Twelve Cowboys Way is no joke, but legendary Dallas Cowboys quarterback Staubach did admit he had pulled an April Fools prank already Monday morning — on his unsuspecting wife.
“I was getting ready to come here today, and I woke up my wife and said, ‘Honey, honey! There’s a bunch of squirrels in the house,’” Staubach said with a fair amount of glee. “She woke up yelling, ‘What? What!’ — so I got my joke in already.”
And while they may have chuckled when asked if they worried an announcement as big as a new residential high-rise concept co-branded with a sports team might be treated with a little skepticism because of the timing — the middle of April Fools Day — Robert Shaw and Roger Staubach are serious about the project.
The two were at the Star in Frisco with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, CEO and Executive Vice President Stephen Jones, and Charlotte Jones Anderson, Dallas Cowboys executive vice president and chief brand officer to announce the luxury apartment high rise currently under constructions southeast of the Ford Center off of Gaylord Parkway.
“You know this is just another piece that is going to make The Star special,” Stephen Jones said.
And that Twelve appellation isn’t just about the address, either — it was an intentional nod and tribute to what many consider to be the greatest Cowboy player of all time — Staubach.
“At the Hall of Fame, the most asked about, most inquired about player or coach or individual that has ever been in the Hall of Fame is our own Roger Staubach, number 12,” Jerry Jones said.
Jones said that the Cowboys organization chose to partner with Staubach and Robert Shaw’s Columbus Realty Partners to develop the building because of the successes of the company, and because of Staubach’s intertwined history with the team.
“That 17-story building basically says this is about the Cowboys, this is about Roger Staubach,” Jones said. “We want the people who are living in it to be as close as you possibly could be involved in the fabric of what the Cowboys have been and what they are going to be. This says Dallas Cowboys.”
“We think it will be memorialized for many years to come by its very being, that 17-story building that basically says, ‘This is about the Cowboys. This is about Roger Staubach,’” he added.
Staubach was an obvious choice, too, since the concept for the high rise was to marry the Cowboys tradition with its aspirations for the future, Jones said.
“I’ve been blessed with great with a great partner and we’ve had a great run but I’ve never been blessed with an opportunity like this,” Shaw said. “You know this is the first luxury residential that is been built and has been inspired by and in partnership with a professional sports franchise and not just any professional sports franchise but the most valuable in the world.”
The completed building will have 158 units, and with one, two, and three bedroom floorplans available. The finish out is sleek and neutral, providing a backdrop for just about any aesthetic to play out, whether a renter is firmly country chic, rabidly ultra modern, or very minimalist. The smallest floorplans will be about 700 to 800 square feet and go up to 3,200 square feet, and rents will start around $2,700.
Renters will also have access to quite a few unique amenities, said Jones Anderson.
“You get a membership here at the Cowboys Club, you get a membership at Cowboys Fit, you get an opportunity to be a part of Cowboys practices,” she said. “You get an opportunity to engage in our events at AT&T Stadium, which we will transport you to.”
And being within the 91-acre footprint of the Star campus, residents will also have quite the playground.
“When we first built the Star, we wanted the Star to be a place where you lived, worked and played,” Jones Anderson said. “We are so excited for this opportunity to offer this to our greatest fans and those who want to engage deeper with us and also just to the people in Frisco who want to be a part of the best location in real estate.”
Later that morning, Shaw, Staubach, and Jones Anderson talked with reporters about the unique project.
Shaw said that while North Texas is building a lot of luxury multifamily projects, the biggest draw for Twelve Cowboys Way is the affiliation with the team.
“You can’t ignore that,” he said. “It starts with people who are attracted by the amenities that will appeal to Cowboys fans, who want to feel like part of the Cowboys family.”
“You have Toyota down the street, JP Morgan, and now Dr Pepper and the PGA coming here, and people are moving here from more expensive areas and are finding that they can afford great projects like this,” Staubach said.
“And you’ve got the baby boomers who are aging out of their big houses, and want to shrink down,” Shaw said. “The want to downsize from 5,000 square feet to something more like 2,000.”
“And you have the Omni next door with special pricing for residents, so you can still have a place for family to stay when they come to visit,” Staubach said.
“I think that’s really important to recognize is that when you know there is a lot of something there,” Jones Anderson said. “How do you differentiate yourself? How do you stand out? How do you going to rise above the noise a little bit?”
“We have always kind of authentically — even in our league as a team, as a sports team — tried to find ways that we are different than everyone else.”
Jones Anderson said they wanted the finish out to be inviting, but also provide the opportunity for tenants to put their own stamp on their living space.
“It was really important to me that we had a palette that made you feel good when you walked in and was a level of quality of finish out, but that allowed you to come in and put your own stamp on it.”
“You know sometimes you walk into spaces and there’s so much going on that you don’t feel like you get to bring you into the space.”
Jones Anderson said that while they could’ve heavily branded the space with the Cowboys theme and references to Texas, they opted for more restraint.
“We really did think about that a lot, because you could have been very Texas driven,” she said. “And we are authentically Texas – but more modern and innovative.”
Leasing is officially open for the building, which will open February 2020.
