Developer Plans to Preserve Lucas Farms Legacy With Massive Mesquite Project

You wouldn’t know it while driving past it, but the retro Lucas B&B Restaurant sign on Oaklawn Avenue in Dallas and Mesquite’s new 4,200-home development are linked in history.

The sign touted the Lucas B&B Café, which the Fathion P. Lucas family opened in 1911 in the Old Imperial Hotel in downtown Dallas. In 1929, Lucas bought farmland in Mesquite for the purpose of providing fresh meats and produce to his café, making it one of the area’s first and premier farm-to-market restaurants.

Lucas Farms now is the site of Solterra, the city’s largest development in the southern district. Developer Huffines Communities joined with Mesquite city leaders in breaking ground on the 1,530-acre project last week.

Lucas, a Greek immigrant, purchased the Mesquite farm for $28 per acre, which was regarded as some of the toughest topsoils in the area. Using old-country, soil-conservation techniques, Lucas turned the property into one of the most productive farms in the area.

D Magazine writers Nancy Nichols and Amy Severson profiled the farm in 2017, writing:

“Call us old fashioned, but the gently rolling hills and pristine farmland would make a beautiful urban farm with deep roots to the past. Who needs another Walmart or more cookie cutter houses? Somebody please build something we can be proud of.”

Well, it’s not exactly going to be an urban farm, but it will retain some country charm, which residents have been craving for years when it became apparent the land was attracting development talk.

Mesquite had been courting developers for two decades before the city made a deal with Huffines Communities. The developer plans to protect the Lucas Farms legacy with 560 acres of open space, preserving pecan groves, orchards, and pastures with a promenade park in the median.

“We have worked with the city of Mesquite and other leaders on public/private partnership efforts for several years to bring this dream to fruition, marking one of our largest projects to date,” Phillip Huffines, co-owner at Huffines Communities, said in a statement.

“Everyone involved has worked hard to develop a sustainable, one-of-kind community experience and lifestyle complete with over-the-top outdoor amenities and economic benefits for the city.”

Solterra should be a unique community with an abundance of amenities.

• The team from the DIY Network’s Treehouse Masters show will design and construct a special treehouse park just for the community from Nelson Treehouse.
• The development will include a fishing hut called “The Catfish Hole,” where kids and adults can feed fish in a covered enclosed space and fish from the wraparound deck directly over the community’s 30-acre lake. Residents can also take in swimming, kayaking, and paddleboarding in the community lake.
• The community’s resort-style pool complex will include an adult pool, an Olympic-sized lap pool, a pool with slides, a kid’s pool with splash pads, and a large sand beach with direct access to the lake complete with 14 miles of bike and hiking trails that connect to the regional trail system.
• A grand amenity center will include a coffee shop, communal gathering rooms with lounge seating and TVs, and offices with covered balconies and direct access to the pools and fitness center.
• The fitness facility spans more than 4,000 square feet and will have cardio machines, weight training, aerobics rooms, bathrooms, and locker space.
• Solterra also has plans for a restaurant within the amenity complex where families inside and outside the community can gather.
• Other amenities include community playgrounds, a large dog park, beer garden, food truck park, and event lawn and space for a craft fair/farmer market esplanade.

As for homes, the community will have 3,900 new homes and 300 townhomes. Homes will range from the high $500,000s to $2.8 million. The homes will range in size from 1,200 to 6,000 square feet. According to Huffines, Solterra is expected to have a tax value of more than $1.6 billion.

The first phase of development is delivering 787 lots in the fourth quarter of 2022. Thirteen contracted builders will start constructing their first homes during spring 2023. Builders in the first phase are Cadence, CastleRock, Chesmar, David Weekley, FirstTexas, Gehan, Highland, HistoryMaker, Impression, MHI, Lennar, Shaddock, and TriPointe Homes. LJA Engineers will design and plan the new community.

“We are celebrating the building of homes and the building of relationships with Huffines Communities and others,” Mayor Bruce Archer said in a statement. “These houses will be a place for families to live and create relationships in the Mesquite community with new neighbors and new friends for generations.”