Dallas Fort Worth Urban Forum

After close to two years of secrecy, the city now acknowledges that it has inked a deal with Google to develop a multiphase data center project in the city's Railport Business Park. The data center could bring billions of dollars, new jobs and a new image in the long run as the city moves further from its industrial roots.

"They will develop this project in phases; each phase will be a $500 million capital investment. Over a five-year period, they have to create 40 jobs," Barnett said.

Tnexster wrote:

"Growth, particularly nonresidential growth like this, it's good for us," Lumpkins said. "There's no reason we wouldn't be comfortable with [the data center]."

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... thern-star

cowboyeagle05 wrote:I mean I don't know what the incentives we provided are but I am happy to have those 40 paying jobs in South Dallas. It doesn't mean those 40 jobs families will live in South Dallas though. This does continue the trend of DFW loading up with lots of new data centers though.

Hannibal Lecter wrote:It's a long way from South Dallas to Midlothian.

The planned Methodist Health System facility will be the first hospital in the fast-growing north Ellis County community. The hospital and adjoining medical center will employ about 300 healthcare professionals and support staff the first year it opens.

Hannibal Lecter wrote:

cowboyeagle05 wrote:I mean I don't know what the incentives we provided are but I am happy to have those 40 paying jobs in South Dallas. It doesn't mean those 40 jobs families will live in South Dallas though. This does continue the trend of DFW loading up with lots of new data centers though.

It's a long way from South Dallas to Midlothian.

The deal is for 100% of personal property taxes — taxes on the servers, cabling and equipment that form the heart of a data center — and 85% of improvement taxes for Google over a 10-year period. The incentives are tied to the company's hiring and investment projections.

A fast-growing community southwest of Dallas has developed a plan to restore its historic downtown.

The Midlothian City Council just approved the road map for its downtown preservation and development. The 82-acre district along Eighth Street comprises the town’s old business district and surrounding area.

“The overarching concept for the future downtown is that it will be a safe, walkable and vibrant destination with a variety of opportunities for entertainment, socializing, employment, culture and residential living,” city officials said in a statement. “Local entrepreneurship will be encouraged in order to grow downtown’s role as a central and vital part of Midlothian’s economy.”

Tnexster wrote:New residential community southwest of Dallas could bring 4,600 homes starting at $250,000
Prairie Ridge project near Midlothian is being built by Dallas’ Provident Realty Advisors.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/rea ... -of-homes/

Tnexster wrote:South certainly seems to be gaining momentum these days. There are a ton of these huge developments running across through these southern burbs.

Addison wrote:

Tnexster wrote:South certainly seems to be gaining momentum these days. There are a ton of these huge developments running across through these southern burbs.

Yep.

This may be the decade they really start to explode.

THRILLHO wrote:You can only build so far north before you start losing the benefit of close proximity to Dallas & DFW Airport, and I think Prosper is that upper limit.
If we were a sensible region we would be trying to mitigate sprawl. Not gonna happen, but if we had a modicum of sense we would at least be rapidly densifying Plano and Frisco and redirecting that suburban sprawl southwards in the direction of the undeveloped land around 34/287. If downtown Dallas continues to improve it might regain some of its gravitational pull.

Even if you work in north Dallas or Richardson, someplace like Ferris offers the same commute as Prosper...

Addison wrote:Even if what you say about commuting places like Ferris or Midlothian is true, the main issue that remains with the southern part of DFW are the schools. They're not *BAD*, but aside from Mansfield, they're not great either.

If people are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home, they want to be able to get the maximum ROI they can when it's time for resale (harder to do when your home is not in a competitive district) and also be able to send their own kids to the best of the best schools.

The commercial amenities still have to play catch up too. Ellis County doesn't even have a halfway decent shopping mall or warehouse club, never mind all of the higher-end / specialty stores found all over the northern suburbs.

DPatel304 wrote:

Addison wrote:Even if what you say about commuting places like Ferris or Midlothian is true, the main issue that remains with the southern part of DFW are the schools. They're not *BAD*, but aside from Mansfield, they're not great either.

If people are going to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on a home, they want to be able to get the maximum ROI they can when it's time for resale (harder to do when your home is not in a competitive district) and also be able to send their own kids to the best of the best schools.

The commercial amenities still have to play catch up too. Ellis County doesn't even have a halfway decent shopping mall or warehouse club, never mind all of the higher-end / specialty stores found all over the northern suburbs.

Agreed, but I'm hoping the cheaper price points will attract people to these areas initially, which will create demand for more amenities and hopefully provide more revenue for better school districts.

Despite 18 months of pleading with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ), residents in Midlothian will have to put up with more air pollution courtesy of one of the city's biggest cement plants.

After Laura Hunt and her family moved from Oklahoma to Midlothian, a half-hour drive from Dallas, in 2015, her daughter began having breathing problems.

“She just had recurrent pneumonia. She stopped eating, stopped growing, her lung function decreased to half normal,” Hunt, a pediatrician, said. “We never could really find much in the way of a medical explanation for the source of the problems. The cement plant was always in the back of my mind.”

There are three major cement plants, Ash Grove, Holcim and Martin Marietta, in Midlothian, often called the “Cement Capital of Texas.”

According to D Magazine, Midlothian produced 3 million tons of cement in 1999. TXI cement was used to build Dallas City Hall, the Meyerson Symphony Center and the J.C. Penney headquarters. A Texas Environmental Resource Consortium study found pollution that came from Ellis County, where Midlothian is located, has a significant effect on the air quality in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties.

Hunt lived near the Martin Marietta plant when her daughter started getting sick in October 2015. Martin Marietta, an American building materials company, bought the plant from Texas Industries (TXI) in 2015. She said they considered relocating, but because she’s a hospital-based pediatrician and needs to live in a 30-minute response time of where she works, moving was not simple.

For the next two years, her daughter’s ailments gradually got worse until 2017 when she was taken to the National Jewish Hospital...

They’re big rivals in high school sports. Now, they could have more residents to fuel the rivalry.

Developers announced plans this week for subdivisions in Midlothian and Waxahachie, two cities about 30 miles directly south of Dallas along U.S. 287.

Lately, developers have been outlining developments north and east through Collin County. Now, this exurban residential development shifts the focus to Ellis County.

Ellis County population now estimated at over 209,000, to reach 500,000 by 2050

Tnexster wrote:Good luck keeping that small town charm.

CTroyMathis wrote:Small town charm is so subjective. Even in Dallas, in the heart where I'm mostly finding myself, e.g. lower Uptown to EMC Downtown I run across people I already know just walking around or people I came to know decently enough eventually because of daily walkabout/hang-out routines, or, just see the same street acquaintances (a slight stretch) and we nod to each other. It can be cooler than the other side of the Chillow (pillow). This happens in so many other pockets of Dallas, too. You really just got to get out of your damn car to feel the vibe sometimes, that "Hey, small world (town) finding you here."

Addison wrote:
I get it. They've grown accustomed to a certain type of lifestyle and are afraid of the change that growth/development will bring. But it's just plain unrealistic to expect things to remain the same and not adapt while living in the country fastest growing and 4th largest metro area

A massive master-planned community spanning almost 3,300 acres is in the works in Midlothian, with the highlight being a lakeside beach lined with activities for residents.

RREAF Communities, a division of Dallas-based RREAF Holdings, is developing the project 4 miles south of U.S. Highway 287 with about 8,500 single-family detached homes as well as 3,000 rental homes and apartments.

The company acquired the bulk of the property last May. The site is just south of the intersection of FM663 and FM875...

...Development will take place over roughly 10 to 15 years. RREAF is aiming to begin infrastructure work early next year, with the first homes expected to be available by 2025.

Plans for the first phase include about 450 home lots, 230 apartment units and 200 single-family rental homes. RREAF expects it will likely develop the apartments and rental homes itself...

Home construction and sales are underway in one of the largest new residential communities in the fast-growing city of Midlothian.

Dallas-based Hanover Property Co. is developing BridgeWater, a community of 2,000 homes on the northeast corner of Highway 287 at Walnut Grove Road, about 30 minutes southwest of downtown Dallas.

The almost 1,000-acre community will offer homes from four builders: Highland Homes, American Legend Homes, Perry Homes and John Houston Homes. The homes will be built over about seven years.

The community will also have commercial land for shopping centers or restaurants as well as 30 acres of land for townhomes.