Texas Judges Sides With EPIC City Developer

The same state leaders who went to court to require public school classrooms to prominently display the Ten Commandments appear to be as committed to blocking the development of a North Texas community built around a mosque.

Community Capital Partners, the developer behind The Meadow (formerly known as EPIC City), notched a win in the political war spearheaded by Gov. Greg Abbott and Attorney General Ken Paxton that has now stretched beyond the year mark.

A Travis County judge determined that the Texas Workforce Commission is required to review the project’s updated housing policies — something the agency agreed to do in the settlement it reached with the developer in September. Community Capital Partners sued the agency when it refused to abide by the settlement’s terms.

The Texas chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations lauded the decision, calling the actions of state officials “Islamophic witch hunts and politically driven regulatory harassment.”

“We applaud the court for holding state agencies accountable and recognizing that the law applies equally to everyone, including the State of Texas,” the organization said in a statement.

But the state doesn’t plan to stop there. Paxton plans to appeal what he called the “flawed” ruling Friday, vowing to be “relentless in ensuring that any attempt by EPIC City to move its development forward in violation of the law is stopped.”

The developer is still fighting two lawsuits from Paxton. In December, he accused Capital Community Partners of violating Texas securities laws. Two months later, he claimed the municipal utility district tied to the project was evading state oversight.

The lawsuits revived the efforts to block the development of The Meadow, which seemed to fizzle out over the summer when the Department of Justice dropped its inquiry into the project.

Blackstone hits Ashland Greene with $177M foreclosure

In 2023, multifamily firm Ashland Greene was hailed as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. After the ravages of this economic cycle, it faces the prospect of losing control of a 1,530-unit DFW apartment portfolio at Tuesday’s foreclosure auction. Shakti C’Ganti’s Dallas-based firm allegedly defaulted on a $177 million loan from Blackstone, according to Roddy’s Foreclosure Listing Service. The debt is tied to Mateo Apartment Homes, at 2007 Springcrest Drive in Arlington; Birch Apartment Homes, at 12610 Jupiter Road in Dallas; Hawk Apartment Homes, at 4525 West Pioneer Drive in Irving; and Knowlton Apartment Homes at 5800 Northwest Drive in Mesquite.

Plano listing tries to break Collin County record

A $16 million Plano home set a local sale record last year, and the house next door might beat it. James and Ellen Davenport listed the 12.8-acre estate at 5817 Red Wolf Lane in Plano last week for $21.5 million, public records show. It’s the second-most expensive new listing in Texas for the month, according to the Houston Association of Realtors. The 12,900-square-foot home, designed in a Mediterranean look in imitation of South Florida architect Addison Mizner, has five bedrooms and nine bathrooms. The listing forefronts the home’s “rare materials,” including mahogany doors and Bordeaux wood floors. The listing price works out to $1,670 per square foot.

Mall teardown revives Dallas-to-Houston bullet train dreams

The teardown of a Houston retail relic may be good news for a long-delayed high-speed rail project. Demolition started at the 800,000-square-foot Northwest Mall, at 9500 Hempstead Road in Houston, clearing the way for what’s slated to become the Houston terminal for a proposed Dallas-to-Houston bullet train line. Texas High Speed Rail Holdings, the entity formerly known as Texas Central, is behind the work, which marks “early enabling and foundation” preparation for the rail station and will position the site for construction should the project regain momentum.