In the past two years, Flower Mound's Lakeside Business District has grown by about 3M SF (from 5.4M SF to 8.4M SF) of commercial space with projects either under construction, in the works, under review, or already approved by the Town, says Flower Mound economic development director Mark Wood. On Thursday, he took brokers and government leaders on a tour of nine major projects.

Development standards in Flower Mound are still high, but the Town leaders are taking steps to make it easier to do business there by streamlining the process with the Town to be more in-line with other cities, Mark tells us. For example, projects now go to Planning and Zoning and Town Council for approval in back-to-back weeks, and staff reports for projects have been simplified and shortened. Flower Mound is working with developers to find creative solutions to potential issues instead of using issues to create roadblocks. Flower Mound Mayor Tom Hayden (pictured at the event) says about 1,500 jobs were added last year and he’s hopeful to exceed that number in the next year.

Among the biggest projects include two buildings developed by Oakmont Industrial Group (pictured). The smaller one (1650 Lakeside Pkwy) is 293k SF with half leased to Universal Display and Fixtures Co. The second (1700 Lakeside Pkwy) is 463k SF and is completely available, Mark tells us. Other developments on the tour included projects by Crow Holdings, Duke Realty, Huntington Industrial Partners, Lakeside DFW, Exeter Property Group, Southgate at Flower Mound, and EastGroup Properties. JaRyCo Development also plans to develop some Class-A office space there. These projects are only three miles north of the DFW Airport; as the portion of the DFW Connector project that funnels into Flower Mound is completed, there will essentially be a non-stop route to Flower Mound, Mark says.