Hillwood To Bring Second Billion-Dollar MPC To Denton County
Ross Perot Jr.'s Hillwood is preparing its second billion-dollar master-planned community in Denton County.
The mixed-use project on FM 1385 near Pilot Point will cover 617 acres and could be valued at $1.2B upon completion, according to Hillwood officials. The Lantern master-planned community will feature 2,000 single-family homes, a 27-acre mixed-use development, a 15-acre Pilot Point Independent School District elementary school and more than 100 acres of open space, the Dallas Business Journal reported.
The Denton County Commissioners Court approved a tax increment reinvestment zone for the project on Thursday that will give the developer half of the ad valorem taxes collected from the property for the first 25 years. Those funds will go toward infrastructure for roadways as well as water and sewage.
"That's really what this is today, this concept of this TIRZ agreement, both with Pilot Point — that's already been approved — and the one you're considering today is to find a way to make the math work and the economics work for developers," Hillwood Communities Senior Vice President Brian Carlock told commissioners.
The Pilot Point City Council approved a development contract with Hillwood in October. Pilot Point is expected to eventually annex the Lantern development into its city limits.
Hillwood officials told the council in October that they were likely to break ground on the Lantern development in the fourth quarter of 2026, according to The Post-Signal. The project is expected to take 10 years to complete, with the first residences ready for homeowners in 2028.
On the southern side of Denton County, Hillwood is building a 3,200-acre master-planned community that officials said could add more than 20,000 residents to the region and be valued at $10B once it is finished. The Landmark by Hillwood project in Denton will feature 6,000 single-family homes, 3,000 multifamily units, 900 acres of commercial space and 1,100 acres of parkland.
The project's initial phase will consist of 600 apartments and 120 acres of retail, restaurants and entertainment space, including Denton's first H-E-B.
The developer also has a nearly 1,400-acre community in development in Celina. The first of Ramble by Hillwood's more than 4,200 homes is expected to be delivered this year.
In addition to developing master-planned communities, Hillwood teamed with television titan Taylor Sheridan in August to open a 450K SF production campus in AllianceTexas. Hillwood and Sheridan's SGS Studios plan to transform the area into the state's largest film and television production facility.
