More Than 3,500 Homes Planned For Fields ‘City Within a City’ Development in Frisco
Everything’s bigger in Frisco by the looks of a 2,500-acre “developer’s dream” site off Legacy Drive that will include homes, apartments, lakes, parks, offices, and hotels.
The $10 billion Fields project was announced about a year ago and developers signed Taylor Morrison Homes as its first builder. Republic Property Group and Crow Holdings Industrial have also bought land within the site near Panther Creek Parkway and Legacy Drive, and Marriott International Inc. inked a deal in April for a Ritz-Carlton hotel.
The site bisected by Dallas North Tollway is adjacent to 550 acres purchased by TRT Holdings for PGA of America’s new headquarters, two PGA 18-hole golf courses, and the Omni PGA Frisco Resort. That $600 million project opened for business earlier this year.
” … and off we went.”
The land for the “city within a city” was purchased in 2018 and assembled by master developer Fehmi Karahan, who developed Legacy Town Center and Legacy West urban village in Plano. The Frisco site dwarfs his previous projects, prompting Karahan to team up with Hunt Realty Investments to execute what he’s said could take at least a decade to complete.
“It’s the equivalent of 2,000 football fields,” Karahan told CandysDirt.com in an exclusive interview Friday. “Fields is 11 times bigger than Legacy West. It’s bigger than downtown Dallas. Frisco has very little land left to develop for homes and they have one of the best school districts in the state, so the demand is very high. The pricing is going to be high. I wouldn’t call it affordable, because that definition is always changing, but our zoning allows us to have some products that meet the need for what is called the missing middle.”
Dallas-based Hunt Realty purchased the property from the estate of the late Bert Fields Jr. after asking Karahan’s advice on whether it was a good investment.
“The Hunt family has been my family friends for a long time,” Karahan said. “We were approached and decided this was a great property in a fast-growing area of Dallas, a doughnut hole. I told them they should purchase it and I would be happy to be their partner. They said that was music to their ears — and off we went.”
Houses And More Houses
The residential piece of Fields is subdivided into nine villages and neighborhoods, including Brookside, The Preserve, East Village, University Village, and North Fields.
Fields West will include retail, restaurants, entertainment venues, office space, three hotels including the Ritz-Carlton, and 2,800 apartments.
Taylor Morrison Homes is on site now, with plans to develop 490 lots in the Brookside village.
“Anything but cookie-cutter homes, the detail of these houses has been thoughtfully chosen,” states the project description at fieldsfrisco.com.
Fields Partnership officials are building and connecting roadways in the area to accommodate the expected increased traffic. Home construction is expected to begin by the end of the year, Karahan said.
Keith Hurand, Dallas division president of Taylor Morrison Homes, has said his Arizona-based company is planning 500 single-family homes. Karahan said he expects to see new owners moving into Brookside by October 2023. Following that, the momentum should continue with other builders — who are currently under contract to purchase segments of land — in other phases of the development.
“We have a number of transactions in the pipeline,” Karahan said. “On the east side of the highway, our development has multiple villages. At University Village, we’ll have 810 homes by another local home builder set to start in the next eight to 10 months.”
Per the zoning, 5,000 homes can be built in the massive Fields development.
Karahan said he expects to see a total of about 3,500 single-family homes representing different price ranges and styles, including $700,000 homes in Brookside and $2.5 million to $10 million custom homes in The Preserve.
“There is certainly a shortage in housing,” the developer said. “With increased interest rates and mortgage rates, and the cost of construction, home building slowed down. You also have to look at the population growth. People are moving to Texas in pretty crazy numbers. Lumber prices have dropped significantly. The hope is that will help with the cost of construction and that can be passed on to the homebuyer. The homes in Fields are not all going to be massive mansions. The townhomes on the east portion are going to fall into that missing middle category.”
Mixed-Use
The Preserve village is the crown jewel that surrounds the two PGA golf courses. It will feature multimillion-dollar custom homes.
“They should start plat development within 10 months,” Karahan said. “It will be two-phase, and 11 custom builders will be hand-selected by my partnership.”
The Preserve is the only gated community within Fields, he added.
The developer said mixed-use is appealing to residents in Frisco, Prosper, Celina, and the surrounding area who don’t want to get on the tollway and go all the way to Plano to dine in a restaurant. The large site is also appealing to businesses, as evidenced by Karahan’s Legacy West, which features high-end shops like Chanel and Tiffany & Co., high-end hotels, and the Toyota North American headquarters office.
“North Texas continues to attract talent, and companies want to relocate to North Texas,” Karahan said. “Mixed-use brings amenities to all the residents. These projects attract corporations.”
A village of student housing also is being constructed for the nearby University of North Texas Frisco campus at Preston Road and Panther Creek Parkway.
Almost 200 acres of land along the tollway are designated for mixed-use in the Fields West phase. This area will have three hotels, retail, restaurants, urban living apartments, offices, and retail.
The development also contains 250-plus acres of open space, a 75-acre chain of lakes, and 25 miles of hike-and-bike trails.
“There is incredible topography, like no other place,” Karahan said. “Our land has a lot of hills and vistas, and lakes passing through. We’re preserving those natural resources.”
Fabulous Frisco
Frisco was attractive to Karahan and his development team for more reasons than the huge acreage and unique topography.
“There are many things that Frisco offers,” Karahan said. “For the past 10 or 15 years, it has been chosen as the best city to live in. It’s one of the safest cities and has some of the best schools in the state. It makes it very attractive for families to build their homes there.”
The developers have forged a strong relationship with city staff and elected officials, he added.
“The council and city staff, at every level, have been very supportive and cooperative with us,” Karahan said. “That is based on our track record. Everybody wants to have a Legacy West in their community. I’m 66 years old and I’ve been doing this a long time. We have a good reputation. The city knew what we were capable of.”
Frisco Mayor Jeff Cheney said the Fields development reimagines the way people think about their neighborhoods and community.
“Fields will be home to thriving businesses and restaurants, dream homes and beautiful neighborhoods, top-notch schools, and world-class parks and open spaces,” he said. “If that weren’t enough, the new PGA Headquarters and the University of North Texas at Frisco call Fields home. I can’t wait.”