At long last, Flower Mound project approved

A lot can change in two decades. Eighteen years ago, a charrette was held to design a mixed-use, new urban development in Flower Mound, Texas. The Village of Lakeside plan by Duany Plater-Zyberk & Co. included a market study by Zimmerman-Volk Associates that argued the project would substantially boost tax revenues and economic activity. Nevertheless, an outpouring of opposition, including overheated accusations of "socialism" — yes, a walkable, mixed-use development was considered socialism in the Dallas suburb at the time — the development was defeated. Now the same developers, the Stewart family, have succeeded with a plan, by Gateway Planning Group, called Lakeside DFW. Approved November 19, the 155-acre project calls for 2,200 dwelling units, more than half multifamily rentals, and 900,000 square feet of retail, office, and restaurant space in a mixed-use, new urban format. The plan includes the redesign of a major thoroughfare in the project to include angled parking, fewer traffic lanes, and wide sidewalks with trees. At the request of residents, public amenities were added: a boardwalk, observation deck, and a 1,000-seat amphitheater overlooking the lake. Arguments were again made on the basis of economic development. After a major housing recession, those arguments resonated in 2012. The site was previously zoned as an office park.

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