DFW housing developments woo residents with plots

ARGYLE, CELINA, PROSPER – Farmers markets, community gardens and trails are among the amenities being offered by new housing developments.

A generation ago, most big residential developments were centered on a country club. However, surveys of buyers by the building industry show that golf courses are rated as one of the least attractive features for many potential homebuyers.

“Number one by far is trails,” said Craig Martin, founder and CEO of Terra Verde Group, the developer of the 2,000-acre Windsong Ranch in Prosper. “People want a place to get their kids on bicycles and to walk.”

Windsong Ranch will have miles of walking trails and 600 acres of connected parks for residents to use.

At the 1,200-acre Harvest community on I-35 in Argyle, developer Hillwood Residential built a commercial vegetable-growing operation and resident garden plots.

Harvest originally set aside about 50 garden plots for its residents, which were all reserved in the early months of the project. “We sold out our first phase before a quarter of our homeowners moved in,” said Tom Woliver, Hillwood director of planning and development. “We are building 70 more as we speak.”

At the 1,000-acre Light Farms residential development in Celina, a farmers market is held every Saturday, with more than 200 people turning out at recent markets. The development is also planning a community garden.