A different type of development is underway right off the President George Bush Turnpike and Custer Road in Plano with sustainability at the forefront.
The Heritage Creekside development is a 156-acre urban mixed-use project that gained permits back in 2014. Three years later, it is taking shape.
Rosewood Property Company has held on to the parcel of land for the last 40 years.
“That’s a long time. That’s longer than you should hold land,” said Rosewood Property president Bill Flaherty. “But what it gave us was the opportunity to miss the 1980s cycle, where this property would have been office and parking garage just in a step-and-repeat.”
Instead, Flaherty said, the wildflower-covered fields will be developed into sustainable living and working spaces.
“There’s a different part of Plano in central Plano,” he said. “It’s authentic.”
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New apartments just began leasing, and construction is underway on multi-family homes. There will also be office space, hotels, retail and restaurants.
But the crown jewel of the development is Pittman Creek, running through 13 acres of the land.
The creek is so important to Rosewood that they hired a world-class rock sculptor to come in from California and use a concrete-mix to make the eroding creek rock look like natural limestone.
Three restaurants and their patios will eventually look out onto the artist-designed creek, Flaherty said. Two of the restaurants are Shannon Wynne's Flying Fish and Rodeo Goat Ice House, expected to open later this year.
It’s unique touches like that, said City of Plano planning director Christina Day, that set this development apart.
“What makes them different is their focus on the environment and the natural features of their property,” Day said.
There is only five percent of land left to develop in the city of Plano.
The $1 billion Heritage Creekside project will be completed over the next decade.
