Grapevine Denies Trammell Crow Mixed-Use Project Over Multifamily Concerns

For the second time in two years, Grapevine denied plans for a mixed-use project that would add apartments next to the city’s nearly 2M SF mall.

Trammell Crow Co.’s plans for a 28-acre mixed-use project failed to receive the approvals needed to move forward during a joint meeting of the Grapevine City Council and the city’s Planning and Zoning Commission this week. The project was to build three hotels and 11 apartment buildings at 2800 and 3421 Grapevine Mills Parkway, next to the Grapevine Mills mall.

The city council needed a supermajority of five votes in favor to approve the requested zoning change, but it only reached a vote of 4-2.

Council Members Sharron Rogers and Leon Leal voted against the item. City staff said the commission members denied the request because of the planned apartment buildings. 

Leal expressed similar concerns during the public hearing on the project. 

“I'm just not a big fan, at this particular time, of having more apartments in Grapevine,” Leal said during the meeting. “I think we're at a point where we don't need more apartments. We need more single-family.”

Trammell Crow’s plans for the project included 248 multifamily units across one three-story building of rental townhomes and 10 four-story buildings of garden-style apartments. The company also intended to start work on a 222-room Sandman Signature Hotel, with the other two hotels to be saved for a later date. 

The developer was also denied approval for a similar mixed-use project during a joint meeting of the council and commission in July 2024, according to Community Impact. That project was to feature 296 apartments and a six-story Sandman Signature Hotel but was denied unanimously by the council and commission.

During the meeting this week, Joel Behrens, Trammell Crow managing director and DFW market leader, said the firm met with city staff and officials during the last 18 months to put together what he called a “much better plan” than what it presented in 2024. 

Trammell Crow declined to comment.

Grapevine Council Member Duff O'Dell expressed support for the development during the public hearing, calling it a “well-planned project.” She also voiced her disappointment in the commission's denial before the council vote. 

“I don't think that's fair when you talk with the developer and you tell them what your concerns are, and they go away and come back and they meet your concerns,” O'Dell said.