A Legacy West Of Their Own: Garland Aims For Transformative Change With Massive Rezoning Approval

A massive rezoning approval in Garland could clear the way for the kind of multibillion-dollar mixed-use developments that have helped transform Metroplex cities like Plano, Richardson and Addison.

Garland City Council this week agreed to rezone 317 acres on the south side of the city for urban residential and urban business districts. The rezoned land, which is located north of Interstate 635 on both sides of South Garland Avenue, had been zoned for uses like industrial, commercial retail and planned developments, the Dallas Business Journal reported.  

“This is the groundwork for zoning that will improve our lives,” Garland Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Margaret Lucht, who represents the rezoned area, said during the council meeting. “South Garland has missed out on a lot in the last five decades, and this is the first time that we've received the attention that we deserve.”

Garland Planning Director Nabila Nur said the rezoned area of the city includes the huge former site of Hypermart and a few businesses on the west side of South Garland Avenue, though the majority of the area affected by the change is on the east side of that thoroughfare.

“These districts are intended to allow cohesive, orderly, creative and predominantly vertically oriented, mixed-use and mixed-density developments,” Nur said. “So the permitted uses should reflect that vision.”

As an example of the kinds of mixed-use developments such a rezoning could attract, Nur pointed to the 240-acre Legacy West campus in Plano and the 186-acre CityLine development in Richardson.

Legacy West was rezoned in 2010 and has attracted more than $3B in private investment, she said. CityLine has seen $75M in public investments and more than $2.5B in private dollars poured into it since 2013.

Garland has done multiple studies identifying the rezoned area as a city gateway and a catalyst for redevelopment, Nur said. And that redevelopment could bring the kinds of diverse entertainment, restaurants and food trucks that Garland residents have requested in city surveys. 

“The proposed urban business and urban residential zoning districts are capable of creating that vibrant place, that mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented development with appropriate urban design in place,” Nur said. 

The rezoning plan was opposed by the Garland Planning and Zoning Commission last month after speakers voiced concerns about increased traffic and a negative impact on existing businesses. Those concerns were again brought up by residents and business owners at this week’s meeting.

More than 100 existing businesses in the city will be considered nonconforming under the new zoning rules, though they will only have to update to meet the new standards should they decide to modify or expand their existing buildings. 

The rezoning plan isn't the only way Garland officials have been working to improve the city.

Garland is home to three major data center campuses with a taxable land value of nearly $1B, and city officials have worked to turn megawatts into reinvestment opportunities to improve infrastructure, beautify green space and grow their commercial districts.