Your Expert Guide

Southlake: Where the small-town feeling lives on in a big community

Agent Christy McNew.

Photo courtesy of Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty

There are so many great places to live in Dallas that it helps to have an expert on your side. The Neighborhood Guide presented by Briggs Freeman Sotheby's International Realty gives you insider access from the agents who live and work there, providing in-the-know info about your possible new community.

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Southlake, a northern suburb located between Dallas and Fort Worth, often pops up on "best small city in America" lists, and for good reason.

Its small-town feel, close community, excellent schools, and easy commute to DFW make it especially attractive for homeowners, and real estate agent Christy McNew is one of them.

"Southlake offers a little bit of everything — you never need to leave the town," McNew says. "You can stay in the bubble if you need or want to."

She's lived there for nearly two decades, and has specialized in helping her clients buy and sell in the area for another 10.

"The town grew in the mid-1990s with the town square and Timarron neighborhood development," McNew shares. "Many new developments since have helped grow the city, which also has amazing parks, city activities, and Friday Night Lights football games that bring everyone together to cheer on the Dragons."

McNew, who is a licensed Realtor in both Texas and Florida, is also an investor, having flipped hundred of homes into long and short-term rental properties.

She offered up some of her personal favorites about life in Southlake. Here's her guide to the area:

Where to eat & drink
There's no shortage of good eats in Southlake, which boasts Mi Cocina, Moxies, Taverna, Gloria’s Latin Cuisine, Bonefish, Ra Sushi, Fajita Pete’s, Wildwood Grill, and Cava.

Where to play
Bicentennial Park and Bob Jones Park provide plenty of nature and fresh air for strolls and picnics.

Timarron Country Club offers 18 holes of championship golf, restaurants, a fitness center, and social events throughout the year.

What to see
Southlake is close to Dallas and Fort Worth for world-class museums, but most of the city can be found at Dragon Stadium on Friday nights, where McNew says "the tailgating is like none other."

Where to live
Here, you'll find traditional, modern, and transitional homes with an average price of $1.5 million.

"A city requirement is that neighborhoods must have a green space/common area for the subdivision," says McNew. "Many neighborhoods have ponds for kids to fish in, and you'll see kids outdoors playing and riding their bikes a lot. It's a very safe area."

McNew recently represented the buyer of 2652 Park Grove, a new-build custom home.

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Christy McNew works and plays in Southlake. For more information on buying and selling a home in the area, click here, email cmcnew@briggsfreeman.com, or call 817-689-5764.

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Million-dollar homes

Multi-million-dollar gated home community The Preserve rises in Frisco

Preserve

A palace on the prairie of The Preserve in Frisco

Construction has begun on a multi-million-dollar custom home community in Frisco. Called The Preserve, it's situated among PGA Frisco’s championship golf courses and near the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, with multiple phases that will roll out over the next few years.

The Preserve is part of Fields, a 2,500-acre development in North Frisco off the Dallas North Tollway. Fields is co-developed and owned in partnership with The Karahan Companies, Hunt Realty Investments alongside investors Chief Partners and Cross Tie Capital.

The development will feature retail, dining, entertainment, hotels, corporate offices, native Texas plants, flowers, trees, and 250 acres of park space. It's designed by the same team responsible for Plano’s Legacy West, led by Fehmi Karahan.

Phase 1 of The Preserve will feature 233 homes crafted by 10 North Texas luxury homebuilders: Alford Homes, Coats Homes, and Starside Builders have all begun home construction. The other seven are The Preserve Bella Custom Homes, Endurance Homes, Faulkner Perrin Custom Homes, Hawkins-Welwood Homes, Shaddock Custom Builders & Developers, Sharif & Munir Custom Homes, and Ventura Custom Homes, for whom construction will start soon.

The Preserve Frisco The Preserve in Frisco, soon to be covered with homes.The Preserve

Lot sizes range from 6,800 square feet to more than an acre. Home design options will incorporate high ceilings, open floor plans, glass walls, and seamless transitions between indoor and outdoor such as patios, infinity pools, and landscaped exteriors.

The surrounding area will have more than 2,000 new trees plus views delivered via design elements such as floor-to-ceiling windows and expansive outdoor living areas.

Many of the homes will address sustainability, health, and wellness with green architecture, energy efficiency, water conservation, and recycled building materials.

It will combine the privacy of a gated community with resort-style living, featuring amenities such as the PGA golf courses, 20+ miles of hike and bike trails, and the exclusive Brookside Club with an expansive swimming pool, state-of-the-art fitness center, tennis and pickleball courts and a playground.

Prices will start at $3,500,000.

Hunt Realty SVP Todd Watson calls it one of the most anticipated mixed-use projects in the area -- æa perfect location for discerning buyers seeking their forever home or a secondary residence" — although he's involved with the project so he's probably biased.

“As part of the Fields development, with prominent neighbors like PGA of America and the Omni PGA Frisco Resort, we know The Preserve will be one of the most sought-after addresses in North Texas," Watson says.

According to the Frisco Economic Development Corporation, Frisco’s population has increased by 500 percent in two decades and was recently recognized as the fastest growing city in Texas and third across the U.S.

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