What’s In a Name?
Living Up To a Legacy
New Urbanism is a town design model that is becoming so popular in the United States that pretty soon people may be dropping the adjective “new” in conversational speaking. However, a town center development in Plano, Texas is throwing a unique slant on the planning concept that keeps the idea of “new” in perspective and proves that even the best model may have contemporary interpretations.
Typical of the huge, corporate tenants in Legacy, the business park’s master developer, Electronic Data Systems Corporation, is headquartered on a sprawling 378-acre campus.
The Legacy Town Center will have all of the
traditional facets of New Urbanism design, with mixed-use facilities for a live/work/play
environment. What makes it unique is that it will be the first town center in the United
States to be built within an existing business park. In fact, the master developer,
Electronic Data Systems Corporation (EDS), is one of the businesses in the park.
The park itself, Legacy, is also unique – not quite a business park-as-usual kind of
place. Typical of Texas, where everything is BIG, Legacy tenants are corporate headquarter
facilities for huge companies who measure their Legacy facilities in acres instead of
square footage. More than 32,000 people currently work in headquarters for companies
including EDS, The Frito-Lay Company, JCPenney, Dr. Pepper/Seven-Up, Fina, Ericsson,
Countrywide Home Loans, American Southwest Insurance, and Sterling Software.
“The corporations in Legacy recognize this opportunity to enhance the quality of life
for many of their employees while increasing their productivity,” says Marilyn Kasko,
director of Legacy. “The 9 to 5 work day isn’t the standard anymore –
workers can’t spend hours in their cars each day. This town center is the ultimate
amenity for the 32,000 employees in Legacy.”
EDS master-developed Legacy as a 2,665-acre corporate business park, relocating its own
headquarters onto a 378-acre campus in 1984. A town center, planned to act as a focal
point for the business community, was part of the original plans. Now the information
services giant has assembled a dynamic team to make the envisioned project a reality.
Legacy Town Center has been master-planned by New Urbanism guru Andres Duany of Duany
Plater-Zyberk & Company, Post Properties and RTKL Associates. The Karahan Companies
will develop the retail portion of the new center, Post Properties will handle residential
development, and the Leddy Company will build lodging facilities. In addition to serving
Legacy’s many corporate campuses, Legacy Town Center is expected to provide a focal
point for the entire North Dallas community.
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“The Legacy Town Center will have all of the traditional facets of New Urbanism design, with mixed-use facilities for a live/work/play environment. What makes it unique is that it will be the first town center in the United States to be built within an existing business park.” |
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Legacy Town Center will occupy 155 acres in the heart
of the business park. Between the number of employees in Legacy and the future residents
in the town center, the project will be the size of a small city. But the goal, according
to Kasko, is to provide a sense of connection and community for workers in Legacy as well
as the residents in Plano and neighboring cities. “This district will be an exciting
place for people to live, dine, shop, relax and experience a rich, diverse
community,” says Kasko. “Our goal is to create a very real place, something much
more than a group of offices with people coming in the morning and leaving in the evening
– a place where people want to be.”
Both Duany Plater-Zyberk and Post Properties have built New Urbanism projects. They have
also collaborated before, planning Riverside by Post™ in Atlanta, which has been
hailed as a template for edge-city development. In addition to Riverside, Duany
Plater-Zyberk planned Seaside, Florida and Kentland, Maryland, both well-known New
Urbanism communities.
According to Post Chairman and CEO John Williams, Legacy Town Center will be an
unparalleled creation for the Dallas metro area. “Legacy Town Center will feature a
unique character that provides a more interactive mix of uses than the typical suburban
model,” Williams says. “Our goal is to build live/work/walk communities, and we
believe Legacy will be a national example. Thanks to the vision of EDS and the commitment
of the other partners, it will be an authentic place for decades to come.”
Post Senior Executive Vice President Art Lomenick notes that Legacy Town Center has been
planned according to the unique needs of the area. “This project is a visionary
response to the changing nature of development around Dallas,” he says, noting that
researchers found that more than half the workers in Legacy leave the business park each
day to run errands, often driving between two and five miles. “We’re responding
to the needs of Legacy workers by providing them a chance to live and relax in an
immersive district.”
Even Duany, who is one of the world’s experts on New Urbanism, feels Legacy Town
Center is unique because it marries the principles of New Urbanism with the American
corporate vision. “Legacy is pioneering a new direction with their business park, and
I believe its residents, workers and businesses will feel the difference very soon in an
improved quality of life.”
The architecture of the Legacy Town Center will offer varied building styles. The town
will appear as if it evolved over a long period of time, with different building heights,
facades and detailing. Office, commercial and residential areas will be integrated
according to New Urbanism principles, with offices and homes interspersed between
ground-floor retail, public gathering spaces throughout, and a close-knit,
pedestrian-oriented design. Key components will include varying block sizes; a hierarchy
of streets, from narrow mews to wide boulevards; parking that leads to sidewalks and
walkways; underground utilities that allow tree-lined brick sidewalks; and a town center
within easy walking district of the rest of the district.
The Karahan Companies will develop The Shops at Legacy, with plans for 450,000 sq.ft. of
retail space in the first phase. Fehmi Karahan, company president and CEO, describes the
commercial area as “a distinctively elegant main street shopping experience.” He
says the goal of The Karahan Companies is to blend high-end retail with sidewalk cafes,
workplaces and luxury living spaces. Robb & Stucky, the Florida-based furniture
retailer, has begun construction on a 115,800-sq.ft. furniture and design studio that will
anchor the Legacy Town Center shopping district. Spaces are available ranging from
approximately 1,000 sq.ft. up to 30,000 sq.ft.
A community entertainment district is planned to feature a movie theater, upscale
restaurants and a state-of-the-art fitness/recreation center with an indoor, dome-covered
pool. The development team has made it clear that they are seeking unique, upscale retail
and entertainment operators in order to create a destination point for visitors as well as
full-time residents. Within a 15-minute drive of the town center, the average household
income is $89,100, with approximately 20 percent of households earning more than $100,000.
Projected 2000 population is 322,650, with 54.4 percent of residents holding a college
degree. Plano is considered the fastest growing residential area of the Dallas/Ft. Worth
metroplex area.
Civic space will be a key component of the town center, with a total of five acres of
public parks planned as well as numerous pocket parks, public art displays and other
public gathering places throughout the town. A four-acre lake enhanced by a series of
fountains and renowned sculpture will be the centerpiece of the mixed-use main street
area.
The Leddy Company, based in San Antonio, Texas, has begun construction on a 4-star,
404-room DoubleTree Hotel and Conference Center with a front entrance overlooking a
three-acre park in the town center. The hotel adjoins the west side of the shopping
district. When complete in December 2000, the hotel will be the only luxury full-service
hotel in Legacy. It will feature more than 52,000 sq.ft. of meeting and banquet space and
15,000 sq.ft. of space for two fine-dining restaurants.
Post Properties will develop Legacy’s residential component. The first phase will
contain 384 units of one- and two-bedroom luxury apartments, lofts and townhomes.
Eventually, a total of approximately 2,500 residential units are planned, with the goal of
creating a variety of housing styles and price points. The planned loft-style apartments
will be the first within the Plano city limits.
Kasko says that the amenities that Legacy Town Center is bringing to the area have
garnered support of the project from the City of Plano, which she says was instrumental in
helping to pave the way for the town center. Part of the reason may be that EDS has made a
demonstrated commitment to the meaning of the term “legacy,” making an effort to
preserve the history of the area while investing in the future. The streets in the
business park are named after original settlers of the area, the names gleaned from
extensive EDS research on tombstones found in an old cemetery on Legacy property. Kasko
says her company is planning a refurbishment of the cemetery, which is still used for
interment, and will refence it and build a park and parking facilities adjacent to it. As
well, EDS supports longhorn cattle and buffalo living naturally on the business
park’s property. Given the nature of Legacy’s corporate environment, the whole
scenario gives new meaning to an old Texas song that begins, “Oh, give me a
home....”
For more information, contact Marilyn Kasko, director, Legacy; Fehmi
Karahan, president and CEO, The Karahan Companies, 972-239-6966. For leasing information
at The Shops at Legacy, contact United Commercial Realty,