Developer Nixes Bayside Lagoon, but Rowlett Councilman Says City Was ‘Duped’

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The new developers of the Bayside development in Rowlett told a very surprised city council last week that the eight-acre lagoon would be scuttled in its revised plan.

The much ballyhooed $1 billion Bayside development in Rowlett has gotten an updated plan from a new developer — and the city of Rowlett says it’s a drastic change from the original, which included an eight-acre crystal lagoon.

Tom D’Alesandro

Last week, the council met to discuss proposed changes with the new developer, Tom D’Alesandro, who is working for Bayside Development Partners (which consists of the Kruse family and Wilks Development). D’Alesandro took over the project in February and had hinted in other interviews that there would be changes to the original plan, which included the lagoon, a resort hotel, convention center, one-acre fountain, and other amenities.

At last Thursday’s meeting, it seemed that many council members were shocked to find that the new plan scuttled the lagoon and the fountain, the renderings for which are still prominent on the Wilks Development website.

The one-acre show fountain in the original plans and renderings has also been scuttled.

Instead, the development will have a smaller lagoon and water features, Texas landscapes, trees, and walking trails.

Bayside told the council that the new plans call for a build-out of 15 years, instead of the four-year goal of the original plan. The new plan calls for a third less retail space, too — D’Alesandro said that market research doesn’t indicate that the market can support the one million square feet of mixed-use retail, entertainment, restaurant, and office space the original plan called for.

Original rendering

Needless to say, the council was nonplussed, and displeased, telling D’Alesandro that they felt that he didn’t adequately prepare them for the massive changes.

“We want to have a partnership with you, but we don’t feel like that has been reciprocated,” council person Matt Grubisich said.

Rowlett Mayor Tammy Dana-Bashian

Mayor Tammy Dana-Bashian said she felt that the loss of the lagoon and the destination amenities the development would’ve offered makes D’Alesandro’s prognostication that the area can’t support that retail a “self-fulfilling prophecy.”

“We’re not going to put the crystal lagoon in. We’re not going to put the show fountain in. We’re not going to put the trolleys in,” she said. “Therefore we can’t attract the retail. And now we’re not going to have that destination retail because it’s not going to be successful.

“Because we don’t have the amenities that were originally planned for Bayside to make it that regional draw.”

Dana-Bashian added that she felt Bayside Development’s market research for the lagoon didn’t reflect accurately what the lagoon was supposed to do — attract visitors to the area for recreation and destination shopping.

Monday, council member Robert Blake Margolis told CandysDirt.com that the city was always aware the vision could change since the developer for Bayside changed.

“In 2015, Bayside Land Development Partners sold the city and citizens on a Bayside with an eight-acre crystal lagoon, one acre show fountain, 500 room resort with a conference center, two condo towers, over 1.7 million square feet of commercial space and a trolley system that went throughout the development,” he said.

Margolis said that he felt D’Alesandro’s assertion that his market research might be incomplete or faulty.

“The management of Bayside Land Partners, at the time, did extensive market studies before ever releasing the solid plans for Bayside in 2015,” he said. “The proposal last Thursday varied greatly from that of the original vision. No eight-acre crystal lagoon, no one-acre show fountain, no trolley system, and a reduced number of commercial space and increased number in residential space.”

“The developer claims to have done a market study on the lagoon,” Margolis said. “My concern with that is there are no other lagoons (of this size) in Texas, let alone the few in the United States. So, I am not too sure how valid that market study is.”

The city, Margolis said, was the victim of a bait-and-switch, he felt.

“In my opinion, it does seem like Bayside Land District Partners has duped the city and citizens into a less attractive development that will not be a regional destination as the original vision would have provided,” he said. “The eight-acre crystal lagoon and one-acre show fountain would be a regional draw… without those two major features, I do not see anything that will bring people into Bayside other than the locals.”

But it seems like the original plan may not be completely gone, thanks to a provision in the agreement.

“The good news is, I believe that the lagoon is not dead. I believe that there is still a chance for the lagoon to be built,” Margolis said.

“The Rowlett City Council made it very clear that the proposal from the developer is not the vision that the City and developer previously agreed,” Rowlett City Manager Brian Funderburk explained to CandysDirt.com Monday. “The good news is that any changes to that vision will require City Council approval.”

Friday, the city issued a press release that indicated that Bayside would need to do a lot more selling to get the council to sign off on its new vision, adding that the city is considering its next steps to “ensure the development adheres to the original vision for Bayside.”

“Bayside is a public-private partnership, and our development partner is obligated to adhere to the vision for Bayside; any changes to the vision require City approval,” Mayor Tammy DanaBashian said in the press release. “We know our residents are very excited about Bayside, and the proposed changes do not meet expectations.”

Saturday, Bayside issued its own statement.

“We do not believe that the vision has changed,” the statement, which was posted on the development’s website, said. “We’ve simply presented a preliminary new path that we think is a better way to achieve our shared goals.”

“Once we learned that the lagoon and show fountain, as originally presented, would likely not meet the goals — and could perhaps jeopardize Bayside’s success — our intention was to bring a potential solution to the City rather than simply identify a problem.”

Bayside said that the presentation may have been a surprise for some members of the council, but that they had been in contact with the city prior to last week’s meeting.

“We understand that some members of the City Council were seeing the presentation for the first time and appreciate that it’s a departure from what they’d seen previously,” the statement read. “However, we’ve been in regular communication with the Mayor’s office and City Staff about our concerns, our research and these preliminary ideas for a path forward.”

“Thursday’s presentation was intended to begin a conversation with our valued partners,” it continued. “We believe in the Rowlett community and welcome the opportunity to continue working in partnership with the City to realize Bayside’s full potential.”

The city, however, sounds like it may be ready to dig in its heels.

“Bayside Land District Partners has a contractual obligation to develop that eight-acre crystal lagoon and one-acre show fountain,” Margolin said Monday. “It will be interesting to see what happens in the near future.”

“We will need some time to absorb what we learned yesterday before determining our course of action,” Funderburk said.

 

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Bethany Erickson lives in a 1961 Fox and Jacobs home with her husband, a second-grader, and Conrad Bain the dog. If she won the lottery, she'd by an E. Faye Jones home.
She's taken home a few awards for her writing, including a Gold award for Best Series at the 2018 National Association of Real Estate Editors journalism awards, a 2018 Hugh Aynesworth Award for Editorial Opinion from the Dallas Press Club, and a 2019 award from NAREE for a piece linking Medicaid expansion with housing insecurity.
She is a member of the Online News Association, the Education Writers Association, the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, and the Society of Professional Journalists.
She doesn't like lima beans or the word moist.

4 Comments

  1. Bob Stoller on July 31, 2018 at 3:28 pm

    Rowlett thought it was buying a unicorn–the new owner wants to substitute a warthog, but claims that nothing has changed, the vision is the same. Possibly, if one happens to be blind.

  2. Lynn on August 1, 2018 at 10:44 am

    Very strange that the developer of Bayside meet with our Mayor solely and she is surprised.

  3. James Conner on August 1, 2018 at 2:53 pm

    I was telling people when this “development” was first announced that it was a farce. Kind of brings back memories of the I-30 savings and loan scandal in the 80s.

    Let’s keep track of city officials that all of the sudden come into some financial prosperity.

  4. Boyd Pace on August 1, 2018 at 7:49 pm

    Need to pull all permits on this site. The developer s not doing what he said he was going to do. Permits are no good either.

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