Hotel happenings

Fancy facelift: Joule Dallas to add subterranean spa, roof terrace and craftcocktail lounge in 2013

We doubt many people have said the Joule Dallas could use more flash. But when the owner is billionaire entrepreneur Tim Headington, the standard is pretty high. The Starwood Luxury Collection hotel in is the midst of a $78 million renovation and expansion slated to be completed by 2013.

Highlights include the first subterranean spa by ESPA in Texas (fifth in the country), a 5,000-square-foot roof terrace accessible by glass elevator and a craft cocktail lounge in a converted bank vault.

"The Joule expansion will further accelerate the magnetic nature of the rapidly emerging Main Street District," says CFO Michael Tregoning.

"The enhanced hotel will further solidify and articulate the Joule’s identity as a one-of-a-kind boutique hotel," says CFO Michael Tregoning. "More important, the Joule expansion will further accelerate the magnetic nature of the rapidly emerging Main Street District."

The expansion also envelops a retail outlet with seven stores and a brasserie-style restaurant and accompanying epicurean shop.

Tregoning had long hoped to purchase the adjacent property that will soon house the "best-in-class urban retail" center, but it didn't go on the market until recently.

"We closed almost immediately and have been developing and completing our expansion plans ever since," he says.

For the high rollers, the Joule will offer three new penthouse suites — one single story and two three-story varieties — and 14,000 square feet of meeting and event space.

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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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