New Housing Could Set Prosper Record

The Collin County town of Prosper says it’s on pace to break a new record.

According to city records, by the end of the year, the number of single family residential building permits could easily eclipse the number issued in 2011, which previously set a town record.

“They’re coming in by the dozens in the past few weeks,” said building official Wayne Snell.

The town of about 12,000 people saw 373 permits issued last year, which surpassed the previous record of 322, set in 2006 before the decline of the housing market and construction industry.

“This year, we are on pace to beat last year’s records,” Snell said, saying they expect this year’s totals to hit more than 400 permits for new single family homes.

Town officials say permits issued in the first quarter of 2012 also surpassed the first quarter of any other year since records have been kept.

Many of the town’s residents are relatively recent transplants, like Tommy Lee, who moved to Prosper with his family about seven years ago.

Lee says back then, the neighborhood was more like “a farm”, but today, it is transforming.

“Sometimes I see houses and I didn’t even realize they were putting them there,” he said.

Because its land area is much smaller than nearby cities like Plano, Frisco or McKinney, Prosper’s build-out plan is much more conservative, at between 70,000 and 90,000 people.

While they didn’t expect to reach that population for three to four decades, Snell says the unprecedented increase in housing may change that prediction.

“At this rate of growth, it may be sooner,” he said.

Snell says, today, development is happening on the town’s east side.

However, the area west of Preston Road and the Dallas North Tollway remains largely undeveloped.

In coming years, Snell says he expects to see new commercial development along Highway 380 and Preston Road.