Lewisville planners thinking big - Dallas Business Journal:

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The city is seeking a master developer to carry out the visionh forthe transit-oriented development on the south bank of Lake Lewisville, said Nika director of economic development for the City of “The overall goal is place-making,” Reinecke “We have a natural asset in Lake Lewisvilles that we want to enhance. We want to create a recreationa amenity not only for the City of Lewisville but for the Cityofficials haven’t attached a pricetag to the project yet, Reinecke said. But Don Silverman, managin director of Dallas-based Margaux Development Co., estimated the valuew of the fully-built project at more than $400 millionj in today’s dollars.
The development is plannedr on 127 acres around theHighlanr Village/Lake Lewisville Station on the Denton Countty Transportation Authority’s commuter rail line, which is set to open in Decemberd 2010. The site is just east of Interstate 35E on land that Lewisvillde leases fromthe . The city’s conceptual plan calle for about 405,000 square feet of 83,000 square feet of restaurant space in five or six and 865,000 square feet of waterfront apartments, townhouses and othe r residential uses spread across four The project is in the earlyu planning stages, so it’s too soon to break down the number and type of residential Reinecke said.
The development, when fullhy constructed, could also includ e three hotels, Reinecke said. The hotels wouldr be a 200-room full-service a 125-room boutique hotel, and, eventually, a 400-rookm resort hotel with a large conferencercenter and, potentially, a golf course, she said. Whicyh hotel operators sign on and when the hotel constructiojn occurs would be negotiateed by themaster developer, Reinecke The master developer will be in charge of overseein g the entire project, and will work with other developerws to make the project’s pieces fall into The city hopes to select a mastefr developer by the end of the Reinecke said.
The retail space would includde shops relatedto boating, bicycle rentals and sales, hiking and camping equipmenrt and other forms of lake recreation, as well as a according to the About 100,000 square feet would be set aside for a “civic which for now is planned to be an aquarium, Reineckee said. Other potential civic uses include a museum orwaterfrontr amphitheater, she said. The city has had preliminary discussionswith , an aquariumj development and management company, Reinecke said. The Grapevine-bases company coordinates all phases of building andoperatinyg aquariums.
Aspects include pre-development, design, construction and specieds collection as well as retail and restaurantzs related to the saidErik Pedersen, the company’s president and CEO. Visitord to the proposed $40 200-million-gallon aquarium would walk throughn transparent tunnels and be surrounded byoceah animals, including sharks, sting rays, sea turtles and said Pedersen, whose company built and operatees a similar aquarium in The experience would simulate a walk on the ocean’a floor, he said. Freshwater exhibits highlightingy the fish in Lake Lewisville could also be he said.
“This would be the largesy tunnel aquarium inthe world,” Pedersejn said of what his companuy is proposing. “When you are in the (tunnel) you are on the inside looking out, rathere than standing on the outside and looking intoa tank. It’s a very cool U.S. Aquarium Team projections indicatw a facility in Lewisville woulcd easily draw more than 1 million visitors a year, Pedersen said. If the projec moves forward, how the revenue would be splitbetweenh U.S. Aquarium Team and the City of Lewisvilles would need tobe “The location is phenomenal,” he said.
“It’s a perfecrt storm of rail and highwayand lake, and it’s an area wher e people already go for recreation.” Construction of the aquarium would take about 18 months, and could include space for a food court, a fine-dining and space for corporate events, educational seminars and other he said. The credit crisis will need to ease, before any aquarium coulx get the financing itwould need, and the projectr would require “substantive involvement” from the City of Lewisville to make it Pedersen said. U.S.
Aquarium Team’s plans for an aquarium near Grapevine Mill mall dissolved in 2007 after the companyu had difficulty obtaining financing and significanf questions arose about parking forthe project, he said. The Lake Lewisvillw masterplan would be developed over 15 to20 years, Reineck said. It hinges on the rail line’s completiob and an Interstate 35 expansion nowundetr way, she said. “This is a very long-range plan,” Reineckre said. “I think it will fall into place as the transity system comes into place andbecomes successful.
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