Forney to consider further retail development

Forney City Council on Tuesday will consider site plans for more restaurants and storefronts at the Villages at Gateway, part of a 2,000-acre master-planned development.

Earlier this year, the fast-growing city east of Dallas approved the first phase of plans for the retail portion of the Villages at Gateway set to bring Home Depot and Target in as anchor tenants.

A few weeks later, popular Texas-based grocer H-E-B announced it would add an outpost at the project situated along U.S. Highway 80 and south of North Gateway Boulevard.

The next tranche of retail, which is being developed by Dallas-based StreetLevel Investments, consists of smaller buildings that will total more than 102,000 square feet.

There will be four smaller-format standalone buildings no larger than 6,120 square feet a piece. Two lots will include spaces for a total of six potential tenants, with the largest space coming in at just over 22,000 square feet.

Restaurants and retail are expected to fill the square footage.

Architecture firm GFF and engineering firm Kimley-Horn are working on the project, city documents show.

Dallas-Fort Worth has suffered from a dearth of new retail development in recent years.

Weitzman, a Dallas-based real estate services firm, reported retail occupancy stood at 95.2% at year-end 2023.

Only 847,000 square feet of new and expanded retail construction was started last year, the firm reported.

A project with the scale of Villages at Gateway will likely mark one of the largest new retail developments in North Texas to get underway this year.

The additional retail development is recommended for approval.

Related Stories

Read More

NTT to grow data center footprint in Garland

More data center space is on the way from international telecommunications firm NTT Data.

Data center provider Centersquare shifts HQ to Cypress Waters

Datacenter provider Centersquare will shift its headquarters to the master-planned, mixed-use Cypress Waters development.

Up to five office buildings on the slate for new Frisco Station district

Mixed-use development Frisco Station is growing once again with a new district set to bring office space, a hotel, a national retailer and at least four dining options.