Wade Park suit tossed, JVP to start the Mix

A New York-based developer has plans to turn one of Frisco’s biggest eyesores into an ambitious mixed-use project, as a lawsuit filed by the previous landowner has reached an end.

Gamma Real Estate seized the 176-acre property in 2019 when Wade Park Land defaulted on more than $80 million in loans and filed for bankruptcy. After a legal battle in which developer Wade Park Land sued lender Gamma Real Estate claiming fraud, a New York judge has dismissed the case, the Dallas Morning News reported.

JVP Management is taking over the project originally known as Wade Park, with plans of restarting construction in May and a target completion date of summer 2024. The revamped plan calls for 3 million square feet of housing, 2 million square feet of office space, 375,000 square feet of retail and two hotels, the outlet said. 

JVP announced in November that the site, located on the Dallas North Tollway, would be rebranded as the Mix. The residential portion will feature a blend of apartments, townhouses and single family rentals, and the project as a whole will cost roughly $3 billion. The first phase of development starting this summer will be devoted to the retail center and grocery store, totalling $17.7 million in construction costs. CallisonRTKL is in charge of design.

Wade Park Land’s attorney Stan Thomas claimed in a bankruptcy filing that Gamma Real Estate acted in bad faith and interfered with the developer’s efforts to secure additional funding. 

“They did not intend to be passive lenders,” the court filing stated. “Rather, they intended to take the Wade Park property from plaintiffs by manufacturing a default on the bridge loan and then executing a stranglehold on plaintiffs’ ability to raise capital to pay their way out of default.”

Construction for Wade Park started in 2014 with early renderings showing high-rise office buildings, hotels and apartments. But failed development and the ensuing legal battle left the site in shambles. Unfinished buildings and a huge hole in the ground have made the Wade Park property one of Frisco’s most unpleasant sights for years.

—Quinn Donoghue