SPOTLIGHT ON COMMUNITY
In the Heart of the Metroplex?
After hearing a talk by Developer Kent Donahue at a recent Rockwall MLS meeting we were inspired to take a look at the Bayside website. The site said, “Bayside is a 262 acre regional landmark situated in the heart of the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.” Nice verbiage, but whoever wrote it must not have had access to a map. Bayside is nowhere near Arlington!
While the site does skew the map a little bit, here’s what it promises, juxtaposed with a summary of Mr. Donahue’s remarks .
On the Website Per Donahue (our paraphrase)
Northside Improvement Area This area will be developed first. Streets
are already in. Utilities are going in now.
Luxury Multi-Family Units: 845 units to be Still in the plans
developed by Western Rim
Lifestyle & Conventional Residential: 600 units K Hovanian is among several builders who will soon be building homes
Mixed Use Retail/Restaurant/Office: 400,000 Yes, there will be a grocery store, but no
square feet one will commit until there are actually homes with people in them up there on the hill.
South Improvement Area Work will start in October.
Resort: 500 rooms Hotel flag to be announced soon, down to three. Same architect as the Omni downtown.
Limited Service Hotel: 200 rooms Will be built before resort
Marina: 1,000 slips It’s going to be awesome. Completely replacing current marina a section at a time. Docks will be wide enough to accommodate golf carts. Boat sales & maintenance. Travel lifts. Diesel Fuel. Day Docks. Entertainment.
Luxury Multi-Family Units: 1,650 units Built around a "Klyde-Warren" type park
High Rise Condos and Townhomes: 350 units Sales office opens in early 2018. In the past, project managers have been involved with names like Rosewood and Ritz Carlton.
Mixed Use Entertainment/Restaurant: 300,000 Focusing on Millennial-pleasing one off square feet gastro pubs and such
Mixed Use Office/Retail: 800,000 square feet Think The Shoppes at Legacy
Crystal Lagoon: 8 Acres including 2 acres Company designing ours is currently building
of beach frontage a similar project in Cabo San Lucus. Next up Winn Resort Las Vegas
Show Fountain: 1 Acre in Size, 300’ long, 250 Think Las Vegas again, but the Bellagio this
water nozzles that go up to 200 feet in the air, time.
29 fire nozzles, and 2 video mist screens.
Trolley: The Bayside trolley is an open-style bench Think golf cart community with a trolley to
trolley that is battery operated with bright, richly tote visitors all over project.
colored and ornate cars
Parks and Open Space: 45 Acres of programmed The afore-mentioned "Klyde-Warren" type
parks including a “Town Center” park, lush gardens, park.
and more than 2,000 new trees.
Hike-and-Bike Trails: 4+ miles and 12’ wide – will Tying homes, marinas and the rest of the resort
accommodate golf carts together
All This and More Roads, Too
Perhaps the best news is that TxDoT doesn’t think I-30 in its current format can accommodate all this. They’re already making changes up in Rockwall and there’s more to come – like three more lanes on each side of the bridge and a major thoroughfare/bridge connecting north Bayside with south Bayside.
Mr. Donahue said they were already a little ahead of schedule and those original predictions of a ten year project might have been excessive. He’s saying seven years now, but with the caveat that they could still be held up by government entities. So the clock is ticking.
It will be wonderful for all the lake communities if Rowlett and the Bayside Development Partners can make this dream a reality.