A local real estate development firm has scooped up another 680 acres of land south of downtown Sherman in Grayson County for use in a large mixed-use project.

Centurion American Development Group (CADG) is planning to transform a nearly 1500-acre site in Grayson County into a master-planned mix-use community with residential, commercial, and office space called the Cottonwood.

In total, the Farmers Branch-based land developer has acquired 1,474 acres from Arizona-based investor Walton Global. The latest land purchase was an undisclosed deal for 680 acres in Dorchester, which came a few months after Centurion acquired a 500-acre plot in Gunter for use in the project.

“It has been a pleasure working with Walton Global to close this deal and expand our presence into Grayson County,” Mehrdad Moayedi, CEO and President of CADG said in the news release. “We know that Cottonwood will be a community that will bring pride to the town of Dorchester, Grayson County, and Howe ISD.”

The Cottonwood is expected to consist of 4,000 single-family homes, 1,450 rental units, and 250,000 square feet of commercial and retail space located off U.S. Highway 75 and FM 902 in the town of Dorchester, according to Rex Glendenning, CEO of Rex Real Estate and one of the real estate brokers who facilitated the land purchase, The Dallas Morning News reported.

The master-planned community resides in an established Municipal Utility District, which will “allow the development to offer increased amenities and a range of affordable housing” and ultimately “enable the property to be competitive within the market,” the news statement said.

“The property is extremely well positioned to capitalize on the new growth expected to be fueled by the two new multibillion-dollar chip plants being constructed approximately three to five miles to the north,” Glendenning told The Dallas Morning News. “Centurion has done an admirable job of staying ahead or out in front of these new high-growth areas.”

Texas’ new $35 billion semiconductor corridor is located just south of Centurion’s planned mixed-use development. Construction is already underway on the first of four semiconductor manufacturing plants being built by Texas Instruments. A separate $5 billion semiconductor plant is being built by Taiwanese-based chip manufacturer GlobalWafers, according to a June 2022 news release.

With so much demand for silicon chip manufacturing around Sherman, Centurion is betting that it will be able to benefit from the area’s future growth. Centurion’s most recent land acquisition was brokered by Rex Real Estate’s Glendenning and Caleb Lavey, as well as Taylor Boyd of Adler Properties.

“Cottonwood will be an amazing realization of Walton’s original vision and complement Centurion’s impressive portfolio of master-planned communities throughout the region,” David Peter, executive vice president of special projects at Walton Global, said in the news statement. “We look forward to continuing to work with them over the coming years as this project takes shape.”

Not only does the City of Dallas lack the necessary land to support a mixed-use project like The Cottonwood, but it also lacks a building permit process efficient enough to attract developments of that nature and scope.