J.R. News

Southfork Ranch of Dallas fame gets new owner with big plans in the works

Changes are coming to Southfork.

Photo courtesy of Southfork

Big changes are in the works for one of DFW's best known landmarks: Southfork Ranch, the property in Parker made internationally famous by the TV series Dallas, has been acquired by Centurion American Development Group, the development company owned by CEO Mehrdad Moayedi.

According to a release, the purchase includes 241 acres which span both sides of Murphy Road south of Parker Road and includes Southfork Mansion and Conference and Event Center.

Development plans include residential lots, with the size and number to be determined by Centurion and the City of Parker.

Thanks to the continued syndication of the Dallas series, viewers around the world receive a continued reminder as to the ranch's enduring tourist appeal.

In a statement, Moayedi calls Southfork one of the most important properties in DFW.

“We are looking forward to working with the City of Parker to determine the future of this historic property,” Moayedi says. “Southfork Ranch is one of the most important and beloved parcels of land in the metroplex with more than 400,000 visitors each year, and we’re proud to lead the team bringing it into its next evolution.”

Southfork Ranch joins other Centurion American Development Group projects underway in Collin County, including Collin Creek in Plano, Legacy Hills in Celina and the Villages of Hurricane Creek in Anna.

Since 1990, Centurion American has developed more than 30,000 single-family lots in dozens of communities surrounding North Texas.

The company is busy in the hospitality arena as well with its Refined Hospitality Concepts wing, overseeing the Statler Dallas hotel and restaurants such as Primo's MX, Bourbon & Banter, Scout, Overeasy, Waterproof, and Sfereco. They're also partnered with Richard Rawlings of Gas Monkey Garage fame on two new venues combining food, drink, and entertainment.

The stage was set for a Centurion takeover in July when Refined took over management of Southfork Ranch.

No Cap

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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