Baxter Brinkmann Sells Last Ranchland Hold Out In Frisco, but Some Say Country There is Going, Going GONE

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Brinkmann Ranch1

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.

Brinkmann Ranch

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.

Richwoods

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.

Frisco ice 2

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

Brinkmann 2

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.”Brad Holden

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Candy Evans, founder and publisher of CandysDirt.com, is one of the nation’s leading real estate reporters.

9 Comments

  1. Brad on February 24, 2015 at 12:58 pm

    Not too upset about the sale of the property to Landon. And, as I understand, the prospective sale of the remainder of the ranch for a much bigger development idea. I believe it’s inevitable, so why not now when the market is good. I’ve read where there are plenty of people upset about losing the country feel but you can’t stop progress. Besides, won’t this be good for our property values?

  2. LonstarBabs on February 24, 2015 at 2:56 pm

    I’m SO sad! Frisco’s country feel left years ago, so if anyone thinks it remains they are sadly mistaken. Another development of painted cardboard, faux Tuscan, faux community, smack up next to your neighbors, similar floorplan, devoid of personality homes that cost a lot. And that’s progress, some say? Let me guess — the rest of the land will go to some type of massive urban mixed-use development that is the flavor of the day in Collin County.

    I hope some of this beautiful land is set aside for nature pursuits and education. And no, I don’t mean another soccer field complex crowded to the hilt on weekends.

  3. Morning Glory on July 31, 2015 at 12:13 am

    You people moved in like locusts putting up McMansions and strip malls and endless crap and now you whine that it’s losing it’s small town appeal? Suck it up buttercups because you’re the ones who killed it in the first place. Frisco hasn’t been small or country for a decade now thanks to you.

  4. jpmaze on March 4, 2016 at 3:44 pm

    Just Move up North of Celina and you’ll find plenty of cowtown up there, if you yearn so badly for cows grazing and mooing, or better yet move out even further and you’ll have ranch and farmland all around you. Frisco was never meant to stay as farmland, just like any other city that prospers and grows. Get a grip whiners and complainers, this is nothing but good news, it means your property values will only increase and maybe you’ll have some more local things to do in the future, besides hanging out on the balcony watching the cows graze.

  5. Jeff hart on March 14, 2017 at 7:57 pm

    Baxrer…..this is Jeff hart bobs son.noahs grandson.I’m poor.I’m broke.Can you help me.Just some acres in blanchard.Dadidicate it to noan.Please help me baxter.Help Noah and Bob Wilma and me.I’m no where to go.

  6. Kristine on November 21, 2018 at 7:19 am

    I hope Landon Homes is building homes better than other builders. The foundation problems that we are already seeing is just going to blow up more. Due to the cities greed and builders lining the pockets of elected officials building codes and regulations are not tough enough. We are sitting on some of the worst soil in all of Dallas. PVR OVER 5 inches! These builders and engineers are not building and designing homes to move like that. It’s the regular people that will be paying tens of thousands of dollars on their foundation. It’s a shame!

    • Candy Evans on November 25, 2018 at 11:10 pm

      We would like to hear more.

  7. Carla on July 31, 2019 at 12:45 pm

    I for one is disgusted how bad Frisco is getting, too many apartments, section 8 people, that demand services and Frisco takes away from services like the library.
    Crime is up, traffic a nighmare.
    We moved to Frisco for its quality of life, trees,farmland.
    Construction work destroys trees, wild life.

  8. Sue on June 22, 2022 at 1:15 pm

    If only I could move from here (McKinney) I would. I grew up in the sprawling suburbs of Detroit. I hated it, unfriendly people everywhere, tons
    of traffic,cement in every direction very stressful lifestyle. This is headed in the same direction, even worse. Like I said, I would be gone if I could be.

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