Favorable comments from numerous people indicates a lot of people read and liked Sunday's Dallas Morning News article by Richard Abshire on the growth and progress in the Firewheel area. We do have a great story to tell and it is nice to be able to share it. City leaders years before almost all of us moved to north Garland envisioned what we are seeing today, first by establishing the Firewheel Golf Park and pushing for a shopping mall, the Firewheel Town Center. Vision is so important to success and it takes years for grande visions to become reality.

Bush Turnpike living up to high expectations

Garland: Multiple retail projects drive success in toll road corridor

 

12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, July 15, 2007
By RICHARD ABSHIRE / The Dallas Morning News
rabshire@dallasnews.com

 

Never is heard a discouraging word in Garland's Bush Turnpike corridor.

 

Seven years after the toll road opened, merchants, developers and city officials agree the area is living up to the high hopes they had for the city's last development frontier.

 

"There's still a lot to be done and a lot of room to do it," said Doug Athas, the City Council member whose district includes the turnpike. "The future is bright. There are still some development opportunities."

 

Bryan Bradford, Garland's senior managing director of budget and research, reports that sales tax revenues are up citywide from $18.3 million in 2002 to $22.5 million last year.

 

Though beer and wine sales and the Bass Pro Shops that opened on Interstate 30 are part of the success, there's no doubt the retail developments along the Bush Turnpike corridor are a driving force.

 

"It's going to continue to grow, and we're seeing good results from our retailers," said Earl Harris, vice president and director of project leasing with the Weitzman Group, the firm handling leasing for Firewheel Market, next door to Firewheel Town Center. "The outlook is really positive."

 

Like Mr. Harris, Ben Barnes of Reata Real Estate Services believes business in Garland will go from good to great as Bush Turnpike extends eastward.

 

Once the turnpike reaches Interstate 30, he said, the market will become regional, which will be good for everyone involved in terms of sales and taxes for schools and cities.

 

"That will expand the marketplace significantly," Mr. Barnes said. "Today, we're somewhat dependent upon the local market, which has been a very good market for us."

 

Reata is handling the leasing at Firewheel Plaza and was involved with North Garland Crossing, which is 100 percent leased.

 

Even Paul Mayer, the Garland Chamber of Commerce president who has been involved in the area since before the turnpike, said the area is exceeding all expectations.

 

"An offshoot we didn't necessarily anticipate is the effect on our Firewheel brand," Mr. Mayer said.

 

The city's golf center was dubbed Firewheel̬for a local wildflower—when it opened its original 18-hole course in 1983. It was expanded to 63 holes and became the largest municipal golf facility in the Southwest in 2001.

 

Firewheel Golf Park helped attract upscale homes to the neighborhood, which begat homeowners associations with such names as Firewheel Farms, the Greens of Firewheel, Hills at Firewheel and Fairways at Firewheel.

 

The idea took shape over the years for a new loop road beyond LBJ Freeway—known as Loop 9 and then State Highway 190 before the Bush moniker was affixed—to run through north Garland.

 

City officials passed tough building standards for development there.

 

The turnpike was the key to attracting big projects. At the top of that list was a regional mall.

 

In 1997, the city started talks with Simon Property Group about building a mall beside the turnpike.

 

Firewheel Town Center opened in October 2005 after many delays—including a change of plans from a traditional "big box" design to an open "town center" layout—and a lot of naysaying by doubters.

 

The center features Dillard's, Macy's and Circuit City as major anchors, 100 other stores and more than a dozen restaurants, 1 million square feet of retail and office space, and an AMC cineplex on more than 90 acres.

 

Move-ins will begin later this month on 312 apartments at the center.

 

"This has been a great year, with double-digit increases in comparable sales over last year," said center spokeswoman Melody Kamp. "Traffic is definitely up over last year and we're opening a lot of new restaurants and stores, including a two-level, 70,000-square-foot Dick's Sporting Goods store that will open next year."

 

Helen Kenny, who specializes in homeowners associations, lives in the Bush Turnpike corridor.

 

She sees the turnpike itself as a great asset for easing traffic and making travel convenient. As for development, she would like to see more commercial uses to balance against the retail and restaurants.

 

"I think the retail is very good for our tax base and I would like to see different kinds of restaurants," she said.

 

"But from the city perspective I would think that corporate campuses would feed the restaurants and provide jobs."

 

Ayako Oi, director of economic development at the chamber, points also to new townhomes and developers' interests in remaining land along the city's portion of the Bush Turnpike.

 

"I feel like finally Garland is on the map," Ms. Oi said.

 

I agree with Ms Oi—we're on the map and we have great things to come, and there is plenty of work still to be done. So go ahead, you've earned the right, put your pushpin here, we're all on the map.

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