Man it’s hot in Frisco. No, there’s ice up there, but the market is so hot it could almost melt this ice. This area of North Texas has added more than 115,000 jobs with more coming — Toyota Motor Co., FedEx Office, and now Liberty Mutual Insurance. Builders cannot build homes fast enough to house the inflow of newcomers. They need land to build them.
But now 700 plus more homes are coming down the pike. Frisco landowner and Preston Hollow resident Baxter Brinkmann has sold off a portion of his famed 5,500-acre plus Brinkmann Ranch to developer John Landon. Landon bought about 183 acres and plans to build a gated residential community on the famous ranch at the southeast corner of Coit and Eldorado roads.
This piece of land has a lot of history, but most notably, it’s the site where the first 5 episodes of the famous show “Dallas” were filmed in 1978. That is, until the original house burned down. Brinkmann Ranch is one of the largest pieces of undeveloped land still standing in Frisco. It’s the only reminder of what the entire North Texas prairie looked like 60 years ago. Up to now, Brinkmann has remained a tough land holdout.
“The land is 182.4479 Acres and has been assessed at $20,705,637 by Collin County as its value in 2014,” says Brad Holden, who has sold just about every home in Richwoods. “The purchase price for the land is undisclosed, but I’m pretty sure it’s more than that!”
Baxter Brinkmann is the CEO of the Brinkmann Corporation, maker of outdoor grills, flashlights, fans, many other consumer and industrial products. He is also the owner of Brinkmann Ranch. The Brinkmann Corporation brings in well over $125 million in annual sales. He lives in Preston Hollow and was recently named by Dallas City Councilman Jennifer Staubach Gates to the Stakeholder Task Force for Preston Center.
Landon is founder and owner of Plano-based Landon Homes, a major residential home builder who developed Richwoods. Richwoods, a gated development of 500 acres, was originally planned for 1,600 homes. That number will rise to around 1,700 homes or more because of a smaller product that was introduced after the development started, yielding more homes.
Brad Holden tells me this move is huge for Frisco.
“There’s 704 planned homes with two entrances on Coit and El Dorado,” he says. “People are seeking gated communities. I think once built, these will go like hot cakes.”
Word is that Brinkmann also sold 16 acres of his ranch to Craig Ranch Investments LP in January. Guess he knows when the market is hot.
Is this the end of the ranching life in Frisco? Land is getting pricier to the north, now $325,000 plus for an acre along the “Golden Corridor” of the Dallas North Tollway. That’s four times as much as folks paid even back in 2007, before the recession.
But not everyone is as happy as Baxter Brinkmann and these developers. Many Frisco residents are lamenting the loss of the country they moved to Frisco to enjoy — driving by a sprawling ranch, Longhorn, trees, fields and nature. The town’s Facebook page was burning with 175 plus comments, most wishing to keep Frisco just as it is.
“Forget all the sports parks and JerryWorld Jr and the booming Frisco Square… what REALLY made Frisco unique was the presence of an enormous working ranch right on the main drag through town. I know the City is anxious to start taxing that land at residential/commercial rates rather than agriculture, but it will still be a sad day for Frisco when Brinkmann Ranch is gone,” said Gary Pearce on Frisco’s Facebook page.
“I hope it takes a very long time to develop all this. I have enjoyed having the open spaces and cows close to my home. Nothing like sitting on your porch at night and listening to the cows mooing, the neighborhood owl, etc. Will be sad to see this land developed,” said Tonya Showman
Others say Frisco is slowly losing its open space beauty and small town feel.
Well, got news for you: Frisco is not a small town: it’s one of the top fastest growing towns in the US. You might be living in a house that was once ranchland! Maybe we should all go back east of the Mississippi?
“Hope they preserve the trees, ponds and some open space!” wrote one resident.
“Sad,” wrote Brian Potter. “In a few years Frisco will have lost all its charm and just be another cookie cutter sprawling suburb.”
Of course, down in Preston Hollow, Mr. Brinkmann knows how it feels to have developers move in.
Brad Holden and other agents cannot wait for the dirt to churn.
“Thank you Baxter Brinkmann,” he said, “or finally allowing the exceptional growth of Frisco to continue with a great location and great visionaries in Landon Development.”
