Houston and one in Atlanta.

A release describes Viridian as "one of the nation's largest infill master-planned communities," with 1,000 lots, 700 of which have been sold to builders. Viridian general manager Robert Kembel noted the community's management team and master plan will remain intact.

Located on a 6-acre peninsula overlooking Viridian Lake, the club currently consists of a collection of Mediterranean-style buildings along with four pools, a pavilion and small amphitheater.

There are plans for a 10,000 square-foot event center, a sailing center managed in concert with the City of Arlington, an adult pool, event lawn, two tennis courts, a basketball court, and 20 miles of paved trails connecting to the 1,300-acre River Legacy Park Nature Preserve and trail system.

Some homes are already for sale; prices begin at $210,000 for a two-bedroom, two-story townhouse and go all the way up to million-dollar homes.

The community offers 500 acres of parks, recreational areas, trails and open spaces with another 600 acres of lakes, rivers, and streams located within proximity to every neighborhood. Half of Viridian's 2,000 acres are in "natural" areas, adjacent to River Legacy Park.

Although located in Arlington, Viridian falls within the Hurst-Euless-Bedford Independent School District. Residents can enroll their children in the HEB ISD or Arlington ISD; an onsite Viridian Elementary School opened in August 2014.

In a release, Larry D. Johnson, president and chief executive officer of the Johnson Development Corp says, "We’ve had our sights set on the DFW market for quite some time, and Viridian is the perfect fit for us."

Johnson Development and Tricon previously acquired one of the largest available land parcels in the Houston area: 2,046 acres in north Houston now known as Grand Central Park. The two firms also partnered in the purchase of the 3,200-acre West Houston master-planned community of Cross Creek Ranch.

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Dallas was a top-10 destination for Gen Zers on the move for 2023

Photo by Lance Asper on Unsplash

Who wouldn't want to live in a Gen Z paradise like Dallas?

As Gen Z enters adulthood, many are flocking to the nation's biggest cultural hubs like New York City, Los Angeles — and now Dallas, which had the ninth-highest inflow of Gen Zers in 2023.

Dallas' new reputation as a Gen Z hotspot was unveiled in a recent report by American home improvement brand This Old House, which analyzed migration trends across multiple generations using 2023 U.S. Census Bureau data.

Dallas saw an influx of 13,770 Gen Z residents last year to become the generation's No. 9 most popular city. That's 4,223 more Gen Zers than the net migration rate from 2022, the report found.

Real estate marketplace Zillow seems to agree on a statewide scale, declaring Texas as the No. 1 destination for Gen Zers on the move in 2024.

However, as Gen Z Dallasites may have learned, it's going to take a big bite out of their paychecks to live in such a highly sought after city. A March RentCafe housing cost analysis predicted Gen Z adults living in Dallas are likely to spend over $149,000 on rent by the time they are 30 years old.

While Dallas saw big gains in its Gen Z population last year, many other big cities saw a mass exodus. Plano, for example — which gained 1,295 Gen Z residents in 2022 — lost 4,028 Gen Zers in 2023, the report discovered.

The biggest Gen-Z exodus was in El Paso, with a drop of 5,607 — "a sharp turn from 2022 when the city saw an increase," the report said. "Other cities, including Plano, Texas; Memphis, Tennessee; McKinney, Texas; and Wichita, Kansas, are seeing similar declines."

"Gen X, baby boomers, and the Silent Generation are also moving away from major cities, particularly New York City and Washington, D.C.," the report said. "They’re heading to some of the same cities as Gen Z, including Houston and Jacksonville, Florida."

The top 10 cities that gained the most Gen Z residents in 2023 are:

No. 1 – New York City, New York
No. 2 – Los Angeles, California
No. 3 – Houston, Texas
No. 4 – Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No. 5 – Chicago, Illinois
No. 6 – San Diego, California
No. 7 – Seattle, Washington
No. 8 – Charlotte, North Carolina
No. 9 – Dallas, Texas
No. 10 – Minneapolis, Minnesota

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