Bye Bye Valley Ranch?

Where Tony Romo goes, do the Dallas Cowboys follow?

Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo and his wife, Candice, are building a new house in Glen Abbey, a lush, gorgeous and oh-so-secure gated community in Far North Dallas. Really, where else would they build their dream home?

Oil magnate Clint Murchison Jr., longtime owner of the Dallas Cowboys, bought the acreage that is now Glen Abbey for his personal estate, so he could raise his family there. His son’s wife, Lupe Murchison, sold the land to former mayor Bob Folsom to develop.

Glen Abbey, which abuts the Bent Tree Country Club, sits smack in the middle of Keller Springs Road, Westgrove Drive, Dallas North Tollway and Preston Road. So it makes sense the Dallas Cowboys would draw a line north from Romo’s home to their new practice facility.

Nothing has been confirmed, but my source, Frisco agent Brad Holden, says the Cowboys’ new training facility will land at Frisco Station, at the northwest intersection of the Dallas North Tollway and Warren Parkway. Holden says the football action will take place on a 317-acre site.

That’s where Houston-based Hines Development recently unveiled plans for 4.5 million square feet of office space, 40 acres of retail, two hotels (one full service and one limited service), single-family homes, and apartments and townhomes.

And, now, America’s team?

Word is that when the indoor facility is built, the Cowboys will share the complex with the Frisco Independent School District. This news has Frisco real estate agents fired up like firecrackers. FISD athletics can practice when the team’s not there, and they can hold playoff and championship games in the facility, as they do currently at the FC Dallas Stadium.

This, says Holden, will help Frisco lure large tournaments, playoff games and possibly bowl games.

Although Holden seems certain about this news, other news outlets are reporting this more cautiously. According to WFAA-TV Channel 8:

The land in Frisco that could become the next home of the Cowboys is located just off the Dallas North Tollway at Warren Parkway, not far from the Stonebriar Centre Mall. It would be the latest jewel in a Frisco sports crown that already includes the Dallas Stars, Frisco RoughRiders and FC Dallas.

Over at the Dallas Morning News, talk is when, not if:

Sources said work remains before the team severs ties with its home of 28 years at Valley Ranch in Irving to travel north. It’s doubtful an announcement will be made in the next few days or weeks. ... Preliminary indications are the Cowboys would make the move before the start of the 2016 season.

Seems like all the athletes are leaving Irving. The Cowboys built their new stadium in Arlington, and now the Byron Nelson is moving to a new golf course in South Dallas. Meanwhile, Frisco’s hot.

The original Murchison estate in Glen Abbey, where the Romos are building, is listed with Allie Beth Allman for $6,900,000.

Murchison estate in Glen Abbey in Far North Dalals

Photo courtesy of Allie Beth Allman & Associates

The original Murchison estate in Glen Abbey, where the Romos are building, is listed with Allie Beth Allman for $6,900,000.

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GP News

Grand Prairie expands to the south with new master-planned community

Rendering courtesy of Provident

Goodland Grand Prairie

The City of Grand Prairie is growing fast and expanding to make way for a new master-planned development south of US Highway 287 and along Tollway 360, in Ellis and Johnson counties.

The community development, called Goodland, is the result of Grand Prairie’s recent 1,500-acre annexation extending its southern border toward Mansfield. Overall, with the added land, Goodland will be a 5,000-acre site featuring 15,000 residences including townhomes, custom homes, and gated communities for 50,000 residents.

According to a release, it will be a “city within a city” and a 45-minute drive from Dallas-Fort Worth. Beyond housing, there will be shops, restaurants, schools, public and private event venues, regional sports fields and complexes, dance halls, churches, trail systems, city parks, ponds, and preserved green spaces.

“This is a significant step in our city’s development,” says Grand Prairie Mayor Ron Jensen in a statement. “Unlike many of our neighboring cities, we have the unique advantage of new development opportunities to our south that will drive the growth and prosperity of our city. We recognized the opportunity and took decisive action.”

Leading the development is Provident, a Dallas-based real estate firm that has created other master-planned communities across Dallas-Fort Worth, such as Preston Hollow Village and Hillstead in Collin County. Provident has plans to work nature into the space design with more than 1,600 acres of creek corridors and floodplain land.

Plans are ongoing for a centralized mixed-use walkable Town Center, complete with civic buildings and other commercial development. Further south on the property near Highway 67, light industrial uses and other private employment campuses are already underway, projects that will contribute vital tax dollars for city growth and future expansions.

“This level of placemaking is quite rare, and certainly not easy to execute, especially in a brand-new community," says Provident Managing Director Rylan Yowell in a statement. "We are committed to a long-term vision with a desire to be good stewards of the land."

A new four-lane road called Goodland Parkway will link Goodland to Grand Prairie at Tollway 360 and US Highway 287. It's set to open by December 2025.

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