A Texas-based development group is set to break ground on a European-style mixed-use community in Southlake.
Development plans for the 42-acre Carillon Parc are back on track after over a decade. The plans will include roughly 80 single-family homes, 50 condos, a hotel, and 565,600 square feet of restaurant, retail, and office space.
The Dallas Morning News reported that Westlake-based Carillon Crown LLC is heading up the project, which is scheduled to break ground between the end of April and the start of May.
The mixed-use project is designed around a luxury, European-style experience with a pedestrian-focused orientation. It will be the third attempt at developing the more than 40-acre site located north of State Highway 114 East, east of North White Chapel Boulevard, south of East Kirkwood Boulevard, and west of Riviera Lane.
Previous attempts by developers to build Carillon Parc fell through, starting with Hines’ in 2008, which was hamstrung by the recession, and later, Hunter Chase Development Partners (HCDP) in 2019, which fell victim to the pandemic, the DMN reported. HCDP ultimately sold the property to Carillon Crown in 2022 after the pandemic shutdowns left the project on pause and many restaurants, retail stores, and hotels in recovery, per the DMN.
“I personally consider Carillon Parc a legacy project,” said John Terrell, a Hunter Chase co-founder and part of Carillon Crown, to the DMN.
“What we’re trying to do is create an experiential development that is not competing directly with Town Square but is complementary and provides opportunities for tourism and destination traffic — which is exactly what the city of Southlake and its citizens have been requesting for years,” Terrell continued, per the DMN.
Carillon Parc will have a mix of “luxury shopping, experiential dining, artisan craftsmanship,” “outdoor amenity spaces,” and pedestrian walkways connecting its six distinct districts: The Piazza, The Boulevard, The Terrace, The Grand Hotel & Wellness, The Library, and The Parc, according to O’Brien Architects, the Dallas-based architectural firm that designed the project.
The Carillon Parc project received its most recent zoning approval from Southlake City Council in 2021. The council will consider an incentive package for the mixed-use project at the upcoming April 4 meeting. When the project is complete, it is expected to add approximately 1,200 new jobs and generate $400 million in taxable value for the city, according to the public meeting notice.
“You have those opportunities a few times in your life to create something incredibly special,” Terrell told the DMN. “This is one that not only this city but the developers will be extremely proud of.”
Single-family home lots in the Carillon Parc development will range from $1.5 million to $2.5 million and will sport a similar design and aesthetic as Hines’ neighborhood on the east side of Riviera Lane, according to Terrell, who has six homebuilders already signed onto the project, the DMN reported.
Southlake has become an attractive pick for high-end development projects over the years, with the North Texas city considered one of the region’s top markets for luxury developments. Dallas has a number of projects in its developmental pipeline to keep it competitive with cities like Southlake. However, the local building permit process has slowed the city’s growth potential.
When developers are stuck waiting a month or more for a construction permit to be approved, costs associated with the project begin to rise. Examples include the added wages paid to workers amid delays, the increasing cost of building materials associated with rising inflation and supply chain constraints, and the revenue lost because a project could not be completed in the forecast timeline.
Until officials in Dallas create a solution that directly benefits the local development community, the city will continue to lose projects to more accommodating cities like Frisco, Southlake, and Plano.