Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Retail-apartment project will ‘kick off’ Craig Ranch’s Town Center

Brandi Hart / The Plano Star Courier

Site preparation has begun on what will eventually become a five-story, 80,000-square-foot retail building known as Times Square at Craig Ranch.

The development will also feature 320 luxury apartments.

Located north of State Highway 121 off Custer Road, the 4.62-acre Times Square is being developed by Evergreen Realty Advisors in partnership with DXE Commercial. Crews have started grading the site and construction should begin within the next 30 days, said K.K. Taylor, senior vice president of Craig International.

David Craig, chairman and chief executive officer of Craig International and founder of Craig Ranch, said Times Square will kick off the Town Center of Craig Ranch.

“As the very first vertical residential component, Times Square will literally kick off the Town Center portion of Craig Ranch making it a true destination location,” Craig said.

“It will soon be a gathering place where people can enjoy shopping, art, jazz festivals and fine dining. Times Square is as significant to us as our partnership with TPC and Cooper Aerobics Center. We are about to see a vision come to life,” Craig said.

Times Square will be located at the main corner in Craig Ranch’s Town Center, just across from the new Tournament Players Course Craig Ranch Golf Club and the Cooper Aerobics Center.

Times Square will be across from the veterans’ memorial that will be on Weiskopf Lane in the Town Center area of Craig Ranch. The five-star Royal Tulip Hotel will be across the street from Times Square.

The apartments at Times Square will have track lighting, wood flooring, spacious closets, garden baths, custom balconies, and spectacular views will make this residential project superior in the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Everbach said

“Times Square at Craig Ranch will offer a lifestyle unlike any other in the metroplex,” said Steve Everbach, managing partner of Evergreen Realty Advisors. “Our residents will have the ability to access a multitude of retail amenities, walk across the street to play golf at a $45 million TPC course, and work out at the world renowned Cooper Aerobics Center.”

Craig Ranch, a 2,500-acre, 400,000-square-foot master planned, mixed-use development, features the Ball Fields at Craig Ranch, loft offices above street bistros, fine dining, shops, boutiques, corner stores, and other merchant establishments.

Times Square is designed to include the services and feel of a four-star hotel, Everbach said.

The retail component is designed to include customized individual storefronts with integrated signage to assure architectural uniqueness and integrity.

“We have already seen interest from retailers that could fill a majority of the retail space. We are hoping the building will be the centerpiece for activity in the Town Center at Craig Ranch,” Everbach said.

Times Square is set to be completed in spring 2008.

Original article appears in the Plano Star Courier.