I have some exciting updates concerning Forney Marketplace, the 2 million square foot regional shopping center coming to Forney in September of 2010! This project, which is being developed by the Endeavor Real Estate Group, will help shape the future of Forney for the years to come as it brings countless high-end national retailers to Forney while also attracting restaurants, another movie theater and additional entertainment to our town, making Forney “the shopping, dining and entertainment center between Dallas and Tyler”, the goal Endeavor has set for this new shopping center.

Before diving into the updates, I do want to acknowledge the Forney Economic Development Corporation, the Forney City Council and our mayor. They are working tirelessly to attract top-tier development to Forney and ensure that we experience positive, constructive growth. The Forney EDC has done an amazing job getting the word out about Forney to the retail community; at the same time, the city council and the mayor have been very proactive in addressing the updates required to Forney’s infrastructure to support projects of this scale by implementing cutting-edge concepts such as the Transportation Reinvestment Zone (TRZ) that will help provide the roadwork around this development.

When asked to comment about these prospective tenants and the Forney Marketplace project as a whole, Darrell Grooms, mayor of Forney, stated that “[Forney Marketplace] is great for our community, offering excellent shopping and entertainment opportunities for our town”. He also indicated that the city and the developer of the project are hopeful that the announcement of a movie theater in the 3rd phase of the project will help attract numerous well-known, upscale restaurants to the Forney Marketplace, greatly expanding our local options not just for shopping but for entertainment and dining as well.

I’ve obtained more details about each phase of this project and I am very excited to announce the following prospective tenants for phase 1 of the center: Target (130,000 sq. feet), JC Penny (103,500 sq. feet), Belk (96,000 sq. feet), Kohl’s (88,000 sq. feet), Dick’s Sporting Goods (50,000 sq. feet), Best Buy (30,000 sq. feet), Barnes & Noble (28,000 sq. feet) and Ulta (12,000 sq. feet).  These tenants are merely prospective tenants at this time, so this is not an official announcement that these stores will be opening in Forney, however, from what I can tell, Endeavor has worked with each of these tenants in their previous projects, so I believe we will see most, if not all, of these retailers in Forney as part of this project.

Read on for more information about prospective tenants in Phase 2 & 3 of this project, including a movie theater, a grocery store and other anchor stores.

Prospective tenants for Phase 2 includes Kroger (123,000 sq. feet), Steinmart (25,000 sq. feet) and Bed, Bath & Beyond (22,000 sq. feet).

Prospective tenants in the final phase of the project include some major anchors, including Dillard’s (140,000 sq. feet), Macy’s (140,000 sq. feet), Lifetime Fitness (100,000 sq. feet), Babies R Us (60,000 sq. feet), Cinemark (57,000 sq. feet), Coldwater Creek (5,000 sq. feet) and Joseph A Bank (4,500 sq. feet).

Please remember that these tenants are still prospective at this time and are subject to change. As tenants are confirmed and construction begins, I’ll make sure to keep you updated with the latest news. In the meantime, if you know anyone who might be interested in leasing space around these national retailers in the Forney Marketplace, I would encourage them to contact Endeavor as soon as possible – given the size and scale of this project as well as the exciting growth in Forney’s demographics, space will go fast! The project will include retail, dining, entertainment, office space as well as medical offices. For more details, contact Endeavor Real Estate Group at (214) 545-6900.

Discuss this exciting news with over 500 of your fellow Forney residents in this thread in the Forney discussion forum.