The barren space that occupies what could be Lake Highlands Town Center. The vision for the town center, which was conceived in the minds of community leaders in 2005, has been in the planning stages for the past decade. Photo by Rasy Ran

Lake Highlands Town Center

Last month The Advocate reported that Cypress Real Estate Advisors, owner and developer of Lake Highlands Town Center, had terminated their participation in the Skillman Corridor TIF. Prior to Cypress’s decision, both during the campaign and at a well-attended neighborhood meeting on September 15th, City Councilman Adam McGough committed to organizing a task force to focus neighborhood participation in the Town Center project. Cypress’s bold move to leave the TIF gives them flexibility in developing their vision yet comes at the cost of $30 million in future TIF reimbursement.

Sign up for our newsletter!

* indicates required

Where does that leave the task force idea?

Full speed ahead says McGough. “For the past several weeks, I have been meeting with stakeholders who are interested in the LHTC development.  Lake Highlands has some amazing and talented residents, and there are many who have expressed interest in serving in an informal advisory role.  As I learned more about many of the people who are so interested in this important economic development project, I begin to see that this group of people could be a really great resource for development across our district,” details McGough. “Instead of a task force focusing only on LHTC, I will be inviting participants to join a group to discuss many development projects that impact our District.  Our first task will be to prioritize opinions relating to the LHTC, but we will discuss other relevant developments as they arise.”

He intends to name the members soon and appoint a Chairman as well. “The group is currently bigger than I had anticipated, but I intend it to be flexible so there may be some moving parts during the first meeting or so,” says McGough. The task force will meet on an as-needed basis.

Asked if this task force will be another threshold of approval that had stymied the Town Center before, McGough responded, “I am not worried about additional levels of approval.  This group will be advisory in nature.  We will continue this group as long as participants feel it is productive for all involved.”

Cypress’s departure from the TIF has left a big space for other developments to fill. In spite of that, both McGough and Sue Hounsel, staff member from Dallas’ Office of Economic Development, who oversees administration of the Skillman TIF, said there are no proposed developments in Lake Highlands that have requested TIF funds.