'Terrell's Turn': How A Once-Sleeper Town Is Emerging As A New DFW Retail Hub

Terrell, Texas, located 30 minutes outside the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex in Kaufman County, is transforming from a quiet bedroom community into a massive hub for industry and retail.

Known for its historical charm, Terrell is now expanding rapidly. A driver of this expansion is the Terrell Economic Development Corp., an agency driving business growth, job creation and investment in the city.

Terrell EDC President Carlton Tidwell, who previously had a longstanding career at the Terrell Chamber of Commerce, is excited to see how this small-town community is evolving. 

“Terrell is the eastern part of the DFW metroplex that’s finally getting its turn,” he said. “People are drawn here because we have a small-town experience with a community attitude. Everyone works well together, and that’s what keeps them here.”

Tidwell gave a rundown of how Terrell is keeping its historical side alive while making way for the future. 

Keeping With Tradition

Tidwell said even though this rapid growth may make Terrell less than a small town, its community spirit will endure. This includes historical attractions like the No. 1 British Flying Training School Museum at the Terrell Municipal Airport, which was the first training school for the British in World War II.

“Our airport was built through the Lend-Lease Act in 1941, and we started training British cadets here during World War II,” he said. 

He added that when the pilots were training in England, the Germans would shoot them down, so they were sent to Canada and decommissioned. This was a loophole, as they then went to Terrell to train as civilians because the U.S. still appeared as a neutral zone. The pilots were then legally reenlisted in Canada to return and fight after they completed their training.

Tidwell said this one-of-a-kind museum is “not just a destination point, but it also ties into the community history.”

A Regional Hub For Employment And Retail

Terrell has become a regional hub for employment because of its prime location east of Dallas at the intersection of Interstate 20 and U.S. Highway 80. Major employers including Nucor Steel, Walmart and Amazon, which is building out a 120-acre logistics center near Airport Road in Kaufman County, are helping create thousands of jobs that will boost economic activity for Terrell’s 25,000-plus population.

Tidwell said Terrell also brings workforce opportunities to the surrounding smaller cities that may not have the same employment base, which continues to be a draw for developers in the community. 

“If you're coming from east and south of Terrell, we're the first place to stop, and we now have a great assortment of opportunities, both locally owned and corporately owned, for people to stop and to shop.”

Terra Nova Village: A Master-Planned Community 

Terrell has also received a slew of recent attention due to Terra Nova Village, a $3B, 1,545-acre master-planned community developed by Main Square Development. Once completed, the project will have 3,600 single-family homes, 1,200 multifamily units, a 48-acre commercial hub and extensive parkland.

“The city council recently approved Terra Nova, and it's going to bring a variety of housing, more retail choices and opportunities for schools to be built,” Tidwell said.

He added that the city council did a great job of ensuring it would be done in a controlled fashion. While the project initially faced community backlash due to its massive scale, residents are now more comfortable because of the slow, phased construction rollout that’s expected to last for the next 20 years.

Utilizing Second-Generation Buildings

As a city that prioritizes its storied history, Terrell has been working hard to repurpose and revitalize 100-year-old properties while keeping their historical features intact, Tidwell said.

One example is the Carnegie Library Building, built in 1904 and serving as the city's public library. Today, it is the Terrell Heritage Museum, which holds exhibits of the city’s early farmland days and other historical artifacts. 

Iris Theater is another example. Originally constructed in 1925, this vintage theater has been retrofitted to host live events and now houses Books and Crannies, a community-owned bookstore in historic downtown Terrell. It’s the largest and oldest bookstore in Kaufman County, offering nearly 100,000 new and used books.

Tidwell said repurposing buildings is attractive to investors because it not only cuts costs in half compared to building a new property, but it's also “a great way to reuse buildings to get people more interested in a historic downtown.”

A Bright Future 

As Terrell continues to develop, Tidwell is excited about how its evolution will be rolled out through controlled, steady growth. The infrastructure is already in place, and between 2,400 and 3,000 homes are expected to be built within the next 10 years. 

The school district passed a bond to redo campuses at all grade levels, including a massive expansion of Terrell High School.

“Our high school has some vacant land around it, so they're going to use that to expand and repurpose the building,” Tidwell said. “Right now, we're at about 1,500 students at the high school, but the student population will double after they repurpose it.”

He said he expects Kaufman County to see significant growth of 75,000 people over the next five years. This growth will trickle into Terrell, adding a stronger base for economic growth and small-business development, he said. 

Terrell EDC has in its five-year strategic plan an entrepreneurial center and a small-business development center to help people grow and start small businesses, he said.

“While corporate partners are great, small business is what really drives the U.S. economy," Tidwell said. "The highest percentage of jobs in the U.S. is in companies with 100 employees or fewer, so that’s what we’re focusing on bringing to Terrell to help grow our economy.”

This article was produced in collaboration between the Terrell Economic Development Corp. and Studio B. Bisnow news staff was not involved in the production of this content.

Studio B is Bisnow’s in-house content and design studio. To learn more about how Studio B can help your team, reach out to studio@bisnow.com.