By Ryan Salchert – Staff Writer, Dallas Business Journal
Following city approval this week, local developer Bright Realty is ready to move forward with its second $1.5 billion mixed-use development in Lewisville.
Bright Realty’s 140-acre mixed-use development, Crown Centre, has been more than five years in the making. Since the Dallas Business Journal first reported on the development in 2014, a few things have changed, while others have stayed the same for the project located a few miles west of the firm’s The Realm at Castle Hills.
For starters, the development still aims to have 3 million square feet of office space at full build-out. A four-story, 109,000-square-foot spec office building is already underway, and is set to be delivered by summer. Lincoln Property Co. is leasing this and future office space within Crown Centre.
Plans continue to call for a 500-room hotel with covered parking, though Bright Realty has not said when the hotel will break ground.
Nearly every other feature of Crown Centre has become grander since 2014. Plans now include up to 2,000 apartment units, 140,000 square feet of retail, green space with trails and lakes, and outdoor event space.
The project is also now valued at more than $1.5 billion, according to Bright Realty President and COO Eric Stanley.
Bright Realty says the 140-acre Crown Centre will have 35 buildings at full build-out.
A timeline for the next phase of development will likely come later this year.
Stanley said future office buildings at Crown Centre will break ground-based on market conditions and could get started as spec. Lincoln is advertising the development as a perfect place for companies looking to do a build-to-suit.
Bright is also likely to team up with an outside apartment developer on some portion of the proposed apartments, Stanley said.
Back across the highway, work continues on Bright Realty’s other $1.5 billion mixed-use development in Lewisville, The Realm at Castle Hills. A 235,000-square-foot office building and 16,000 square feet of retail space were completed there late last year.
Phase two, a 260-unit apartment complex called Valor at The Realm, is set to be completed this fall. Future phases of the 324-acre mixed-use project will include more office, retail and multifamily space, as well as a boutique hotel, a trail system and an outdoor entertainment district.
The roots of Bright Realty and its connections to Lewisville date back to 1952, when family patriarch and former Dallas Cowboys owner H.R. “Bum” Bright first bought land for a family farm.
In the late 90s, Bright Realty began developing the land, first as single-family neighborhoods, and then as mixed-use developments. Though the area has been tied to the family and company for decades, Stanley says it’s grown into a place that supports the types of projects the company is looking to do.
“The population of DFW continues to grow and move north, and people want the live-work-play options that are available in urban settings here in the suburbs. They want access to good schools; the corporate headquarters and employment opportunities located in this area; an easy commute to DFW airport; and a full range of residential options. They also want the sense of connectivity and community that comes with these settings,” Stanley said.
