Work on a 1,550-acre master-planned community in Terrell has been cleared to begin.

Plano-based Main Square Development received construction plat approval for the initial phase of its $3B Terra Nova project from the Terrell City Council this week. The project’s first phase includes 423 residential lots and 26 lots for nonresidential use on around 158 acres, the Dallas Business Journal reported.

At full build-out, the master-planned community near FM 245 and Griffith Road will include 3,600 single-family homes, 1,200 multifamily units and a nearly 50-acre mixed-use district known as Terra Nova Village, according to Main Square’s announcement of the project last year. The mixed-use district will include up to 200K SF of retail, restaurant and office space.

Main Square President Hugo Morales told the DBJ the council’s action was the last regulatory approval needed for the company to begin work. He said an announcement about the commencement of construction would come soon.

The company previously said it expected to break ground on Terra Nova’s first model homes in early 2027.

Construction of the full development is expected to be done over as many as 16 phases. Once completed, the project could bring in more than $80M in annual property tax revenue for the city.

The massive project sparked concerns among Terrell residents last year over inadequate infrastructure and the large number of residents the community would bring to the rural city. Terrell officials delayed a vote on Terra Nova last September amid concerns it would overburden emergency services and water systems.

Morales started Main Square in 2024 after nearly 25 years with Kimley-Horn and Associates. He told the DBJ that spiking land prices in the northern part of the metro prompted Main Square to look to the growing Kaufman County for the project.

Kaufman County grew by nearly 6% from June 2024 to July of last year, according to data from the U.S. Census Bureau. That tied it with Waller County for the highest-percentage growth in Texas and put it nationally behind only Jasper County, South Carolina.

The more than 11,000 new residents added to the county during that time brought its total population to an estimated 209,235.

That growth has also attracted the attention of Texas grocery goliath H-E-B. The San Antonio-based chain bought a 91-acre tract in Terrell near Interstate 20 and FM 148 from Mountain Top Ventures LP in December.

H-E-B opened another store in fellow Kaufman County boomtown Forney earlier this year. And Forney has its own huge master-planned community on the way.

Plano-based investment firm Tellus Group is building a 2,700-home Meraki community on nearly 1,100 acres just north of Highway 80 in Forney.