Wild $20M Southlake mansion tops this week's 5 most-read Dallas stories

This week's hot headlines

Photo courtesy of Douglas Elliman

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. A peek inside the $20 million Southlake mansion going wild on social media. One of the most expensive homes in Texas is on the market for $20 million in Southlake - and it's drawing more than a little attention on social media. And, no wonder: The opulent 31,000-square-foot mansion, at 1469 Sunshine Ln., features such over-the-top amenities as a full-size basketball court, bowling alley, batting cage, movie theater, and "indoor glass-enclosed" trampoline.

2. Cult fave Bojangles fried chicken chain breaks ground on first Dallas location. To great anticipation, a favorite Southern fried chicken chain is finally coming to Dallas (and Texas!): Bojangles, a chain based in Charlotte, NC will break ground on a location in Frisco, slated to open this spring.

3. These Mardi Gras pastries in Dallas beat regular King Cake by a mile. Mardi Gras in 2023 is February 21, and that means king cake, the flashy seasonal treat that has been a New Orleans tradition since 1870. Dallas has some creative spinoffs that celebrate the spirit of king cake; here are several.

4. Chinese restaurant Fortune House plumps dumplings on Greenville Ave Dallas. An acclaimed Chinese restaurant from Irving has expanded to Dallas: Fortune House, known for its soup dumplings, noodles, and authentic Shanghainese dishes, has opened a second location on Lower Greenville, at 2010 Greenville Ave. #B, next to HG Sply Co.

5. Bagel expert weighs in on the 8 best bagels in Dallas right now. If you're someone who likes bagels, then Dallas is the place to be right now. Thanks to a wave of bagel shops that have opened in the past few years, we get to be fussy about our bagels again. Here, and expert rounds up the top eight bagels in Dallas.

Photo courtesy of Realtor.com.

Affluent Dallas neighbor cashes in as the richest city in Texas for 2023

Where the 1 percent live

North Texans wanting a glimpse into the lives of the 1 percent won't have to travel far to get a peek. Southlake has been named the richest city in Texas for 2023 in a recent study.

HomeSnacks.com has been ranking cities, neighborhoods, counties, and states across America for more than five years, using data from the Census Bureau, OpenStreetMaps, the FBI, and other sources. For this year's study, released January 18, the website compared 355 cities with populations of at least 5,000 people to determine where "the richest of the rich" live.

With a median income of $239,833, and a unemployment rate of just 2.2 percent, it's no surprise to see Southlake flashing cash around. HomeSnacks shows the median home price for Southlake at $697,000, but as of this writing, Realtor.com lists the city's median home price listing at $1.3 million. Southlake was also HomeSnacks' richest city in Texas for 2022.

The Tarrant County city wasn't the only North Texas place flaunting its wealth in this study, which considered poverty rate, median household income, unemployment rate, and other factors to come up with the rankings. Five other North Texas cities were in the top 10, and a total of 13 Dallas-Fort Worth area cities cashed in with a top-20 ranking.

Lucas, a Collin County suburb with a population of 7,612 in the 2020 census, came in fourth, moving up from fifth place last year. With a poverty rate of just 1.1 percent and a median income of $159,563, the (comparatively) tiny little town is a haven for the well-heeled.

Falling into the "more than comfortable" range are Coppell (No. 6), Heath (No. 7), and Highland Village (No. 8). Note that's Highland Village, a Denton County suburb, and not Highland Park, which ranked third in 2019 and 2020. This year, the wealthy enclave bounded by Dallas on the on the south, east and west came in 36th.

It appears that wealth is not only moving into Texas, but moving around, as well. Two years ago, Frisco ranked third, but has fallen to number 29 in the latest rankings. Carrollton found its way into the top 50 this year, at 49th place.

Of the top 20 cities this year, only one - Coppell - is (partially) in Dallas County. But North Texas as a whole dominates the top of this list with 10th through 15th place occupied by Keller, Royse City, Corinth, Krum, Rockwall, and Roanoke, in that order.

Elsewhere in Texas ...

The Houston suburb of Bellaire came in at No. 2 with a whopping median income of $211,202 and other signifiers of affluence, moving up two spots from last year's rankings. Pearland, with a median income of $107,941 is the only other Houston-area city to rank in the top 20, squeaking in at number 20.

Alamo Heights, near San Antonio, ranked third, holding on to its spot from last year. Bexar and Comal county cities Fair OaksRanch and Bulverde came in 16th and 17th. Median income in Fair Oaks Ranch is $127,917, while it's just $100,419 in Bulverde.

The Austin area nabbed some of the top spots, too, with Lakeway coming in fifth and Bee Cave in ninth place. Statistics on Lakeway show a median home price of $481,900 and a median income of $142,566. Bee Cave, where the median income is $100,179 moved up four spots from 13th last year.

Texas' top 10 richest cities for 2023 are:

1. Southlake
2. Bellaire
3. Alamo Heights
4. Lucas
5. Lakeway
6. Coppell
7. Heath
8. Highland Village
9. Bee Cave
10. Keller

Visit HomeSnacks' website to see the top 100 richest cities in Texas, download the full list and rankings, or search to see where your city came in on the list.

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Leggy crane flies land atop this week's 5 most popular Dallas stories

This week's hot headlines

Editor's note: A lot happened this week, so here's your chance to get caught up. Read on for the week's most popular headlines. Looking for the best things to do this weekend? Find that list here.

1. Crane flies have landed ever so lightly in Dallas, which means one thing. The crane flies have arrived in Dallas, and this year, they're here in droves. Fragile, leggy, and whisper-light, crane flies are most often found around streams and lakes. But at certain times of year, they show up in urban areas, hovering and bobbing around houses and doorways.

2. Site of former Valley View Mall in Dallas meets sad unfortunate end. A once-beloved North Dallas mall is meeting its timely ending: The former Valley View Mall at LBJ Freeway and Preston Road saw demolition begin on March 16, putting an end to nearly a decade of inept waffling. The mall closed in 2015, with big plans for redevelopment that never happened.

3. Grab this '60s East Dallas home with only one owner before flippers get it. A '60s house in East Dallas with only one owner that's basically untouched is on the market at a great deal of a price. Located at 2323 Homeway Cir., it's a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home built in 1969, with 1,802 square feet and an attached two-car garage.

4. Country music bad boy Morgan Wallen headlines ACM Awards benefit show in Dallas-Fort Worth. Dallas-Fort Worth will be the center of the country music universe on May 11, when the 58th Academy of Country Music Awards are broadcast from The Star in Frisco. As with any worldwide, Super Bowl-level event, there'll be many happenings leading up to it. First up: a benefit concert headlined by Morgan Wallen.

5. Where to drink in Dallas right now: 5 bars with cool cocktail specials. It's always good to support your local watering hole but sometimes the heart wants something else, and even better when it's something cheap. For our March edition of Where to Drink, we spotlight five drinking opportunities around Dallas that include a seasonally-focused happy hour, a one-day drink special, a new happy hour for the summer, and a new happy hour at an Arts District hotel bar.

Texas rises through the ranks of most innovative states, says new report

MOVING ON UP

The Lone Star State has again taken a step up on an annual report that ranks the most and least innovative states in the country — this time cracking the top 15.

Texas ranked No. 15 in personal finance site WalletHub's 2023’s Most and Least Innovative States ranking. It's a steady improvement for the state, which ranked No. 16 in 2022 and No. 17 in 2021.

The report analyzed the 50 states and the District of Columbia and how each performed across 22 key metrics, including population of STEM professionals, venture capital investment activity, number of technology companies, patents per capita, and more. The data was pulled from the U.S. Census Bureau, Bureau of Labor Statistics, National Science Foundation, National Center for Education Statistics, United States Patent and Trademark Office, and other records.

Here's how Texas performed at a glance:

No. 18 – for share of STEM professionals
No. 16 – for projected STEM job demand by 2030
No. 25 – for eighth grade math and science performance
No. 21 – for share of science and engineering graduates aged 25 or older
No. 13 – for share of technology companies
No. 31 – for R&D spending per capita
No. 18 – venture capital funding per capita

For the 11th year, Texas won Site Selection Magazine's Governor's Cup, the governor's office announced earlier this year. The award, which Texas has won 19 times since its inception in 1978, recognizes the nation’s top-performing state for job-creating business relocations and expansions.

"Texas truly is America’s economic engine, and we stand apart as a model for the nation. When choosing where to relocate or expand their businesses, more and more innovative industry leaders find themselves at home in our state," Governor Greg Abbott says in a news release about the award.

"I congratulate the exceptional economic development teams at the local, regional, and state level who have worked so diligently to attract and retain these growing businesses and the jobs they create in diverse communities across this great state," he continues.

The most innovative states included the District of Columbia, which ranked at No. 1, followed by Massachusetts, Washington, Maryland, and California, respectively. The least innovative state was identified as Mississippi, followed by Louisiana, North Dakota, West Virginia, and Arkansas, respectively.

Source: WalletHub

Access to quality education is a significant contributor to each state's innovation economy, the experts say in the report.

"Investing in education, particularly K-12 but also at the University level, it is no accident that innovative ecosystems develop in states with strong education systems and research universities," says David L. Deeds, professor at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis. "These institutions build strong capable modern workforces that attract capital, and jobs and create innovations. The benefits do not happen overnight, in fact, they take years if not decades, but consider what The UC’s or the University of Texas at Austin have meant for the development of premier innovative ecosystems."

Hall Group to open new hotel in mixed-use re-do of Frisco office park

Hotel News

Frisco is getting a new hotel at one of the city's pioneering office developments: Called the Hall Park Hotel, Autograph Collection, it'll open at Hall Park, and will be part of the Autograph Collection Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy collection.

According to a release, construction is anticipated to be complete in late 2023, with an opening set for spring 2024.

The hotel is part of the first phase of a $7 billion new masterplan to shift Hall Park from an office focus into a live-work-play community. It'll be owned by Dallas-based Hall Group, and operated by Coury Hospitality.

Autograph Collection Hotels – Marriott Bonvoy is known for its diverse independent hotels that champion individuality.

Hall Park Hotel will feature:

world-class contemporary art
outdoor pool
4,000 square-foot ballroom
state-of-the-art fitness center
chef-driven restaurant and lounge
expansive patio

There will be 224 guest rooms and 60 well-appointed suites, supporting both short term and longer stays, with a focus on business travelers, events, meetings, regional “staycationers,” and tourists visiting Toyota Stadium, The Star in Frisco, regional youth sports tournaments, the upcoming PGA of America complex, and Universal Studios Park.

This makes the second hotel for Hall Group, the first being the Hall Arts Hotel which opened in the Dallas Arts District in 2019; and the fifth Autograph Hotel in the DFW area (others include the Adolphus in downtown Dallas, Hotel Vin in Grapevine, the Sinclair in Fort Worth, and Hotel Drover in Fort Worth).

Coury Hospitality is based in Las Colinas, with a portfolio of more than 30 hotels and restaurants, including 10 hotels in the Autograph Collection.

“Our partnership with Autograph Collection Hotels provides the opportunity to deliver a one-of-a-kind property to the residents and visitors of Frisco that will include a museum-quality art collection and world-class food and wine offerings,” says Hall Group chairman and CEO Craig Hall. “Framed by views of the art-filled Kaleidoscope Park, which is currently underway, hotel guests will be able to experience Frisco not only as a business and sports hub but also as an emerging arts and culture destination.”

Other new developments at Hall Park include The Monarch, a 19-story, luxury apartment tower expected to open in the fourth quarter. It'll have 214 units with 29 floorplans, including eight penthouse units with oversized balconies and high-end appliances and finishes, spa-inspired master baths and park views.

Amenities include a club room with kitchen, pool, fitness center, outdoor grilling areas, yoga and meditation space, bike storage, pet washing area, and meeting space.

The base of the residential tower will hold a 10,000-square-foot eatery, slated to open in 2024, with a diverse selection of 10 unique, chef-driven restaurants.

They're also building The Tower at Hall Park, a 16-story office tower that shares a podium with the hotel and will boast multiple terraces on every suite level, outdoor amenity space, and direct park access. That tower will also include 10,000 square feet of ground-level retail and restaurant space facing Kaleidoscope Park. It's also forecast to open in the fourth quarter of 2023.

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