We originally broke the news of the 2.2 million square foot regional shopping center planned for Forney back on May 5th, with an update, including a video of the bridge that will be built over Highway 80 between CR-212 and Windmill Farms Blvd to connect to this shopping center, on May 6th.

There’s a number of exciting updates about this project to share, but first, our research has uncovered a new map of the planned shopping center, which is shown below. Click the map to a view a (much) larger version. This map gives us, via the diagram at the bottom left, a better idea of which portions of the shopping center will be in each of the three phases.

This map makes it clear that Endeavor wants to make a bold statement with the first phase of the center, with two of the four department stores being built in phase 1, which is scheduled to open in 2010. In addition to the two department stores and numerous other buildings, phase 1 also includes a 130,000 square foot building for a major anchor. 130,000 square feet is big - roughly the size of a Lowe’s, Home Depot or Target, to name a few major retailers that could occupy a building that large. Of course, with groundbreaking set to occur in 2009 and grand openings in 2010, it’s too soon to know for sure what retailers might occupy any of these spaces, but stay tuned to 20PM, where we’ll keep you up to date with the latest news about this and all the other new developments in Forney. For more information and news about this shopping center and the offices and hotels that are proposed for the area surrounding it, click ‘Read On’, below.

On Friday, May 16th, the Dallas Business Journal (DBJ) ran a front-page article entitled “Forney site of $275M project“. This article gave Forney incredible momentum going into the annual International Council of Shopping Centers Real Estate Conference (ICSC RECON) , where the city hosted a booth extolling the virtues of Forney as “A Community of Values and Vision”. This conference gave the city and the Forney Economic Development Corporation (EDC) the opportunity to meet with retailers, restaurants and developers from all over the US including many fast food restaurant chains, sit-down restaurants, clothing stores and yes - even some major grocery chains.

This DBJ article discussed many of the plans for the regional shopping center and surrounding land - the shopping center is being developed by Endeavor, with the remaining, surrounding land being developed by Meadow Ridge Farm LP. In addition to the 2.2 million square foot regional shopping center, which will be the largest retail space built between Mesquite and Tyler in 30 years, Meadow Ridge is planning three hotels and 50,000 square feet of office space. Meadow Ridge currently intends to start most of their work in 2009 and 2010, but would like the first hotel (which is currently planned to be a suites hotel with limited service) to open roughly with the opening of the first phase of Endeavor’s shopping center.

Meadow Ridge has not announced their intentions for the second hotel planned for the site, but have said that the third and final hotel is planned to be a conference center hotel. In addition to their work on the three hotels, Meadow Ridge currently plans to begin work on the office space within a year of the first phase of the retail center opening.

The article cited the fact that while Forney’s population is a little low for a center of this size (Forney’s population is currently estimated at 14,000 people, an impressive number considering the 2000 census placed Forney’s population at a little over 5,000), over 131,000 people live within a 10 mile radius of the site, thanks to Forney’s proximity to Mesquite, Rockwall and the eastern half of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex.

In addition, recent demographics show the average household income in the area has risen to nearly $75,000. These factors, in addition to the amount of growth expected in Forney and the surrounding areas over the next decade have quite a few retailers and restaurants considering Forney for their next location - representatives from Endeavor are quoted in the DBJ article stating food stores and discount retailers would be desirable and that Target, J.C. Penny’s and Kohl’s aren’t in this area yet and are on Endeavor’s list of prospects.

This project is Endeavor’s first in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, but they are the third-largest commercial real estate developer in Austin, where they are currently developing phase 2 of The Domain, a 10 million square foot development that has quickly become well known and loved in the Austin area. Phase 2 of The Domain includes both a Nordstorm and a Whole Foods Market, so Endeavor is no stranger to large developments or big name brands.

Meadow Ridge has said that it could take up to 10 years to fully develop their portion of the site, including all three hotels, so this project will continue to grow and evolve over the years, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated on the latest announcements and happenings as tenants are signed and work begins on what is shaping up to be the largest retail development in Forney and the surrounding area.

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